i usually fast forward the musical bits, but i was too lazy when i watched it this week. damn near killed myself. that band if farking dangerous.

From sadness or boredom?

TommyymmoT: Possibly one of the mics is out of phase.
It's an old audio trick, that even the presidents use.

No and no.

Polarity=/=phase. That whole coincident-mic noise-rejection thing never worked very well, at least until purpose-built mics with true coincident elements were introduced, and even then they didn't sound that great.

As for the POTUS, the two Shure SM57s are not coincident. They aren't even going to the same place - one is for PA and one is for the press feed. The White House provides everything, including the armored lectern.

SNL is still on?

/In before the "SNL is still on?" comments.

//SNL really does suck donkey dick though.

///Especially that one female hack - Wiigs or Piigs or something like that. Complete hack.

////Cheers!

Oh, and as for Bon Iver, one mic (on his right) is his normal vocal mic, while the other (left) is for effects.

Sting, coldplay, and morrisey had a three way baby.

Oh you guys... I loved the performance. I watched it prolly 50 times. His band was pretty amazing.

Bryan Ferry from Roxy Music did this YEARS ago...

Boy, do they suck.

I love Bon Iver, but watching this I realize that we have become our parents and we're swooning over adult contemporary.

I don't care. I'm gonna swoon away.

I didn't watch it but it couldn't have been any worse than Channing Tatum is the first half of the show. That dude sucks.

Thunderboy: They aren't even going to the same place - one is for PA and one is for the press feed

This has got to be a joke. Idiots never heard of a splitter?

moothemagiccow: Thunderboy: They aren't even going to the same place - one is for PA and one is for the press feed

This has got to be a joke. Idiots never heard of a splitter?

Link/Link (new window)
Link/Link (new windows)

moothemagiccow: Thunderboy: They aren't even going to the same place - one is for PA and one is for the press feed

This has got to be a joke. Idiots never heard of a splitter?

Idiots? A little extreme coming from someone who doesn't know what they are talking about. But then, this is Fark.

Redundancy is also a factor. If one mic drops, you still have the other, which can very easily be rerouted to cover both purposes.

The problem with this head is that last night was SUNDAY, derpers.

Since you're surely wondering how this came to be

I really wasn't. Is life so dull that every quirk needs a commentary piece?

Some Bass Playing Guy: The songs were pretty good, but there's definitely a Springsteen "lite" vibe due partly to the stuff the sax player was playing.

The two mic thing is weird. I don't understand how it could be for "effects" since the signal could be routed to two different paths, one unprocessed and one processed. Maybe it's just one of those quirky habits people have.

So you've got one mic feeding both a dry channel and a processed channel. Now what? Pay a second FOH engineer (and perhaps monitor engineer) to hover over those two faders/mute buttons waiting for you to give him some kind of signal that you want to use your effects? Easier for everyone concerned to have two mics feeding discreet chains. This is a fairly common practice.

Of course, in a show that is more "scripted", these changes can all be automated, so one mic works fine.

Thunderboy: Idiots? A little extreme coming from someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.

And yet you're so quick to judge my competence. I don't see your live sound badge, or a cite for your bizarre assumption.

But then, this is Fark.

Redundancy is also a factor. If one mic drops, you still have the other, which can very easily be rerouted to cover both purposes.

Can't remember the last time a decent dynamic mic outright FAILED. The majority of them are resilient at low prices. This guy says you're full of shiat http://www.mcsquared.com/2mics.htm and I'm inclined to agree.

Bon iver = Peter Cetera

This seems relevant: Bon Joviver (new window)

Not a big fan, but I saw him in Madison two months ago and it was a great show. He may also do a bit of collaboration with my sister this year!

DRTFA, but I'm betting autotune has something to do with it.

mightybaldking: This seems relevant: Bon Joviver (new window)

But where is Jon Boviver?

so 19 people on stage, a marching band full of instruments and a singer sounding like he was passing balls of sandpaper is what hipsters like these days? I just didn't get it.

loral: Bryan Ferry from Roxy Music did this YEARS ago...

[www.clashmusic.com image 360x450]

It's already been said, but yes. Set up one mic through one channel for regular vox, and a second mic through a second channel for vox with effects processing. It gives the singer control over when to use the effects, rather than having the sound guy know when to cue it.

moothemagiccow: Can't remember the last time a decent dynamic mic outright FAILED. The majority of them are resilient at low prices. This guy says you're full of shiat http://www.mcsquared.com/2mics.htm and I'm inclined to agree.

IANA Sound Engineer; I work in radar. This appears to be analogous to "monopulse" processing, wherein you look at both the sum of the signals and the difference between the signals, using the difference in phases for a poor-man's interferometer to back out directional information of the source (the guy's mouth). At sea-level, at about a five inch difference in sensor distances, you can get useful phase differences at frequencies of about 1.5 kHz or higher. This is useless for the stronger component of vocal frequencies (whose wavelengths would be 12 inches or greater), but useful for adding directional information at higher frequencies in the singer's voice, as well as nearby instruments. If one were just adding the two signals using a "splitter," I'd have to ask: where are the low-noise amplifiers? If they're upstream of the splitter, you're getting a "free," though uncontrolled, noise reduction, but sacrificing vital phase information. Were I an audiophile, I'd be unhappy with this. If they keep the signals separate until after their first amplifier (if there are more than one -- I'm not a sound engineer), they can do useful things like noise reduction or just support plain old stereo signals. There could be a case made that the two microphones have been selected because they have different response characteristics -- i.e., one might be better (e.g., linear response and/or higher sensitivity) at lower frequencies, and the other might be better at higher frequencies.

My take, as a non-sound engineer, is that they probably have two mikes so they have two good signals to assist in organically-implemented monopulse processing, which most people just call "stereo."

My god that's not enjoyable music.

I'm wondering not so much about microphones, and more about why SNL would have been on Sunday night.

mightybaldking: This seems relevant: Bon Joviver (new window)

Aaaand thread.

Thank you. I've never laughed so hard while being bored at the same time.

farkingismybusiness: I didn't watch it but it couldn't have been any worse than Channing Tatum is the first half of the show. That dude sucks.

No idea how he keeps getting worse. He's brutally bad.

John Nash: Not a big fan, but I saw him in Madison two months ago and it was a great show. He may also do a bit of collaboration with my sister this year!

Is that the term groupies are using these days?

Around 3:25 in the first video "Beth/Rest" or whatever, he sings in his left mic, which is connected to a vocal harmonizer.

My Bon Iver boner has been a rager since '08 and has yet to subside. I'm not claiming the guy is a genius or anything, but I really dig the music.

Saturday Night Live was on last night?

Wow, that music holds no interest for me. And the mike thing is is probably just to get some stereo on the vocals. Put one mostly left, the other mostly right. Might sound interesting live, but it won't come through on TV.

Bon Iver is one of those groups that AV Club salivates over, and that's how I immediately know they're going to suck.

loral: Bryan Ferry from Roxy Music did this YEARS ago...

[www.clashmusic.com image 360x450]

That's Lou Diamond Phillips as Richie Valens.

verbaltoxin: Bon Iver is one of those groups that AV Club salivates over, and that's how I immediately know they're going to suck.

I am glad someone else feels this way. I started listening to their suggestions and just hated everyone of them. I thought it was just me that wasn't "understanding the music of today." Glad to know it just sucks.

It could be an effects trick, it could also be redundancy. (There's more to a signal chain than just the microphone.) It's a redundancy thing in the case of the President. I was at the Myrtle Beach Republican debate a few weeks ago, and the sound guy confirmed this. In fact, he found it convenient to be able to switch microphones when the candidates displayed a habit of waving their hands around and repeatedly knocking one of the mics.