[Harp-L] Stage volume Creep...(was: the loud, drunk, guitar player)

[Will Jennings <will@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

17 years ago, we started as a four piece acoustic band: mandolin,  
guitar, harmonica, and bass...with 3 & 4 part vocals.
Then we added a drummer, who was actually an exceptionally talented  
percussionist with years of experience
backing singer-songwriter, acoustic bands.  Then we sometimes had a  
fiddle player join us. Then we had a fiddle player
who could rock the house on electric guitar.  Then our acoustic  
guitar and mandolin players added small amps.
Then I started bringing a harp amp.  And all the while, our monitor  
volume kept rising to keep pace with the increased
stage volume. So far, a perfect recipe for exponential stage noise  
increase.

Occasionally, and I know this comes as a total shock to most of you,  
a venue-provided sound system &/or sound tech
truly, utterly, sucks bloated ticks off a sail cat.  And to clamp  
down on feedback issues, one of our measures of last
resort is to tell (or scream at) them to shut down the monitors. As  
in, no monitors on stage.  We just work off what we can hear
on stage and what we can hear through the house.  I'm not proposing  
this as a solution....but one of the unintended
consequences was that each person on stage had to decide: "If I want  
to hear anyone else, I'm gonna have to: a) turn down,
and b) listen harder."  Surpise, surprise, surprise, as Gomer Pyle  
used to intone....when we got less noisy, we could hear better.
When we could hear better, we blended better. When we blended better,  
we didn't have to struggle nearly as hard...and when that
happens, then the 'pocket' becomes a place you could draw on a map.

Now we're back down to a four piece.  We play with two large  
condenser mics. Period.  The electric bass player runs
his amp to be picked up through the mics, or he uses a DI or both.  I  
sometimes play harp through a very small amp,
sometimes mic'd with an SM58.  The vocals, mandolin, guitar, and  
acoustic harp are all sharing the same two stage mics.
We work the mics in different formations (trios, duets, solos).  No  
monitors. Don't need 'em. Since we play close together,
we can hear each other just fine.  None of us has to wear ear plugs  
or noise abatement devices.
We did this set up with drums, too. He used a much smaller kit...and  
was much more aimed at finesse than power groove.

The 'drunk' part about 'loud' is a different problem.  Alcohol does  
indeed raise one's threshold for tolerating noise.
It does not raise one's ability to sustain noise exposure w/o  
damage.  And, well, while one can name a long list of
talented, soulful, skilled players who performed under an array of  
chemical influences...my personal preferences
in being on stage with others is that they be sober, attentive, and  
able to communicate with me and our audience.

-Will