Ring Out the Monitors Before the Band Ever Arrives
Ring out monitors before the band ever shows up, every time. Feedback during the set feels random. It isn’t. Every room and every wedge has the same handful of frequencies waiting to take off, and they’re findable on a Tuesday when nobody’s watching — you just have to go looking before the room fills up.
How to Ring Out Monitors Before Soundcheck
One open mic at the vocal position, monitor up slowly until the first ring appears. Find that frequency on the EQ, pull it a few dB — not a crater, a trim. Bring the level up again. Second ring, same treatment. Two or three passes and you’ve bought yourself real gain before feedback, calmly, with coffee in hand. That is the whole point of doing this alone — ring out monitors before anyone else is in the room.
Why Doing This Alone Matters
Ringing out with a band on stage means hunting a squeal while eight people wince at you. Doing it empty means the dangerous frequencies are already handled before a musician ever asks for “more me.” The request that used to be a risk becomes a fader move instead of a gamble. Ring out monitors before the doors open, and the whole set gets quieter for it.
The restraint clause: every cut costs tone. If you’ve notched more than three or four spots, the problem isn’t EQ anymore — it’s mic choice, wedge placement, or a singer cupping the capsule. Fix the physics before you keep carving the sound.
Skip the ring-out and here’s what actually happens: the first ring shows up mid-set, right as the vocalist leans into the chorus, and now you’re hunting a frequency live while the whole room hears it happen. You’ll find it — you always do — but you’ll find it in front of people instead of alone with a cup of coffee, and it’ll cost you a few seconds of everyone’s trust in the mix. Do the boring version on a Tuesday so the exciting version never happens on a Sunday. It pairs well with getting your gain structure sorted before you touch the EQ at all — same principle, different knob, same payoff. Ring out monitors before soundcheck starts, and none of this happens.
Feedback isn’t bad luck. It’s a to-do list you haven’t done yet.
