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#349289 - 08/18/12 11:05 PM
What if I went to a buffet……..
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Senior Member
Registered: 10/23/06
Posts: 1661
Loc: USA
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....and instead of "all the food you could eat," they offered you "all the speakers you could play through?"
I went to a German Festival tonight....sat there and watched the band. Worst band (or close to it) I ever heard. Like something out of your worst reality TV show!
The accordion player sang out of key and nowhere near his proper vocal range, the rhythm guitarist forgot to change chords, and even the bass player played wrong notes. The music coming out of the speakers was just a big blur. I couldn’t even make out the beats.
What they DID do, though, was sing a lot of eeeeeee-ah’s, yodel here and there, and whip them up into a frenzy doing Ein Proseit. But the people were dancing up a storm. I was the odd one out actually listening (it’s a curse being a musician).
I sat there and thought about everything. The first thing I thought, obviously, was....why bother practicing every day? People really don’t really care about the quality of music, only the “volume“ and the “excitement.” But....that’s OK with me....if that’s the way it is, then that’s the way it is.
Then I remembered years ago, I went to a local bar to see a friend playing. Before I got in the room, I was listening to someone playing I Will Survive. I thought they put a band in that night, but it was my friend playing a new keyboard setup. Controller keyboard working a rack of modules and a left hand bass going through a huge JBL bass bin. Everything amplified by a big watt Crown amp. What a sound he had!
So my next thought was: I was wondering what my PA3x (or a Tyros or Audya) would sound like if I had all that amplification on it. Bass going through a separate channel and into something like 20 bass bins. Drums coming out of their own output and EQ'd on the mixer. Then speakers all over the stage for the main sound. Of course, I’m exaggerating, but I’m thinking would I sound as big as that band tonight if I did do something like that? Which leads to....I’m wondering how close you can come to competing with a band (or many bands) like I was watching tonight if you were a very skilled one-man-band (“power player?”) using enough speakers.
Mark
Edited by Mark79100 (08/18/12 11:26 PM)
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#349297 - 08/19/12 05:46 AM
Re: What if I went to a buffet……..
[Re: Mark79100]
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Senior Member
Registered: 09/29/05
Posts: 6703
Loc: Roswell,GA/USA
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What you witnessed at the German Festival was probably fueled as much by alcohol and the 'festival' atmosphere as by the band's volume and antics. If a 'bad' jazz group tried that in a jazz club, the 'excitement' you'd see would be the band getting tossed out on it's rear to a chorus of boos. You simply can't apply the experience of one music situation to another. Sheer volume can be as much of a negative as a positive, depending on the venue and the degree of appropriateness. Volume alone has little meaning until framed in context, and is certainly no guarantee of generating audience participation or excitement.
To me, the key isn't LOUD but clarity. Volume should always be just what is appropriate for that specific situation, but CLARITY (as in QUALITY of sound) is ALWAYS in order.
It may not be possible (or practical) to have the perfect (sound) rig for every musical venue so it's probably best to just get the best possible speakers that will best amplify the instruments in YOUR rig (including vocals)......then add 10% (if optimum turns out to be 1000w power amp and 12" speakers, get 1500w and 15's - okay, not exactly 10% but you get the idea).
......and finally, if you're going out specifically to listen to music, stay away from German Festivals.
chas
_________________________
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]
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#349310 - 08/19/12 08:16 AM
Re: What if I went to a buffet……..
[Re: Mark79100]
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Senior Member
Registered: 09/29/05
Posts: 6703
Loc: Roswell,GA/USA
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Ok, big misunderstanding. I'm more than ready to move on. I'll be the first to admit that quite often my posts may contain a healthy dose of sarcasm (sort of my 'personality'), but hopefully not in a malicious or hateful way, especially towards an individual or GROUP. Also, I can assure you that Nigel makes absolutly NO distinction between 'junior' and 'senior' when it comes to what is appropriate behavior on the forum. I can point you to a number of 'seniors' (myself included) that can attest to that . As for my setup; I don't play out much anymore, only about once a week on average. I play mostly in one club and that club is blessed with a great in-house PA and usually has it's own sound guy in on the weekends. Since I only play organ I only use a single Leslie 3300 miked thru the PA but not fed back to a stage monitor (not necessary). Prior to that, I used a Motionsound Pro45 but needed a (Peavy) sub to augment the bass. Before that, I used a Traynor K4 with two Aux powered 8"'s (Podium 802). All worked well but none as well as the real Leslie. I also have a Mackie 808S driving two Cerwin Vegas (for vocals) for those rare other gigs but plan to replace those with a my little MDX10 Roland Mixer, a power amp and 2 EV's. In my opinion, EV's are the best-sounding all-around PA speaker (both their active and their passive). At rehearsal (in my studio/rehearsal room), I use the K4 to cover my eDrum kit. My guitarist brings his own (Fender twin reverb, I think). I'm looking forward to replacing the CVs with the EVs. Peace, chas
_________________________
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]
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