RE: [Harp-L] LOWER VOLUME FOR LIVE MUSIC

["John Balding" <John.Balding@xxxxxxxxx>]

I remember seeing Rod Piazza here in Tallahassee a couple of years ago
at a small (only) Blues club. The place is concrete all the way around:
block walls and bare concrete floor with a plaster ceiling about 12 feet
high. The capacity of the club is 125 people. Basically, a pretty easy
place to get a little sound to go a long way. (And a real feedback
extravaganza.)

Rod was using his customary stage compliment of two 6X10, 100-watt Harp
King amps. After the group finished up the obligatory 15-minute
"Southern Lady" set-ender, I looked around the room to see if anyone was
hearing what I was hearing. But nobody seemed at all affected. 

The sound I was hearing was similar to the sound you would hear if
someone unplugged the bass from a bass amp without putting the amp on
"standby" first, or tripped over a mic cable from the PA. It was a
low-frequency "fluttering" sound; kind of like talking into a fan as a
kid. Everyone around me sounded as if they were talking underwater. It
was only after I noticed people milling around as usual and the band
exiting the stage that I realized that the sound was "in my head",
so-to-speak. Apparently, my eardrums were on the verge of permanent
damage, from what my doc later told me.

Anyway, long story long, I agree that music should be toned down a notch
or two. The great Blues songstress E.C. Scott once told me that she
wished people wouldn't smoke in the clubs because, naturally, smoke
rises in the air; usually to the stage level, since the stage is the
highest point in the room. She said that it affects the performers'
ability to perform; especially over an extended period of time (months,
years). Could not the same rationale be applied with regards to volume
and the audience? Excessive volume ruins our ability to hear the nuance
of the music; that which gives the music its unique character and
individuality. Deafening your audience is the most harmful thing you can
do as a musician. That is, you make your living from what your audience
hears. How much is a deaf audience willing to pay to "watch" you play?

Although, I have to admit, that Piazza show REALLY made me want a Harp
King!

John Balding
Tallahassee, FL