Re: [Harp-L] San francisco must see for harmonica player.



On Feb 9, 2012, at 11:26 AM, Greg Heumann wrote:

> One of the best jams on the planet (I promise) - is the Redwood City Blues Jam 

I've never been but I just looked at the web site. Check out http://www.rwcbluesjam.com/comingtoplay.cfm It explains the rules of the road.  My favorite line are "This is a CONTROLLED VOLUME jam. Our audience has told us over and over that loud ain't happening, so heed the instructions of the jam master when it comes to volume levels."

I've been so so many jam sessions where I leave the venue at the end of the night with blood trickling out of my ears from ruptured ear drums. When I sit in at a jam session I always politely ask everyone to turn down. If that doesn't work, I step away from the mic and sing unamplified. All but the most insensitive musicians will play low enough for me to be heard. This establishes a nice volume level base line. From there, song dynamics are possible.

I forget who told me this. It's a paraphrasing something one of one of the old blues guys was wont to say, "If you play quietly people have to come closer to hear you." And, of course, the opposite is true.

Cheers,

-Bob

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