AUDIO
WEDGES & FILLS VS . IEMS | Jeff Hawley
While not necessarily ranking up there with debates about proper cable coiling techniques ( over-under is of course the correct answer ) or the merits of 96kHz audio in live sound applications , there does seem to be two camps that emerge around whether to go with stage monitors ( wedges and fills ) or with in-ear monitors ( IEMs ). At its root , this is a big speakers vs . little speakers debate and personally , I don ’ t think there is that strong of a case to be made for sticking with huge speakers strewn across the stage in most church environments . Borrowing from a session I sat in on from Allen & Heath USA Live Sound and Touring Manager Mike Bangs ( Katy Perry , Eric Clapton , Aerosmith , George Strait ) a while back , let ’ s see how each option stacks up .
First off , this decision is largely up to the musicians in the equation when we ’ re talking about live sound touring . But with many churches , this need not be the case . We can offer up options and help guide the decisionmaking process . As I noted , there are many benefits that can come from switching over from wedges on the stage to an IEM system , let ’ s make sure we are well-equipped to tell that story . We ’ ll stay focused here on the house of worship application ( this is Worship Musician magazine !) but note that the pros and cons may slightly vary in some other live sound applications .
PROS AND CONS
So , what are some of the reasons why wedges and fills might not be a good idea for your church ? The ‘ cons ’ list for wedges and fills looks something like this :
• They are very loud !
• Disruptive to front of house — lots of undesirable frequencies coming off the
back of wedges
• High latency — ‘ out of time ’ with the house system
• Poor point of reference — what musicians hear doesn ’ t equate to what the monitor or FOH position is hearing
• Inconsistent — different phase and frequency response based on where musicians are standing
• ‘ Recycled ’ audio — audio fires back into the microphone and creates possible feedback issues
• Space inefficient — they take up a lot of space on the stage and don ’ t look great
• Power hungry — additional power amps needed and / or more robust / dedicated AC power
There are a few pros to think about with wedges and fills , though . For some musicians and scenarios , the ‘ they are very loud !’ point
108 June 2023 Subscribe for Free ...