Re: Stage volume...was: What amp for 12C

[PL500@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 5/6/03 12:54:39 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
rdg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:


> Amen to that. A (non-harmonica) case in point is a BC guitar player, Cal
> Batchelor, who regularly plays rooms that most do with bi-amped two or
> three way systems with most or all instruments lined or miced in. Only
> Cal plays these same rooms with acoustic level drums, vocals only
> through a small powered mixer, two small 12" monitors with small horns
> for the PA front, no monitors, and un-mic'ed bass and guitar amp volume
> set to mix out front well with the acoustic drum and vocal levels.
> 
> But he gets large rooms to rockin', and he sounds loud with great
> breakup, and all that. It's just not ear-splitting. It's still totally
> brain-damaging.
> 
> When I play harp with Cal, I just line into his board and I can hear
> myself fine from just the room sound--and I _feel_ loud.
> 
> I lear a lesson every time I see/hear him play. It's not about volume.
> It's about _tone_.
> 
> -- 
> Best regards,
> Ron/datadigr                         

Howdy, 

If the sound is bouncing off the back walls check to see if the PA is too 
loud. My group was doing a gig at someplace here in town and the guy who was 
running the board was an animal. The PA was totally cranked and anytime I was 
blowing through the Shure 58 on stage the sound would bounce off the back 
walls. I literally had to place the mic about 2 feet from me to compensate 
for it. Sounds like your buddy pretty much has it down. Another issue is 
"breakup," what many do not know is that alot of distortion on stage sounds 
garbled out front. I can bet if you go onstage while Kim Wilson is doing a 
gig his sound is much cleaner than most people at an open mic. Yet when you 
walk out front about 10-20 feet it sounds like his amp is pretty cranked up. 
This is due to the sound from the stage canceling out certain frequencies and 
coupling with other frequencies. Kim and all these other pro's know this 
stuff and that is big reason why they sound better than most joe blows who 
blow harp. 

Andrew