Would getting a personal in-ear monitor setup work on stage?

[golliathh]

I'm a guitarist who mostly plays metal live, and one of the main issues I always have is being able to hear myself (shocker, I know). It always leads to me overplaying, which used to be OK when I was younger, but old injuries are starting to catch up with me and I just don't have the endurance that I used to to play through it.

I've been considering getting an in-ear monitor setup, just for myself, so that I can properly hear what I'm playing and adjust it to stay more relaxed. Would this work? My thought would be to have the receiver hooked directly into a mic set up on my cabinet, then lowering what I hear through my headphones down to a level that matches the rest of the band's stage volume. If in-ear setups were cheaper I would test this out, but looking at prices, it's too much of a commitment to go in blind like that.

Most in-ear setups talk about getting the whole band on the in-ear train, but 1) I'd like the option of in-ears even if band members didn't want them or couldn't afford them, and 2) having a personal in-ear system means I can quickly set up for a gig without having to deal with inexperienced sound guys at local venues.

TL;DR: can I just set up in-ears only to mic my own cab, and adjust it to match the rest of the bands stage volume? How well do you think it would work?

 

[Fred the Shred]

You can "kind of" do that, but it doesn't really operate straight from a mic, and you'd be likely to need a preamp for that. It's also worth mentioning that, depending on the degree of isolation of the in-ears, you may find yourself having a hard time hearing what the band is doing regardless of guitar volume adjustments, thus creating the opposite problem that is leading you to come up with this solution.

Personally, what I always find best when it comes to in-ears is to have a dedicated mix happening, and you surely do not need the entire band to have them. You can adjust the individual levels if you plug your receiver into one of the desk's auxiliary / monitor outs and actually set how much of what is being sent to that out, and that would probably be the easiest way to go about it, to be honest.

 

[Strobe]

You can always only put one of ears in tightly and the other loose if hearing band is an issue. I use these for vocals live at shows. Only issue is not every venue is equipped for in. With guitar, if you have a digital setup (e.g. a Kemper or tube amp with headphone out) you can put your in ear system in the rack. If you have a tube amp without such features you are dependent on the venue having an extra monitor wired up that you can use for your transponder.

 

[GunpointMetal]

If you want to do that your best bet is to get a small mixer, mic your cab, and throw a stage mic up on the other side. If you're on a stage with no monitors, you can use the stage mic to blend in the "stage sound" with your rig and if you're some place with a decent system/FOH engineer you can grab a feed from the wedges and send that into your mixer and have them do a monitor mix like normal but for your IEM, with you guitar rig mic as a "more me" channel. Blending IEM w/stage sound without mic'ing is going to be a huge PITA. Either you'll have to crank the monitors to get a "mix" over the stage sound, or you'll be constantly adjusting the levels depending on where you're standing on stage.

 

[golliathh]

It's also worth mentioning that, depending on the degree of isolation of the in-ears, you may find yourself having a hard time hearing what the band is doing regardless of guitar volume adjustments, thus creating the opposite problem that is leading you to come up with this solution.

I didn't think about that. Up to this point I've only used Laser Lite disposable earplugs when I play, and so I've gotten used to playing with a 'deadened' sound. Do you have any idea how a proper set of in-ears compares with regular ear plugs? Because I'm thinking if I had a setup where things sounded the same as they do with earplugs, but I could hear myself just a little bit, I would be happy.

You can always only put one of ears in tightly and the other loose if hearing band is an issue. I use these for vocals live at shows. Only issue is not every venue is equipped for in. With guitar, if you have a digital setup (e.g. a Kemper or tube amp with headphone out) you can put your in ear system in the rack. If you have a tube amp without such features you are dependent on the venue having an extra monitor wired up that you can use for your transponder.

I have a tube amp setup. Using the venues' equipment is something I really want to avoid unless necessary. However, that gives me an idea... Two-Notes has their Torpedo Cab rack system or pedal that I could send out to a personal mixer, then feed into in-ears. This is starting to look expensive...

If you want to do that your best bet is to get a small mixer, mic your cab, and throw a stage mic up on the other side. If you're on a stage with no monitors, you can use the stage mic to blend in the "stage sound" with your rig and if you're some place with a decent system/FOH engineer you can grab a feed from the wedges and send that into your mixer and have them do a monitor mix like normal but for your IEM, with you guitar rig mic as a "more me" channel. Blending IEM w/stage sound without mic'ing is going to be a huge PITA. Either you'll have to crank the monitors to get a "mix" over the stage sound, or you'll be constantly adjusting the levels depending on where you're standing on stage.

This is a genius idea! Truly the best of both worlds. I'm very much considering this option, thanks.

 

[lewis]

How i would do it is laptop + interface.
Have you going into the interface/DAW and then out of it. At the DAW stage you can set where you and anything else is going and by how much in a specific "you only" channel/output that feeds just your in ears. All interfaces have outputs so

 

[golliathh]

How i would do it is laptop + interface.
Have you going into the interface/DAW and then out of it. At the DAW stage you can set where you and anything else is going and by how much in a specific "you only" channel/output that feeds just your in ears. All interfaces have outputs so

Great idea. Depending on the band setup, if we ever use backing tracks or something similar, this could be a great option. Thanks!

 

[DandHcostoms]

If you get a transmitter/receiver you can just give it to whom ever is doing FOH and have a full band mix. They can unplug the monitor on your side of the stage and plug the iem in. That's what I've done, i'm just getting our full band into the iem world.