However, this type of foldback monitoring can create feedback problems, especially if performers move their mics around with them during the show.Not unreasonably, drummers started asking for on-stage amplification so that they could hear their own kits above the howling din. If you're using acoustic instruments and vocals on stage, wedge monitors such as this Behringer Eurolive F1220 can be used to provide foldback from their microphones to the performers. (Just ask drummer Ginger Baker, one of the early wave of volume casualties, about playing on stage with Cream.) There is no way that drums (which are, after all, acoustic instruments) can compete with a 100W amp turned up full. But before long, some idiot invented the 100W amplifier, and that's when the real trouble started. In the early sixties, drum kits got bigger, and had no difficulty making their presence felt over the trebly racket of 30W combo amps. Compared to the industrial-strength racket that a modern drum kit generates, a '30s kit was a fairly tame affair that could just about be heard discreetly shuffling along behind the dance bands of the era. The problem is essentially one of escalation. Drummers, being the gentle, peace-loving creatures that they are, never play too loud, of course. Rock guitarists are the worst culprits, but some vocalists go over the top with their stage monitoring, and even normally placid folk violinists can go a bit decibel-crazy when they discover amplification.

The famous 'musical difficulties' that cause bands to break up are often nothing to do with the songs, but simply the result of someone turning up their amplifier too loud on gigs. Live sound is problematical, and on-stage sound can be the biggest nightmare of all. Learn how to choose and use on-stage speaker or headphone monitoring systems - after all, if you can't hear what you're doing, then your live performances are going to suffer.

Plans stage monitor