Same here on the embarrassment... If I can't hear what I'm
playing/singing, I tend to (unconsciously, I guess) scale all of what
I'm doing down.
When listening to it later, the result sounds like someone...
somewhere... was having a bad night!!
Brad Trainham
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 09:06:34 -0600, you wrote:
When I can't hear myself I start playing louder, which destroys both my
tone
and my harps. Not good. I hate sitting in because it often happens in
those situations.
Amplified harp is a very tricky instrument acoustically. I've played
large
amps with no monitors and small amps mic'ed into the monitor system.
Either
way, it takes careful setup to get it just right and avoid feedback in
each
venue.
You have to hear yourself play. No, you can't do it by just knowing where
you are on the harp and knowing where the song is going; at least I can't.
I've heard many recordings of myself in those situations and I was
embarassed by the result.
Try different mics. I have many mics and they all have different
qualities
in tone and feedback rejection. Sometimes I use a mic whose tone is not
my
favorite because it feeds back less in certain venues. Try a feedback
eliminator device, such as the Sabine or Kinder. Try everything. You
gotta
hear yourself, or you're just going through the motions...
-Spec20
On 10/28/07, Special20 <special20harp@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
When I can't hear myself I start playing louder, which destroys both my
tone and my harps. Not good. I hate sitting in because it often
happens in
those situations.
Amplified harp is a very tricky instrument acoustically. I've played
large amps with no monitors and small amps mic'ed into the monitor
system.
Either way, it takes careful setup to get it just right and avoid
feedback
in each venue.
You have to hear yourself play. No, you can't do it by just knowing
where
you are on the harp and knowing where the song is going; at least I
can't.
I've heard many recordings of myself in those situations and I was
embarassed by the result.
Try different mics. I have many mics and they all have different
qualities in tone and feedback rejection. Sometimes I use a mic whose
tone
is not my favorite because it feeds back less in certain venues. Try a
feedback eliminator device, such as the Sabine or Kinder. Try
everything.
You gotta hear yourself, or you're just going through the motions...
-Spec20
On 10/28/07, Cljdm@xxxxxxx <Cljdm@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Hey all.
>
> I know this may sound dopey, and I realize it is important to have
> moniters
> or effectively placed amps, so one can hear themselves while playing.
> But
> what if you can hardley hear yourself most of the gig for one reason
> or
> another?
> Or even not being able to hear oneself clearly. I find it difficult
> to
> play
> what I can play if I can hear myself clearly. Even though I know where
> I
> am
> on the harp, and can tell where the tune is going, if i can't hear
> what
> is
> coming out of my amp I get very frustrated.
>
> Of course this sometimes has to do a lot with loud guitars and drums,
> but
> that is a whole other issue. I have learned how to cut through that,
> and I do
> most of the time. I am thinking of placing my amp right behind me and
> taking
> my chances on occasional feedback on my next gig. At least I will hear
> myself.
> I am finding out the acoustics of the room among other factors
> determine
> the
> ability to hear myself. So I guess I would like to know, is it common
> for
> players to not be able to hear themselves and yet still play
> effectively? I mean
> by just knowing where you are at on their instrument, is that enough
> to
> create
> what you want. I find this very difficult and get a real empty
> feeling
> after a gig when I can barely hear myself playing most of the night.
> Probably
> because I wonder how many mistakes I didn't hear.
>
> On the other hand when the sound is right and the levels are audible
> to
> everyone, the creativity soars.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Chris Mastakas
>
>
>
> ************************************** See what's new at
> http://www.aol.com
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l
>
_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l
_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l