One of the biggest gifts of the microphone is that it’s the greatest vocal equalizer.
When I have sung in a concert choir, often I would be in a section with someone with a beautiful, big instrument. I personally have a small instrument, so in that situation there were only two outcomes: option 1, I oversang to contribute to the ensemble sound; option 2, I make no tangible difference in the sound heard from the audience.
That’s fine, it’s part of the ensemble experience. I can contribute in myriad other ways, even if my voice isn’t detectable by the listener.
But with a microphone for each singer, every level can be adjusted so that each singer is on equal footing – an equal contributor. This is a gift to BOTH big and small voices.
For small voices, it means they can make an equal contribution to the sound, and feel like the size of the instrument isn’t the only factor that goes into their ultimate impact.
For big voices, it means that they can hear the rest of the ensemble equally and can sing out without overpowering the sound of the rest of the ensemble. Often big voices can’t hear the rest of the ensemble well when they’re singing out – so they have to throttle the sound or feel like they’re the only voices they can hear well.
Just one more gift that on-mic singing gives to every singer.