[Dixielandjazz] Too loud!

[Mike Durham]

My band does play with just one microphone for vocals/announcements whenever 
we can (as we have a brass bass, the dread bass amp does not raise its head) 
BUT we carry full PA when 'on the road'. This is because you never know what 
acoustic situation awaits you. Most of the time it's fine, but sometimes you 
encounter the nightmare function room with low, acoustic-tiled ceiling, 
curtains covering two or three walls and thick carpet on the floor.  For 
this, we need the full monty of PA , otherwise you blow your lip away in 
half an hour. So, horses for courses. But I agree Brian, some bands are 
excruciatingly loud, and I just can't understand why.

Mike D.


>From: TBW504 at aol.com
>To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Too loud!
>Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 13:58:11 EST
>
>As a protest against deafening over-amplification several friends and I 
>have
>started to boycott our local jazz venue. Protests have met with 
>indifference.
>In one case the response was, "It's supposed to sound like that!" As a
>one-time BBC recording engineer I am not unaware of the problems of making 
>oneself
>heard properly but the venue concerned is just an average sized British 
>pub. Yet
>each week bands struggle in with their amplifiers, cables, microphones and
>speakers. One week the power circuit failed and the band was obliged to 
>perform
>acoustically: absolute bliss! Rare is the band that doesn't have separate
>amplification for both string bass and banjo yet neither is a "quiet" 
>instrument.
>The consequence is that the rest of the band blow lustily to restore the
>status quo. I attend many jazz festivals. Few are the groups which attempt 
>any
>light and shade or dynamic range. The game is to play triple forte all 
>night long
>with occasional forays into the horrendous. The expected cries from
>bandleaders of "Not me guv!" will be treated with a degree of cynicism I'm 
>afraid. It
>seems to me to be a real problem in all but the largest auditoria, and it 
>seems
>to be getting worse. Notice that I have refrained from mentioning alleged
>"sound engineers" who spend the entire session playing with their 
>equipment.
>Forgive the intended double entendre!
>Brian Wood
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