Stage Monitors

[Clouds]

Wondering if anyone knows much about stage monitors. The lead singer in my band (who also plays the keyboard) has moved their monitor and it's now by his foot. Will this amplify his keyboard? (Sound of keyboard coming from monitor to his microphone.)

[Br1ck]

It certainly can, but monitors generally point to the back of a microphone where the pickup pattern is weakest. A hyper cardiod mic pattern is best at rejecting off axis noise. The trade off is that you can't move too far from the front of the mic.

[Clouds]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

It certainly can, but monitors generally point to the back of a microphone where the pickup pattern is weakest. A hyper cardiod mic pattern is best at rejecting off axis noise. The trade off is that you can't move too far from the front of the mic.

He's basically got the microphone in front of him followed by his keyboard and then the monitor directly behind the keyboard pointing towards him.

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by Clouds

He's basically got the microphone in front of him followed by his keyboard and then the monitor directly behind the keyboard pointing towards him.

This sounds like the monitor might be pointing into (instead of away from) the microphone. If so, then anything in the monitor can bleed into the microphone.

How much is unknowable, but if it is a problem, they can simply change the angle of the monitor.

[Clouds]

The monitor is on the floor while the microphone is on a stand near his mouth. Not sure if this makes a difference.

[T.Lime]

Assuming that the keyboard is going into a PA or amp with the speakers facing the audience, and from there into the monitor the monitor needs to be positioned wherever he feels he can hear it best, as long as it is not on the main sound axis of the mic. Some of that will depend on the mic being used and its sound axis.

[shufflebeat]

Originally Posted by Clouds

He's basically got the microphone in front of him followed by his keyboard and then the monitor directly behind the keyboard pointing towards him.

Unless I've misunderstood that sounds fine.

What comes out of the monitor depends on what's sent to it which, in turn, depends on how the system is connected. Normally the signal going to the monitor will come from an auxiliary (aux) output on a mixing desk. Every channel on the desk will have have a control which allows you to send the signal from each channel to that aux out.

In this way you can set up any mix of channels to that aux out. If you have (for instance) a desk with 4 aux outputs then you can run 4 separate monitor mixes independent of the main front of house mix.

Linking monitors together means you can have separate monitors that share a mix.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by Clouds

Wondering if anyone knows much about stage monitors. The lead singer in my band (who also plays the keyboard) has moved their monitor and it's now by his foot. Will this amplify his keyboard? (Sound of keyboard coming from monitor to his microphone.)

If there's a placement problem, I suspect it'll emerge as feedback long before it's noticed as mic bleed. It sounds fine based on your description, but no way to know until you play.

[shufflebeat]

Originally Posted by Paleolith54

If there's a placement problem, I suspect it'll emerge as feedback long before it's noticed as mic bleed. It sounds fine based on your description, but no way to know until you play.

I must have misread the initial post somehow but this one clarified the question for me.

If the mic is a decent stage mic and the singer is close then the amount of keyboard present in the vocal mic will be negligible. An inappropriate (for instance, omnidirectional) mic used at distance would present this kind of problem but, as Palaeolith says, it won't be the first priority.