Turn down or I turn off - another Volume Wars post

[ThudThudThud]

I've played with some guitar players who think that if they aren't getting their ribcage tickled, or flapping the backs of their legs with air, the guitar doesn't sound right. It's very odd, but very common.
Some people just can't get their dynamic attack worked out.
OP: I hope everything keeps calm, and not too loud for you.

 

[non]

in the late eighties i was in a band with a loud drummer. he was a big guy and hit hard. he was incapable of playing quiet or dynamically. i had to get a bigger amp. it was a punk band so i guess it worked out.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Most people will handle situations like adults if you handle it that way yourself. I told my last group of guys that I left a rehearsal with my ears ringing so we all needed to turn down next time. They did.

 

[AaronVonRock]

Where do you guys find these bands? My very first band after college was pretty dysfunctional, but not half as bad as some of the stories I read here.

Ha! I've often thought he same thing when reading posts on this site.

 

[electracoyote]

Everyone needs to agree on two things:

1. The drummer sets the noise threshold. If your playing competes with or exceeds his volume, you're too loud.

2. You need to be able to hear yourself and everyone else in the combo equally well. So get yer head out of yer own world and instrument and listen to what's going on around you as you play. Not only will it tell you where you are in the sound spectrum, but everyone actually hearing their band mates generally makes for a tighter band.

 

[tbplayer59]

Excessive volume is a sign of poor musicianship. It covers up bad timing, bad vocals, sloppy playing. A good drummer can play the same beats at different volumes.
You want to improve your band and individual musicianship? Turn down for practice. Warts will become immediately obvious.

 

[Jim Carr]

@Jughead6 — Just start turning down, really softer than needed. Keeping dropping the level until your bass volume is finally off. If it goes unnoticed for more than half a song. Pack up and leave. They don't need a bass player.

 

[MrLenny1]

Good luck.

 

[Jughead6]

@Jughead6 — Just start turning down, really softer than needed. Keeping dropping the level until your bass volume is finally off. If it goes unnoticed for more than half a song. Pack up and leave. They don't need a bass player.

I might start playing through a 110 cabinet and my super quiet Bass VI... that'll mess with their brains!

 

[Fat Freddy]

I might start playing through a 110 cabinet and my super quiet Bass VI... that'll mess with their brains!

Seriously doubt that they HAVE brains.....Ho hum.....

 

[bobba66]

I wish I had worn ear plugs when I was younger.

 

[Jim Carr]

I might start playing through a 110 cabinet and my super quiet Bass VI... that'll mess with their brains!

Nah, that will tip them off. You just want them to actually use their ears, to listen and perhaps hear something besides their own instruments.

 

[Fat Freddy]

I wish I had worn ear plugs when I was younger.

What?.....

 

[Ox Boris]

The drummer sets the noise threshold.

In my experience, practice volume is dictated by the drums and is always way too loud. It can be partially solved with straws, but our current drummer has an entire kit done out in some magical mesh and honeycombed cymbals that is uncanny in its ability to voice the percussion, without the volume (or reverb, or whatever it is that makes drums loud!).

 

[electracoyote]

In my experience, practice volume is dictated by the drums and is always way too loud. It can be partially solved with straws, but our current drummer has an entire kit done out in some magical mesh and honeycombed cymbals that is uncanny in its ability to voice the percussion, without the volume (or reverb, or whatever it is that makes drums loud!).

However loud the drummer is, or isn't, and whatever volume he plays at, is the threshold.

I'm not sure how the drums can be "always way too loud" when some drummers use the very strategies you outlined for controlling their volume.

And it depends on the size of the room. I've had the luxury of rehearsing in some spaces that were plenty big enough for the drums to be played at a fairly healthy volume and not cause complaints or ear pain.

 

[Jughead6]

Forgot to mention that the drummer uses an electronic drum kit for rehearsals (sounds utterly hideous IMO but easier to transport etc.) so his volume is controllable.

 

[iTzPrime]

Forgot to mention that the drummer uses an electronic drum kit for rehearsals (sounds utterly hideous IMO but easier to transport etc.) so his volume is controllable.

then you can turn so low, that you can easily hear yourself when you talk louder, there should be no reason for a volume war

 

[FirewalZ]

IMO, playing too loudly all the time at peak volume with no dynamics(guitar, drummer, etc), is a sign of musical immaturity. Unless of course that's what the style of music or song calls for, which does not sound like the case here. I don't mean that necessarily as an insult, but everyone is at a different place musically, and awareness of dynamics, space and a song first approach(rather than a look at me approach) only comes through growth and maturing musically along the journey. Maybe get them copies of "The Music Lesson", that really spells it out well.

 

[delta7fred]

I played guitar in a 2 guitar (and keyboard) band and it worked. I had a volume foot switch that had 2 settings, loud for solos, and quiet for other times.

The rhythm guitarist was never too loud, the keys player was a Phil Allspace so we had to keep a check on him. I played lead and was very careful not to tread on the singers lines (unlike the keys player). I did play rhythm but always made sure I played a different chord inversion to the rhythm guitarist and that it was never a wall of guitar noise.

The next band I was in had 2 guitars and neither of them got it, they were always too loud when playing rhythm and not loud enough playing lead.

 

[brianrost]

In my experience, practice volume is dictated by the drums and is always way too loud.

One band used to practice in the kitchen of the drummer's tiny apartment. He used only a snare with a towel over the head and played with hot rods. The guitarist and I used 5 watt practice amps and we sang unamplified.

It can be done...