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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
playing softly; playing "service gigs"
playing softly; playing "service gigs"
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kudzurunner
3461 posts
Aug 24, 2012
5:01 AM
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I had a last minute duo gig last night: 3 x 45 minute sets, 6:30 to 9:30, at Soulshine Pizza Factory, a restaurant in Oxford. I worked with a local guitar player, a guy I've been working into a relationship with. We hooked up specifically to get some local work, since I almost never work in my own (current) home town.
This was exactly the sort of break we've been hoping for. So we wanted the gig to work. Which means you want to play music that people like and, more importantly, we wanted to make the management happy.
This meant keeping the volume level way down. That's tricky, or can be tricky. I've tended to be much better at banging away on my foot drums and wailing on my harp then moderating the intensity on both things. But when you're providing background music--a legitimate part of what it means to be a music professional--you need to develop that talent.
I brought my small amp setup--the Kay 703 and the Masco MU-5. And I kept both amps at a notch-and-a-half less than full volume. I didn't mic the amps or percussion, and I brought my own monitor, which made a huge difference in letting me hear my voice clearly at below-shouting volume.
We did a great job during the first set of not getting too loud. During the break, I asked the manager how we were doing, and he said, "It's great. Maybe take it down JUST a tiny bit. Just a tiny bit."
So, to my amazement, we did that. I didn't think we're be able to soften it, but we did. We brought it so soft that we could hear people at the tables bringing their voices DOWN so as not to be speaking too loudly.
It was a great gig, ultimately, although we didn't get a lot of tips--I knew in advance that the restaurant setup, the way the place is configured and the crowd it draws, wasn't conducive to heavy tips. But the music sounded good, we were in good tune and we kept the grooves, we could hear each other perfectly, and we kept it together. Those two harp amps gave me a fine sound, with some workable overdrive, even at that unreally low level.
I'd like to see folks discuss in this thread the challenges of providing blues-as-background-music, working with finicky managers, tricks and tips for keeping the volume low. Waltertore has spoken about this more than once--he's very skilled at working the low-volume thing--but I'd like to hear from others, too.
It seems to me that what I'd call "service gigs," gigs where people aren't really there to hear the band, where the band is just part of the scenery--but an important part--are easy to sneer at. They stand at the opposite extreme, for example, from rock grandiosity, but also from the general run of blues gigs where you feel like you need to put on a SHOW. In the case of service gigs, if you draw too much attention, it's almost by definition BAD attention. The point is to add seasoning to the room, to increase diners' satisfaction, and--again--to make the manager happy. It's about doing a job well as that job is defined by others, but it's also about getting professional satisfaction from executing the mission well, and, if possible, it's about having fun and learning something new about the music, the repertoire, even the instrument, that you play.
I learned that I sing better when a) I can actually hear myself in the monitor: buy the best compact self-powered compact monitor you can and bring it with you; and b) when I'm not straining over the overall sound mix.
Discuss all variants of the "service gig" theme. (Weddings are a part of this, too.)
Last Edited by on Aug 24, 2012 5:06 AM
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The Iceman
407 posts
Aug 24, 2012
5:45 AM
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Kudzu sez: "We brought it so soft that we could hear people at the tables bringing their voices DOWN so as not to be speaking too loudly."
bingo. you got it along with the litmus test.
Allowing people around you not to have to shout to talk is the key....
Kudzu sez: "I learned that I sing better when a) I can actually hear myself in the monitor: buy the best compact self-powered compact monitor you can and bring it with you; and b) when I'm not straining over the overall sound mix."
That goes for playing harmonica as well.
This is the big reason I recommend the BOSE Systems for live sound reinforcement. It works so well that the musicians find themselves playing at a lower volume naturally.
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The Iceman
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easyreeder
339 posts
Aug 24, 2012
6:24 AM
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If you're talking about the Bose stick, I'll second that motion. Also the Fishman Soloamp. I think they're both great tools.
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jbone
1040 posts
Aug 24, 2012
6:39 AM
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great topic since i'm working mostly in duo form lately! Bluesboy Jag and i have played a couple of restaurant/bistro gigs recently and it was obvious that we were not the center of attention. small places with high end menus and well dressed diners. these folks came out to enjoy each others' company and some nice food and have relaxed conversation.
both gigs i brought out small amps. the first one i actually had the silvertone tube amp but somehow left my hi z mics home, so resorted to an sm57. i had started out with a nady/bushman bullet, low z, but it just sucked. the sm57 was much better. i had to crank the knob more but ended up at suitably low volume, and the tremolo on that amp added some nice character as well. the other gig was at an even smaller place and i brought a danelectro dirty thirty ss amp and a no name condenser mic, which has worked for me in the past. very low settings on the vol, tone, and distort controls and a towel draped over the front of the amp to take a bit of the high out. again, it worked well but i do feel the need for a very small tube amp- single 8" speaker, 10 watts or so. both times we were well received and at least one place will likely have us back.
key to all this is to shine without becoming overbearing. nobody had to shout to get over our volume yet at crucial times we drew attention to ourselves by sheer good musicianship. tips on these gigs were decent.
we also use a small p.a. with one main and no monitors. space is just too limited but with volume this low it's not necessary for us to blow sound back at us. these type of gigs are just a notch above total acoustic but one has to be ready to crank a bit depending on who walks in late and how loud they are. we've seen a younger looser crowd come into a place and we definitely had top bring the volume up some to be heard. and those folks were expecting some crankage late in the evening.
having done some street acoustic in recent years i have been challenged to play loud enough to be heard without blowing out reeds. this has led me to appreciate sound reinforcement a lot more. and if one is sensitive to the audience it's easy to see how you're doing by watching what they are doing. if you see them shouting across a table you're in deep doodoo usually. if people leave with a lot of frequency and you're left with no or very little audience, you may not be booking there again.
to me the challenge is as much about reading the audience as it is playing with good dynamics and low volume.
i do sing- and play- better when i can hear myself. but at these very low volume gigs that's not much of an issue. when i can have a problem is with drums and bass and a full p.a. if my amp is not very close by or leaned back against the wall behind me i begin to struggle.
great topic and very current for me!!
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Shredder
359 posts
Aug 24, 2012
6:36 AM
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Dito on the Bose, I have been using a Bose L1 model 2 with a T1 tone match engine for over a year & 1/2 now a "service gig" enviroment. As a matter of fact my duo played last night to a dinner crowd. The sound travels much farther at a lower volumes. There have been tons of compliments on the quality of the sound. I play acoustic with 2 service acts. One is a country based act. The other is a Blues/rock/easy listening and any where in between act.I play right into the Bose via a MXL V 900 condenser mic. I find that with good tech. and hand articulation I don't need a dirty amp. I also play in 2 electric acts with the Bose L1's. I mic my amps into the Bose along with the rest of the band"4 piece". The small size allows me to pack all my gear, the electric gear and my guitarplayers gear in my Jeep Cherokee. We used to tow a big enclosed trailer when we had a conventional PA system. On another note I also have a Bose L1 Compact thats smaller but still sounds great. I use it as a clean amp during Blues/ Rock/ Country gigs via a Morley A/B switch. The Compact is less expensive but still a great tool for smaller gigs. Hope this helps in some way.
Mike
Last Edited by on Aug 24, 2012 6:38 AM
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chromaticblues
1314 posts
Aug 24, 2012
6:50 AM
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I played at a wedding during the cocktail hour two weekends ago. I though oh this is going to be so lame, but it was $200 for an hour of playing the harp with no vocals!
OK so that cancels out lame every time!
My experience was different. I had never done this before, but I know I can play VERY loud acoustically and the money was good so I thought Yeah I'll do it.
I had the exact opposite thing happen. It was really loud there with 100 people talking and me at one playing unamplified trying to be heard. So I was blowing my brains out for about 15 minutes and after the 3rd song I thought holly $h!t I don't know if I'll make it though an hour of this! So I thought. OK I'm going to just play like I do when I practice and let the cards fall where they do.
What happen was the people closest to me started talking lower so they could hear me. The people at the end couldn't hear anyway so it didn't really matter. The people that were interested would come over and stand closer and some people would stop and listen for a little while on there way to get a drink.
You should have seen the look on some of the young kids faces when they would stop and listen with there parents. I play a tweed suitcase bass drum and a acoustic 16"x8"x2" stompbox with metal strips in it for the snare sound. Well I wore a sneaker on my right foot and aligater skin hard leather sole shoe on my left foot for the stompbox. Kids would go back and forth looking at feet and then me playing. It was freaking little kids out that I had a sneaker on one foot and shoe on the other.
The gimick of home made foot drums gets people to take notice! Then I have a short period of time to get them to listen. Without the gimick alot of them would never get close enough to hear! So what ever works!
I don't get to carried away with playing the drums. Just simple rythems, but most people are just drawn to that tweed suitcase!
That suitcase was the best musical purchase I've ever made!
Last Edited by on Aug 24, 2012 6:54 AM
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The Iceman
408 posts
Aug 24, 2012
6:51 AM
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The BOSE "stick" models are placed behind the performer, so what you hear is what the audience hears.
This eliminates the need for any monitors.
The BOSE distributes the sound equally throughout the venue with very little "drop off" effect when you move away from the source. It also wraps the sound around corners and pillars.
The result is a well dispersed and clean sound throughout, CD quality. People will comment on this as well as the artistry of the musicians.
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The Iceman
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barbequebob
2011 posts
Aug 24, 2012
7:47 AM
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Adam, that's why I take both my Bassman as well as the Pro Junior to a gig at a place that I've never been and use the Pro Junior first because the last thing you need to have is people complaining about the volume, plus the size of the room can fool you as to what amp you may need because I've played in small rooms that I needed the Bassman and somewhat larger rooms the Pro Junior because of something the average player NEVER plays heed to and that's room acoustics.
There are also certain gigs you NEVER want to be loud in and one type in particular is what's knownn among pros as a GB gig, short for general business gigs, which encompasses business functions, weddings, barmitzfahs, etc., and in those gigs, the thing that bands fail MISERABLY to remember is that they are NOT the star of the show nor the center of attention and even the slightest bit too loud detracts heavily and you can get a really bad reputation in a NY minute, and BTW, those are gigs that often are gonna pay FAR better than 95% of the club gigs most musicians are gonna play, plus you need a wider overall repertoire of tunes, and that's also gonna be far beyond blues, like pop standards, light jazz, etc., and the vast majority of musicians in the open jams often play too loud and can't handle this thing at all.
There plenty of people who think you can't be intense without being really loud and that's nothing but total BS in uncertain terms, and even with extremely low volume gigs, you most certainly can use dynamics as well and most guys who have to play loud often suck at dynamics to begin with.
From a vocalist's standpoint, because you're not dealing with extreme volume, it places far less stress on you physically and you don't have to work so damned hard and you can get a greater variety of tonal colors out of your voice without having to deal with the BS of volume, plus if you set the vocal mike on the hot side, you can do a lot by just not having to constantly eat the mike all the time.
The other thing for harp players is that it's much easier to avoid playing so hard, plus you will find yourself also getting a wider variety of tonal colors because you have to use more breath control, something most harp players never work on at all.
Having to use smaller rigs is also a helluva lot easier on my back as well.
I've done low volume gigs where the 15 watt Pro Junior was actually way too loud for the room and used a real '65 Champ that was more than loud enough for the room.
Adam, most of those gigs you refer to as service gigs are closer to what a GB gig is by blues standards.
The PA I usually use is the Fender Passport PD-250, which for the vast majority of blues gigs where you have to supply your own PA as well as the majority of GB gigs, is often more than loud enough (sometimes actually a bit too loud if you're not careful setting it up), asnd I don't even use monitors, as I am absolutely ANAL about keeping the band volume down and using dynamics and if you'e always too loud, dynamics are flushed down the toilet fast, and not using monitors in many ways is much like Muddy who, whenever I saw him, also told the sound guys to shut them all off, but he EVERYONE on the bandstand play quietly or you ain't gonna be on his bandstand at all.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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scojo
336 posts
Aug 24, 2012
8:59 AM
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Adam, who is the guitar player with whom you played? I've played the Jackson-area Soulshines on a fairly regular basis for years now. Was Brother Sartin (proprietor) there?
I used to play a lot more of these types of gigs... still do, but mostly private ones. I don't mind them when they are at a cool place like Soulshine and the management and clientele are, at minimum, respectful even if if they don't actively listen. At too many restaurant gigs, one has to deal with wishy-washy clueless owners or managers who tell you to turn down, then back up, then back down etc. because one table told them to change something.
There's a restaurant here in town that I used to play... one gig we were cruising along with NO amplification -- just piano and harp/vocal, without even a p.a. -- and the majority of the crowd clearly and obviously loved what we were doing, and said so to the owner. But one table of senior citizens asked the owner if we could be a little softer so they could talk more easily. We did so (and we were already playing very softly), to the extent that the others in the crowd got annoyed because they couldn't hear us. That, combined with some money b.s., led to my dropping that venue from my call list.
All the observations about not being too loud are right on... just wanted to present a different angle. Sometimes too soft is just TOO soft.
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LSC
280 posts
Aug 24, 2012
10:22 AM
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Volume is certainly one of the major challenges at "Service gigs" or "General Business gigs" (insert whichever your view of semantics applies).
These sort of venues tend to be volume sensitive, having been confronted too often by the inexperienced and downright moronic. It's better to be asked to turn up than turn down.
One often has to adjust the songs you play, often on the fly as the atmosphere in the room can change. For instance weddings where you might be musical wallpaper during dinner but need more party music at the reception. Restaurant/bars are often the same where you go from a primarily dining crowd to a primarily drinking crowd.
As to gear. I know a lot of people really like the Bose "stick" system. Personally, I never have for a variety of reasons. There are in my view better alternatives such as the AER Compact 60/2. The sound quality is second to none, as you would expect from an amplifier with a MSP of $1200. You can get them 2nd hand for $650-$800. A very few people have commented that it is somehow too sharp in the top end. In my experience the Compact 60/2 simply reproduces what you put into it. If you've got quality in front you'll get quality coming out. I use a Shure Beta 87a for vocals and acoustic harp. It's a phantom powered condenser mic designed for live use. I've also had more than adequate results with the iconic SM58. Bottom line, I've had more really enthusiastic and sometimes amazed compliments from both punters and musicians than I can count.
What I really like is it's ease of use. No assembly required. It's roughly 10"x13"x9", weighs all of 14lbs, and comes with a padded gig bag with pockets and a shoulder strap. I can carry in my guitar, "PA", stands, and harp/accessory bag all in one trip. It's footprint is exceedingly small which is often vital, with restaurant gigs in particular where you're often squeezed into a corner. I just set the "PA" on a chair or a bar stool. Counting room for a mic stand and a chair to set my harmonica case and drink, I can set up in about a 4' square.
I play acoustic harp on a rack for solo gigs however if you wanted that dirty sound you can add a LW Harp Break. The Compact 60/2 has one instr. channel and a dual voc/instr. channel. If like me you play guitar and harp at the same time and fill both inputs you can simply add a little mixer to expand the number of inputs. You put your vocal and harp mics into two inputs on the mixer then run the line out to vocal input on the AER.
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LSC
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robbert
121 posts
Aug 24, 2012
2:07 PM
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Great topic, thanks for bringing it up, Adam.
Restaurants,coffee shops, and wine tasting rooms in a small town comprise the majority of gigs I play.
I play in a duo, a trio, and a quintet. The music is different in each group, but with each, volume and sound quality, is of paramount importance.
Each group works regularly; the duo seems to work the most, the 5-piece, the least.
One group, the trio, composed of 5-string electric cello, guitar, and harp, uses the latest Bose system(cello and harp), and a good Roland amp(guitar). The Bose is incredibly clear and pervasive at low volumes. There is no escaping it, yet it doesn't hurt the ears at all.
The duo uses QSC speakers which like the Bose, also produce great quality sound, at low volume.
The 5 piece uses individual ss and tube amps of various descriptions, which we set pretty damn low, and this seems to work fine.
We work a lot of the same places and keep getting re-booked in a town brimming with musical groups, so I guess we are managing...the tips and payments are moderate, and often includes food and beverages...
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walterharp
928 posts
Aug 24, 2012
8:02 PM
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Harmonica is a pretty loud instrument.. maybe not as loud as most wood instruments, but can keep up with acoustic guitar. Seems like no amplification might do it in a dinner club with a small size.
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waltertore
2496 posts
Aug 25, 2012
5:06 AM
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This subject kind of hit me in this way. Back when I was active on the scene, these kind of gigs were very rare. Maybe of the 200 I did a year, 5 were like this. Now most all the opportunities I have to play are backround gigs. The live, in your face, people come to hear you and only you, are fading quickly. I prefer to not play live than to play such gigs anymore.
On the subject at hand, I have found that playing quiet is a mindset. If one can stay quiet and tune in to themselves and not spend energy getting frustrated with people not listening, thier sound can become huge in their ears. Playing the busy city streets, unamplified is the ultimate test of this. I can easily play these scenes with no amplification and no picks on my guitar (bare fingers) and hear my sound dominate over the city sounds. Most people are polluted in the soul with loud music. It has been ingrained so deep that to not play loud hits the frustration buttons so bad it becomes a mess inside.
An artist can attract the crowd with just their physical prsesence. Most people are not really artists, but technicians. Many of the people society considers great musicians are technicians. Take away the hype, amplification, and they, like the wizard of oz when the curtain is taken down, become nothing special. Become an artist. Your struggles with your art and your volume demons will disapear :-) The roadblock for most becoming an artist is it is a life long journey in walking blindly and livelihood from ones art, fame, and control of it isn't a given byproduct of the equation. One has to let the art guide your life with family, career, where you live, etc, and one has to have the faith that it will always blindly guide you to the right place regardless of how it looks from societies view. Walter
PS: Dealing with wierd club managers/owners- I no longer have a problem with these people like I use to. Why? I no longer need money from music/need to be on a stage to feel satified so if things get wierd I pack up and go home. What can he do? Fire me and say I will never play his place again? Heck, I wouldn't play it again anyway. Being free of needing money from my playing has been by far the biggest step in becoming an artist. Matering an instrument is the easiest part of becoming an artist. As long as one is letting money influence how they do their art, they will be a technician. Another hinderence in becoming an artist is being concerned with how people respond to your art. Being completely free inside ones soul of this stuff allows for an unfiltered channel to emerge. IMO that is art.
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
4,000+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
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Last Edited by on Aug 25, 2012 6:47 AM
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Frank
1045 posts
Aug 25, 2012
5:13 AM
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DEEP- brother Walter -DEEP...The wisdom of Solomen!
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waltertore
2497 posts
Aug 25, 2012
5:16 AM
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thanks Frank. I just edited it. Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
4,000+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
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