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Questions & Help Mar 25, 2026 at 8:55 PM

Maynard James Keenan Explains Why He Can't Actually Hear The Audience At Live Shows & Which Puscifer Song He Couldn't Perform With Tool

Posted by DamnitRidley

https://www.theprp.com/2026/03/25/news/maynard-james-keenan-explains-why-he-cant-actually-hear-the-audience-at-live-shows-which-puscifer-song-he-couldnt-perform-with-tool/
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DirkTheGamer Mar 25, 2026 +102
I don’t understand the part about in-ear pieces making the live vocals a half-step down and that’s why people can sound flat. Does anyone know what that’s about?
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spudlybudly Mar 25, 2026 +72
The recording may be tuned down half a step but live isn't. So the vocalist is singing with the track and not necessarily the band. *I got this wrong, read below.
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start_select Mar 25, 2026 +295
Most bands play 1-3 half steps down for the sake of the singers voices, or 1-3 half steps up for the sake of 6 strings being easier to play than 7 and 8 string guitars. He is talking about a psycho-acoustic effect from sound waves resonating. You hear your speaking voice lower than it actually is (everyone sounds high pitched and nasally when you hear a recording of yourself speaking). At low volumes you hear yourself through your jaw bone, not the air. The sound drops in pitch as it travels down the jaw. When singing you hear your actual voice. But in-ear monitors plug your ear creating a resonant chamber. It causes an up to 20db boost in your “jaw voice” which is pitched down. 20db is ALOT. Like up to 32x louder or more. So if your in ears vocal mix is too quiet, you hear your jaw voice and continually chase and bounce off a down pitched tone. So you most likely sing sharp. Turn it up just right and it equalizes, you hear the proper pitch. Turn it up too loud, now that mix starts to resonate and gets too loud, and you can’t hear any of your jaw voice. You are used to hearing both. If you can’t hear your jaw you then hear it as sharp. So you most likely go flat. Stage sound is a balancing act.
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suffaluffapussycat Mar 25, 2026 +50
> There’s a lot of singers that you hear them live and they sound like they’re singing flat. It’s because their vocal is too loud over the music in their mix. Their live vocal — they don’t have a recorded vocal. Their live vocal is so much louder than the music that they’re singing to an adjusted version of the music in their ear which is a half step down. It’s because if your own vocal is loud in your IEMs you don’t push as hard because you’re loud already. Pushing to make your singing voice louder can also help you stay on pitch rather than flat. And 1-3 half steps? 3 half steps or 1.5 steps up or down is a LOT.
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punksnotbread Mar 26, 2026 +7
To your last point I had the same thought. Bands playing in D# standard or D standard live instead of E, sure it happens- but c#standard seems ridiculous. That's what my old weirdo art punk band played in lol
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MandatoryPenetration Mar 26, 2026 +2
I know of several people that also add a delay on their vocals in their IEM mix, so they can hear what it sounds like compared to the band. I've tried listening to a mix that has that delay and it absolutely fucks me up
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Akkatha Mar 26, 2026 +7
Who on earth is doing that? The absolute pseudoscience bollocks that seems to be spouted in the prosumer audio world is mental. No delay on monitoring - it’s only going to cause issues.
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MandatoryPenetration Mar 26, 2026
I agree that its ridiculous, but I have heard that there are some people that do that.
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slax03 Mar 25, 2026 +18
Is this why we hate hearing our own voice in a recording? Because it doesn't sound the way it sounds to us when actually speaking?
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FuckLex Mar 26, 2026 +7
Yep
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SaxRohmer Mar 26, 2026 +6
yes that’s exactly why
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SaxRohmer Mar 26, 2026 +6
who the hell is going down 3 half steps lol
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Parking_War979 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Learned something new and interesting today. Thanks!!
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csonka Mar 25, 2026 +2
Is there a YouTube video that demonstrates this?
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impreprex Mar 25, 2026 +2
Holy shit, as someone who only has ever worked in the studio setting, that’s fascinating.
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DirkTheGamer Mar 26, 2026 +2
Hmmm this is a good explanation. Thanks.
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moustachedelait Mar 26, 2026 +2
Is this why my wife always says I'm singing too high at home karaoke? Maybe I just suck, that's also very possible.
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DiarrheaChunks Mar 26, 2026 +2
This guy sounds.
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AlaskanTroll Mar 26, 2026 +2
Nicely said Sound Wizard ![gif](giphy|EOsk2z4S7c1G0|downsized)
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jayphox Mar 26, 2026 +2
This all makes sense as a guy that likes playing a few instruments, but I never considered all of the factors you've explained. Thank you, much!
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Chaos_Dunks Mar 25, 2026 +2
Very nice and informative post. Thank you.
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xavPa-64 Mar 25, 2026 +6
I feel like if I was gonna sing to an in-ear backup track, I’d have the band be tuned to that track.
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TheToastyWesterosi Mar 25, 2026 +8
Yep, if it’s being played live, it’ll be tuned down a half step.
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endocrineredder Mar 25, 2026 +2
wow that is crazy! sounds like a music director is needed
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start_select Mar 25, 2026 +32
It’s because the in ears are jammed into your ear, creating something similar to a sealed speaker enclosure. Normally when sound travels from your jaw bone into your ear, it escapes. It drops in pitch as it travels down the bone. So you actually hear yourself flatter than you actually are without sound reinforcement. With in ears, the sound doesn’t escape because your ear is plugged, and because it’s sealed the sound waves resonate. So your down pitched voice (from your jaw bone) gets a 20db boost, and you chase that. Turn the in-ears up even louder and the effect usually reverses, you start to sing sharp instead of flat.
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Aron_Wolff Mar 25, 2026 +13
This is the reason. It’s why most people hate the sound of their own voice in recordings. It’s just different enough from what we hear in our heads, as opposed to what everyone else hears, is different enough to be noticeable but close enough that most people don’t know what or why it is off.
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SaxRohmer Mar 26, 2026 +2
hell yeah i can blame my flatness on my earplugs. now i just gotta figure out how to adjust
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DirkTheGamer Mar 26, 2026 +2
Great explanation, thanks.
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faders Mar 26, 2026 +2
He’s just talking about having a bad mix.
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sum_dude44 Mar 25, 2026 +3
choosing Chris Cornell as an example of someone singing flat is certainly a choice. Chris Cornell flat has more range than 95% of singers
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SandysBurner Mar 26, 2026 +2
Singing flat doesn’t have anything to do with range.
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timbreandsteel Mar 26, 2026 +2
How do you compensate for it?
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deadfisher Mar 25, 2026 +11
He's talking about a singer having too much of their own voice in their in-ear mix, so they can't hear the other instruments. They end up drifting flat, which is a pretty natural thing to happen to singers, especially ones screaming in a rock song. In Maynard's example nothing is actually meant to be tuned flat. He's just talking about the singers being in their own little worlds, referencing their own voices that have drifted flat over time.
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faders Mar 26, 2026 +2
They can hear the music so they get off key. They’re in tune relative to themself, but they’ve drifted off key from the rest of the instruments.
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Pithecanthropus88 Mar 26, 2026 +4
It’s bullshit. I’ve been using IEMs for years now and they make you hear things better.
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faders Mar 26, 2026 +5
He’s talking about having a bad mix though.
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Pithecanthropus88 Mar 26, 2026 +2
I run my own mix. Any competent sound engineer should be able to give him exactly what he wants.
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faders Mar 26, 2026 +3
He’s not talking about his mix. He’s talking about people who think they want a ton of their own voice in the mix. Sometimes they overdo it and they can’t hear the band.
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i_let_the_dogs_out Mar 25, 2026 +148
1. He wants to hear his bandmates. "To \[MJK\] the most important part is that \[the audience\] hear an accurate and passionate version of this song." 2. The song “**Pendulum**” from the latest album **Normal Isn't** Saved you a click.
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Hopeful_Bacon Mar 25, 2026 +26
You're handsome. Thank you.
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lesbiantelevision Mar 26, 2026 +6
A real dapper one, that lad.
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timbreandsteel Mar 26, 2026 +7
Not great with pet enclosures though.
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maz_menty Mar 26, 2026 +4
We caught him one and for all. Mystery solved.
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igg73 Mar 25, 2026 +15
He told us to try harder when we cheered
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JustTerrific Mar 26, 2026 +1
That’s our Maynard
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Pork_Chop_Expresss Mar 26, 2026 +2
i have pretty good pitch and intonation but when i play live i am constantly 1/4 step flat. i use IEMs. this thread is an eye opener. i love reddit sometimes.
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Konilos Mar 25, 2026 +7
Thought this was John Maynard Keynes at first glance!
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raptorcunthrust Mar 25, 2026 +34
Common mistake. Tool does have a song that goes into some detail about economics called Hooker With a P****.
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Aron_Wolff Mar 25, 2026 +7
You’re telling me it’s not about John Hooker, the Union General most known for his decisive defeat by Robert E. Lee at Chancellorsville?
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raptorcunthrust Mar 25, 2026 +4
I don't know I guess. When did Vans become a thing?
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MaynardIsLord721 Mar 26, 2026 -5
What a pretentious d*****
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sheepnwolfsclothing Mar 26, 2026 -18
It’s funny because this is like one step away from lip syncing and having a backing track playing but I totally get it way he wants to produce the most authentic sound for the audience. 
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TheMilkKing Mar 26, 2026 +8
How is it close to that at all? You’re talking nonsense
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Guy-Inkognito Mar 26, 2026 +3
https://preview.redd.it/4aalxb9m1crg1.jpeg?width=606&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cd7c5e49a29b836a210765e9577996ec0e9518b5
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