What we hear on stage has a huge
impact on the quality of our performance.
Regardless of the instrument, any performer needs to hear the proper balance
of him/herself, the music they are performing along with and the audience they
are performing to. There is no universal
setting since all performers are different. Their listening preferences tend to be unique
and subjective. However, the three components
listed above need to be present and blended to taste.
Although
settings may vary, I think all performers would agree that the most prominent component
of the monitor mix should be their own instrument or voice. We will focus this week’s discussion on this
component and cover the other aspects of this huge topic in future weeks. Contrary to common belief, the need to
predominantly hear one’s own performance is not based in vanity (at least not entirely). Creating a truly great musical performance requires
a mixture of kinesthetic, aural, visual and emotional stimulus. The visual element retains a more important
role in the other two components of the monitor mix (hearing the band/track and
the audience); however, some instruments are easier to play with visual stimulus
(like piano and guitar). The connection
between sound and touch, in my opinion, is the key to accessing a skilful and
emotional musical performance.
An
outside evidence of this can be found in video games. Poor quality video games (or video game
setups) provide mainly visual stimulus.
Enhanced gamming situations provide added aural and kinesthetic stimulus
to make the simulated situation more true to life. In the same way, when a singer or instrumentalist
has the ideal balance of kinetic and aural stimulus the performance is
enhanced. In private practice we feel
the vibration of our vocal chords or instrument, the texture of the keys or
strings and the friction or resistance (weight) of each motion. We also hear every detail of the tone that we
are producing and how it is related to the kinesthetic stimulus we are receiving. We become accustom to this aural and kinesthetic
connection and use it to access the connection between our emotions and our
physical performance. When an aspect of
this stimulus is out of balance, the performer can become inhibited from
achieving his/her best results.
Performance situations that most closely
resemble the solo practice experience are solo acoustic and small group acoustic
(like folk acoustic groups and jazz trio / quartets). The simple sound mix and acoustic nature of
these performance situations allow for an ideal environment of kinesthetic and
aural stimulus. When the number of
instruments and overall sound level increases it becomes more difficult for
each individual performer to hear themselves.
Tones mix, compete and mask each other causing a lack of intelligibility. In addition, we sense vibration from the
instruments or amplification of the other performers which disrupts part of our
own kinesthetic stimulus.
When this happens, we need to
compensate by amplifying the sound of our performance above the level of the
competing sounds. This can be
accomplished through the use of personal amplifiers for guitar, bass, keyboard
and other electronic instrumentalists. Vocal
and acoustic instrumental performers that require microphones (or amplified electronic
instruments that are being run directly through the system) often use floor or
mounted monitors. In addition, any of
these types of performers can use in ear monitors to aid in hearing
themselves.
All of these options have pros and
cons that will be discussed in future posts.
For the sake of this discussion, you could imagine the affect that
competing monitors and amplifiers could have on stage. The sound bleed of opposing monitors causes
each performer to raise their monitor in a never ending competition to be
heard. In ear monitors avoid this by
providing isolation, but this isolation causes a disconnect with both the other
musicians and the audience. Plus, artificially
amplified sound is quite different from natural ambient sound. Blend and dynamic contrast often becomes
dependent on changing mix levels during different parts of the
performance. This requires a separate monitor
mix engineer who is thoroughly acquainted with each song and prepared to automate
the mix to each performer’s taste. Most
of us do not have this type of monitor situation at our performances, and so
the battle continues. We keep seeking
that ideal kinesthetic and aural experience, but our artificial attempts to
achieve it fall short. Keep in mind; this
is just our attempts to hear ourselves during the performance. Next week we will discuss hearing the other
musical elements and the audience.
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