Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Often wondered why did they only ever use 2 mics in the front line for Paul George and John even when they could afford it. With such intricate harmonies on some early songs it surely would have made more sense for pitch and balance and save George some shoe leather dashing between the 2 mics and putting himself under some pressure.Can understand this practice when space and finance was a problem early days.Surely not for aeshetic reasons. Any views?

Not having monitors may have been a factor. In an environment in which you can't hear yourself sing would make it easier to hear one another's vocal. Also, they were used to this type of arrangement in the Cavern.

I think it was because if George had a mic in the middle, it might've obscured Ringo (even though he was always on a riser. I think too it was a matter of showmanship. W/ Paul playing left-handed and George right it was visually appealing. Also, it was dynamic visually in the sense it showed more movement when the background vocals happened.

Because it looked cool when he and Paul did their woos and shooked their heads in unison. Seriously though I too think it was part of the look. When I see them in my mind's eye onstage I see Paul and George doing their harmony's in one mic. I also think it worked so well becuase Mac was left handed.

A center mic implies that the person in the middle is the leader of the band.

John and Paul, as the main singers, do the equitable thing and take turns from the side of the stage.

George, as the lead guitarist, generally stood in the center without a mic and, and as the 'floating' third vocalist, could wander over to whichever mic he needed without tangling guitar cords.

I think it makes sense, visually.

Excellent points Ethan.

When George sang the lead vocal, Paul would go share John's mic. Generally, most of Paul's live songs only featured John's harmonies. I think it was partly show appearance and simple logistics regarding microphone placement.

i think it has much more meaning then just something for show.....backround vocals are kept in the backround of a mix (on a record) in order to recreate this balance, if 2 microphones were used then the 2 part backround vocals could be an even volume and lower in volume then the lead vocalist

I think it's all of the above. But can't really hit the right harmonies without hearing who you're harmonizing with. The noise of the screaming girls has been described as a jet engine roar in your face. Monitor, or "fold back" speakers, weren't used back then, so, the next best thing was to share a mic. But the visual effect was very appealing and added to the sense of movement and energy -- maybe part that "macht shau" (make show) thing they kept hearing back in the Hamburg days, although I also wonder how much of that was part of the Brian Epstein package? He seemed to have a thing about image and presentation, and I wouldn't surprised to see that some of we eventually saw in early 1964 on, had already evolved in the years prior to the "invasion" here.