# Beatles - Why only 2 mics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 23, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704 "2010-07-23T13:11:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/21 "2010-07-25T06:03:06Z")
> [@WreckingCrew](#): > > It is interesting to see in that pic that there are chords coming out of the guitars … Isn’t this what usually happens when someone plays a guitar? ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/22 "2010-07-25T08:45:29Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Wasn’t it also an expression of the pecking order within the band at the time? By sharing his mic, Paul is acknowledging that John, who doesn’t have to share, is the alpha, but it is clearly Paul’s mic (he is behind it all the time, even when not singing, and George has to squeeze up to him to use it), showing that he is of higher status than George. > > \ No. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/23 "2010-07-25T09:48:37Z")
t-bonham: But you usually can’t see them. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/24 "2010-07-25T10:04:23Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > > [@njtt](#): > > > > Wasn’t it also an expression of the pecking order within the band at the time? By sharing his mic, Paul is acknowledging that John, who doesn’t have to share, is the alpha, but it is clearly Paul’s mic (he is behind it all the time, even when not singing, and George has to squeeze up to him to use it), showing that he is of higher status than George. > > > > \ > > No. And you know this because…? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/25 "2010-07-25T10:39:14Z")
Are you Ringo, or George Martin, or someone who might actually know that the intra-group dynamics were not what they appear to have been? ---
**Author:** ![sich\_hinaufwinden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@sich\_hinaufwinden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sich_hinaufwinden)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/26 "2010-07-25T20:03:43Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > t-bonham: But you usually can’t see them. You might be able to if you have synesthesia. Who’s getting wooshed here - you or me? ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/27 "2010-07-27T03:47:37Z")
> [@sich\_hinaufwinden](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > t-bonham: But you usually can’t see them. > > You might be able to if you have synesthesia. > > Who’s getting wooshed here - you or me? I believe the confusion is the misspelling of “cords” as “chords”. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/28 "2010-07-27T05:06:05Z")
There were no stage monitors at the Shea concert at all. None. I don’t have a breakdown for the equipment at Shea, but [here’s an article in the pro sound magazine Mix](http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_second_british_invasion/). From the article: > [@](#): > > When The Beatles played their last concert, at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park in 1966, the equipment list for the show could have been written on the back of an envelope. The mics were Shure SM56s, the speakers were modified Altec A-7s powered by Altec 1569 80-watt tube amplifiers, and McCune Sound’s Mort Feld mixed the show on one or two Altec 1567 five-input rotary pot tube mixers. An A7 is a speaker cabinet that holds a single 15" woofer paired with a “multicell” horn driven by a 1" driver. This is the same equipment that would be behind the screen at a medium sized cinema. [Here is a photo of Phil Spector in front of one](http://media.photobucket.com/image/A7%20altec/Irishtom29/earlydec226.jpg). As you can see, it looks small even behind Phil Spector. The sound system at Shea was even worse. From what I can see in clips from the film, [the speakers were the sort of long, thin cabinets propped up along the baselines](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMXzmHsi0Bg#t=4m29s). There were probably 4 6" full-range speakers in each cabinet. There were no microphone splitters either, so the film crew taped an extra microphone to each microphone on stage. No splitters equals no monitor mix. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/29 "2010-07-27T11:06:41Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > > [@Quintas](#): > > > > > [@njtt](#): > > > > > > Wasn’t it also an expression of the pecking order within the band at the time? By sharing his mic, Paul is acknowledging that John, who doesn’t have to share, is the alpha, but it is clearly Paul’s mic (he is behind it all the time, even when not singing, and George has to squeeze up to him to use it), showing that he is of higher status than George. > > > > > > \ > > > > No. > > And you know this because…? [Video of George singing lead](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kNDmd8Dp4w) (on “Paul’s” mic) and John and Paul sharing “John’s” mic. To this day, KISS uses the exact same two-mic setup on stage. Gene and Paul have “their” mics, while the lead guitarist has to snuggle up with whoever isn’t singing lead. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/30 "2010-07-27T11:59:06Z")
And if you look at the video of Paul singing lead, George is sharing with John. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/31 "2010-07-27T17:02:26Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > There were no stage monitors at the Shea concert at all. None. > > I don’t have a breakdown for the equipment at Shea, but [here’s an article in the pro sound magazine Mix](http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_second_british_invasion/). From the article: > > > [@](#): > > > > When The Beatles played their last concert, at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park in 1966, the equipment list for the show could have been written on the back of an envelope. The mics were Shure SM56s, the speakers were modified Altec A-7s powered by Altec 1569 80-watt tube amplifiers, and McCune Sound’s Mort Feld mixed the show on one or two Altec 1567 five-input rotary pot tube mixers. > > An A7 is a speaker cabinet that holds a single 15" woofer paired with a “multicell” horn driven by a 1" driver. This is the same equipment that would be behind the screen at a medium sized cinema. [Here is a photo of Phil Spector in front of one](http://media.photobucket.com/image/A7%20altec/Irishtom29/earlydec226.jpg). As you can see, it looks small even behind Phil Spector. > > The sound system at Shea was even worse. From what I can see in clips from the film, [the speakers were the sort of long, thin cabinets propped up along the baselines](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMXzmHsi0Bg#t=4m29s). There were probably 4 6" full-range speakers in each cabinet. There were no microphone splitters either, so the film crew taped an extra microphone to each microphone on stage. No splitters equals no monitor mix. Judging by the pictures, the guitar amps were Vox AC100s or Super Beatles, which put out roughly 80-120 Watts each. Basically there was less power for amplification than there is in some modern home theater setups. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/32 "2010-07-27T18:30:45Z")
The system used at Shea would probably have has enough output to reach all the audience if, and only if, everyone in the audience remained perfectly quiet. ---
**Author:** ![ILoveBeatleGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@ILoveBeatleGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ILoveBeatleGeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/33 "2010-07-27T20:19:41Z")
According to Louise Harrison (George’s sister) once she was with them backstage before a show, she was estimating August tour of '64, and George was tuning his guitar. She asked him why he even bothered, considering that nobody would be able to hear him. He told her that he had this horrible fear that one day he wouldn’t tune his guitar and then all the fans would stop screaming, and then there he would’ve been playing out of tune. I felt really bad for him, but I also laughed. ---
**Author:** ![sich\_hinaufwinden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@sich\_hinaufwinden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sich_hinaufwinden)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/34 "2010-07-27T22:14:06Z")
> [@sjc](#): > > > [@sich\_hinaufwinden](#): > > > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > > > t-bonham: But you usually can’t see them. > > > > You might be able to if you have synesthesia. > > > > Who’s getting wooshed here - you or me? > > I believe the confusion is the misspelling of “cords” as “chords”. I (mistakenly?) thought that BigT hadn’t caught on to the dual meaning of WreckingCrew’s typo and that he was agreeing that it was weird to see the cables. I was trying to clue him in with the synethesia comment while holding out the possibility that he was making a joke that I wasn’t getting. Back on topic: What was weird about seeing the cables in that pic? Is it that they went off stage (where?) instead of to amps/speakers on stage or that they were plugged in at all and not ‘‘playing’’ along to a recording? ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/35 "2010-07-28T04:18:06Z")
When I saw them in Comiskey Park I was screaming so much I could barely hear them. At the International Amphitheater no one screamed that much and they sounded good to me! ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/36 "2010-07-29T16:30:07Z")
> [@](#): > > I (mistakenly?) thought that BigT hadn’t caught on to the dual meaning of WreckingCrew’s typo and that he was agreeing that it was weird to see the cables. I was trying to clue him in with the synethesia comment while holding out the possibility that he was making a joke that I wasn’t getting. > > Back on topic: What was weird about seeing the cables in that pic? Is it that they went off stage (where?) instead of to amps/speakers on stage or that they were plugged in at all and not ‘‘playing’’ along to a recording? Well since I started this mess with my typo [Freudian or not], your question deserves an answer. On many TV shows of the time, bands would often either lip sync, or sing along live to a previously recorded music track. This would guarantee not only a perfect musical performance, but - more important in the eyes of a TV producer - one with a known time limit. So quite often you will see videos, or photos, of bands on TV, and the instruments are not even plugged in. Now in a twist on the above, there would be times where the band would be requested to pre-record a new music track just for the show. This would usually be faster, shorter, or both so the song could fit into the program’s time limits. Somewhere on You Tube is a video of the Byrds doing “Feel A Whole Lot Better” at warp speed, and with half the guitar solo cut out. I would link, but You Tube is blocked here at work. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/37 "2010-07-29T18:47:21Z")
> [@WreckingCrew](#): > > On many TV shows of the time, bands would often either lip sync, or sing along live to a previously recorded music track. This would guarantee not only a perfect musical performance, but - more important in the eyes of a TV producer - one with a known time limit. So quite often you will see videos, or photos, of bands on TV, and the instruments are not even plugged in. That also had the advantage of being pre-recorded, so the TV producer could be sure the singers didn’t slip in any naughty word (or worse, any mention of a product competing with their sponsors). And not just on shows “of the time” – this is often still done today. For example, since the ‘costume malfunction’ at the Superbowl halftime show of a few years ago, that is NOT shown live on TV. They show a couple of commercials first, so it is shown delayed by a minute or two – gives them a chance to preview it and cut away if needed. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/38 "2010-07-29T19:08:49Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > > [@WreckingCrew](#): > > > > On many TV shows of the time, bands would often either lip sync, or sing along live to a previously recorded music track. This would guarantee not only a perfect musical performance, but - more important in the eyes of a TV producer - one with a known time limit. So quite often you will see videos, or photos, of bands on TV, and the instruments are not even plugged in. > > That also had the advantage of being pre-recorded, so the TV producer could be sure the singers didn’t slip in any naughty word (or worse, any mention of a product competing with their sponsors). > > And not just on shows “of the time” – this is often still done today. > > For example, since the ‘costume malfunction’ at the Superbowl halftime show of a few years ago, that is NOT shown live on TV. They show a couple of commercials first, so it is shown delayed by a minute or two – gives them a chance to preview it and cut away if needed. All true - there is the wonderful example of Mick Jagger singing “Let’s Spend Some **Time** Together” on Sullivan. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/39 "2010-09-28T12:12:31Z")
> [@K364](#): > > and neutrons hadn’t been invented yet We had to make do with oldtrons. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704/40 "2010-09-28T19:23:34Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > > [@K364](#): > > > > and neutrons hadn’t been invented yet > > We had to make do with oldtrons. It took you two months to think of that? ;)🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-why-only-2-mics/547704.md?page=3)