Mic'ing up an FRFr speaker or going direct to PA

[chriswalsh365]

Hi, is it preferable to mic up an FRFR speaker for live gigs or go direct through to PA? I have trouble hearing myself playing in a loud rock band through the monitors. I usually send signal through the FM3 to FOH PA and use my FRFR speaker behind me so I can hear what I'm playing. What have others experienced or use? Thanks

 

[Rick]

I think that’s pretty much the norm, and is what I’ve done for over a decade. An added plus is that you can feed each with a separate output so that you can alter your stage monitor volume without affecting the main or monitor mixes going to others. Splitting your stage feed from FOH is the best way to go, IMO.

 

[unix-guy]

Mic'ing an FRFR makes no sense.

The sound coming from your FRFR already represents a mic'd speaker. Adding another mic will not only not capture the true sound, it will color the already colored sound.

 

[warlockII]

I prefer to have my Atomic CLR in front or to the side of me at a gig...have you tried that instead of behind you?

 

[Rex]

Hi, is it preferable to mic up an FRFR speaker for live gigs or go direct through to PA?

Go direct to the PA. Then take the other output and go direct to your monitor. Bring a FRFR with you so you don’t have to rely on the house monitors to hear yourself.

I have trouble hearing myself playing in a loud rock band through the monitors.

Then the sound person isn’t giving you enough “you” in the monitor. Another reason to bring your own.

I usually send signal through the FM3 to FOH PA and use my FRFR speaker behind me so I can hear what I'm playing.

If you can’t hear that, then turn up your FRFR. Or if you’re using it as backline, ten feet behind you, consider putting it in front of you, tilted up at you.

 

[chriswalsh365]

I prefer to have my Atomic CLR in front or to the side of me at a gig...have you tried that instead of behind you?

Thanks, for the suggestion, I will try that at my gig this Friday night

 

[chriswalsh365]

Go direct to the PA. Then take the other output and go direct to your monitor. Bring a FRFR with you so you don’t have to rely on the house monitors to hear yourself.


Then the sound person isn’t giving you enough “you” in the monitor. Another reason to bring your own.


If you can’t hear that, then turn up your FRFR. Or if you’re using it as backline, ten feet behind you, consider putting it in front of you, tilted up at you.

Thanks Rex--appreciate your suggestions too

 

[chriswalsh365]

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions. I have one more question please. At our recent gig our bass player mentioned that going through the PA my sound sounded different from rehearsals where I cut through and can easily be heard. He said the sound was nothing like rehearsals ( where I use my QSC 12.2 FRFR speaker. Can anyone comment on this? Is this a sound technician issue?

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions. I have one more question please. At our recent gig our bass player mentioned that going through the PA my sound sounded different from rehearsals where I cut through and can easily be heard. He said the sound was nothing like rehearsals ( where I use my QSC 12.2 FRFR speaker. Can anyone comment on this? Is this a sound technician issue?

The sound sent back to the monitor could have had EQ adjustments. Tell them to not do that unless you agree with them that it’s the right sound.

 

[Will Chen]

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions. I have one more question please. At our recent gig our bass player mentioned that going through the PA my sound sounded different from rehearsals where I cut through and can easily be heard. He said the sound was nothing like rehearsals ( where I use my QSC 12.2 FRFR speaker. Can anyone comment on this? Is this a sound technician issue?

While PA speakers are described as full range, they can all sound different. Additionally different rooms will sound different even with an amp. Impossible to guess at the exact cause here.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Mic'ing up an FRFr speaker or going direct to PA

Do not put a microphone in front of a FRFR speaker

 

[empinchen]

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions. I have one more question please. At our recent gig our bass player mentioned that going through the PA my sound sounded different from rehearsals where I cut through and can easily be heard. He said the sound was nothing like rehearsals ( where I use my QSC 12.2 FRFR speaker. Can anyone comment on this? Is this a sound technician issue?

Possibly one or more of:

• Fletcher-Munson curve
• room reflection
• both QSC and PA speakers not being 'true' FRFR
• FOH engineer processing the signal
• the bass player being full of shit

 

[TheloniusJ]

With my rock band I have gotten into the habit of having my FRFR behind me like a regular amp. I actually prop it up slightly rather than have it in full wedge configuration. One reason I've found, especially on bigger stages is that people who are close to the stage between the mains will not hear my guitar very well, but will hear the other guitarist who is playing a traditional amp rig. Having some stage volume helps (in addition to giving me a little interaction with the moving air).

And yes, mic'ing an FRFR makes no sense.

 

[USMC_Trev]

The OP sounds to me like an ideal candidate for IEMs.

 

[TheloniusJ]

The OP sounds to me like an ideal candidate for IEMs.

For sure with the "hearing yourself" issue. I play with IEMs in both bands I'm in, and can't imagine doing anything else anymore. However, I often will just have one in when I'm playing. I have found this keeps me from feeling the IEM Isolation phenomenon but still allows me to clearly hear the stuff I need to when playing.