Dave Matthews Live Sound

[DM3MD]

Originally Posted by Joe Barbieri

Hi Gary,

I agree with Rick also. I do not think Dave gets the most bang for his buck with the gear.

Good point about the isolationism infliciting rock stars Rick. I see it alot. it is frustrating.

Nothing more to add to this discussion. I could never work in politics.

Peace,
JB

I have nothing to add to this thread other than Joe Barbieri is a pioneer in his own right of the acoustic sound, and is THE man with Fishman. He's done work on my guitars before...nothing short of stellar.

If there is anyone who knows Dave Matthews' sound and what he "likes" and "dislikes" or what sounds "good" versus "quacky", it's Joe.

In regards to everything else that has been said, insert Artist X in place of Dave Matthews and see if that thread goes 9 pages. Highly unlikely. This goes down with the lovers and the haters, like every other DMB thread.

[dahn8]

Originally Posted by DM3MD

In regards to everything else that has been said, insert Artist X in place of Dave Matthews and see if that thread goes 9 pages. Highly unlikely. This goes down with the lovers and the haters, like every other DMB thread.

True... but we did have that crazy Michelle Branch thread a long time ago

[delab]

I've read all ten pages so I don't think I've missed this point..... I suspect DM creates his sound intentionally. Id point to his set-up plus the fact he plugs into non acoustic amplifiers. When I saw him solo at Kings College he was plugged into a Matchless DC30. I've read somewhere that with the band his acoustic guitars are plugged into a Fender twin reverb.

Surely if he wanted a true reproduction of his acoustic guitars he wouldn't be using those two amps.

I much prefer playing acoustic guitars for many reasons but one thing I like most about acoustics, as opposed to electric guitars, is acoustic guitars fight you back. I much prefer the string tension, the relative difficulty of playing acoustics, the vibration of the body, the physical size but mostly the fact acoustic guitars give me much better feedback (not noise feedback) to me as a player than any electric guitar. One of the reasons I gave up playing eletrics is the fact I felt very detached from what the guitar was doing....I didn't feel so involved in what the guitar was doing. Minimum effort creating maximum sound/ noise/ effects...take your pick. I love the involvement of playing acoustics. I read somewhere that you don't play wonderful acoustic guitars....they play you. This is certainly true for me......

I suspect DM may have similar thoughts (although I do appreciate he plays electrics). Just because he plays acoustic guitars it doesn't necessarily follow he wants an entirely acoustic sound......

I for one like his sound. I also love very accurate amplified reproducation of an acoustic guitars sound.....

[whamonkey]

Now that's what I call a reply.....thanks dude.

[delab]

..... the last bit I didn't have time to add.... for me the acoustic is a far more percussive instrument than an electric. I get a much better feel for getting into the guitar as I'm playing it. DM is a very percussive player. You can see it when he plays but you can close your eyes and feel it too.....

Perhaps he wants all these qualities of the acoustic but doesn't necessarily want the totally acoustic sound.

I'm not too sure that DM is isolated from and ignorant of developments in amplified acoustic sound. Checkout the new mini twelve string he's playing. Where did that come from? Who'd heard of it before seeing DM playing it on the recent tour. That doesn't smack of an artist with his head in the sand.....

[CitizenAudio]

I like you Delab. Good post!

[Guyute]

Delab, you make an interesting argument, but I don't agree with all of it.

First of all, when I saw Dave & Tim, they were running direct and when I've seen the full band, he does run through the Matchless but only for his electric baritone. The acoustics seem to run direct (at least that's what my ears tell me). I've heard acoustics run through tube amps and they tend to sound more magnetic than guitars that run direct.

I also think you need to distinguish between guitars vs. amplification. Dave definitely seems to like to experiment with guitars. For instance, the raised B tuning of the 714. I don't know where he discovered that, but back I had first heard about this tuning and didn't know how it was done, I spoke to a few luthiers at Healdsburg and asked them if they know how the tuning was done. (I'd broken a lot of 1st strings before I realized that the 1st string is actually tuned an octave lower than what would be a "standard" interval.) None of them knew what I was talking about!

I think that Dave probably doesn't concern himself all that much with his amplified sound. I think if he had something that made it sound more like his unamplified guitar, he'd use it. If he was playing a show and didn't have all the same technology that he had at big shows, I doubt it would concern him. The thing is, as is the case with many of his fans, Dave probably feels that the tone of the guitar is much less important than the song. However, if someone were to say, "Here, use this and your amplified guitar will sound a lot better," he'd use it if it was on hand.

In fact, I'm sort of the same way. I've got two guitars I use on stage. One is a SBT (Larrivee OM-03 w/K&K) guitar, the other is a UST (Taylor 410ce w/Fishman). I use them interchangably and don't really think much about not using one because the sound isn't as natural as the other. However, the Larrivee is more natural when amplified and I find myself gravitating towards it when I'm playing live. When I'm not playing live, I play the Taylor pretty much exclusively as I like the unplugged sound better.

I don't think it's laziness and I don't think he's going for the sound he has. I really think that it's just that Dave doesn't worry about his amplified tone as much as many of us do. The music is paramount. I guess what I'm saying is that Dave is focusing on the forest while many of us are focusing on the trees.

[whamonkey]

Maybe someone can dig up an interview or article where Dave himself actually talks about this stuff instead of all our postulating on what he thinks.................mmmmkay?

[Guyute]

To my knowledge, no one's ever asked him in an interview why his live sound is quacky, but there have been numerous discussions of his gear.

[Daddyo]

Originally Posted by CamelbackCinema

I mean, he plays Martins and Taylors which are great guitars but you'll never see him with a Ryan, Traugott, Wingert, Olson or am I wrong? I havn't been a fan of his new stuff and pretty much enjoy his first 4 albums exclusively.

Let's be honest - 99% of performers play one of the following acoustics: Martin, Gibson, Taylor, Takamine, Ovation. Why would a performer take a gem like a Wingert or an Olson on the road when the sublties of its sound are lost in the live sound setup. Piezo sound is the accepted norm for live acoustic. I cuts well and has less feedback.

[Kabalan]

Originally Posted by Daddyo

Let's be honest - 99% of performers play one of the following acoustics: Martin, Gibson, Taylor, Takamine, Ovation. Why would a performer take a gem like a Wingert or an Olson on the road when the sublties of its sound are lost in the live sound setup. Piezo sound is the accepted norm for live acoustic. I cuts well and has less feedback.

and, like i said before, he is a singer who has to care his voice and the expression of the lyrics, that a lot of work plus a sofisticate guitar set!!
Dave gilmour do this, but he takes hours for his set, and a long time in the
sound test

[Rick Turner]

Yeah, why would James Taylor take an Olson on the road when it just doesn't matter to the audience?

[jsmarshall]

Originally Posted by Rick Turner

Yeah, why would James Taylor take an Olson on the road when it just doesn't matter to the audience?

Because James Taylor's primary audience is middle aged people with more refined tastes, and DMB's crowd is passed out on the lawn or screaming SHUT UP AND PLAY!!! ?? Just a guess.

[mattinbeloit]

I'm a dave freak... With that being said, I don't like his live guitar sound, but I still have a great time at concerts and I couldn't give a rats derriere what it sounds like. I like to think that I have a good ear for sound since I'm majoring in recording engieering so I definantly know what an acoustic "should" sound like. Anyway, I think its sad that someone would be willing to walk out of a concert because of the sound comming out of the guitar. It's a shame some people have become such tone whores that they let it get to them and forget what music is really about. It's great if you recognise that you don't like the way something sounds, but it's a shame if you let that get in the way of enjoying something. My ears never bleed during a concert, I think you could take it for 2 hours and actually try to enjoy the music. Just because you are an uber sound pro should mean you can't enjoy a concert because a guitar sounds washed up. Get over yourself. That's my polite opinion about the matter.

[jsmarshall]

Originally Posted by mattinbeloit

I'm a dave freak... With that being said, I don't like his live guitar sound, but I still have a great time at concerts and I couldn't give a rats derriere what it sounds like. I like to think that I have a good ear for sound since I'm majoring in recording engieering so I definantly know what an acoustic "should" sound like. Anyway, I think its sad that someone would be willing to walk out of a concert because of the sound comming out of the guitar. It's a shame some people have become such tone whores that they let it get to them and forget what music is really about. It's great if you recognise that you don't like the way something sounds, but it's a shame if you let that get in the way of enjoying something. My ears never bleed during a concert, I think you could take it for 2 hours and actually try to enjoy the music. Just because you are an uber sound pro should mean you can't enjoy a concert because a guitar sounds washed up. Get over yourself. That's my polite opinion about the matter.

Wow I thought this thread was slowly dying.

You've either done one of two things:
1) Pushed this thread to page 20 within the next day or so

or

2) Shut this dude down by the moderators.


Let's keep the peace.