[Harp-L] Playing in a band and volume

[Mike Fugazzi <mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx>]

My band plays a lot of different stages.  We're a five
piece, and four of us have been fans of low volume
since day one.  Finally, after two years, we have our
fifth on board.

Bottom line for me:

You sound better front of house when your stage volume
is low.  Your 5w and 8" speaker sound much larger
through a huge PA then when you try to get all your
volume with your amp.

The other reasons/logic listed are great.  I could go
on for days about the pros to this approach, but I
won't.  Big amps were once a thing that were needed. 
PAs couldn't keep up with them.  Now, there is no
reason why you couldn't just use small amps as stage
monitors.  It is to the benefit of all.  The only con
is maybe a difference in tone (that can be fixed front
of hous).  That being said, there is nothing wrong
with large amps if that's your thing.

I would argue that using big amps as a harp player is
an ok thing to do, though (much more useful for harp
then guitar).  For one, if you only use a small amp
and go through the monitors, you can't always control
feedback like you can when your stage volume is from
your amp.  Second, you can't drive an amp as loud as a
guitar player.  While he can get huge volume from 20W,
you sometimes can't get that perceived level from a
45w amp.  Finally, the eq of most amped harp tends to
have less presence then a guitar or some parts of the
drum kit, so you need more headroom.

The consenus in my band is that I need the loudest amp
on stage.  Mostly so I can avoid using monitors.  As
long as I keep it in check, the sound guy still has to
pump me through the mains and that makes me sound
better (well it should...this summer it would seem
that all sound guys think I need more treble to my
sound...yuck).


FWIW...a lot of amp users complain about losing bass
response when using small amps.  Most times the crowd
doesn't hear the big bottom end you would anyways.



Mike Fugazzi
http://www.myspace.com/mikefugazzi
http://www.niterail.com

"Music should be healing; music should uplift the soul; music should inspire. There is no better way of getting closer to God, of rising higher towards the spirit, of attaining spiritual perfection than music, if only it is rightly understood."
-Hazrat Inayat Khan


       
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