[Neil Gould]

Mike Rivers wrote:
On 6/25/2014 11:11 AM, Nate Najar wrote:
people don't know what music sounds like unless it's coming out of a
speaker. I'm amazed when , in many small, casual situations, people
insist on amplifying acoustic instruments and their voices through
very marginal gear when a completely acoustic event is both
sufficient and has superior sound.

It also occurs in major venues. Some of the*major* jazz venues I've
worked in around the world insist on miking the drums and amplifying
the bass.... for me who plays the second quietest instrument in the
world it makes it that much more difficult to amplify. And
unnecessary- do you really think the people won't be able to hear the
cymbals unless you mike them? mike the guitar, let the rums and bass
come off the stand, and have an easy night.

I've been seeing this at folk festivals for about the past 20 years.
Back into the early 1970s (with exception of such folks as Bob Dylan)
a "workshop" at the Newport Folk Festival was a spot on the grounds
with a post holding up a sign with a number. No stage, no sound
system, and a dozen interested guitarists like me could sit around
Merle Travis or Maybelle Carter or Reverend Gary Davis, listen to
some songs, ask how to play a lick, or hear some great stories. But
when they played on the main stage for 20,000 people, of course they
were amplified. And it was the main stage performances that brought
in the money that allowed those people to be booked at the festival.

Today we have house concerts (some of which, sadly, have PA systems)
but put more than about 150 people in a room with a performer up
front and the "Can't hear you"s will start making everyone
uncomfortable. Some of this is due to the fact that the performers
don't learn to perform without a sound system. They don't sing like
they're singing to the back row, they only know how to sing to a
microphone (if even that). Pete Seeger could sing to 1500 people
without a sound system (I've heard him do that). Taylor Swift,
probably not.

I partially blame recording industry practices over the last 50 years for
this. Before most studios had equipment capable of more than 4 tracks, mic
techniques were quite different. Musicians and vocalists were area mic'd and
live-mixed to 2 tracks (or less). Since the late '60s, multi-tracks have
encouraged "close-mic" techniques, which create an entirely different sound.
That sound became the "norm" for all forms of music, to the point that even
live orchestras use sound reinforcement so that they can "sound like the
record" to the audience. I can't wait for them to start including
pitch-bending so that they can do some Stockhausen pieces. ;-P
--
best regards,

Neil