Live Audio Solutions

There are a number of elements that surround getting that "good" mix at the FOH like room acoustic treatment, accurate loudspeaker placement, reliable power amps, faithful console, great mics and placement, and trained audio techs mixing capable musicians. All that said, I think that most smaller venues like some churches have a difficult time trying to get good mixes from their FOH because of the poor containment levels - noise "bleed" from loud intruments into vocal mics etc... This is most common with drum kits that are unmic'd with no sound enclosure: high frequency audio spills onto the stage uncontrolled, throwing vocalists and other musicians into a frenzy - asking FOH for higher mix levels from their own monitors, pushing the overall SPL through the roof! Laymans terms: the overall sound is really bad! I find drums and floor wedge monitors to be the areas I first put my attention toward when trying to contain sound levels in this type of environment.

I know that many drummers prefer the look and feel of an acoustic kit but these kits are "unrealistic" in most smaller environements that I see them in today (around where I live anyway). Acoustic kits can be contained well but better containment usually costs more than I'd like to spend. I think the bst investment for this kind of containment is a kit like the electronic Roland V-Drums. Because each drum in the kit is wired through the sound console, this eliminates the problem of noise bleed. All you need is nice PA.

Another great way to contain needless "stage noise" is by migrating from monitor wedges to the in-ear monitor system (IEM's). These IEM's eliminate mic feedback from traditional floor monitors and give the musician accurate tone/feel of what they are playing and a greater confidence to do it. Shure Inc. has developed some of the most affordable IEM systems. One great aspect of the Shure IEM systems is that you can purchase them "wired" and then later upgrade the belt packs to wireless when more budget money comes available.