The monitor engineer mixes for five or six people who all want something different, in real time, while watching their hands.
Wedges or in-ears
- Wedges: floor speakers, one mix per position, loud, and shared with the front rows
- In-ears: a personal mix per performer, a quieter stage, more precise, and more channels plus a radio plan
Most touring artists in Europe are on in-ears above club level. Small stages often have four wedge mixes and no dedicated engineer, in which case the front of house engineer runs monitors from the same desk.
During the show
They watch for hand signals, fix a mix mid song, and deal with a pack that dies in the second verse. A performance falls apart fast when the singer cannot hear pitch.
What helps them
A monitor list in the technical rider, with every position named and numbered. Stage positions that stay the same night to night. And a soundcheck that starts on time. See In-ear monitors.