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Michael Jackson's Mic Problems

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous [BG]' started by Boplicity, Nov 15, 2001.

  1. Nov 15, 2001 #1
    Boplicity

    Boplicity Supporting Member

    Jul 21, 2000
    Still in Margaritaville
    Did any of you see Michael Jackson's Thirtieth Anniversary Spectacular Tuesday night?

    I'd like to ask what was the problem he was having with his mics? When he came out with his brothers, he was wearing a wireless mic headset with one of those tiny mics that leaves the hands free and is favored by the likes of Madonna, Ricky Martin, Britney, etc who sing and dance. Their hands are free, so they can do dance moves without the burden of holding a mic.

    But Jackson after just a brief time had to hold...with both hands...the little mic against his mouth, face downward for much of his set. So I figured it had come loose from its headset.

    However, when he came out for his solo set, he used a different, standard wireless mic which in no time he held close to his mouth, head downward again, and his hand covering the mic like he had to mash it against his face.

    When I took singing classes, we were told how to hold mics. We weren't ever shown a "smother" technique and I've never seen other singers do that. It looked so odd, I actually wondered if Jackson had false teeth and they were falling out.

    I also wondered if he was lip synching to the music, had forgotten the words and was covering his mouth so the audience wouldn't see his plight.

    But maybe those here who regularly sing with wireless mics might be able to enlighten me. In short, why did Jackson have to cover his mouth much of his performance?

    (By the way, I'm a Jackson fan and really enjoyed the concert, most especially the last half in which jackson performed.)
     
  2. Nov 15, 2001 #2
    Donne Demarest

    Donne Demarest

    May 4, 2001
    Sebastopol, CA
    His wireless headset mic was slipping because his ears were melting under the hot lights.

    He came out with a standard hand-held wireless and instinctively reacted to it as if it was slumber party time at Neverland Ranch.

    Either that, or his make-up was smearing and his was trying to cover it up.
     
  3. Nov 15, 2001 #3
    SuperDuck

    SuperDuck

    Sep 26, 2000
    Wisconsin
    When he was smothering the mic, did his voice sound muffled at all? Because there is no need to hold a wireless mic any different than a standard one. I'm not quite sure what was wrong, but if he held the mic they I think you are describing it, there would be an audible change in his voice.
     
  4. Nov 15, 2001 #4
    ARA punk

    ARA punk

    Jul 11, 2001
    USA, Shelby, NC
    I watched a little of the Jackson 5 and it looked like everyone of them was lip-synching the whole thing. Im not sure, it didnt sound live and it didnt look live. Specially the way they were moving, their voices would have waiverd alot more than they did. I just think it was falling off and he didnt want people to realize that he was lipsynching
     
  5. Nov 15, 2001 #5
    the-lizard-king

    the-lizard-king Guest

    Apr 27, 2001
    The Dark Side Of the Moon
    It wasnt shown over here unfortunately, they only showed the highlights, which were all fine. Seemed like a really good show, good to see that Jackson has lost none of his moves.
    Jim
     
  6. Nov 15, 2001 #6
    the-lizard-king

    the-lizard-king Guest

    Apr 27, 2001
    The Dark Side Of the Moon
    About lip synching, he could have been (I dont think so, he has said in the past that he wouldnt do it, maybe his brothers were), but often it looks like singers are lip synching when in fact they arent because of the disparity between the image and the audio.
    Its like sometimes on live television and the voices seem kind of very slightly out of whack with what their mouths are doing.
    Jim
     
  7. Nov 15, 2001 #7
    Slater

    Slater Leave that thing alone.

    Apr 17, 2000
    The Great Lakes State
    I watched some of the show off and on. During one song (I forgot which one now), It looked like he had some type of effect device in his left hand to add some type of techno sound to his voice. That may be why he was smothering the mic (but I could be wrong).

    Also, Billie Jean was definitely lip sync'd. Every little detail of the song was exactly like the record until near the end of the song where you could actually hear the live drums kick in and Michael started add-libbing with the vocals.
     
  8. Nov 16, 2001 #8
    Boplicity

    Boplicity Supporting Member

    Jul 21, 2000
    Still in Margaritaville
    Ok, the person above (Super Duck)who mentioned changes in the volume-level or quality of the voice would naturally take place if the mic moves further or closer to the mouth...thanks for bringing that up. When I took singing lessons we learned that trick...to vary the distance of the mic from our mouth to change our volume or for some special effect.

    Now what Jackson did, get the mic really close to his mouth and cover the mic with his hand made absolutely no difference in volume. That's what made me suspect, he was lip syncing much of the performance, because the source of the sound was totally even in volume.

    But I taped the show and have reviewed the tapes several times. The show was not live when shown on TV, but taped from the live performance a week or more earlier. Now I suspect there was a lot of editing and overdubbing. In fact, what the live audience heard and what we heard on TV may be two quite different audio presentations. That would explain the eveness of the volume, even during dance routines.

    (Still, I love Jackson. He still has a kind of magic. Too bad he went overboard with the surgery.)
     
  9. Nov 16, 2001 #9
    Turock

    Turock

    Apr 30, 2000
    Melnibone
    Only in America can a poor, black child grow up to be a rich, white man.
     
  10. Nov 16, 2001 #10
    Hategear

    Hategear Workin' hard at hardly workin'.

    Apr 6, 2001
    Appleton, Swissconsin
    It wouldn't surprise me if he was lip-synching at all. I would think that it would be very difficult to sing and dance like he does and still sound good while doing it. No skin off my nose (no pun intended). :)

    As far as lip-synching goes, it's too bad Milli Vanilli didn't come out now, instead of when they did -- everyone lip-synchs nowadays, from Britney and Christina to Destiny's Child, Janet, Madonna and N*Stink.
     
  11. Nov 16, 2001 #11
    istaticl

    istaticl

    Nov 29, 2000
    Prescott, AZ
    Where did you get that from agian? I remember hearing it somewhere and LMAO. Its pretty scary how much he has changed from when he used to be black.
     
  12. Nov 16, 2001 #12
    Turock

    Turock

    Apr 30, 2000
    Melnibone
    The difference is... Milli Vanilli didn't sing on their record.
     
  13. Nov 16, 2001 #13
    Turock

    Turock

    Apr 30, 2000
    Melnibone
    Most recently, Dick Gregory at the Hugh Hefner roast. IMO, he was the funniest one there, and didn't have to resort to using filthy language.
     
  14. Nov 16, 2001 #14
    keithconn

    keithconn

    Nov 9, 2001
    Long Island - NY
    Jackson is a circus freak!

    Did you happen to see that new video? I could barely look at TV! Its like seeing a cruel science experment that escaped from the lab ...

    :eek:
     
  15. Nov 16, 2001 #15
    Funkster

    Funkster Supporting Member

    Apr 6, 2000
    Wormtown, MA

    :D :D :D :D :D LMAO!
     
  16. Nov 16, 2001 #16
    jazzbo

    jazzbo

    Aug 25, 2000
    San Francisco, CA
    Because we all know that being "black" has everything to do with skin tone.

    :rolleyes:
    :rolleyes:
    :rolleyes:
     
  17. Nov 16, 2001 #17
    Hategear

    Hategear Workin' hard at hardly workin'.

    Apr 6, 2001
    Appleton, Swissconsin
    And you'd bet your life that they were the first and only ones that had someone else sing for them?

    You know the woman that sings the chorus part in the video for "Gonna Make You Sweat" by C + C Music Factory? That's not her singing those lines either -- it's someone else. Hmmmm...