Stage Monitoring with Hearing Loss - Part 2

we're going to be picking up on how we can use panning and other spatial processing to differentiate the sources that go into an individual's mix while they're on stage.

Yes.

And so this gets into kind of more advanced mixing strategies and something you have to think about differently in live sound than we think about in studio recording or anything like that.

Which is that the stereo field that most people are experiencing, whether they're on stage with in-ear monitors or with wedges or even the audience, is completely different than the stereo field when you're listening to a recording through AirPods or through your stereo system at home or through headphones on your way to work.

So the individual with hearing loss is not able to take advantage as much of that limited live stereo field that we even have.

So it's a consideration mostly that comes down to in-ear monitor mixing.

So what's your experience with this, Juan? When you're performing, dealing with wedge monitors, dealing with in-ears in times, what has been your experience with how this has been handled?

For me personally, it's been more using that practice and that training, kind of almost using and relying on the muscle memory.

Because sometimes with using floor wedges, it can just be this wash of sound that just goes on stage.

So it can make it very difficult.

In my experience, just been relying on whatever typical wedge monitor is like, though I can imagine that an individual with hearing loss who uses inner monitors to potentially make things a lot easier could also come into some issues, not just with how things sound, but more so how they're experiencing it.

In-ear monitors does change it because now you have two signals, right? The vast majority of people who monitor through wedges get one single monitor mix right in front of them, which is essentially a mono signal.

And then the only stereo element differentiating the left ear and the right ear are where things are positioned around you on the stage, right? If the drums are off to your left, if the bass is off to your right, and then everything else that's coming through the monitors is in the center, we can think about this as a simple way of separating things out.

But if suddenly you have bass and drums coming through the wedge monitor in front of you, now everything is in mono.

So when we talk about panning, panning is the simplest way to differentiate different sources.

Because we have two ears and because psychoacoustically we can experience a whole spectrum of space across like a horizontal plane, when we have headphones, when we have two discrete channels left and right, you can take advantage of that real estate a lot.

You can take wonderful advantage of that real estate.

But that is just not always the case when we're in live settings.

The reason why I mention this is because it's one of the most powerful ways to pull apart and differentiate sources in a mix, but it may not be accessible to the performer that you're working with or to your own ears if you have hearing loss.

So for instance, some people don't even have access to both channels, even if they're wearing headphones, right? Like asymmetric hearing.

So when we're working with individuals with asymmetries in their ears, We really have to consider that panning because let's say your traditional approach to panning is to put two rhythm guitars hard panned left and right to differentiate.

If the artist that you're working with can't hear one of those two channels, you are just simply muting one of the two instruments.

So awareness of that is going to be paramount to making sure that that person's mix stays balanced.

clean and clear.

The goal with additional processing here is to create a sense of space so that the performer can differentiate in their minds, this is where this source is, this is where this instrument is, and it's separate physically in physical space from a different source.

we're going to be picking up on how we can use panning and other spatial processing to differentiate the sources that go into an individual's mix while they're on stage.

Yes.

And so this gets into kind of more advanced mixing strategies and something you have to think about differently in live sound than we think about in studio recording or anything like that.

Which is that the stereo field that most people are experiencing, whether they're on stage with in-ear monitors or with wedges or even the audience, is completely different than the stereo field when you're listening to a recording through AirPods or through your stereo system at home or through headphones on your way to work.

So the individual with hearing loss is not able to take advantage as much of that limited live stereo field that we even have.

So it's a consideration mostly that comes down to in-ear monitor mixing.

So what's your experience with this, Juan? When you're performing, dealing with wedge monitors, dealing with in-ears in times, what has been your experience with how this has been handled?

For me personally, it's been more using that practice and that training, kind of almost using and relying on the muscle memory.

Because sometimes with using floor wedges, it can just be this wash of sound that just goes on stage.

So it can make it very difficult.

In my experience, just been relying on whatever typical wedge monitor is like, though I can imagine that an individual with hearing loss who uses inner monitors to potentially make things a lot easier could also come into some issues, not just with how things sound, but more so how they're experiencing it.

In-ear monitors does change it because now you have two signals, right? The vast majority of people who monitor through wedges get one single monitor mix right in front of them, which is essentially a mono signal.

And then the only stereo element differentiating the left ear and the right ear are where things are positioned around you on the stage, right? If the drums are off to your left, if the bass is off to your right, and then everything else that's coming through the monitors is in the center, we can think about this as a simple way of separating things out.

But if suddenly you have bass and drums coming through the wedge monitor in front of you, now everything is in mono.

So when we talk about panning, panning is the simplest way to differentiate different sources.

Because we have two ears and because psychoacoustically we can experience a whole spectrum of space across like a horizontal plane, when we have headphones, when we have two discrete channels left and right, you can take advantage of that real estate a lot.

You can take wonderful advantage of that real estate.

But that is just not always the case when we're in live settings.

The reason why I mention this is because it's one of the most powerful ways to pull apart and differentiate sources in a mix, but it may not be accessible to the performer that you're working with or to your own ears if you have hearing loss.

So for instance, some people don't even have access to both channels, even if they're wearing headphones, right? Like asymmetric hearing.

So when we're working with individuals with asymmetries in their ears, We really have to consider that panning because let's say your traditional approach to panning is to put two rhythm guitars hard panned left and right to differentiate.

If the artist that you're working with can't hear one of those two channels, you are just simply muting one of the two instruments.

So awareness of that is going to be paramount to making sure that that person's mix stays balanced.

clean and clear.

The goal with additional processing here is to create a sense of space so that the performer can differentiate in their minds, this is where this source is, this is where this instrument is, and it's separate physically in physical space from a different source.