RE: [Harp-L] Hello! (volume control and all that)
It's been quit some time since I posted anything. This post is about
volume
controls vs "your" volume. I searched the achieves and didn't see anything
about this specific subject. Anyway, this is just my opinion. Volume
controls
are crutches that limit our full tone/ power potential. Why dig down to
get
that big tone when all you have to do is turn a knob? If you set the knob
and
leave it alone...fine. My intension here is that I want us all to be the
best
we can be. Tone/ delivery is a big part of that. Dependency on the knob
won't
make ones tone any better, it'll just make weak tone loud enough for
everyone to hear. This whole thing makes since to me, but I am certainly
open to any
other thoughts/ corrections. As a side note, most of the moded mics I see
on
ebay have v/c's hanging off of them somewhere. If I am on track with the
above, these v/c's need not be on these mics unless asked for, especially
very
desirable, hard to find mics. Well, I hope this is a productive subject.
If
I've upset anyone, I apologize in advance.
Mike
I read all the stuff here on amps and mics with a mixture of admiration and
perplexity (is that a word??). I nearly always play in pub sessions or
small venues, so, unless someone who knows these things better than me plugs
me in to the PA, I usually rely on a tiny lapel mic that I hold cupped in my
hands and a small amp. As I play Irish stuff I don't need anything other
than a clean tone and maybe a little added warmth in the form of a twitch of
the delay knob. You have a lot of control over your "personal" tone and
volume with the cupped lapel mic (as opposed to the "tone" you're trying to
get out of your amp) and it's instructive to practise with the setup to work
on volume and fullness of tone by varying the hand-cup. It does make a
significant difference. But at the end of the day if you're not putting a
sweet tone into what is, after all, only the distal end of your tone-chamber
(the rest being your whole upper body), you won't get a sweet tone out
either. This excellent page is still good reading for harp players who want
to address the question of producing a good tone:
http://www.jt30.com/jt30page/oldsite/goodtone.html As for volume control, I
need to adjust mine slightly for different harp types (same all night for
10-holes, down a bit for chroms, up a bit for Echo tremolos), and I might
need to turn down a bit if a couple of the lads go off for an early night
and/or if the pub goes quiet. So I don't want to be fiddling with the
volume knob all night, but it comes in handy occasionally to keep myself in
balance with the other lads. In my case the knob on the amp is all I need.
Your scenario may vary!
Steve
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica
HEAR my CD clips: http://www.gjk2.com/steveshaw/cd.htm
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