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

["James Sterett" <Jsterett@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'd say, it all depends on the venue.  Go to a smaller place geared toward music and you'll often get the sound and company that lends itself to a place like that.  a bar, arena or stadium may have a decidedly different vibe, although a lot of performers do try to make their setting as intimate as possible, regardless of the size.  In my younger days, I went to some places where the bands were so loud, you could physically feel the air shaking.  It was the norm.  And when I played, I used a Blues DeVille 4x10 or Music Man 2x12 and mic'd it... still barely able to hear myself. Wasn't nearly as much fun as any of the players or "listeners" may have thought it was, I'd bet. Then, I hooked up with a bunch of players who kept it lower... I used a Premier 2x8 amp, mic'd, but was able to hear myself on the bandstand, and people could go to different locations of the places we were playing to adjust the volume to their liking... then, this same bunch had so much fun jamming on my porch to the frogs and crickets, we started to incorporate acoustic sets and whole acoustic gigs... then, we bailed on electric altogether, got one mic to stand around, and now, must be about seven or eight years later, are doing the exact same standing around one mic, with one, sometimes two, PA speakers (never a need for a monitor.)  We have a fine time, standing shoulder to shoulder jamming up a storm or singing a tender ballad. We don't play the same places we used to, we tried a couple of times, but they don't want us in this form, so we've moved onto festivals and coffee houses and music clubs and street corners and breweries and wineries, etc. and sometimes the audience is there, and sometimes they dig it... we're always there digging it... what could be better?  There is hope... keep hope alive.

Jim.
www.mcmule.com

>>> "Rick Dempster" <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx> 10/17/2007 11:13 PM >>>
Music has lost its mojo. It used to be something people entertained themselves with by making it themselves, in the same way that they might have played a game. Like sport, music has become a 'grand spectacle', something people participate in less, understand less, and have great expectations of in the way of being entertained by it. Now it is all about hero worship; worship of the star player, and if you can't make it to great fame, then you at least have to act like it.
Of course not all people have traditionally made their own music, but where I live, and when I was young (I'm 53 now) most families had at least one member who could bang out a tune on the family piano for a singalong. Also, it was customary, even in the late sixties and early seventies for men to ask the woman for a dance. Even though the band onstage might have some claim fame via local TV and radio, it still had a social function.
Music used to function something like food, on social occasions; it wasn't the main feature, but it brought people together and gave them an excuse for meeting and talking.
Like most aspects of human culture, music has been commodified and thus de-valued. It's aural junk food, and the spin, volume and lights is the same as the fat, salt, MSG etc.
Now when people front up at a gig, they expect to sit on their backsides and get something like the second coming; they've pretty much lost the whole idea of socialising, so they want to lose themselves in the darkness, din and large quantities of booze & drugs, and have a sense that they are part of "where it's at". I'm not saying there hasn't always been an element of this kind of thing, but it's really out of hand now.
Play soft enough so that people can hear each other talking. Give them a chance to find out what it's all for.
RD



>>> Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 18/10/2007 4:07 >>>

>Reminds me of a gig where a guy sat in front of our p.a. for the whole 
>set. During the break we found out he was profoundly deaf and wanted to 
>feel the music. Jim the B.

That is extremely moving.  In fact it may explain the guy with his head in 
the horn, though he looked like an irresponsible head banger, so we just 
presumed he was trying to make himself deaf, not that he already was.

There's something I didn't mention about the Plasmatics gig.  It was so 
loud that the friend I brought tried to shout something straight into my 
ear and I still couldn't hear him.  After two tries he yanked me away from 
where I was standing.  His eyes were big and quite alarmed.  I turned to 
see what he was looking at, and became alarmed myself.

A guy had a big nasty knife out at arm's length and he was spinning in a 
circle, his way of celebrating the joy of the Plasmatics.  There was a 
great deal of blood as this moron cut people while he performed what he 
assumed was a socially acceptible punk dance.  The biggest bouncers in the 
place didn't want to get too close, but he finally slipped on blood on the 
ground.  I learned later that thought several people had been injured 
nobody was actually killed, at least nobody worth mentioning.

We left at once.  My friend told me that the guy came within an inch of my 
neck twice, and the second time my friend may have even saved my life, and 
I like to think of myself as someone worth mentioning.

Nowadays I prefer acoustic shows where, if someone is whipping a knife 
around you can actually hear the warnings.

Schmucks with knives: yet another reason to tone it down.  -K

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_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org 
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx 
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l