SOUND OFF
Welcome to The Voice Connection Sound Off; a forum for users of books like Raise Your Voice, Melody to Madness, The Ultimate Breathing Workout, and Unleash Your Creative Mindset, as well as a place for Vendera Vocal Academy members to interact.
This message board was created so that singers could come together and "sound off" to help support each other during vocal development and the creative process of unleashing the creative spark that occurs when writing and producing music. Currently, myself and vocal coaches Ben Valen, Ray West, and Ryan Wall are here to respond periodicially to your questions, with new vocal coaches coming soon. But, feel free to help each other too:)
This board is here for you to ask questions about my and my fellow coach's books, videos, and MP3 programs, as well as offer others help with our vocal techniques. You may also post videos of yourself and your band to share your music and ask for critiques.
Please refrain from negative comments, profanities, spamming, and inappropriate criticisms of vocal methodologies, vocal coaches, and singers. All negative posts will be deleted and subject to banning without question. I will not respond to negative posts, because, as Mark Twain once said, “Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.” With that said, positive criticism is welcome because that is how you'll grow as a singer during the training process.
I know you said that wireless in-ears are expensive, but if your budget can stretch to in-ears, definitely go for it.
The rest of the band are probably packing gear that's worth 4 figure money, so a couple of hundred for a decent in-ear monitor set-up is relatively small beer, eh? Better still, it will stop you going deaf and stop you over-singing, so you'll be able to sing for ever and you'll sound good... and then you'll get the gigs and earn the money to pay back the cost of the in-ears! That's how I managed to convince myself, anyway!
I switched from a wedge monitor to in-ears a year or so ago, and I'd never go back.
If you are playing bigger venues, with lots of space, and a permanent in-house PA, regular stage monitoring might be ok, but you still have the problem of sound checking and hoping the sound engineer doesn't screw up your mix mid-gig.
However, if you are playing smaller venues (pubs / bars / clubs) and maybe even using your band's own PA, then you are going to have to sort out your own sound anyway, whether it's using a wedge or in-ears. On-stage wedges just increase the over all noise level in a small venue, and there's a big risk of associated feedback, so in-ear monitors cut out all the problems in one go.
There are various makes & models - LD Systems make pretty cheap & reliable wireless monitor systems. You should be able to get one second hand for less than a hundred quid (that's $150 for our US cousins).
You can even save on all the batteries during practice sessions by getting a cheap in-line headphone amp / monitor - just use a long headphone extension lead to the amp/monitor box rather your wireless pack. Behringer make a dirt-cheap unit called Headphone Amplifier Micromon MA400 for less than thirty quid ($40?).
There are other benefits of wireless in-ear monitors too... you can run all over the stage whilst performing and still hear yourself perfectly... also, when you leave the room during a practice session, you can secretly listen-in to all the so-called "musicians" slagging you off behind your back!
Heh, heh, heh!!!!
CU, Stu
