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Singer/Songwriter Setup

adamlunt

adamlunt

Oct 18, 2012
47
0
Birmingham, UK
#1
I'm gonna be doing some live shows with a young singer songwriter soon, and I don't know whether to take my amp as I don't have transport (and I only ever use it as a personal monitor anyway.) I guess most places we'll be playing will have stage monitors so do you think I'd get away with using a standalone DI? Have you ever played a show amp-less?
 
#2
adamlunt said:
I'm gonna be doing some live shows with a young singer songwriter soon, and I don't know whether to take my amp as I don't have transport (and I only ever use it as a personal monitor anyway.) I guess most places we'll be playing will have stage monitors so do you think I'd get away with using a standalone DI? Have you ever played a show amp-less?
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I can tell you for sure that I definitely don’t like doing anything amp-less. For me, I feel like I play poorly (particularly lacking good dynamic control) when I am not hearing myself through something that I use regularly—even if that is only a small amp that I’m using for my personal monitoring.
 
#4
You could just go through the PA and use the monitor, IF it's solid enough to handle bass. Some are, some aren't. I guess that's a chance you'll have to take. But many folks do that...Justin did that for his first tour with Nine Inch Nails, although he had a buttload of pres and pedals plus IEM's. I could be talked into getting a small combo for a monitor. On gigs like that, I'll use an Ampeg BA110, which is a 35w practice amp. Not the most glamorous amp on the market, but does the monitor job just fine.
 
#5
Having worked as a singer-songwriter, I would not be comfortable amp less. Most of the PAs I've had to use were small and not at all adequate for bass support. Taking a small amp would insure that you not only had a monitor, but that you could provide adequate bass for the singer-songwriter. Jimmy's example of the BA110, or something similar, would be great insurance.

Of course, you could ask the principal involved what you might expect to use.

Raf
 

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