2009.02.15 Harpoon (record release), Plague Bringer, Weekend Nachos @ Beat Kitchen

[Marsh]

vox were too loud, guitar not loud enough, not even sure i could hear any bass

[dudewtf]

i could hear the attack of the bass (during harpoon), but not the low end.

fuck it man i need to do live sound because everyone is a big fat phony.

and jay, when my volume is past 7 on the model t, nothing much else happens. i was at the same volumes for both amps as i was for the metal shaker show, where i was told we were plenty loud.

[rios]

why are there so many sound guys that don't know shit?

[cjl]

a sound guy in iowa once mic'd my head at a show

[rios]

ah yes, the microphone visor

indispensable

[wendell]

i could hear the attack of the bass (during harpoon), but not the low end.

fuck it man i need to do live sound because everyone is a big fat phony.

I was standing in front of the bass amp, and I'll agree that I could only hear it if I really payed attention. The drum machine was pretty much the most dominant thing in the low end mix where I was standing (the kick sample felt like I was getting punched in the mouf). The general disparity in the mix from band to band made it seem like the sound guy probably just didn't care.

and jay, when my volume is past 7 on the model t, nothing much else happens. i was at the same volumes for both amps as i was for the metal shaker show, where i was told we were plenty loud.

I think it sounded ok, but again, I wouldn't blame anything on the amp, just a sound guy who doesn't give none fucks.

As far as turning amps from 7 to 10, I think the confusion here is loudness versus heavyness. There are probably a bunch of articles out there that can explain it better than I, but most amps hit maximum output from a raw volume perspective slightly past the point of breaking up the power tubes.

Most tube amps have a "sweet spot"- a frequency range that is most emphasized by the amp. By turning up the volume higher past breakup point, you're going to pull the outlier frequencies up in the mix, but you're not adding any actual volume. To the human ear, depending on how you have this set up, it can make your output seem full, but there's a point where it's all going to clip and run together (and sound like baby farts, as Bob likes to say), so the trick is finding the balance.

In short, your amp sounded loud enough, but you were competing with frequencies given off my the bass guitar and the kick, which did make it sound a little thin depending on where I was standing, etc.

[hoffa]

I think CJL means his guitar head.

[dudewtf]

haha, man my old band played in iowa city once and the sound dude tried miking our svt classic head. he thought the fan hole was a speaker! when we first got there he was talking about standing waves and the resonant frequencies of the room, to help us troubleshoot our amp settings. it just goes to show you: nobody knows shit about anything ever.

and wendell, you are correct. i get paranoid about not being loud enough since now im in a band that relies very much on sonically punishing the audience. so i ignored my more responsible gain 5-6, master volume 4-6 settings. oh well.

it also doesnt help that the day before, i threw my guitar across the room because it stopped working. some resoldering made it work again, but now with added hum/noise.

i cant believe i ordered a duncan blackout 7 STRING pickup.

ok, im starting a new thread about this shit.

harpoon is fucking awesome and i cant wait to record their split material. buy their new lp PRONTO.

[Brian]

yeah, i don't want to this to sound like the show was a bad experience in any way. in fact, i was way more impressed by plague bringer's relatively quiet set than by their recorded material. would see again!

also notable was muzzler dude's introduction to a super thrashy song: "peace."

[NsubUlysses]

I turned up the Model T as loud as it would go, aka to 7. I've only done that once before for a show.

Sucks the sound sucked but I guess that's what happens at a suck place. On stage it sounded loud as hell and pretty clear. Maybe that was just US and the soundguy didn't do much to run their own PA.

Thank you to everyone who came. I thought the show was pretty fun but sorry you had to pay $10 to basically hang with friends.

[Brian]

Segue: I started listening to Double Gnarly on 33 rpm after the show and was like, "Holy fuck, why didn't they play this doom jam." Then it dawned on me to hit the 45 rpm knob/connect the goddamn grind.

[Brian]

Also, where Wendell and I were standing, you guys were super fucking loud. Can't speak for your guitar harmonics at the back of the room, though. If it's any consolation, your axe is equally aqua-colored at all distances.

[NsubUlysses]

That's a wonderful consolation because I live for that guitar