LOL.
Yeah some genre are easier to fake it. Doesn't mean it's all as such. S/D is usably much more intelligable than P/V or black metal. Although we're all kissing cousins with lots of intermarrying.
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Playing live in a room
- Thread starter Slaphound
- Start date
Loudness is, of course, relative. There IS such a thing as too loud, though. I went to a Springsteen show here in Austin a few years ago that was just plain too damn loud. I thought that he PA was distorting until I plugged up my ears with chewed up pieces of my program and found that it was my ears that had been distorting. Everyone I talked to who was there said the same thing. The sound company ruined the show with Wattage.
Even lots of the bands that do have walls of cabs aren't unintelligible. Sea of Bones, who my band just played with, had a literal wall of cabs, and they were incredibly loud, of course, one of the loudest bands I've ever heard. But everything was clear. The guitar tone and bass tone fit together almost like two audio jigsaw puzzle pieces, with the drums being basically the perfect volume. It was a veritable wall of sound, but one in which I could pick out each figurative brick. I could hear every part of what every instrument was doing, but each sounded like it belonged with the others, parts of a whole.
The only things they ran through the PA were vocals and kick drum. Their sound may be loud and unsubtle, but they clearly put a lot of thought into their mix.
Ah, right. Catapult doesn't have vocal harmonies either, but I've heard a few doom bands that do, is all, and they seem to be able to pull it off.
Nice practice rig. What do you play at shows?Am I dumb enough for you?
Nice practice rig. What do you play at shows?
IEMs probably like the OP.
And I crank them so my brain vibrates. Turn up. Tune low. Riff slow.
Who knew the stoner/doom guys were so sensitive?
Anyway, I get what the OP is talking about. Bands too loud for the gig. Some gigs are supposed to be too loud. Others aren't.
If I started a thread about how, "Any one who plays a Pbass, flats, PW music, Ameg gear, or has a tort pic guard is the biggest tool box this side of sears....", you would have a huge response of pissing and moaning.
All the S/D guys here are doing is saying that just because what they do is different, it is no less viable.
Hopkins
Commercial User
So the venues that host Stoner/Doom bands rarely have PA support? Is there a reason for this?
Yeah, I guess I expected you to just tell them to #@*! off and be done with it. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed.
I still don't know what the hell stoner/doom is.
Anyhoo...
While TOO LOUD is by no means optimal, I often see some groups take it entirely too far in the opposite direction, almost priding themselves on how quiet their already "elevator-esque" versions of contemporary pop can be. I'd almost rather chase away a bar full of people, once and for all ending my musical "career",
than spend the rest of my days playing songs that were never meant to be played at retirement home volume. Just another reason why I choose my gigs wisely these days. There's quiet ones and loud ones, but the music almost always accommodates it's respective context in regards to volume.
Anyhoo...
While TOO LOUD is by no means optimal, I often see some groups take it entirely too far in the opposite direction, almost priding themselves on how quiet their already "elevator-esque" versions of contemporary pop can be. I'd almost rather chase away a bar full of people, once and for all ending my musical "career",
than spend the rest of my days playing songs that were never meant to be played at retirement home volume. Just another reason why I choose my gigs wisely these days. There's quiet ones and loud ones, but the music almost always accommodates it's respective context in regards to volume.
Yeah, I guess I expected you to just tell them to #@*! off and be done with it. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed.
Contrary to popular belief, we are smart enough to not get banned.
I'm not...but I'm a wall of cabs guy so that answers that question.
Compression and a good OD with some type of blend/attenuation has helped me overcome some crappy rooms with no PA support. Sometimes it's all about the frequencies. I'll usually have my guitarist play a little through my rig while the rest of the band plays and stand out in the room during sound check to get an idea of how it will sound. Next week I have to play a long, narrow room with wood floors and big glass windows in front, no PA...yay!
Heavy music generally appeals to smaller percentages of the population. (Grossly generalizing)More difficult to get a consistent large turnout when you draw on such a small number of people. Most of the venues only have heavy music a few times a month.
Stoner/Doom is a portion of heavy music.
Hopkins
Commercial User
The key word here is venue, around here heavy bands play the same venues that rock or punk bands play. Every one of those venues have a PA
Played a bar a few weeks ago. Had a decent size stage and dance floor. No pa. No lights. Didn't even have much in the way of house lights in that part of the bar. Owner was of the opinion that he had done enough to get the show srarted.
Hopkins
Commercial User
Ive played gigs where we had to supply our own PA, my rig was still in the mains, but those gigs were never at a venue. How long has that bar been in business? It makes no sense to invest in a stage and dance floor without having at least a minimal PA system.
