Why are In Ear Monitors Important?
In ears monitors are an essential piece of gear that don’t seem to get the recognition that they deserve. I mean, its not the most flashy, doesn’t get the most likes on instagram, and doesn’t make the most noticeable difference to the people in the audience, but can be a quiet (or not so quiet) game changer for you as a musician. Lets talk about why it’s important to use in ear monitors.
Protect your ears
Probably the main reason to use in ear monitors is the fact that they protect your ears from permanent hearing damage. We all know that extended exposure to loud noises is bad, but really any noise over 85 decibels (about the sound of heavy traffic) for an extended time can cause major hearing damage or total loss. Famous AC/DC frontman, Brian Johnson, was removed from their fall tour in 2015 due to hearing loss issues that threatened him becoming completely deaf. He had been touring since 1980 without ever using in ear monitors, and caused irreversible damage to his ears. In June 2016, Brian announced that because of the new “ADEL” in ear technology, he was ready to get back to making music. Brian stated, “I was really moved and amazed to be able to hear music again like I haven’t heard for several years now.” It doesn’t matter if you are playing at small gigs or large venues, the investment of in ear monitors could save your hearing in the long run. Also something that we want to address, please do not only wear one monitor in at a time when you are preforming. Sure you may think you look cool, or maybe you want to hear the room a bit better, but our ears are very sensitive and control much of our body’s balance. Leaving one monitor out throws off the pressure and balance in your ears, and can very quickly cause irreversible damage. Don't be that guy.
Pete Townshend, Guitarist for The Who, has famously suffered hearing loss from exposure to loud noises
Hear your band better
Don’t you just hate it when you cant hear the bass player, your singer, or worse yet, your own guitar! A sound engineers worst nightmare can be excessive stage volume, and sometimes even fighting the feedback that stage volume often bring. Stage volume, essentially, is noise that is coming directly out of floor monitor speakers or amps on stage that isn’t coming out of the main house speakers. Using in ear monitors fixes this issues. This allows you to be able to hear every part of your band, and it creates no stage volume. For us, using in ear monitors also creates a much tighter band, because everyone can hear and react to what everyone else is doing. You can even begin to us a band director, someone who can speak and direct the band that only you hear. It allows you to work together better, and ultimately sound better.
64 Audio Custom In Ear Monitors
Personal control
One of the biggest complaints about guitar players is that we always want to be turned up. We want to be able to hear ourselves, but sometimes that is just inconvenient for the band, or can lead to a bad mix in the room. In ear monitors give you the flexibility to create your own personal mix, that only you can hear! You can adjust each instrument level as well as which ear you want them. You can get pretty in-depth with it, or just turn down an instrument you don’t necessarily need to hear. This will make you happy, and your sound guy happy!
If you haven’t already, we highly recommend you take the leap and invest some money into in ear monitors. There are so many upsides to using them, and they can secretly become a game changer in your guitar rig. We don’t ever go without ours!