How to ring out monitors at church.

The short answer: to ring out monitors, using the steps in WorshipTechU's feedback course, set the stage exactly as it'll be used, then slowly raise one wedge's send until you hear the first soft ring. Find that frequency, cut it about 3 dB with a narrow parametric EQ, and raise the send again. Do that for two or three rings, then back the send off about 6 dB from the last ring point. If it still rings, stop cutting and fix where the mic and wedge are placed.

Last checked: 12 October 2026.

ch 01What you're actually doing

Feedback is a loop: speaker, air, mic, console, amp, speaker. Nothing in that loop is flat, so one frequency reaches the tipping point first, and that's the note you hear ringing. Gain before feedback is the margin between the level you need and the level where that loop rings. No meter shows it.

Ringing out finds those first few problem frequencies on purpose, before rehearsal, so you find them instead of the congregation. WorshipTechU's what is feedback? course teaches that a comfortable stage has 6 dB or more of margin, and that 1 dB is one cupped hand from howling.

ch 02Before you start: geometry first

Placement buys more than EQ ever will, and it costs nothing:

• Wedge in the mic's null. A cardioid mic rejects sound straight behind it, so put one wedge centered in front of the singer, aimed at them, behind the mic. A supercardioid's nulls sit off to the sides, so splay two wedges about 45 to 60 degrees off center instead.
• Every mic behind the front line of the mains.
• Subs off the platform lip. Subs on the stage feed every open mic with low end, the usual cause of a low howl.
• Nothing hard and flat behind a singer. It bounces the wedge straight back into the mic.
• Mute mics nobody is using. Each doubling of open mics costs about 3 dB of margin.

By the feedback course's numbers, a mic's null buys 15 to 20 dB across nearly every frequency at once. A single EQ notch buys about 3 dB at one frequency, and it colours the sound. Do the placement first.

ch 03How to ring out monitors, step by step

1. Set the stage as it'll be used on Sunday. Mics where the singers will stand, wedges where they'll sit.
2. Bring the mic up in that wedge's mix and slowly raise the send.
3. Stop at the first soft, sustained ring. That's the warning before a howl.
4. Find the frequency. By ear, with an RTA on peak hold, or with a swept boost.
5. Cut it about 3 dB with a narrow parametric band (a Q around 8 to 16, about 1/8 octave or narrower, 3 to 6 dB deep) on that mix's EQ.
6. Raise the send again and listen for the next ring.
7. Repeat for two or three rings, then stop. The first notch buys the most. Each one after buys less for the same cost to tone.
8. Back the send off about 6 dB from the last ring point. Write that point down.
9. Do the same for the mains at the vocal mics and the podium.

ch 04What the pitch tells you

• Low howl, roughly 100 Hz to 300 Hz: low end building up, often subs on the platform.
• Mid honk, roughly 800 Hz to 2 kHz: the classic vocal ring, a mic's presence peak meeting a wedge.
• High whistle, roughly 3 kHz to 8 kHz: bright wedges, condensers, or a singer cupping the grille.

ch 05If it rings during the service

Fader first, frequency second. Pull the fader or mute first, because that stops every frequency at once. Then find the frequency, cut it a few dB narrow, bring the level back slowly, and leave it a couple of dB under where it rang.

ch 06Practice hearing it

Finding the ringing frequency by ear is a skill, and it gets faster with reps. Ring It Out in the WorshipTechU app has you hear which frequency is ringing and kill it before the room feeds back, on your phone. Moving singers to in-ears takes the loudest part of the loop off the stage entirely; the what is in-ear monitoring? course covers that move. The app runs on iPhone and Android (the same app, both in beta, with Android on Google Play) and on the web.