Worship team in-ear mixes: 3 mistakes that wreck them

Almost every worship team I have worked with switches to in-ears at some point, expecting instant clarity. What they often get is a band that feels disconnected, a singer who drifts sharp, and a sound tech doing twice the work for half the trust.

In-ears rarely cause that on their own. How the team set up the in-ear mixes almost always does.

If you are still choosing earphones, start with the in-ear monitor buying guide, which compares eight models on the spec that matters most, the seal. This post is about the other half: what goes into each person's ears, and in what order.

Mistake 1: everyone asks for "a little of everything"

The most common request I hear is "just give me a bit of everything." It feels safe. It is exactly what makes in-ear mixes muddy and tiring, because twelve sources at the same level is not a mix, it is a wall.

Ask a better question: what do you need to hear to do your job? The answer is different for every seat.

• Drummer: click, bass, the worship leader's voice, a little keys for the changes. Their own kit only if the in-ears seal well enough that they cannot hear it acoustically.
• Bass: kick, their own bass, click, the leader, keys for the harmony.
• Keys: their own keys loud enough to hear voicings, the leader, bass, click, and the music director's talkback if that is someone else.
• Lead singer: their own voice forward, then the keys or guitar that gives them pitch, a little drums for the pocket, and the click only if they count songs in.
• Backing singers: their own voice, the lead, and the one instrument that gives them their note.

Fewer sources, each one there for a reason, beats a kitchen-sink mix every time. Less really is more here.

Mistake 2: not enough of themselves

Singers who go sharp or flat on in-ears are usually missing enough of their own voice to hear their pitch. Before you decide it is a "them" problem, check their own level.

Sealed in-ears take away the sound of your own voice through the air. What is left is the sound through your bones, which is dull and boomy. Singers instinctively push to hear themselves, and pushing pulls them sharp. The fix is simple and it feels wrong the first time: put them louder in their own mix than they think they need, then bring everything else in around them.

Two more things help:

• Stereo, if your desk can do it. A stereo in-ear mix with the band spread a little left and right leaves a gap in the middle for the singer's own voice. It also lets you run the whole mix quieter, which is better for their ears.
• Ambience. One or two microphones pointed at the congregation, sent quietly to everyone's in-ears, stop that "sealed in a box" feeling. When the room sings back, the team hears it.

Mistake 3: treating the click like a metronome, not a bandmate

A click that ticks along at one flat level, with no shape, makes a live set feel stiff. The band should feel the song breathe: a drop into the bridge, a lift into the last chorus.

So give the click a seat in the band:

• Only the people who need it get it. Drummer, bass, keys and the music director usually. Many singers are better without it.
• Set it like an instrument. Loud enough to lock to in the loud chorus, not so loud it pokes through the quiet verse. If your tracks software lets you, use a softer sound and accent the "1".
• Rehearse with it until the team trusts it. A team that resents the click will rush it, take an ear out, or quietly turn it off. Then you have lost the one thing holding a big room's timing together.

If you run tracks and a click from a laptop, PerformLive keeps the click and cues on their own outputs, so they go to the band's ears and never to the front of house.

How to build in-ear mixes on the desk

Whatever desk you have, the shape is the same.

1. One mix bus per person, set to pre-fader. Pre-fader means the front-of-house fader does not change what the band hears. When the engineer rides the lead vocal up in the chorus, the drummer's mix stays where it was.
2. Name the buses after people, not instruments. "Ama", "Kofi", "Keys" beats "Mix 3". On a Sunday morning nobody remembers what Mix 3 was.
3. Put a limiter on every in-ear output. If a mic gets dropped or a cable pops, a limiter stops it reaching someone's ears at full level. Most digital desks have one on each bus.
4. Start each mix from zero. Bring the person's own source up first, then add only what they ask for. Do not copy one mix into the next and subtract.
5. Save it. Store a scene or snapshot when the mixes are right. Next week starts from there, not from zero.

On a Behringer X32 or Midas M32, letting each musician set their own mix from their phone takes this whole job off the engineer. That is what our free MixMyIEM app does: each person picks their name and moves a few big faders, and nothing they do touches the main mix. On a Midas MR18 the same idea works through the free MX-Mix app, and the MR18 guide walks through setting up its six monitor mixes.

The fifteen minutes that fix Sunday

In-ears reward teams that rehearse on purpose. Before the next full practice, take fifteen minutes and do just this:

1. Everyone puts both earphones in. Both. One ear out means the other ear gets turned up to compete.
2. Go seat by seat. Each person says what they need, in the order of the list above.
3. Play one loud song and one quiet one. Adjust only between songs, not during.
4. Save the scene.
5. Ask one question at the end: "Can you hear what you need to do your job?" Not "does it sound good?"

You will spend a lot less time firefighting on a Sunday morning. Most of what gets blamed on the gear is really a conversation nobody had.

Questions people ask

Why do singers go sharp on in-ear monitors?
Usually because they cannot hear enough of themselves and push to compensate. Turn their own voice up, and add a little room ambience.

Should the whole worship team have the click?
No. Drummer, bass, keys and the music director usually need it. Many singers sing better without it.

Can we use cheap earbuds as in-ear monitors?
They will work if they seal, but the seal matters more than the price. The buying guide compares what each maker claims for isolation.

Stereo or mono in-ear mixes?
Stereo if your desk has the buses for it. It sounds clearer, so people run it quieter.

What does pre-fader mean for monitor mixes?
The send to the in-ear mix is taken before the channel fader, so the front-of-house engineer can move faders without changing what the band hears.

For the rest of the in-ear and monitor posts, see the worship team monitors guide.

Keep reading

WorshipKeyboards for church: what a Sunday actually needs, and seven that deliver itWorshipIn-ear monitors for a worship team: eight compared on isolation, cables and what feeds themWorshipThe Live Recording Run Sheet: how a worship team gets ready for the night