since when M uses the ear plug to hear her voice in live shows

[lemonpopsicle 11]

just wondering..because i am just listening right now to the blond ambition tour and her live voice is so much different ...but she didnt use them in the virgin tour eather..but at the virgin tour her voice was the best ..almost like the record .....blond ambition is much different ...nowdays her voice is great on curent shows...has this something to do with the ear plugs that she actually can hear her voice ?

[kurushitovska 1,419]

I think it's because she didin't know how to sing in full potential before Evita, then she had to take lessons. Her voice was very nasal before.

[larenaldise 2,822]

do you hear the S&S tour in lisbon and athen... her live voice is awful specially in borderline. it's not because of voice lesson she's singing better, but a new and very good sound engineer (for her hears) and a pre vocal lynp sinc doing the job

[Fighter 28,888]

do you hear the S&S tour in lisbon and athen... her live voice is awful specially in borderline. it's not because of voice lesson she's singing better, but a new and very good sound engineer (for her hears) and a pre vocal lynp sinc doing the job

 

you can't compare S&S with the few years after Evita   I don't think her live voice is awful. Depending on what song it is and what key shes singing on, and how many shows into the tour we're talking about, plus wether she's using ovbious trickery, she can sound good or rough or plain. 

 

Her voice has changed a lot during her career and she has used it in a multitude of ways, the most noticeable change was after Evita. But her voice nowadays is nothing like it was then anymore. I'd say its diminished in power a bit, but it's still as lovely as ever when used properly.

[ITG 3,348]

I think the ear piece probably helps her keep in key, make her more aware.As far as her live performances go & varying vocals, I find that she sings better when she's having a good time & not much thought goes into it.When she 'tries' to sing, it sounds strained, you can see it on her face.For the Rebel a Heart tour, more thought has gone into the vocals, hence her dancing less. It's the right step for her to move forward in forthcoming tours where she doesn't have to exhaust herself. Sing more acoustically & be more personable with the audience.

[BringUrLUV 1,114]

She's been more consistent with her voice training during this era.  I think during sticky & sweet she was dancing too much and/or not keeping up with the voice training.  same with MDNA which was better tho.  but the way she came back so strong vocally on RH tells you she's been focusing more on voice training.

[madgefan 10,236]

I like to compare her singing in the Sticky & Sweet tour to the one in the Blond Ambition Tour: lots of dancing and exhausted vocals  :wink:

[mr00mister 902]

actually, the ear plug (or IEM) plays a metronome for her not to sing on the wrong bar. it keeps a count-in for her to start singing (you can hear it on the leaked Gang Bang backdrop)., as well as every member of the band. 

[Elazul 250]

She's been more consistent with her voice training during this era.  I think during sticky & sweet she was dancing too much and/or not keeping up with the voice training.  same with MDNA which was better tho.  but the way she came back so strong vocally on RH tells you she's been focusing more on voice training.

 

She actually said she had had less time for rehearsals this time around. Plus the songs of MDNA and Rebel Heart are heavily backed by tapes so it's usually the slow moments like You Must Love Me, Like A Virgin Waltz, True Blue or La Vie En Rose are relevant when talking about her live vocals...

[PlayPause 2,891]

Have you heard about technology ? You know, when devices change and make things easier. That's what happened with the ear plug ;-)OK, now enough with sarcasm, live shows are an aspect of show business that have evolved TREMENDOUSLY in the past 30 years. And guess what, that's exactly when M's career started.When M started touring, it simply didn't exist (or at least it wasn't made available for pop shows, it was designed and used at first by the military). The first known use of a wireless headset was Janet Jackson during the Control / Rhythm Nation promo performances. It included a microphone and an ear thing (not a plug at that time, it was too big to fit inside the ear).M's first tours budget probably didn't allow her to use them. But the funny thing is that it's her using it during the Blond Ambition Tour that earned the device its nickname : the "Madonna Mic".Nowadays the device is split in two parts, the IEM, as mr00mister mentionned before is the "in-ear monitor", and the mike. They're both wireless and can be plugged on the transmitter depending on the movements required by the singer. (I don't remember she uses a headset mic on the RHT, but she had one on the MDNA Tour during the Vogue segment)Now you're kind of mistaken about the purpose of the ear plug : it is not intended for the singer to hear their own voice, but rather hear the music and background singers in order to keep pace.In "regular" concerts (the ones that happen in regularly-sized venues), such a device is not needed because the band and/or the monitors are close enough to the singer so that they can hear the music naturally.For Madonna and other big acts who perform in stadiums, or TV performances with back tracks, the band is often far away if present at all and the use of monitors is simply not possible because of the overall sound level of the stadium speakers. So the use of an earplug (or two sometimes) is a requirement. It doesn't help the singer sing on key, it just helps them keep the music, and not get messed up with the echo in the stadium or the crowd instead. Also keep in mind that all the other tech stuff on stage (moving screens, lifts, etc) are terribly noisy, and that singing while 20 dancers are hitting the floor can be pretty disturbing.The quality of the sound monitoring in the earplugs have also evolved in the last 10 years, with the development of digital tools like voice and pitch correction, but it does not have a sgnificant influence on how the singer will sound per se.Earplugs also transmit instructions to the singer and other performers onstage (beginning of a song, prop movements, lifts, lights, etc.)

[mr00mister 902]

Now you're kind of mistaken about the purpose of the ear plug : it is not intended for the singer to hear their own voice, but rather hear the music and background singers in order to keep pace.

(...)

Earplugs also transmit instructions to the singer and other performers onstage (beginning of a song, prop movements, lifts, lights, etc.)

 

the best example for this is this IEM audio from a U2 360° show. this is that they hear on stage, and that's why it always sounds good in a show like that. everybody on the Rebel Band has it, and this is how music, lights, dance and screens are coordinated.

[PlayPause 2,891]

the best example for this is

. this is that they hear on stage, and that's why it always sounds good in a show like that. everybody on the Rebel Band has it, and this is how music, lights, dance and screens are coordinated.

Excellent, thanks. I had never googled this. How come there are so many IEM audios from U2 ???