How To Set Up Your Monitors - The Basics for Those Working with Music

Are you getting the most out of your monitors? Leading London Engineer Wes Maebe reveals how to improve the listening experience.

Wes Maebe is one of London's top engineers and has worked with Sting, Chaka Khan, Yusuf Islam, Deborah Bonham, The Kooks, Elliott Randall and many others. Like many engineers and producers, Wes works in a variety of locations - including small spaces which pose some interesting challenges when it comes to monitoring. You'll see that Wes is using a variety of monitors including the Tannoy Studio Reveal 502 Monitors http://www.tannoystudio.com

Most of us don't have the budget to hire an acoustician to come into our mixing space and remove weird reflections, says Wes. So, what do you do? Here are some basic steps to take: first, ensure that your monitors are raised up so that the tweeter is at the level of your ears. You want to be equi-distant from each of your monitors and angle them in so that the sweet spot is where you are going to be sitting. It's important of course, that the monitors are on a solid base, ideally de-coupled from the surface with a monitor stand built for this purpose.

Then, listen to some tracks that you know really well - like a favorite album. You may be able to determine how your room is affecting your perception of the tracks. For instance, if you have a highly reflective room, some of your frequncies may be bouncing around like crazy. Most active minitors have a frequency control so you can, for example, roll off some of the bass or increase some of the highs.

Wes Maebe is a Freelance Engineer (Recording - Mixing - Mastering – FOH), a contributor to The Ultimate Guide to Singing, a Reviewer for Mix Magazine and a board director for APRS. See
wes@wesonator.com and http://www.wesonator.com

Видео How To Set Up Your Monitors - The Basics for Those Working with Music канала Tannoy