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I was wondering what is heard by the singers (Jimmy included) in their earpieces. I have always wondered and never knew!

Are they:

listening to the band?
listening to scores from ESPN?
listening to someone off stage?
waiting to see if they saved a bunch on their car insurance?
hearing lyrics to songs they are singing?

Pardon my ignorance, but do singers routinely know every verse or are they prompted?

Justawonderin'....thanks for the facts!

I HAVE TOO.

Without going into a long technical explanation I will shorten it up. If you notice that in earlier concerts the bands all had speakers usually on the stage in front of them so they could hear the music. Instead of the speakers on the floor they now have the earpieces so that they can hear the rest of the band.

jollymon345 wrote:Without going into a long technical explanation I will shorten it up. If you notice that in earlier concerts the bands all had speakers usually on the stage in front of them so they could hear the music. Instead of the speakers on the floor they now have the earpieces so that they can hear the rest of the band.

If I may add on...they have to be able to hear themselves (literally) so they can all be playing in synch. Imagine the place where you last saw a concert. Imagine trying to "condense" the sound on stage so that it doesn't all go out into the open space and get lost. Then none of the musicians would be able to hear what the other ones were playing.

Good question!

phjrsaunt wrote:

jollymon345 wrote:Without going into a long technical explanation I will shorten it up. If you notice that in earlier concerts the bands all had speakers usually on the stage in front of them so they could hear the music. Instead of the speakers on the floor they now have the earpieces so that they can hear the rest of the band.

If I may add on...they have to be able to hear themselves (literally) so they can all be playing in synch. Imagine the place where you last saw a concert. Imagine trying to "condense" the sound on stage so that it doesn't all go out into the open space and get lost. Then none of the musicians would be able to hear what the other ones were playing.

Good question!

Not all musicians use it so that they can hear themselves. I worked in clubs for several years and played keyboards for a band on a couple of songs once in a while and the first couple times it threw me off because the guy who sang and played the keyboards did not have his microphone or keyboards playing back in his monitor. So when I went to play I did not hear anything and was totally screwed up until they piped it in. I guess to each his own.

i think it is more for jimmy and any other singer in any other band to hear themselves sing. the other band members do not wear the ear pieces . stick your fingers in your ears and then say something.

"listen to the stories i could tell"

at a time like this, what would key lime lee say?

mason wrote:i think it is more for jimmy and any other singer in any other band to hear themselves sing. the other band members do not wear the ear pieces . stick your fingers in your ears and then say something.

"listen to the stories i could tell"

at a time like this, what would key lime lee say?

I just stuck my fingers in my ears and said, "something." Can I take my fingers out of my ears now?????????

phjrsaunt wrote:

mason wrote:i think it is more for jimmy and any other singer in any other band to hear themselves sing. the other band members do not wear the ear pieces . stick your fingers in your ears and then say something.

"listen to the stories i could tell"

at a time like this, what would key lime lee say?

I just stuck my fingers in my ears and said, "something." Can I take my fingers out of my ears now?????????

actually if you stick your little pinkie up that will act as an antennae. then you can receive messages from other alien life forms in the galaxy.





"listen to the stories i could tell"

member of the parrothead nation

i was always told it was so they could tell if they were singing on key or not...

Actually everyone in the band wears them... They're in-ear monitors.

Previously most monitors were floor monitors (as pointed out the big wedgy things on the stage in front of the band). They're designed to allow the band members to hear each other (instruments and singing).

What you have to understand is that the sound you as the audience hear from the speakers is vastly different than what it sounds like on stage to the musicians. If I'm a guitar player, I can usually hear my amp, the drummer and probably the bass player, but there's no way I can really hear the singer. Even so, the bass may be louder than the drums, or my guitar may drowned out the bass or whatever... and if you can't hear each other well it's nearly impossible to play together. Stage sound sucks so bad - if you stood in the middle of the stage and listened you would think something was wrong. Move out front and it's perfect.

So they use monitors, which are usually mixed seperately from the main mix (the mix of instruments the audience hears). Monitor mixes are often controlled from a mixing board on the side of the stage (as opposed to the main mix which is controlled from that big FOH board in the middle of the audience.

In many cases monitor mixes can be customized for each individual musician. (Well, at Jimmy's level they can. At my level we're lucky if we get a guy who can spell 'monitor'.) So maybe Jimmy wants a little more Mac and more of the vocals for harmozing, where maybe Ralph only cares about Roger Guth and Jim Mayer (I'm speculating). Most will have themselves in the mix so they can hear what they're playing more clearly, and singers generally always have themselves in the mix.

The in-ear monitors are nice because they not only free up the stage, but they act as ear protection. You can't begin to understand the kind of permanent damage that even Jimmy Buffett music can cause.

I've also heard a rumor that the band's in-ear monitors have a second channel for Jimmy to call out songs, make jokes, or point out pretty girls in coconut bras...

LOL...car insurance. that's a good one!
anyway, i am of the opinion they are listening to the beat and timing of the band, so they can not lose track. especially when all the audience starts singing, and their singing takes another half second or so to get back to jimmys(et al) ears...it throws everybody off. That is in particular very evident in Feeding frenzy when they are singing Why Dont We etc etc.

lol, after all these years of listening to feeding frenzy and that part of the song, it still throws me off when i sing it. i havent gotten used to it yet.

Thanks for the information.

Now I realize why he couldn't hear me (yelling from the stands) inviting him over for a ride in my rowboat!!

It could have been fun; I even would have rowed!

Good question. Interesting thread.

Key Lime Lee wrote: I've also heard a rumor that the band's in-ear monitors have a second channel for Jimmy to call out songs, make jokes, or point out pretty girls in coconut bras...

That's what I thought they were for in the first place........

The output from the IEM (in-ear-monitors) can actually be recorded from outside sources. I know a lot of tapers who record them from the parking lot. They are on a radio frequency, and if the taper can figure out the frequency, it can be recorded. Dave Matthews Band tapers have a ton of IEM recordings circulating.

They are fun to listen to, but quality is so-so. Vocals are always pretty good, but there isn't a real "full" sound. It is great listening to band members talking about stuff on stage...some stuff I'm sure they don't want out.

I'm sure an IEM recording of buffett would give the radio margaritaville recordings a run for their money.

DeltOU wrote:The output from the IEM (in-ear-monitors) can actually be recorded from outside sources. I know a lot of tapers who record them from the parking lot. They are on a radio frequency, and if the taper can figure out the frequency, it can be recorded. Dave Matthews Band tapers have a ton of IEM recordings circulating.

They are fun to listen to, but quality is so-so. Vocals are always pretty good, but there isn't a real "full" sound. It is great listening to band members talking about stuff on stage...some stuff I'm sure they don't want out.

I'm sure an IEM recording of buffett would give the radio margaritaville recordings a run for their money.

What kind of equipment are you talking here?

DeltOU wrote:The output from the IEM (in-ear-monitors) can actually be recorded from outside sources. I know a lot of tapers who record them from the parking lot. They are on a radio frequency, and if the taper can figure out the frequency, it can be recorded. Dave Matthews Band tapers have a ton of IEM recordings circulating.

They are fun to listen to, but quality is so-so. Vocals are always pretty good, but there isn't a real "full" sound. It is great listening to band members talking about stuff on stage...some stuff I'm sure they don't want out.

I'm sure an IEM recording of buffett would give the radio margaritaville recordings a run for their money.

I can remember reading an article a while back about iem's & Dave Matthews. While DMB lets people tape their shows I believe they outlawed those types of devices that can record what goes through the iem's. I guess the bands don't really want what they say to each other on stage to get out - understandable I would think.

I think when you start to intercept radio transmissions and record them you've crossed the line into wiretapping.

I think the one Britney Spears wears makes her believe she can sing....

Lee got it exactly right - each musician does get their own mix. You will see them at a show making hand signals to the side of the stage, trying to tell the monitor mixer what to adjust. And I can confirm the rumor that Jimmy does indeed have a back channel to talk to the band - from what I hear it can be quite entertaining.