PA Basics: Monitors & Foldbacks
Monitors and Foldbacks are a type of speaker which you will see on stage, often at the feet of musicians, on a small stand or even wireless in-ear headphones.
In most cases the stage is set behind the speakers and you can actually hear relatively little from the main house speakers. This makes it hard to hear what the other musicians/singers are doing or even your own, i.e. a guitar.
What you can do with monitors
It is possible using a sound desk/mixer to send different sound feeds to each foldback speaker rather than just what everyone can hear in the house.
This can be really helpful so the lead singer can have just their guitar, voice and key instruments in theirs, while the backing singers can hear the leader's voice, guitar and their voices but no other instruments.
Setting monitors up
On a Mixing Desk you'll find something like 'Auxillary' or 'Sub' which is how you can control the output of a foldback. These will then have their own volume controls and also their own output on the back of a mixer.
If you have a small system you can link directly to the monitors from this output but you'll probably be using a snake/multicore to send the signal to the stage and then connect the monitors from there.
Different types of foldback
We've all seen the big wedges in front of a big singer but you often don't need something so big. Small speakers on the base of a mic stand can be easier to position and don't use so much floor space.
Larger wedges come in two types, one with an amp in them (requiring a power-source) and others which require an external amp to power them. The former is more ideal and gives musicians some choice over their level, though be careful as sometimes this can be nearly as powerful as the main speakers.
In-ear foldbacks, while 'cool' they are only necessary if you have to have a clean stage with a highly mobile principle and aren't the most comfortable not to mention are quite expensive.
