"Practice like we play"

[Stewie]

We set up just like on a stage. mains on stands behind us and to the sides. One monitor for the drummer, who is kinda between the mains. We play at gig volume, but the goal is to play at levels where the people out front are comfortable, and can even talk to each other(if a little loudly). Any time I hear a band that is loud enough to make my ears ring, I'm outta there. I just don't see the point.

 

[BAG]

Unless you're practicing in a BIG room the volume levels, and what you actually hear, will be very, very different once you get on stage. Sure, if you have the room, rehearse in the same positions and with your amps facing out front but you'd actually be better rehearsing with no FOH and just using your foldback. It is at least closer to what you'll be dealing with live.

 

[Korladis]

Have a new side project and an old discussion has reared it's ugly head.

I always considered "practice like we play" an excuse for playing louder than necessary in rehearsal (usually coming from guitars or drums), but I've seen the idea supported quite a bit on this forum as well. Is there an actual benefit to this? If so, why does it always seems to be volume related, and not (for instance) in reference to lining up like on stage with poor sightlines, or transitioning quickly between songs, etc?

As I said, I don't really buy into it, but before I squash the idea I'm curious to see if there is some factor to this that I'm not considering.

We turn up until the guitars and bass are the same volume as the drums. That's pretty loud. Not as loud as our shows, though.

We also generally try to go through the set with minimum talking between songs. Then we take a break, and come back and do it again.

 

[lbbc]

How consistent is your stage setup? Ours (well, the gigging projects I have) tends to vary depending on how much stage area we have and size of the room and which PA configuration we're using. How consistent is the sound compared to live? I would think a 25' deep room is going to sound considerably different at the same level than a 70' deep room.

Our stage set up is pretty much the same everywhere we play. Acoustic/Electric trio with no drummer and a Bose L1 PA system...set it and only tweak EQ and volume.

 

[micguy]

I play in church. There's usually one dress rehearsal - on stage in the auditorium. We do practice exacly like we play, and without a single amp on stage, we're really quiet. No band should ever play OR rehearse louder than a drummer, and hopefully your drummer doesn't hit too hard. If he does, put him in a box. Same goes for the guy with the Marshall stack (or Fender twin). Your hearing is worth it.

 

[LT131]

We've gone as far as shining bright lights into our faces so we wouldn't be thrown off by them.

We do something similar to prepare for our gigs. We had to have chicks flash their "headlights" and snap panties at us. Totally used to it now.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

The more Pro the musos, the less of these types of problems I encounter.

Later rehearsals focus on dynamics, intros/endings, speeding up transitions btw songs, plan guitar swaps, nailing harmonies, etc.

Yeah, all those, plus talking about where we are playing, where we like to play, where we want to play, and the dimwit who showed up at our last gig and threw confetti all over everyone.

 

[pwhalen]

We do something similar to prepare for our gigs. We had to have chicks flash their "headlights" and snap panties at us. Totally used to it now.

You win the internet for today

 

[BigBasserino]

Have a new side project and an old discussion has reared it's ugly head.

I always considered "practice like we play" an excuse for playing louder than necessary in rehearsal (usually coming from guitars or drums), but I've seen the idea supported quite a bit on this forum as well. Is there an actual benefit to this? If so, why does it always seems to be volume related, and not (for instance) in reference to lining up like on stage with poor sightlines, or transitioning quickly between songs, etc?

As I said, I don't really buy into it, but before I squash the idea I'm curious to see if there is some factor to this that I'm not considering.

I bought into hearos brand ear plugs. Three pairs that I alternate. Reason being guitarists are always going to want walls of sound, singers will think they're better than they are, and drummers basically want to just play (loud of course, because it distracts them from focusing on tempo.). There's "less loud", but it's still pretty loud any way you cut it.

 

[skwee]

I'm a little curious about where folks are playing if the stage volume and the house volume are so similar. It's just been rare for me I guess. Typically, I'm playing in a theater rather than a bar, but even in bar gigs, we've been able to keep the stage volume down, and let whatever happen with the mains--doesn't affect the stage sound much.

 

[JimmyM]

This one is very important. I seem to attract guitar players who love to bring different pedalboard set ups, or amps, to every rehearsal. Something always sounds bad, doesn't work, or they don't know how to use it properly yet.

Well that's how you learn to use it properly.

 

[madmaskbass]

My biggest pet hate when playing in an original band(metal) was writing songs and rehearsing songs at a certain speed then the for some reason get to the show and play the songs considerably faster than they had been written. Drove me absolutely nuts..bloody drummers lol...I have played in a fair few different bands where this occurs and feel I have a pretty good grasp on what the song speeds should be and the variability's can really throw off a song and a set...
yeah yeah practice makes perfect.. metronomes etc... honestly though this is something that wasn't mentioned that can happen and does.

Lots of talk about volume...too loud in practice too loud on stage...only thing that ever helped was decent custom hearing protection.

 

[Ric5]

Have a new side project and an old discussion has reared it's ugly head.

I always considered "practice like we play" an excuse for playing louder than necessary in rehearsal (usually coming from guitars or drums), but I've seen the idea supported quite a bit on this forum as well. Is there an actual benefit to this? If so, why does it always seems to be volume related, and not (for instance) in reference to lining up like on stage with poor sightlines, or transitioning quickly between songs, etc?

As I said, I don't really buy into it, but before I squash the idea I'm curious to see if there is some factor to this that I'm not considering.

Perhaps you play too loud when you play live

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

Have a new side project and an old discussion has reared it's ugly head.

I always considered "practice like we play" an excuse for playing louder than necessary in rehearsal (usually coming from guitars or drums), but I've seen the idea supported quite a bit on this forum as well. Is there an actual benefit to this? If so, why does it always seems to be volume related, and not (for instance) in reference to lining up like on stage with poor sightlines, or transitioning quickly between songs, etc?

As I said, I don't really buy into it, but before I squash the idea I'm curious to see if there is some factor to this that I'm not considering.

That is simply foolish. There is ZERO need to rehearse at full volume - and is nothing but an excuse for your drummer to play with zero dynamics and your guitar player to stroke himself. Tell them to TURN DOWN!

 

[craigie]

We are a guitar bass duo with midi backing tracks. We run our own sound so we have to trust our own setup. We practice with the P.A and pretty much like we do at gigs, lights and all. It's more fun that way too. It doesn't take us long to get a great sound at gigs.

My buddy likes to "feel the punch" and he's not having fun even at rehearsal if we're too quiet. I'd prefer quieter but I don't argue. I just use IEM'S and protect my ears.

Since it hasn't been said much in this thread I'll point out the positives of rehearsing with the same setup and same volume as at gigs.

We are very used to our setup and don't have a difficult time getting great stage sound and front sound.

It's very quick to set up at gigs because it's the same as we always use.

It's very useful for mic control and blending of harmonies. That one is very important I think. Especially singing with earplugs or IEM'S.

So if think there's nothing wrong with full volume as long as you are protecting your hearing.

Then again our setup is very unusual with few variables.

 

[smeet]

My current main band sometimes gets quite loud. But we are getting to the point where the drummer and I can actually raise the intensity while getting softer. We sometimes get down almost to conversational level, which really helps to build tension. Such a great feeling, it always makes us smile at each other.

But I think practice as you play refers to setup, not to volume. We generally release with the whole band facing the same direction, so the singer's back is to us. We also try to rehearse in a few different rooms, so we don't get too used to one room and then get surprised on the gig.

 

[Stumbo]

Some great advice here.
Currently at rehearsal stage with a band for a show in July but we have earmarked our last two rehearsal nights for full dress rehearsal...one of them actually in the venue with it's PA system.
I don't like surprises...

Be sure and record it! See if you can get a line off the mixer.

Also, go wireless or use a long cord so you can go FOH at rehearsal and during the gig.

 

[Oddly]

Be sure and record it! See if you can get a line off the mixer.

Also, go wireless or use a long cord so you can go FOH at rehearsal and during the gig.

Thanks...I'm planning on doing all the above.

A main consideration is that if I've got the rehearsal recorded I can just go ahead and fire the drummer

 

[Stumbo]

No band should ever play OR rehearse louder than a drummer, and hopefully your drummer doesn't hit too hard. If he does, put him in a box. Same goes for the guy with the Marshall stack (or Fender twin). Your hearing is worth it.

Best thing we ever did was to put sound board around the drums(above cymbal height). Contained the loudness so the drummer could play like he like he was used to. Another thing I would do now, if possible, is to hang sound board above the drums.

It was a very inexpensive alternative to building a box and worked way better than I thought it would. It allow everyone else to reduce volume by 1/3 to 1/2.

Another thing to try is to get Amps to ear level or at least tilted back.

I realize this is not "practice like we play" but IMO, is a more practical setup to keep your hearing for just a bit longer than you need it.

 

[Oddly]

In fairness my current drummer is the most controlled I've ever met - he is consistently the one insisting volume is too loud at rehearsal. Our guitarists hate him.