Friday, February 24, 2017
Tips for Selecting, Using and Maintaining In-Ear Monitors
ChurchProduction.com: The use of in-ear monitoring is increasing in our churches, and for good reason. They allow us to drastically reduce stage volumes, provide better sound to the off-stage participants and give better mixes to the on-stage participants.
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I’m sorry, what church uses In Ear Monitors. Like I thought that it was cool that my church got a pair of projectors to project the readings, but In Ear Monitors? Really? Ok, now, if you are getting In Ear Monitors for a church, let’s think about this. I don’t know about you, but the clergy turn over in my church is extremely infrequent, so why are we even thinking about universal monitors? Unless they are more expensive to not get universal monitors, then why get universal? Now, if you are getting universal In Ear Monitors, why is it important to get multiple sizes? Only one person should be wearing these. Or each pair at least. I also think that the fact that In Ear Monitors are used as ear plugs as well should be earlier on in the article or already known by people who are looking for/reading this article.
I cringed while reading the title of this article. In-ear monitors just seem so potentially gross. Can you imagine cleaning another person’s earwax off of expensive equipment? Surly you cannot share these devices. My old church had a large clergy who would share the responsibility of delivering sermons. These devices may be feasible for a small church with one priest who has been there for years, but any large church and your budget better be huge. And then you open up the can of worms that is how the churches budget should be spent (in my opinion, it is not supposed to be spent on new in-ear monitors, but rather on community outreach or charity). Also, I can’t even keep track of or prevent breaking my headphones (as far as the “cheap” $200 monitors – you get what you pay for) for more than a month, why would I (if I did sound) choose to subject myself to a routine that is kind of disgusting and isn’t necessary in a church setting.
This article was very interesting to read, and while I do not know much about sound, I do not think this is something that a church should do. I did a bit of research to try and understand this better, and it seems like it would be quite obsessive. It also seems like it would be ridiculously hard to maintain these and keep them in good shape. I cannot imagine putting these in my ears, knowing that many people have done the same. It seems as though they would get dirtier after each use, and I'm not sure I could trust them to be cleaned after every use. I would want the chance to clean them myself before the service. I am also not a big fan of churches doing huge technical upgrades like this, because it feels like they are showing off their wealth. I go to a church that recently did one, and to me it felt as if everything was slightly less natural. By placing ear monitors in each persons ear, you are separating them from the people sitting next to them. I do not think this upgrade would have been necessary or needed in any way.
I found this an interesting article for sure, because for one i know very little about sound, and secondly i have never been to a church service in my life. This made things a little more difficult in terms of interpretation, but nonetheless i tried to read this with a blank frame of mind. personally i hate the idea of in-ear monitors for much the same reasons as the other people who commented here, i would constantly feel like i was using someones used earplugs, and personally i find that pretty gross. also, i could not shake the question: why do churches need such technical upgrades, throughout this article, i could only associate tech like this with theater, which in many ways made me feel as though the churches using this were just trying ti put on a show and i dont know but that just continued to make me think about Jesus Christ Superstar.
The topic of in-ear monitors is interesting, because there have been several events recently where their use has either been a controversial choice or lead to interesting situations. In-ear monitors are quickly becoming industry standard on larger tours and concerts because of their ability to eliminate the need for on-stage mons, and allows the sound engineer to be obsessive of their isolation and mix for each and every person on stage. They're a very good tool, but I hesitate to say they should be used in churches. Even where there are large performances regularly, unless you are renting out your church space to touring rock bands in the evening it seems to me that in-ear mons woul detract from the experience. I've never been to church, but from what I've been told it seems to be a pretty personal experience, and even a gospel church I think should not have a feeling of isolation within the people on stage. One controversial recent event involving in-ear mons was the NYE performance of Mariah Carey, where she bombed spectacularly, not even singing hre songs, and it came out lateer that she said her in-ear mons weren't working. This is a problem because if you don't have a backup system of on-stage mons, there is nothing to do but replace the mons that are in your ear. Another positive event involving in-ear mons was an Adele show where front of house sound went completely out, but the in-ear monitors worked fine. Adele kept on singing, because she couldn't hear any difference, but the audience were singing along to the song without sound.
This article was really interesting. Let me preface this with my lack of experience in sound (I am taking that stagecraft mini next.) But I really don't see how this could be a bad thing. I think having in ear monitors could be really useful in commercial and regional theater. I mean think of a space like the Muny that has an audience of 11,000 people. Having these in ear monitors would dramatically change the show. Actors that have worked there have expressed to me the constant fight that is performing there. They have said it is difficult to not only hear your music but to try sing it when the monitors are offstage. Notably one of the best summer stocks for performers, the Muny cast and crew have to be elaborate and big to portray the show to a stadium of theatre goers. I think having these in ear monitors might make a situation like this or the hollywood bowl a lot easier for the performers.
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