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Get quick tips and tricks for achieving the best sound
Transitioning from Wedges to "Ears"
By Kent Margraves, Sennheiser
Many worship venues have made the transition from "wedges" to "ears" for stage monitoring purposes, and often find
that this can be a surprisingly tricky process.
Essentially, wedges are loudspeakers that are laid sideways and angled up and at the performers. The signal
content, or "mix," in each monitor or group of monitors is customized for the performer's needs and sometimes will
sound quite different than the house mix that the audience hears.
Wireless personal monitors have become popular in recent years. These little monitoring earphones place the signal
directly into the ears of the performer, usually eliminating the need for a wedge monitor.
There are several immediate advantages of such wireless personal monitoring systems, particularly wireless ones, as
opposed to wedges, including: lower stage volume (no open wedges blaring, better house sound, greater
gain-before-feedback), artist mobility (no sweet spot to stand in), hopefully lower monitoring levels for better
hearing safety, the ability to listen deeper into the monitor mix, a custom mix and volume for each user, a
discreet path for talkback to the user's ears, system portability (wedges weigh a WHOLE lot more than bodypacks),
aesthetics, and acoustic isolation. Those last two points may be arguable as disadvantages too, but most users
agree that earphones are less distracting than wedge monitors.
Worship leaders and techs transitioning to wireless personal monitors should plan for increased communication and
expect to spend lots of time building the right monitor mix. The acoustic isolation of wireless personal monitoring
systems offers extreme control, but also requires more attention to detail in the monitor mix. But before going
further into that, let's cover a few things about hearing/monitoring. Consider this scenario:
A worship leader is on stage front and center with a single wedge monitor and his guitar and vocal mic. The tech
mixes both signals into the wedge, plus any other signals he requests, which might include other instruments. He
monitors comfortably. Does he hear in mono or stereo?
Well, it is true that a single wedge monitor reproduces a mono/single signal, but is that all he hears? No! He not
only hears the sound from the wedge, but also the sounds from all around him including other performers, audience
sounds, room reverberation, and more. He hears all these things with a true sense of space and dimension.
Next, consider this scenario:
Your church buys its first wireless personal monitoring system to replace the worship leader's front/center wedge.
The tech removes the wedge, and routes the regular monitor signal into the new wireless personal monitor system. At
sound check the WL puts his earphones in and starts to sing and/or play. He quickly says "my mix is different!" The
tech responds "nope, it's the same mix you've always had." Who's right?
They both are. With the wedge, the WL heard the monitor signal AND his acoustic surroundings as a total package.
Now that his ears are essentially plugged by earphones, he hears only the monitor signal provided, and DOES NOT
hear his acoustic surroundings. He relies 100 percent on the monitor mix he receives. For this reason, the
transition can be startling and potentially frustrating for new wireless personal monitor users.
Read more from this series about wireless personal monitor mixing:
Other Tips & Tricks Topics:
More Information
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Testimonials
What worship ministries are saying about Sennheiser...
"I also would like to thank you and Sennheiser for not only your assistance with the whole TVBD fiasco, but your support of the H.O.W. market in general. It is truly remarkable these days to have a manufacturer of the size of Sennheiser that allows its personnel to interact with the end-user not only through outlets such as CSC, but the rapid personal response to crazy tech guys like me! It is why I can recommend using your products so readily."
"I also would like to thank you and Sennheiser for not only your assistance with the whole TVBD fiasco, but your support of the H.O.W. market in general. It is truly remarkable these days to have a manufacturer of the size of Sennheiser that allows its personnel to interact with the end-user not only through outlets such as CSC, but the rapid personal response to crazy tech guys like me! It is why I can recommend using your products so readily."
Jay Ballard, Director of Technical Ministries, First Baptist Church of Plant City, Florida