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The Distraction of Bad Sound


Buc McMaster

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Open mic stages are a crap shoot for sound, I'll tell ya.

 

Visited another honky tonk last night, Hummingbird in hand. Lynn's Longbranch Saloon, one of hundreds of small to medium size barrooms in the city. Never been to the place before but earlier contact with the host informed me the format was 3-4 tunes or 15 minutes, whichever came first, starting at 8pm. Okay then.......I'll be there! The signup list went around, date at the top with numbers down the page for the players to pick their own order of battle. When it got to me no one wanted to be first it seemed, so I signed up for the first slot. By 8:45pm the host's three-piece combo was finally setup on the stage for their short opening set..............does anybody really know what time it is? Acoustic guitar, electric bass and a drummer that was ridiculously loud, playing full bore on a 6-piece kit, over-powering everything else on the stage. And these are seasoned locals that work all over town.......seems to me they would understand a thing or two about getting a good live sound........apparently not.

 

"Okay then! Welcome to the Longbranch!", and, checking the list, "Buc McMaster......where are ya Buc?" My turn. Geez......you always perform with this kind of monitoring? The guitar sounded terrible on-stage.......thin and jangly, no low end at all and quite a low level. In contrast, the vocal in the monitor was all bottom with zero clarity yet very loud. But, being the professional I am, four tunes went off without a hitch and the crowd really seemed into what I was doing, chanting "Buc! Buc! Buc!" at the end of my set.........cool! The out-front sound was much better than that on-stage, especially since the drummer was at the bar with a beer in his hand! A little on the boomy side but tolerable.

 

So the lesson here is: just deal with it. As a guest on the stage you have very little control over sound, so one best be able to set aside the distraction of stage monitors sounding like crap.....just do it! I find it personally rewarding to press on through less than ideal circumstances and deliver a good performance. I understand that open mic stages vary widely, some are great while others just suck.........variety is the spice of life, huh? To my thinking it's part of challenge of playing live......to not be put off my game by things out of my control, to get up there and do what I do with confidence and some presence. I love it!

 

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Let's do dis!

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I just said on another thread today that live gigs are 80% confidence ... was being flippant but there's a grain of truth

Check out the sex pistols if you don't believe me

 

 

Buc , perhaps the sound was magic from a table in a corner ya know , standing on the stage isn't the best place to be hearing it all maybe ?

 

 

I'd throw my panties at ya no matter what you sounded like

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Truer words.... Yes, being resolved to stay on your game and not be distracted by crappy sound, loud talkers, basketball tournaments in the house TVs, scraping chairs, table bussing and glass crashing--that there is the ticket. On the one hand, you have to be somewhat aware of it all, but only so you can figure out on the fly how to dodge and IGNORE it all. Those listening usually follow your lead, listen harder, and applaud the loudest.

 

Weird. It reminds me of back when I was teaching composition to college freshmen...

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Way to "go with the flow," Buc. Glad it ended-up being not-to-bad. Open mics are a crapshoot, especially if it's one you've never been to. The acoustics of the room, the sound system, the sound guy/gal if there is one, crowd noise. If you were anything like your videos show us on here, I imagine the audience loved your performance. [thumbup] [thumbup] [thumbup]

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Once you've committed to do it, there's no point in stopping! No one dies anyway so... nothing ventured..

 

 

personally, I'm not a fan of the open mics, but there's a few 'round here that are decent. The all tend to be pretty welcoming, no competitions or attitudes.

 

the one thing I do get a little cranky over is crowd noise, I'm there to listen to the people that had the courage to get up there, and when I go up, I'd like to think people can hear what I'm playing too. Some of these cats that are playing these slots have only been playing for a short while, and you can tell they are a bit worked up about it. Some of us have been doing this for so long, it's just second nature, but not everyone that goes to these has been performing for 30/40+ years.

 

And as it turns out, the people that seem to have the most need to have conversation, while the players are doing their thing, will sit right up front... and honestly

they won't...

shut...

up....

 

like I said, gets me cranky.

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If you(imperial) need to hear it to play it right you need more practice. This whole thing of playing and singing in front of people, with a band or by yerself acoustically, is 25% I LOVE DOING THIS and 75% Discipline. I never worry about the monitors, I have a nice one I set it up and aim it at me and if I hear it fine if I don't fine, don't care how bad the sound is, don't have to hear my guitar, and I only ask how it is out front once or twice, and if good I forget it, if bad I try to get it fixed.

 

I usually get fired for being in other bands at the same time, never for not being able to play without good stage sound. I actually think me and bass player are better when we rely on our heads and guitars to guide the singing. I do like the sound bounced off the back wall and that delicious delay.

 

rct

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the one thing I do get a little cranky over is crowd noise

Well I'll admit it can be annoying, but that's one of those distractions that must be overlooked to be at your best. Those that want to hear.......they will.

 

 

What four songs did you play?

I did two originals, Midnight:30 and Stones of Circumstance, and two covers, Capn Kirk and this one, Come With Me Tonight. This is perhaps my favorite cover tune at this point. I've posted a video of this one before but it was always over-driven and clipping due to bad gain settings on the USB recording mic.......I think I got it better this morning. This is the Hummingbird plugged into the Schertler amp and using the Telefunken M80 dynamic microphone for the vocal, with the laptop and Blue Yeti mic across the room.

 

 

If you (imperial) need to hear it to play it right you need more practice.

Pretty much true. Having done the tunes hundreds of times they should be ingrained to the point of allowing the freedom of altering the delivery as the mood strikes.......taking chances with a live performance that practicing at home doesn't inspire. Let's do dis!

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Buc'll I throw mine at ya too. wait, let me snap a picture...

 

Seriously, when we play - in noisy bars... I never hear myself well. Not the guitar. I do hear vocals well, and for what we do that's the most important part. If I cant hear my guitar I err playing softer... I dont want to compete, and it helps me on the fly figure out accent to play so that we arent both banging the same chords in the same position. I often will grab the capo and slap it high in the midst of song.

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Yep, open mike equipment is often a crap shoot.

 

I visit one on Tuesdays, the amp and mike are terrible. I can barely hear myself when singing, but it does seem to sound Ok from the audience perspective.

 

I just learned to try and wing it and even though I was cringing at least it sounded in tune and I knew the audience was enjoying it more than I was.

 

But I go to this open mike because of the cool vibe and the diversity of performers. And because it can real quirky and interesting in odd ways, and thats good enough for me to deal with the crappy equipment.

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I agree with BBG on "80% confidence". The thing is, you have to play these things regularly to get the confidence. I've done a number of open mics, but they've always left me shaking thinking I just embarrassed the hell out of myself. So I leave months before I get the courage to do it again, just to be faced with not being able to see, feel or hear my guitar and just hear my voice coming out of a wet blanket all woof woof woof. Sounds like S**T. If I can't hear my guitar, I know I'm singing off pitch.

 

It is frustrating because I work hard on nuance in my guitar playing and it all goes out the window when it is all mud and screech and crowd noise with no one paying attention. I'll play for friends; they listen to me.

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Mind you, thats why in ear monitors were created. But probably a bit too fancy for an open mike.

 

I agree with BBG on "80% confidence". The thing is, you have to play these things regularly to get the confidence. I've done a number of open mics, but they've always left me shaking thinking I just embarrassed the hell out of myself. So I leave months before I get the courage to do it again, just to be faced with not being able to see, feel or hear my guitar and just hear my voice coming out of a wet blanket all woof woof woof. Sounds like S**T. If I can't hear my guitar, I know I'm singing off pitch.

 

It is frustrating because I work hard on nuance in my guitar playing and it all goes out the window when it is all mud and screech and crowd noise with no one paying attention. I'll play for friends; they listen to me.

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I just said on another thread today that live gigs are 80% confidence ...

 

Oh, I think more, and that confidence comes from having practiced being in that position, playing that piece, hundreds of times. Being ready to let it out.

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Well, firstly I am not throwing mine - I like the 100% cotton and they seem to be really hard to find lately and you get some, read the fine print and they have.......plastic.......

 

And squirming in plastic panties on a hot stage with bad sound and no foldback might be enough to tip me over! [mellow]

 

It is amazing how you can be playing in this 'thing' that is SO loud and you can't hear yourself, must be all bass or something, but I would say: 'Follow The Money'. And the one that gets the money, or in this case, perfect stage sound, is probably tweeking the PA so you get the ffffft sound and then he/she gets the......

 

 

BluesKing777.

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Open mikes are a hard road to travel.

 

Indeed. But I do enjoy it so! It's a high anxiety kind of situation where, as pointed out, no one dies.......it's just fun, ya know? I hope to meet someone of a like musical mind and put something together that works on some level...........open mic stages are good hunting grounds.

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http://youtu.be/qKAUAIrfwZg

 

Speaking of open mics, crapshoot sound and taking the first slot...

 

I haven't been out in a while and, frankly, I'm feeling a bit shaky these days, musically. But I know that the only way forward is to practice and get out there. So, last night, not only was the regular host not there, neither was the regular soundman. But luckily (?!) there were various participants who figured they knew how to run things.[scared]

 

Yeah, and I was first...so... you can barely hear the guitar (I couldn't hear it at all), but I played the cards I was dealt and decided at the last minute to bring a John Prine cover. And you know what? The fairly-crowded joint was as quiet and attentive and appreciative as it gets.

 

Just shows to go you: even taking the first throw in a crapshoot with bad sound, open mics are worth the while.

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It helps if you're a guy like Buc and know what you're doing. And when playing solo, I often actually find the monitor a distraction. Generally, I've rehearsed the songs enough to know what they need and when they need it.

 

When I lived in the Twin Cities, we were spoiled in having some very well-run open mics. You could find one (usually more) any night of the week. I've met some people at open mics who have become lifelong friends and musical collaborators.

 

Just as it is hard to beat a well-run open mic, it is hard to stomach a bad one....

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