Steve, I'll be the first to say that I don't mind it being a little loud. Having said that, I get pretty peed if I can't hear everything on stage. I have noticed one of the big difference in true professionals and amateurs is the volume which they play. It didn't used to be that way, but now days even the rockers don't blare out a stage mix like they used to. Drummers have always been the worse for me. I have had a hard time keeping a drummer working with me because of the sure balls to the wall volume they like to play at... You may say something to those guys like, "I noticed the other night when we were playing that I couldn't hear myself. It seems that the amps were a little loud to me. You know, this makes it hard for us to play with dynamics." That may make them think. Shawn Brock ----- Original Message ----- From: Steve Wicketts To: ddtots Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:12 AM Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Loud Stage Thanks so much Bill, Chris, Gordon, Dug Denis and Mike. You're all so right, our Ears are precious. I stupidly have been allowing myself to be caught up in the moment, saying yes to everything so not to appear to come across like a prima donna. I'm going to buy some of those music ear plugs. I hated being on stage not hearing music just a wall of noise. There is a funny little moment that happened. These guys are very serious about there music and yet I'm just up there wishing I'd said no to joining them as I can't hear my piano. there was one particular four bars where I decided to play the theme music to an English sitcom called Steptoe and Son as I knew it would fit nicely with the chord progression and who was going to hear it anyway? Well the crowd heard it as I forgot that the house mix was perfect lol. It's not quite throwing the TV out of the Window but it was my rebellious streak for that night. Steve W ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael C To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 12:47 AM Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Loud Stage Hey Steave, that type of mixing hasn’t been done in years. Part of beeing in a band is to work together and that means beeing able to hear one another. If the sound is too loud, How can they even understand what there doing, let alone what there playing. I’ve been playing in heavy metal bands, and all the engineers I spoke to or even work with always make sure the sound is blended in the house system, and the guys I’ve worked have even told band members to turn down their volumes, as to properly control the mix. There is of course a certain sound an amp generates to acheeve a distorted effect, but not to the point where you can’t hear your self. When it comes to sounds in clubs the engenieer is always the one who controls the over all blending of the sound. You might want to get yourself a pair of music ear plugs, which will allow you to hear certain sounds better. From: Steve Wicketts Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2011 9:15 AM To: ddtots Subject: [ddots-l] Loud Stage Hi all, At the end of last night Show, I was asked to join the band (who was topping the bill) The house mix was controlled by a sound engineer, however, the Band's stage mix was simply their independent Guitar and bass amp levels. My two questions are, 1: has anyone else been on a loud stage environment where it sounds like the keyboard is in a different key to the other instruments until the levels drop during the music, at that point you then hear the key for what it is? 2: When the stage level is so loud you can't hear the keyboards, is there any technique that totally visually impaired musicians use to A: know your hitting the right notes and B: keep metronomic? I struggled last night with these particular issues, I always have a slight Doppler effect when music is loud, I especially don't always hear the bass notes as clear defined pitcht notes. Steve W __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6085 (20110501) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6086 (20110501) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com