In this episode of Gig Gab, you get the full story of how Kevin “KG” Glendinning cold-emailed his way from a Chicago suburb into a 25-year career mixing monitors for Alicia Keys, Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Lorde, and more. You hear how a kid sweeping floors at dB Sound ended up on a Metallica tour bus with one piece of advice ringing in his ears: ask questions, stay late, and get a second job because you’re gonna need it. Kevin walks you through migrating artists to in-ear monitors, managing talkback culture for everyone from Eddie Vedder wanting baseball scores to Lorde’s tight production team, and what it takes to help reluctant guitar players finally ditch the wedges. If you’ve ever wondered what separates a good monitor engineer from a great one, this conversation lays it out.

You also dive deep into the art and science of making IEMs sound right in every room, every night. Kevin shares his process of minimal reduction: fixing a bad mix by figuring out what to take away, not what to add, and explains why tuning for in-ears is just as critical as tuning a PA. You learn why he flies 4,700 miles for a single gig, why the best mixes sometimes come from a throw-and-go, and how setting up dummy channels lets you experiment without wrecking the artist’s mix. He and Dave talk hearing health, audiograms, the DPA capsule as the only open mic on the Lorde stage, and why knowing your own ears matters more than knowing your gear. Whether you’re mixing monitors at an arena or running sound at a club gig, this episode is packed with wisdom you can use tonight. Always Be Performing, folks!

00:00:00 Gig Gab 528 – Monday, April 6th, 2026

April 6th: National Siamese Cat Day

Guest co-host: Kevin Glendinning

00:02:25 Hotmailing his way into a career

Watched the credits of a Metallica documentary, realized DB Sound was near the house, emailed Harry… “Hi, I’m Kevin, and I’m interested in audio…” and the rest is history!

00:07:58 Got put on the road as an audio team assistant

Trial by fire

Advice from the team:

Here’s what to do

Here’s what not to do

Ask questions, stay late, and get a second job because you’re gonna need it

00:11:22 Learning the personal touch parts of being on tour

00:12:52 Being the stage left PA tech, Kevin gravitated towards monitors

00:13:50 Talkback Culture

Eddie Vedder wanted baseball scores in his talkback

SOMBR for Coachella 2026 (Chris Rabold at FOH)

00:16:18 Managing multiple talkback channels

00:18:08 LORDE on Talkback

Phil Harvey on FOH

Sarah Parker is LD

00:19:00 Talkback stories

Jaret Reddick’s use of talkback mics in Bowling For Soup

00:20:51 Migrating to in-ears

IEMs can preserve your hearing, if done right

Future Sonics uses dynamic drivers

00:25:09 Helping guitar players to IEMs

Mike Dias on Gig Gab

Sensaphonics 3MAX IEMs on LORDE tour

00:32:08 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at https://gusto.com/giggab

00:33:44 Back to helping guitar players with IEMs

Problem: when a vocal mic is downstage from a guitar amp

Ian Beveridge with Foo Fighters

Paul Simon prefers wedges

Always be learning

First: Learn the human being you’re going to be mixing for

00:41:27 The differences between mixing monitors for Miley Cyrus and Ella LORDE

00:42:48 Monitoring the Artists Monitors

TX1 Wireless Transmitters

REMI with Brad Madix on Gig Gab

00:47:50 Different rooms sound different on IEMs

AFAS Live (formerly Heineken Music Hall) in Amsterdam sounds great

Dave says Alamodome in San Antonio is one of the worst-sounding

To fix IEMs in a bad-sounding room: what can we reduce to make it sound better?

Last night it was a bongo mic that was making the drumset sound too washy in the IEM mix

“The process of minimal reduction”

Ella’s DPA capsule is the only open mic on-stage on the LORDE tour

Tune for the IEMs, too: listen to something you know, and EQ it

Tuning the podcast for JH Audio Laylas

01:04:06 Learn your own ears (not your IEMs, your human ears) first

Take a hearing test with your phone if you can

Kevin and Alicia Keys would go and get their hearing tested together, getting audiograms to compare

01:07:09 IEMs are the most personal audio interaction

You have to be psychic!

01:09:46 Flying 4,700 miles to save the day

Sometimes the throw-and-go results in the best mix because you’re not overthinking it

Tip from Kevin: set up dummy channels to experiment without messing with the actual mix for the IEMs

01:15:57 Gig Gab 528 Outtro

Follow Kevin Glendinning

IG: @kev_chitown

LinkedIn: Kevin ‘KG’ Glendinning

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The post Monitoring the Artists’ Monitors: IEM Wisdom from Kevin Glendinning – Gig Gab 528 appeared first on Gig Gab.

Id. d’épisode : 1000759889964

GUID : https://www.giggabpodcast.com/?p=3634

Date de publication : 6/4/2026 à 09:05:07