why the two microphones?

[Michael Peters]

during the growing up tour, Peter had a head microphone, plus he held
another microphone in his hand. both seemed to transmit his voice, or at
least there were occasions when he didn't use the handheld mike and the
voice came over as before. does anyone know what the two microphones were
used for? -m

[Joost]

My guess is that the hand-held was really only there for esthetic purposes.
The headset would've been enough but Peter probably likes to have a
microphone in his hands on stage to play around with. But also, with a hand
held microphone a singer is more able to control the strength and sound of
his voice, but the way Peter used it (sometimes forgetting putting it to his
mouth when he was singing) makes me believe it wasn't really used that much.

Joost

Post by Michael Peters
during the growing up tour, Peter had a head microphone, plus he held
another microphone in his hand. both seemed to transmit his voice, or at
least there were occasions when he didn't use the handheld mike and the
voice came over as before. does anyone know what the two microphones were
used for? -m

[Ben Hanson]

I do the same thing when I play, and it is mostly for control of volume
level as Joost said. If I am singing a song that has a pretty flat volume
curve, where I don't need to get up on the mic or back off of it because of
a loud part, the headset works great. In songs where there are high parts
that have to be projected loudly then you want to use the handheld so that
you can hold the mic away and not blow people out of their chairs.

It's all planned and orchestrated ahead of time with the sound guys. They
turn on each one as planned throughout the sets. Also because Peter has
props and all sometimes it is necessary, such as in Across the River on the
SWL DVD where he was rowing with the stick with both hands.

-Ben

Post by Michael Peters
during the growing up tour, Peter had a head microphone, plus he held
another microphone in his hand. both seemed to transmit his voice, or at
least there were occasions when he didn't use the handheld mike and the
voice came over as before. does anyone know what the two microphones were
used for? -m

[Sugar Mouse]

Post by Michael Peters
during the growing up tour, Peter had a head microphone, plus he held
another microphone in his hand. both seemed to transmit his voice, or at
least there were occasions when he didn't use the handheld mike and the
voice came over as before. does anyone know what the two microphones were
used for? -m

IIRC, one major complaint from the Genesis Live days, and also the early
Peter Solo days, Peter's Microphone technique was often forgotten for the
stage effects. This led to Peter's Voice sometimes being hard to hear. By
using a Headphone set, this is no longer a problem.

I would however like to clarify that Peter being bad is a million times
better and more enjoyable than most other acts being brilliant!

[Doktor Dyper]

I think that besides the valid points made here, the sound engineers can use
the audio from the 2nd mic to "play" with. I can't remember what song it
was, but when I saw him in Toronto 12/1/2003, at the end of the song you
could hear, besides the regular audio, some type of compression/trickery (I
have to admit that I am illiterate when it comes to this stuff) where his
voice continued to echo after the song was over. So my guess is that they
use that second vocal input for all kinds of things.

Patrick

Post by Michael Peters
during the growing up tour, Peter had a head microphone, plus he held
another microphone in his hand. both seemed to transmit his voice, or at
least there were occasions when he didn't use the handheld mike and the
voice came over as before. does anyone know what the two microphones were
used for? -m