...listened to something at a volume so low you could barely make out what it was? But as you did...

...did you notice some of the hidden rhythms and riffs going on in the music? I sometimes am amazed at what I hear. Some intricate parts suddenly become clearly apparent to me; at time something that sounds difficult is actually two separate simple parts playing simultaneously.

This has given me new insight into comping for singers or even over my own vocals. I've always been such a heavy player (for want of a better term), but after 50 yrs on keyboard this ol' dog is still learning new tricks.

I try and use headphones when learning a tune...really helps pick out otherwise unnoticed parts.

Ian

YES! Doing that is a very interesting thing. Turning down volumes on some things will allow you to actually hear things you didn't even know were going on in the background. Hell sometimes just a better set of speakers will allow you to hear stuff you didn't even know was there.

This kinda goes along with what I had posted in another topic. Turn down the mains sometimes to allow the rest of the band to be heard So much gets lost in a song because this. It goes along with songs posted here using the arrangers. So often you can't tell what's really goin on in the background because the leads are just way over the top. I find myself making this mistake in a mix.., and often find I'll need to drop my lead volumes because I'm destroying the mix.

just get yourself some great monitors like the Mackie
http://www.mackie.com/products/studiomonitors/index.html

you won't miss a thing

Donny,
I certainly enjoy my Mackie 824's.
In cases where I have auditioned keyboards in the Sweetwater showroom (Roland cubes and headphones) when I got the keyboard home..WOW, what a difference!
You can hear all the different instruments..and so clearly.

Lee S.

The ear is VERY non-linear in it's response to sound levels. At different volumes, certain frequency ranges get accentuated, and others get masked. Add to that that some less expensive speaker systems are themselves not too flat, and you can easily hear the effect talked about.

Lee I know excactly what your talking about it's amazing.....you really dont know what your missing till you hear your music through a good set of monitors for sure.