I've been a professional audio engineer for 28 years, mostly in live performance, and I've never seen anyone use a shotgun mic in that kind of vocal application. I've seen and heard this performance almost a hundred times, and I've shown this performance to other live sound engineers. Shotgun mics have a lot of rear and side rejection, but they are not as tight as most people think. In this application, they are picking up a TON of bleed and reflections from the set. I can hear the sax sound is mostly bleed from the vocal mics, even though there is a clip-on mic on the bell of the sax. I can also hear the drums bleeding through on the vocal mics. In the loud choruses, the mix gets kind of crunchy, there's so much bleed. My conclusion is that they picked the shotgun mics to reduce bleed from the vocal monitors that are positioned at the NMIXX members' feet, and also as a visual statement. I'm assuming it is a visual brand. Those mics look cool and unique. But I think another reason for using shotgun mics is to make post-production almost impossible. All of the other "live" shows where idols appear (It's Live, Killing Voice, Sound Bomb, Lee Mujin's Service, Sketchbook, Immortal Songs, etc) use post-production pitch correction, editing, compression, and other audio engineering techniques to hide imperfections and make the idols sound better. Different shows use more or less post-production, and I'm not criticising those shows. In order to get idol groups booked, they have to agree to contractual terms that demand some control over the final product. Music companies protect their idols from looking bad, that's how it goes. Tiny Desk Korea seems to have been designed to make (almost) all of that post production impossible, even if an appearance contract demanded it. There's SO MUCH bleed from those shotgun mics, you can't apply pitch correction. You could do some mild compression, eq, some limited editing of breath sounds, and that's about it. I think that's exactly what the producers wanted. Sort of the anti-Killing Voice (which has completely sold out on post-production in the most recent shows). And I haven't even commented on the lack of in-ear monitors, which is a Tiny Desk thing, but that's another production choice designed to make idols very uncomfortable. Without in-ears, the vocalists have no pitch or tempo reference, other than the band or each other. That's truly performing without a net. In this NMIXX performance, if you listen to the intro of Run For Roses, the tempo gets very floaty until Haewon brings it back and the drums come in. Idols usually have a click track, then a backing track, and even sometimes a guide vocal, in their in-ear monitors to help them have a good performance. The lack of in-ears takes all of that away. I could go on, because there are other things that make that Tiny Desk set a difficult environment for idols. This NMIXX performance was a bold statement, and I think it is interesting that no idol group has answered the call yet. I think there are a very small number of idol groups who could perform in this environment, but the list is short (and most of them are kinda retired).
Indeed, Shotgun mics would not be my first choice in this environment, bleeding is really bad, especially from the sax and drums. I think your theory about their use is interesting, but I'm not sure Nmixx agency would be interested in post producing the vocals, after all they sent them on stage and cut the MR mid performance to prove a point without telling the girls in advance. Squad clearly has a ton of confidence in their talent and regularly put them in tricky situations compared to most Kpop groups. As for visuals, Nmixx would look great even with a beat up SM 58 in front of them. My theory on the use of such one dimensional mics is that TDK probably wants the result to sound authentically amateurish, they want the artists to sounds like they are playing without mics, and frankly this session sounded just like my parents garage when my mates and I practiced covers of Nirvana, unplugged, obviously. As for performing without in-ears if there is one Kpop group on earth that is used to it it's Nmixx, the girls are singing 24/7 in their content, their stage practices are without in-ears, they know each other extremely well and they're not afraid. I also agree that there are only a couple of groups that could have done it, and yes, both are semi-retired, Mamamoo would do well and Exo too. But I genuinely believe we will see Baemon in there at some point, those girls might not be on Nmixx level just yet but they will be if they continue working hard and most importantly, they put live performance at the very top of their priorities.
@@pignonMZ6 At 11:07, Haewon says that the Tiny Desk performance is their first time singing without in ear monitors. One can interpret that in different ways, but I'm assuming she means singing in front of an audience, because you can find lots of NMIXX content where they are singing together without in ears. Tiny Desk probably uses stage monitor speakers (wedges) so the vocalists can hear themselves, and so I assume she is referring to that also as a new experience. As for those performance practice videos where you can hear them singing, I think they are wearing in ear monitors for those because that's the only way they could get a tempo reference for the choreo. The room itself would have to be dead quiet, so the mics can pick up their voices. Idols practice with in ear monitors all the time, to get used to how they feel during heavy movement, and to get used to making adjustments on their belt packs during breaks in the choreo.
@@blueguitarbobThey wear in- ears for the stage practices? That makes more sense because how can they sound so perfect. But I want to know are there special in- ears where we can’t see? Because we can’t see them with the in-ears even behind the scenes for the stage practices.
@@rahinaissaka7004 For a dance practice, I don't think anyone is wearing in ear monitors. Dancers practice with very loud music in the rehearsal rooms, both to give them energy and to clearly hear the beat. But for those stage practice videos where you can hear them singing, the room has to be very quiet. The idols need some sort of tempo reference for the choreo, so the simplest way to do that is to wear in ear monitors. That's my best guess. I suppose you could keep them in sync some other way. But that's the way they perform, so wearing in ear monitors would be a true stage performance practice. Why can't we see the in ear monitors? Those videos use a static front camera shot and I think they would be hard to see from that far away. I also think they take them out pretty quickly after the shooting is over, and the audio staff collect them for maintenance and cleaning, and I don't think that would make the cut for a BTS video. Used IEMs are not very pretty. But I could be wrong. JYP may be using a different technique to record those stage practices. But everything I can think of would be more complicated than just having them wear their IEMs.
Great Reaction. I recommend their “acapella higlight medleys” or their predebued stuff. Their covers such as Thunderous by Stay kids or Kill this love by Black Pink are also really great. Then one of their concerts with a live band would certainly be interesting. (I-Days Milano)
I'm jealous that you got to see them live. I'm assuming it was as Hyde Park and you got to see them perform Queen and Oasis and the 2nd ever performance of Moving On. Also some of the quirks of tiny desk in addition to using their shotgun mics, it's all shot in 1 take, no in ear monitors, and there is no post-production so what you hear should be pretty much what you would hear if you were there. It's unlikely you will see another kpop group perform a real tiny desk performance. Thanks for the reaction.
It's not like It's Live, Dingo, Lee Mujin etc. And you never watched any Kpop group in Tiny Desk, because it never happened. What you watched was special performances by Kpop groups/soloists in Tiny Desk, in which the traditional format was modified to accommodate the artists with less confidence about their abilities. The real Tiny desk format is unique, and there are strict rules: No live or post prod effects, including no amplifiers and vocal processors allowed. Shotgun mics 1 take, no redo, live band, minimal audience. Anything else is labelled "special". I mean, you guys are not journalists and I don't expect you to do thorough research on your content, but I think that context REALLY matters.
At the moment, Nmixx is the only female group that can sing live at Tiny desk Korea, as there is completely no vocal processing (even It's live, Killing voice and Lee mujin service handle the vocals) and during the performance of songs they do not hear how their vocals sound due to the musical instruments nearby. They also recorded their performance from one take
Haewon just dropped a cover of Please Please Please by Sabrina Carpenter a few days ago. Can you react to it? It's so gorgeous that I got obsessed and keep going back to it.
Your timing is pretty good; did you know that today was the 1000th day since NMIXX debuted? :) Thank you for your video!!!
I've been a professional audio engineer for 28 years, mostly in live performance, and I've never seen anyone use a shotgun mic in that kind of vocal application. I've seen and heard this performance almost a hundred times, and I've shown this performance to other live sound engineers. Shotgun mics have a lot of rear and side rejection, but they are not as tight as most people think. In this application, they are picking up a TON of bleed and reflections from the set. I can hear the sax sound is mostly bleed from the vocal mics, even though there is a clip-on mic on the bell of the sax. I can also hear the drums bleeding through on the vocal mics. In the loud choruses, the mix gets kind of crunchy, there's so much bleed. My conclusion is that they picked the shotgun mics to reduce bleed from the vocal monitors that are positioned at the NMIXX members' feet, and also as a visual statement. I'm assuming it is a visual brand. Those mics look cool and unique.
But I think another reason for using shotgun mics is to make post-production almost impossible. All of the other "live" shows where idols appear (It's Live, Killing Voice, Sound Bomb, Lee Mujin's Service, Sketchbook, Immortal Songs, etc) use post-production pitch correction, editing, compression, and other audio engineering techniques to hide imperfections and make the idols sound better. Different shows use more or less post-production, and I'm not criticising those shows. In order to get idol groups booked, they have to agree to contractual terms that demand some control over the final product. Music companies protect their idols from looking bad, that's how it goes.
Tiny Desk Korea seems to have been designed to make (almost) all of that post production impossible, even if an appearance contract demanded it. There's SO MUCH bleed from those shotgun mics, you can't apply pitch correction. You could do some mild compression, eq, some limited editing of breath sounds, and that's about it. I think that's exactly what the producers wanted. Sort of the anti-Killing Voice (which has completely sold out on post-production in the most recent shows).
And I haven't even commented on the lack of in-ear monitors, which is a Tiny Desk thing, but that's another production choice designed to make idols very uncomfortable. Without in-ears, the vocalists have no pitch or tempo reference, other than the band or each other. That's truly performing without a net. In this NMIXX performance, if you listen to the intro of Run For Roses, the tempo gets very floaty until Haewon brings it back and the drums come in. Idols usually have a click track, then a backing track, and even sometimes a guide vocal, in their in-ear monitors to help them have a good performance. The lack of in-ears takes all of that away.
I could go on, because there are other things that make that Tiny Desk set a difficult environment for idols. This NMIXX performance was a bold statement, and I think it is interesting that no idol group has answered the call yet. I think there are a very small number of idol groups who could perform in this environment, but the list is short (and most of them are kinda retired).
Indeed, Shotgun mics would not be my first choice in this environment, bleeding is really bad, especially from the sax and drums.
I think your theory about their use is interesting, but I'm not sure Nmixx agency would be interested in post producing the vocals, after all they sent them on stage and cut the MR mid performance to prove a point without telling the girls in advance. Squad clearly has a ton of confidence in their talent and regularly put them in tricky situations compared to most Kpop groups. As for visuals, Nmixx would look great even with a beat up SM 58 in front of them. My theory on the use of such one dimensional mics is that TDK probably wants the result to sound authentically amateurish, they want the artists to sounds like they are playing without mics, and frankly this session sounded just like my parents garage when my mates and I practiced covers of Nirvana, unplugged, obviously.
As for performing without in-ears if there is one Kpop group on earth that is used to it it's Nmixx, the girls are singing 24/7 in their content, their stage practices are without in-ears, they know each other extremely well and they're not afraid.
I also agree that there are only a couple of groups that could have done it, and yes, both are semi-retired, Mamamoo would do well and Exo too. But I genuinely believe we will see Baemon in there at some point, those girls might not be on Nmixx level just yet but they will be if they continue working hard and most importantly, they put live performance at the very top of their priorities.
@@pignonMZ6 At 11:07, Haewon says that the Tiny Desk performance is their first time singing without in ear monitors. One can interpret that in different ways, but I'm assuming she means singing in front of an audience, because you can find lots of NMIXX content where they are singing together without in ears. Tiny Desk probably uses stage monitor speakers (wedges) so the vocalists can hear themselves, and so I assume she is referring to that also as a new experience.
As for those performance practice videos where you can hear them singing, I think they are wearing in ear monitors for those because that's the only way they could get a tempo reference for the choreo. The room itself would have to be dead quiet, so the mics can pick up their voices. Idols practice with in ear monitors all the time, to get used to how they feel during heavy movement, and to get used to making adjustments on their belt packs during breaks in the choreo.
@@blueguitarbobThey wear in- ears for the stage practices? That makes more sense because how can they sound so perfect. But I want to know are there special in- ears where we can’t see? Because we can’t see them with the in-ears even behind the scenes for the stage practices.
@@rahinaissaka7004 For a dance practice, I don't think anyone is wearing in ear monitors. Dancers practice with very loud music in the rehearsal rooms, both to give them energy and to clearly hear the beat.
But for those stage practice videos where you can hear them singing, the room has to be very quiet. The idols need some sort of tempo reference for the choreo, so the simplest way to do that is to wear in ear monitors. That's my best guess. I suppose you could keep them in sync some other way. But that's the way they perform, so wearing in ear monitors would be a true stage performance practice.
Why can't we see the in ear monitors? Those videos use a static front camera shot and I think they would be hard to see from that far away. I also think they take them out pretty quickly after the shooting is over, and the audio staff collect them for maintenance and cleaning, and I don't think that would make the cut for a BTS video. Used IEMs are not very pretty.
But I could be wrong. JYP may be using a different technique to record those stage practices. But everything I can think of would be more complicated than just having them wear their IEMs.
@@blueguitarbob Ohkk great thanks for explaining.
Nmixx has been the most talented kpop group since their debut. I’m looking forward to them growing and I hope they become really big.
Great Reaction.
I recommend their “acapella higlight medleys” or their predebued stuff.
Their covers such as Thunderous by Stay kids or Kill this love by Black Pink are also really great.
Then one of their concerts with a live band would certainly be interesting. (I-Days Milano)
The energy with the band and everything is so good, I hope more groups do TDK someday!
I'm jealous that you got to see them live. I'm assuming it was as Hyde Park and you got to see them perform Queen and Oasis and the 2nd ever performance of Moving On. Also some of the quirks of tiny desk in addition to using their shotgun mics, it's all shot in 1 take, no in ear monitors, and there is no post-production so what you hear should be pretty much what you would hear if you were there. It's unlikely you will see another kpop group perform a real tiny desk performance. Thanks for the reaction.
It was hyde park, yeah. We were there for Stray Kids but super excited and very impressed by NMIXX. They're great on stage
kyujin and jiwoo are the dancers
NMIXX best of the best ❤NMIXX MAGIC ✨
It's not like It's Live, Dingo, Lee Mujin etc.
And you never watched any Kpop group in Tiny Desk, because it never happened.
What you watched was special performances by Kpop groups/soloists in Tiny Desk, in which the traditional format was modified to accommodate the artists with less confidence about their abilities.
The real Tiny desk format is unique, and there are strict rules:
No live or post prod effects, including no amplifiers and vocal processors allowed.
Shotgun mics
1 take, no redo, live band, minimal audience.
Anything else is labelled "special".
I mean, you guys are not journalists and I don't expect you to do thorough research on your content, but I think that context REALLY matters.
At the moment, Nmixx is the only female group that can sing live at Tiny desk Korea, as there is completely no vocal processing (even It's live, Killing voice and Lee mujin service handle the vocals) and during the performance of songs they do not hear how their vocals sound due to the musical instruments nearby. They also recorded their performance from one take
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THE REAL BEST NSWERRRR IN HERE
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Haewon just dropped a cover of Please Please Please by Sabrina Carpenter a few days ago. Can you react to it? It's so gorgeous that I got obsessed and keep going back to it.
pls react to blackpink coachella 2023