During my time on the road, I spent most shows on monitor beach. That's the road dog term for the huge landmass on the side of the stage occupied by the monitor monkey and his toys.
I never understood the beach concept. Beach implies relaxation, sunshine, and tranquility. Monitor beach was rarely anything like that. Loud, chaotic, and dark was more like it. It was monitor world to me. My own little detached universe. I preferred to be there.
While I also enjoyed the control freak adrenaline rush of mixing for the audience, I liked taking care of the band better. While the glorious A1 tech was basking in the glow of a screaming crowd, worshiping their mixing skills, I was becoming part of the band. While the FOH tech was attempting to make thousands of people happy, I only had a dozen or so to please. Sure, A2 sounded like a lower position, but I liked it.
As the monitor tech, I was able to experience things the guy out front never even saw. I still have an amazing collection of stage plots and riders from my last four or five years as a hired gun tech. It still brings back memories like they happened yesterday. We worked with different groups every week. Sometimes dozens in a single week. I was part of all the craziness backstage on multiple occasions. Good stuff.
Within the church world, it's pretty rare to have someone dedicated to running monitors. It's much more common to see the front-of-house tech mixing from there or maybe personal monitor mixers for each musician. Since the average church has less than 200 members, most don't really have a real need for it.
So why are most larger churches still hesitant to add a monitor console? It means giving up more of the stage and having to depend on one more tech. When you are running a volunteer tech crew, that's a major consideration. Some churches just chose to work around it.
While the glorious A1 tech was basking in the glow of a screaming crowd mixing at front-of-house, I back on monitor beach becoming part of the band.
Personal monitor mixers are a big help. These mic-stand-mounted gizmos allow the musicians to create their own mix. If we can get past the initial expense, it usually winds up being a good choice. It takes the pressure off the front-of-house tech and makes the stage responsible for it's own mixing.
However. I still recommend having some live monitors.
Even when there are personal mixers all over the stage, it's usually not going to help a singer or pastor who wants to hear themselves. Sure, you can still get around that with in-ear monitors, if you have the budget. Most smaller churches don't. And, most churches tend to fly by the seat of their pants. At any moment "Brother Smith" might be called up to tell a story or sing. At that moment, you will be really happy to have a pair of wedges on the front of the stage.
My preference, when I could, was the combination of a standard floor monitors and the personal monitor rig. I loved to wire the band up with personal monitors and mix the front of the stage from the house. Just two mixes worked great. A pair of 12- or 15-inch floor monitors on one mix. A pair of large speakers mounted on each side of the stage for side fills. That setup seemed to be ideal for most situations, with or without a choir.
That same setup was generally used on the secular festival stages we ran. When there was going to be a long list of soloists or small local bands, that was what we gave them. Basically a stage wash of sound.
Before I escaped from the real world and moved to the beach, our church had a dedicated monitor console. It was hidden in a rolling box on stage right. To the audience, it pretty much blended in with the walls. Once we had drapes installed, it tucked back into the drapes and was still pretty unobtrusive from the audience. Having it on wheels with plenty of slack in the snake helped for different productions.
The most important thing in working that spot, is your interaction with the stage. When I was training monitor techs, I had to get most of them to overcome that Quasimodo mentality. You can't live in the shadows when you are in monitor world. You have to step out and communicate with the stage dwellers.
I made it a point to never let a band leave the stage without verifying that each member was happy with their mix. All through soundcheck and rehearsal, I made it a point to continuously scan the member's eyes, watching for someone trying to get my attention. During setup, I liked to get everyone's names and a basic idea of what they wanted to in their mix. I wanted to make sure that they knew I was going to take care of them. They have to know they can trust their techs or they will never perform at their best. Trust me on that.
I loved mixing monitors. I loved the direct interaction with the performers. Well, most of them. I had some great experiences and met some amazing people in that role --- stuff I would have missed at front-of-house. If you have the budget and legitimate need for more than a few monitor mixes, you may need to consider adding a monitor rig and a tech to your system. It adds more responsibility, but it also adds so much freedom to the stage.
The other advantages include newer, more affordable wireless monitoring systems. Sure there's more chance for interference and other problems, but the monitor tech is also in a better position to manage them. What can you do about a failed battery from front-of-house except running madly across the room? It's nice having someone right there on stage when the stupid stuff happens. When you are limited to only the tech at front-of-house, you don't really have the ability to make changes during service.
From the perspective of the band, once the show starts, they are stuck with whatever problems arise. Having that tech on stage gives them someone to keep it moving and cover him or her. Musicians are usually much more relaxed when there's someone watching them and waiting to take care of anything that happens.
Just don't get the idea that you can dump any clown behind that board. The monitor tech better know as much as the front-of-house tech. It carries a lot of responsibility when you take that seat. Make sure the attitude and skills are there, and make sure you are all on the same team.
