Singers with earphones

[JackK0]

Yeah they basically are just letting the singer hear the instruments playing or backing track my dad saw G'n'R a few years back Slash's ear piece wasn't working he just stormed off stage I don't no the rest but he was not happy at all I understand how frustrating it probably is.

[Mr Bloom]

I suppose so since you put it like that...my beloved Sheena Easton a jumped up pub singer

 

I knew you were Prince!!! I knew it!!

[Eater Sundae]

So it's like glorified karaoke?

 

Whenever I hear Heather Small, I immediately think of Vic Reeves club singer.

[Guest]

Good wireless ones are expensive. Decent ones are high end three figures into four. Annoyingly.

 

Generally you don't have wireless monitors. They're just normal corded ones connected to a wireless receiver which is separate.

 

Decent IEMs start much lower than that. Admittedly the ones I really want are in the price range you mention

[alternageek]

They will be listening to their own mix of the band, in the same way as you see (every?) band playing with their own speakers in front of them. It'll be mixed to their specification, which is different for every singer / performer out there.

 

IEM's aren't actually that expensive, and have lots of benefits (quieter, less feedback), but also disadvantages (cost, availability, interference & time to set up).

 

Of course, with IEM's not being audible to the audience, you can also put other things in them, such as click tracks, countdowns on when to start singing, and reminders of lyrics.

 

They also allow bands to talk to one another privately while stage mics are on. This more of a help with larger arena shows, rather than the smaller O2 Academy sized gigs.

 

The mix in their ears isnt great to the regular listener, as each person wearing their headset, is hearing a mix just for their needs.

[Eater Sundae]

They also allow bands to talk to one another privately while stage mics are on. This more of a help with larger arena shows, rather than the smaller O2 Academy sized gigs.

 

The mix in their ears isnt great to the regular listener, as each person wearing their headset, is hearing a mix just for their needs.

 

Re bib. Can you (or someone else) give me an idea how this works in practice. How might the mix differ, performer to performer - I would have thought that they would all need to hear the final product, to know it is right. Clearly, I know nothing about the subject, but am just curious. Thanks.

[Plain Talker]

Singers on TV (eg Robbie Williams on TV at present) usually wear earphones in one or both ears. What are they listening to? Is it the musical accompaniment, themselves, both, or something else?

 

It's a twofold problem that they are used to counteract.

 

One is the sheer volume noise at the stadium or venue:- they need to hear the backing track clearly for their cues to sing (or mime, depending on who you have gone to see!) in time.

 

The second is the delay between the sound coming from the monitors and the sound waves hitting the ears of the singer. Even a split second delay can throw the vocals and the backing tracks out of synch.

[cgksheff]

I always was led to understand that the prime reason for using them (prior to modern mimers) was as a result of venues and stages getting larger, different members of a group/band would be hearing the sound back from the different speakers at fractionally differing times.

By wearing the ear sets, they would all be hearing their playing/singing at a common time and could so keep everything together.

 

 

 

,,, and PT posts as I typed!!

[Lockjaw]

Re bib. Can you (or someone else) give me an idea how this works in practice. How might the mix differ, performer to performer - I would have thought that they would all need to hear the final product, to know it is right. Clearly, I know nothing about the subject, but am just curious. Thanks.

 

My ideal mix would have my voice much louder than everything else because it helps reassure me I'm singing in tune - if I can't hear myself I get very very edgy. Our violinists want to mainly hear their own violin, for the same reason, and the guitar so it's easier to keep in time. Some singers don't want to hear any harmony vocals because it puts them off ... and so on.

 

Having said that, when we're using our own PA we only use one monitor mix so it's largely a compromise.

[Plain Talker]

I always was led to understand that the prime reason for using them (prior to modern mimers) was as a result of venues and stages getting larger, different members of a group/band would be hearing the sound back from the different speakers at fractionally differing times.

By wearing the ear sets, they would all be hearing their playing/singing at a common time and could so keep everything together.

 

 

 

,,, and PT posts as I typed!!

 

great minds think alike...

 

 

(and as evildoctorneil always pointed out, when I said this... "fools seldom differ!")