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[Steve M Smith]

I have just done four days on one of the smaller stages at the Isle of Wight Festival and came across one band using what I thought was a great technique to quickly get monitor levels right.

As each voice or instrument was being set up, every band member who wanted that input in their monitor put up their hand. When they had enough, they put it down.

This might be a known technique which others use, but it was the first time I have seen it done.


Steve.

[Jean-Pierre Coetzee]

There was an article or  discussion of this here in the past.

Find it a quick way to get things done, have seen it a few times.

[David Simpson]

I was introduced to this technique many years ago at a busy festival. I love it. Such a time saver, and makes the process much less hectic. I try and implement it whenever I am able to.

~Dave

[Steve Eudaly]

I use this method pretty much exclusively. If you want it in your monitor, raise your hand. When I see no more hands in the air, I'm moving on to the next channel.

Biggest fault is when you have a person playing an instrument that requires both hands such as a guitar, they can't really raise their hand and play at the same time. To help with this I like to check vocals first so they can communicate with me through their vocal mic and tell me if they want some. If they don't have a vocal mic, I just ask "do you want some of that in your monitor?" If they signal yes, I start bringing it up and tell them to give a big nod when it's at the level they like.

Beware, though, some less experienced groups seem to  forget what's going on and require lots of reminders of what they're supposed to be doing, but that can apply to any method. "Hey guys, put your hands up if you want lead vocal."

[Scott Olewiler]

Anything is worth trying. I did 4 bands last week with 15 min changeovers. In every band there were members who used the "Thumbs up" signal to indicate they needed more as well as indicate when the level was good. Talk about confusing.

I physically checked the wedges before the 4th act took the stage and I think they moved my hair a little. And then they still asked for some more. 

[Andrew Broughton]

That's been the standard method for years around here. I guess some things take a while to catch on down south...
Like SCTV and Trailer Park Boys.

[Dave Garoutte]

Of course, it requires that the players are actually paying attention..SQUIRREL!

[Ken Braziel]

Yep, I can always tell if a band has done festivals regularly, their hands automatically shoot up when checking levels for an instrument.

Inexperienced bands are the worst, I find myself repeating "is that enough" several times before getting the "It's way too loud!" signal...

[kel mcguire]

Yep, I can always tell if a band has done festivals regularly, their hands automatically shoot up when checking levels for an instrument.

Inexperienced bands are the worst, I find myself repeating "is that enough" several times before getting the "It's way too loud!" signal...

yes.

The hands up works pretty well with the exception of the aforementioned no hands free issue. And, as long as you creep up you can get everyone pretty close. But, it's tough when players want something turned down. In the case of guitar pedals and multi key patches, I make them play me all the settings they'll use in the show to get an idea of any 'by the ways' that might pop up, and that doesn't always mean too loud.. guitar players are regularly fooled into thinking that overdriven is loaded than clean when often the extra harmonics fool them.

[John J.R. Bogle]

I try and use this method as often as possible (monitor engineer is my main function). It's best to start with vocals or the live mics with the most gain so you know how far you can go before feedback. This sets the stage volume for the show. If you start with kick (spread it around), Bass (spread it around), you sometimes end up with issues getting vocals over the top of the instruments.

Agreed! This only works if everyone is onstage and paying attention at the same time (sometimes it's like herding cats .

Not everyone will work this way but yes.......It's a really efficient way to get sound check over with quickly .

John J.R. Bogle

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