Gigs & business
Monitor engineer
A monitor engineer is responsible for what the performer hears rather than what the audience hears, mixing the booth wedges or in-ears from a separate desk. The role is common at festivals and rare in clubs.
In practice
At a festival, the monitor engineer owns your wedge. At a club, that job is the booth knob and it is yours.
If there is one, tell them what you need before the set: more kick, less top, or simply louder. Be specific and be brief, because they are mixing several stages of people who all want something. In a club, set the booth level during a track you know and then leave it — creeping it up over an hour is how DJs end sets unable to hear anything, and the room has no idea it happened because none of it reaches the floor.
The wedge
What they own
Festivals
Where the role exists
Set and leave
The club equivalent
Where these come from: Live-sound role definitions and club practice, not catalog figures.
Why it matters
For a DJ the practical meaning is that at a large show there is a specific person whose job is your monitor, and asking them is far more effective than adjusting anything yourself. At a club there is usually nobody, and the booth level knob is the whole system.
It is also worth knowing the distinction so you ask the right person. Requesting a change to the room from a monitor engineer, or a change to your wedge from front of house, generally produces a delay and a slightly puzzled look at a moment when you have neither to spare.
Frequently asked
Do clubs have monitor engineers?+
Rarely. In most clubs the booth monitor has one level control and it is on the mixer in front of you, which makes the job yours.
Who do I ask for more booth level at a festival?+
The monitor engineer if there is one, otherwise front of house. Asking the wrong one costs a minute you may not have mid-set.
Should I use in-ears as a DJ?+
Some do, particularly on very loud stages, and it changes how you cue considerably. It also needs a monitor engineer or a personal mixer, which most bookings do not provide.
Related terms
FOH engineer
The front-of-house engineer is responsible for what the audience hears. They control the system, its processing and its level, from a position out in the room rather than in the booth.
Booth monitor
The booth monitor is the speaker pointed at the DJ, fed from its own output with its own level control. It is separate from the master, so turning it up changes what you hear and nothing the room hears.
Soundcheck
A soundcheck is the time before doors to test your setup through the venue system — levels, monitoring, connections — so that nothing is discovered for the first time in front of a room.
DJ booth
The DJ booth is the space the equipment sits in: the table, the monitor, the power, and where all of it sits relative to the floor. It is part of the instrument, because it decides what you can hear.
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