[Dixielandjazz] Band set Up

[Stephen Barbone]

Well, I must be an interior decorator. Our Band sets up as follows:

Backline:   Guitar - Drum - Double Bass
Front line: Clarinet - Trumpet - Trombone

Several reasons:

Bass wants to be next to the hi hat.

Bass & Guitar use amps, so we do not put them together.

Guitar angles his amp at 45 degrees towards bass.

Bass angles his amp at 45 degrees towards Guitar.

Tbone, plays several solos with just Bass.

Trumpet likes driving drum behind him.

Clarinet on solos, likes to substitute chords with Guitar.

And so on.

We never have trouble "hearing" each other on the stand, because we are
a "listening" band and are set up fairly close to each other. Even at
large concerts where we use mic set ups of Preservation Hall, of Dirty
Dozen, or whomever, and may be further apart, we never use monitors
because we can hear each other fine, in the above set up.

Even if we get a sit in who can't play well, e.g. at parties where it is
politic to let some high roller sit in on say, guitar and he plays the
wrong chords, we have the ability to "hear" the bass and focus on what
he is playing (almost always the tonic) so we get through it OK. Or if a
singer sits in and drops a measure out of every eight, we hear the
guitar adjust and follow him. Our saying about such things: "We repair
tunes."

IMO the "correct" set-up is whatever works for you. Main thing, for us,
is to listen well.

Cheers,
Steve