Tools / FOH / Mons Mixing
FOH / Mons Mixing
Mix technique notes, EQ reference, and tricks for improving a mix — written up as I have time. The field guides below are my own notes distilled from The Sound Reinforcement Handbook (Davis & Jones), rewritten in my own words.
Gain Staging Setup Procedure
Setting preamp trim, faders, and padding correctly to avoid overdriving the signal chain.
Field guideMaximum Acoustic Gain & Feedback Control
The 6 dB rule of thumb and the 3-point technique for keeping gain-before-feedback in hand.
Field guideMic Setup & Placement Field Techniques
Windscreens, shock mounts, phantom power do's and don'ts, and the open-mic gain-loss rule.
Field guideStage Monitor System Fundamentals
Why a dedicated monitor console beats mixing wedges from FOH.
Field guideRinging Out a Monitor System
The iterative gain-up, identify, pull-3dB loop for clearing a wedge mix before doors.
Field guideMonitor Feedback Control
Mic handling, polarity flips, and correct dual-wedge placement to avoid comb filtering.
Field guideTuning a System with Graphic/Paragraphic EQ
Pre-EQ checklist plus the measure, correct, re-measure loop — with a high-pass filter reference.
Field guideCompressor/Limiter Setup Adjustments
Attack/release tradeoffs and a worked speaker-protection threshold/ratio example.
Field guideGrounding & Ground Loop Basics
What causes ground-loop hum, and why you never defeat a safety ground to fix it.
Field guideAudio Troubleshooting Decision Guide
An absence-of-signal checklist plus a symptom-to-fix table for hum, buzz, hiss, and distortion.
Field guideLoudspeaker Failure Diagnosis
Symptom-to-cause tables for driver failures, plus the amp power-sequencing rule and an AM-radio oscillation trace trick.
Field guideAC Power Safety Checklist
Outlet-testing procedure, lifted-ground/lifted-neutral diagnosis, and what to carry in your kit.
Field guide