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2 - Ringing Out Monitors
The object here is to achieve maximum gain before feedback, with the most natural tone. The less EQ you use, the more natural the monitors will sound. Too often folks are just setting a "smile" curve without even listening. Remember, the human voice is right in the middle of that midrange you're pulling out. Be gentle and conservative with EQ.
This assumes that you already know how to place monitors. Clear the stage of humans and warn everyone to plug their ears... things are gonna get noisy for a few minutes. Ring out one mic at a time, then add them all and repeat.
1) Turn off the front speakers and all monitor sends.Set the graphic EQ to flat, really flat (find the detents).
2) Verrrrry slowly, and cautiously, raise the gain of one mic channel until a note just begins to ring. Find the corresponding frequency on the EQ and pull it down just until the feedback of that particular note stops. (If the note occurs between two slders you'll have to pull the surrounding sliders down.)
3) After you remove the first ring, cautiously raise the gain again... usually, the next worst offender will take its place as the prominent ringing tone. Locate it on the EQ and pull it out, again, no more than is necessary.
Do this up to 3 times.. After eliminating 1- 3 isolated notes, upon raising the gain you will hear several notes ringing at once... stop there, you are done! At the point where you are hearing three feedback notes, things are usually too loud and you should reduce the master gain until all feedback stops.
The point here is that you'll rarely have to pull more than 3 ringing frequencies on your EQ. Sometimes you can leave the EQ flat! Stop and listen. If it sounds good, it is good. When the ringing is gone, you can fine tune the EQ to taste. Once you've brought up all the mics, you can then ring out the whole mix to check it. Every room and situation is different; EQ settings will vary radically from space to space. Trust your ears, and try not to hurt anybody.
NOTE 1: Though no substitute for a Real Time Analyzer, in a pinch, I have used this routine to ring out the front end of a PA as well.
NOTE 2: If you have a compressor, patch it in and set the Ratio to infinity with a low Threshold. This allows you to find the ringing notes at a safe and comfortable volume. As you pull out the ringing note with the EQ, the next will instantly surface on its own. Again, when you hear three notes ringing, you're probably done. Turn down, (remove the compressor) and see how it sounds
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