Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2013 December 8

= December 8 =

Singers wearing earpieces
I've often seen this, and wonder why they wear theses devices, which look like hearing aids. Last night all 5 singers in One Direction seemed to be wearing them while performing on SNL, and one even had to adjust his while singing. All I can think of is that they are to be used to feed the singers lyrics, if they forget, or maybe cue when each should start singing. StuRat (talk) 10:27, 8 December 2013 (UTC)


 * This is going to dent your faith in humanity, but see our article Lip-synching in music. Alansplodge (talk) 11:47, 8 December 2013 (UTC)


 * (ec) They're In-ear monitors, they serve the same function as wedge monitors but allow greater fidelity (higher quality, more clearly heard) and also allow the wearers to move around the stage more freely and still be able to hear the music and what they (and others) are singing. Nanonic (talk) 11:54, 8 December 2013 (UTC)


 * (ec)What Nononic said. Performers need to hear the music as it's being played so they can all keep in time and in tune with everybody else, but the main speakers are pointing away from them and the sound coming from them will be subject to echoes and delays as it bounces round the hall. The usual solution is to have monitor speakers at the front of the stage pointing towards the performers, but monitor speakers can feed back and if the crowd is very loud it can drown them out, so earpieces are an alternative. --Nicknack009 (talk) 11:58, 8 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, technology can fail. Some singers (especially folk singers) still prefer the traditional hand cupped to the ear in order to hear themselves.--Shantavira|feed me 13:29, 8 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Exactly what Nononic said. I perform in a musical group, and we use in-ear monitor systems (Aviom to be specific) for several reasons 1) better control on the individual level than open-air monitors (I control what is in my mix, not the guy at the sound board, and if I need something changed, I change it myself) 2) The sound guy doesn't have to worry about us at all.  He just worries about the house mix, since we're controlling our own monitors and perhaps most importantly 3) lack of cross-contamination between the monitor mix and the house mix.  With open-air monitors (speakers pointing at the musicians rather than the audience) there's LOTS of problems with a) the musicians getting confused by the house mix (bounceback off the walls, delays, etc.) and with the house mix getting crap from the monitors (monitors getting picked up by mics, or monitors themselves bouncing off the walls behind the stage and feeding back to the audience).  In-ear monitors are AWESOME things, and it's why everyone uses them now, where they have the means.  There really is no good reason (aside from the extra expense of buying it) why someone WOULDN'T use them rather than pointing speakers back at the performers.  They don't feed the singers lyrics, or anything like that.  They're feeding the performers a pure, clean, easy to hear version of what they are singing and playing right then.  The group I play in also feeds in a click track which also helps keep us in time, but that's literally the ONLY thing we have in our in-ear monitors that's not available to the audience.  But yeah, they're really fundamental to good performance, hearing yourself and your bandmates clearly is key to putting on a good show, and that's what those in-ear devices provide for musicians.  -- Jayron  32  03:53, 9 December 2013 (UTC)


 * OK, thanks. Follow-up Q:  They appeared to only be on one ear.  That seems like it would be very confusing, hearing different things in each ear.  Do they have a hidden earplug in the other ear ? StuRat (talk) 05:41, 9 December 2013 (UTC)


 * A good performer also needs to be able to respond to the audience. Wearing earpieces in both ears would cut you off from the audience and make it more like a studio session. --Nicknack009 (talk) 10:32, 9 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Having said that, I've found a blog post by a vocal coach that says using only one can be bad for your hearing, and suggests it's better to use two in-ear monitors that let in ambient sound. --Nicknack009 (talk) 10:41, 9 December 2013 (UTC)


 * An interesting article about the pros and cons of in-ear monitors. --Nicknack009 (talk) 10:51, 9 December 2013 (UTC)


 * The video for Do They Know It's Christmas? featured a lot of singers cupping their hands to their ears while wearing headphones. Here's Sting and Simon Le Bon, Bono and Sting, and some others (Paul Young, maybe). What was that all about? Card Zero  (talk) 22:08, 9 December 2013 (UTC)


 * They're just pushing the earpiece closer to their ear so that they can hear the music coming through it more clearly, I think. --Viennese Waltz 22:39, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

Thanks all ! StuRat (talk) 06:08, 14 December 2013 (UTC)