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[Mark McFarlane]

Im starting to work with more artists who are bringing IEMs, or complete IEM monitor rigs to gigs.


I had one band ask me today if I could automatically mute the ambient mics when the band is playing, open them up between songs,...


Any tips for setting up and processing ambient mics?

[Chris Johnson [UK]]

This is becoming a big part of monitor engineering these days. Great ambience in the IEM mix can really give it a whole new dimension. I think its a big part of helping musicians transition to IEMs too, since it brings back some of the connection thats lost when you have 25dB of attenuation with your IEMs

Its a very personal thing, but I have a couple of approaches:

First, I normally use 2 pairs of ambience mics. A SDC (Neumann 184) and a pair of short-shotguns (Rode NTG-3, MKH416, etc...). I normally tape them together so they are pretty phase aligned (and easy to mount).

This gives me 2 distinct stereo ambience feeds:
The SDCs pickup a fair bit of stage, PA, etc... and are heavily biased towards the front few rows of crowd.
The shotguns really focus on the audience response.

I then normally put a bit of the SDC pair into everyones mix (depending on how much ambience they like). I might duck these using a mix of the band, but not by much - maybe just 6dB.

The shotguns I usually manually ride in between songs, or when there is a lot of audience response. I do this using a VCA so it comes up simultaneously for everyone. I use the post-fade level to each individual mix to vary the level of ambience between each performer.

[JohnGarlick]

Slow, soft-knee compression has always worked for me. When the band is rocking the mics are in 6-10db of reduction and open back up between songs. 2:1 ratio should be all you need so you can set your threshold deep.

[Mark McFarlane]

Thanks Chris for the helpful tips. 

Any reason why you don't also just duck the shotguns rather than ride them with a VCA? Or even just group the SDC and shotguns for one ambient feed?


Do the musicians really want/need independent mixes of near- versus far- ambient? 

Also, where are you placing the ambient mics, front center in X-Y?  Under or beside the stacks?


Unfortunately my GLD doesn't support sidechains but I have some analog compressors I can throw in the rack and some unused I/O at FOH...  except I just shrunk the FOH rack.

Since the ambient mics are picking up bleed from the mains, would a normal channel compressor work OK without a side chain at all, just use the Ambient mic level as the trigger to cap its output with a low threshold.  Maybe that is what John was suggesting.

[Adam Robinson]

Thanks Chris for the helpful tips. 

Any reason why you don't also just duck the shotguns rather than ride them with a VCA? Or even just group the SDC and shotguns for one ambient feed?


Do the musicians really want/need independent mixes of near- versus far- ambient? 

This is all so personal based on the musician.  I've done tours where the musicians want to be bathed in the ambient sound constantly and other tours where they want to be in their own little cocoon.  Sometimes different people on the same tour want both. 

My MO is typically to assign whatever kind of ambient / audience mic'ing I'm doing to a VCA and ride the level so the musicians can hear feedback (applause, singing along, etc) when it's appropriate, but don't get bombarded with a mess of sound when it's not.  If these shows are one-offs for you (it sounds like you're a house guy and people are bringing stuff in and asking you to mix IEMs for them?), you will never fully be "on the ball" when it comes to these level changes... without knowing the artist's show inside and out, it's impossible to know when to bring them up and down.

Like Chris, I also use combinations of audience mics.  In tour mode, I might use 3 pairs.  In one-off mode it depends -- my main gig is usually a lot of channels, so for one offs I'm only given 2 inputs to keep our total patch to 48.  Again, which mics you use and how you use them is based on what the artist wants to hear.  A shotgun to pick up the roar of the audience... A SDC to pick up some stuff happening right in front of the stage and to get some detail for sing-alongs...

YMMV.

[Mark McFarlane]

Thanks Adam. 

FWIW, I do freelance work in a half dozen venues plus a handful of festivals every year.  Some bands are on tour (I never see them again), some local bands I might do 2-3 concerts per year.  In most cases I am running mons from FOH (single GLD), unless the band brings their own IEM rig, or when I hire an A2 for festivals who 'iPad's monitors' from the stage, with mons still run through the FOH GLD.

Sounds like dropping an ambient DCA on the top layer of the GLD is a good way for me to go, for all cases.  If necessary I can feed a bands IEM rig the ambient group from the stage box, the downside being every band will get the same mix of near/far ambient mics, but they can control the level individually.

[Mark McFarlane]

Where are you placing your ambient mics?

I've settled on 3 mics, 2 ADX-51 sdcs and 1 Rode NTG-1 SDC shotgun (I only have one shotgun)  Ambient mics on a DCA, sent to stereo IEMS as a single mono feed (could only get one channel on the band's monitor rig) and multi-tracked individually.  There will be L+R stacks plus a center fill on the stage lip for my gig this week.

[Chris Johnson [UK]]

Hi Mark,

Apologies for not replying to your questions sooner. I let this thread slip by...

So I should clarify that I am approaching this from the perspective of being a dedicated Monitor Engineer. So I can get into more in-depth IEM ambience because thats basically a big part of my job.

In terms of the near-far thing. The performers aren't generally aware of that aspect of it, but I find that what they want from me, and the ambience, is 2 things:
1) To feel slightly less 'shut-in'. So a bit of general 'gig ambience'
2) To feel the energy of the crowd when they respond.
It has been my personal experience that it is difficult to deliver this without the 2 pairs. Thats just because the 2 types of mics are good at different tasks.

My ambience mics are always SL and SR, somewhere near the front edge. This is mostly a practical consideration though, since thats where I can get them high enough above the audience to get what I want without messing up sightlines.

[Mark McFarlane]

Thanks Chris.

[Jim McKeveny]

Simply put, there are two distinct needs: Ambience and Audience.

How one manages available time and gear budgets affects outcomes. If either of those budgets is bust (or near-bust), the signal chain remains simple - whatever best practice. If those budgets are open, there is much to be explored.

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