In this Thread (starting a Thread linking to a Thread that I started- Ha! Try to tell me I don’t exist!) There are a few YouTube links to Everly Brothers performances. Here’s one.
Watching the clips, it was striking to me just how far away from the microphone the guys are singing. Striking, but not unfamiliar. Most live performances I see from that era are the same, quite the opposite of the long popular Rock n’ Roll practice of “eating the mic”- singing with one’s mouth pressed right up against the microphone.
No doubt, there are both stylistic as well as technical reasons for the shift. I’m guessing that the shift happened with “Stadium Rock” in the seventies- that the sound engineer, had to get the vocals so loud- in front of loud drums and guitar amps- that it just wouldn’t work without the singer pressed right up on the mic.
Seems to me I see the singers backed away from the mic all throughout the sixties- although, this may mean little- for the variety shows of the sixties weren’t the bands generally pantomiming along to a playback of the studio recording, unlike these early Everly Brothers clips?
Then since the seventies, stylistically, I’m guessing that it both became a cool look and that the change made to the characteristics of the sound of the voice became desirable.
This is all guess work on my part. Anxious for more studied feedback. When and why did “eating the mic” become the prevailing trend???
While I have no cites, I have to suspect that the change was the result of a switch from “omnidirectional” mics to “unidirectional” mics, in combination with sound mixing boards that allowed for more microphones on stage.
In those early days, performers were often amplified by systems that were designed more for public speaking than singing, and thus these systems were frequently set up to utilize only one microphone. So when a group had more than one singer, they all had to gather around that one mic. Because of this, the microphone had to be “omnidirectional”, i.e. able to pick up sounds coming from several directions at once.
(It’s worth noting that many, if not most, performers in those days did not carry around their own PA systems. Rather, they used whatever system was already in place at each venue.)
This method had one glaring problem: with multiple singers all yelling into the same mic, there was no way to balance their individual volumes from the sound board. Balance had to be handled by the singers themselves, and this could be difficult when they were trying to hear themselves over the drums and guitars (which were usually not miked).
An omnidirectional mic is also going to pick up the loud instruments behind the singer(s), making mixing and balance even more difficult.
These problems were solved by unidirectional mics and multichannel mixing boards. The multichannel boards made it possible to give each singer his or her own mic. Unidirectional mics mostly eliminated the problem of sounds from sources other than the singer bleeding into the singer’s mic, because the unidirectional mic will only pick up sounds directly in front of its diaphragm.
Therefore, it follows logically that it is important for a singer with a unidirectional mic to keep that mic directly in front of his or her mouth at all times. Let your mouth drift to one side or the other, and suddenly the mic doesn’t pick you up very well. Enter the “eating the mic” technique. Keeping your lips pressed to the microphone while singing ensures that your mouth stays aligned with the mic’s narrow pickup field.
Remember in elementary school when you first used a microphone, and the teacher kept telling you to keep it about six inches away from your mouth? Well, Rock n Roll is all about rebellion, man!
I think Phase42 hit on an important factor. In my experience, its just about the mix - you want the mic to only pick up the voice, and at loud enough volume to get over the music. Eating the mic works for that.
When I sing backup, I pull back from the mic so I am underneath the main vocal, so there is conscious management of that, even in rock…
Oh - and as for when it began, I think you find it whenever the PA is underpowered vs. the music, which was often true way back when, so I suspect it pre-dated rock, but that’s just a guess.
In my experience, the main reason for singing close to the mic is to get a strong discreet signal into the board. Because there are lots of musical inputs coming from all directions on a stage, vocal mics need to have a relatively unidirectional input pattern, as mentioned by others. In addition, the input gain needs to be limited to avoid picking up direct and reflected sounds behind the mike. Having the singer sing very close to or in contact with the screen of the mic ensures that the intended vocal signal dominates what the mic picks up.
All of this was more true in the 60s, 70s and 80s than it is now. Years ago, the audience got vocals from the sound system and instruments from individual instrument amps, which were cranked to fill the hall. Picture Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton in Cream, with their mic stands fifteen in front of a wall of Marshall amps and speakers. This tended to saturate the air on stage with sound waves from amps, requiring close singing. Now, most bands use individual amps as stage monitors, running mics or direct inputs for the audience to hear the instruments. This has greatly diminished the level of sound on stage, and also diminished the need to sing close.
