Dealing with playing gigs with really low volume

[JackB1]

Just wondering how you guys deal with playing certain places where you have to play at a really low volume? I had a club owner last night constantly telling me to turn down to the point where I was hearing my acoustic guitar over the sound coming out of the speakers. I'm thinking to myself...what's the point???
How do you motivate yourself to play and sing, when you can barely hear what you are playing? Should I try some in ear monitors so I can clearly hear myself even at such a low "out of speaker" volume?

How do you guys cope with these super low volume places? It can get very discouraging when you can barely hear what you are doing over the ambient room noise.

[stephenT]

We turn down.

If I accept a job I do what the club owner asks in relation to volume, start-end times, where to set up,.. that's the gig.

[cdkrugjr]

You know fifty guys are gonna chime in with how much Better they like the direct guitar sound . . .

If I'm playing solo, I GREATLY prefer to hear the direct acoustic sound, amplification being a necessary evil. . .

That said, in-ears are PERFECT for challenging situations like you're describing, though they DO take a bit of getting used to if you're accustomed to floor wedges.

I'm using "KZ-10s" which are certainly Good Enough if your budget doesn't say "Custom Molds."

[Silly Moustache]

You have an acoustic guitar. You have an acoustic voice.

.....you could play "acoustic" !!!!!

[mr. beaumont]

I had one place I used to play like this, I took to using a small "lunchbox" amp as a personal monitor.

[JackB1]

I know you have to turn down....but how to make it more enjoyable for YOU?

Originally Posted by stephenT

We turn down.

If I accept a job I do what the club owner asks in relation to volume, start-end times, where to set up,.. that's the gig.

[ChrisE]

I had a gig like that once. I ended up turning off the PA and just playing acoustic. He still kept telling me to turn down.

[stephenT]

I do my best to play well and I look forward to the drive home w/ some $$s in my pocket.

Seriously, you're not doing drywall or selling insurance door to door. You're playing music, if you can't find joy in that,..

Originally Posted by JackB1

I know you have to turn down....but how to make it more enjoyable for YOU?

[Misifus]

When I play and sing in church, it’s always entirely acoustic (small church).

[Goat Mick]

If you play gigs, you're always going to have venues like this so you just have to learn to deal with it. Personally for a long time my brain would automatically hear "turn it down" as "you suck" and it would totally ruin my night. But these venues would keep booking me over and over again so I had to change my thinking. Each venue has an atmosphere that they're trying to maintain and sometimes music that is the dominate sound in the room isn't the atmosphere they want for their business. They want people to have the choice of chatting among themselves or listening to the music. I always try my best to turn the chatters into listeners, but you can't always do that with every table. Now if I'm playing a room that is going to be quite, I position my amp or my Bose directly behind me so that I can hear it better and also so that I can block some of the sound with my body. I've also learned to mix the guitar a bit louder than my vocals because for some reason they usually don't mind the guitar being a bit louder, but vocals tend to interfere conversations. It can be a challenging gig, but they can still be very successful. You just have to adjust your attitude and your approach (and maybe your equipment) accordingly.

[vindibona1]

This reminds me of the old story of the old lady who approached the band leader and asked "Could you please turn down the volume". The band leader replied, "But maam, we haven't started playing yet", to which to old woman retorted, "But it LOOKS loud".

[dwasifar]

Originally Posted by ChrisE

I had a gig like that once. I ended up turning off the PA and just playing acoustic. He still kept telling me to turn down.

I'm sure that would happen to me in that situation too. I'm loud.

[troystory92]

I have a little monitor playing back at me. It's all I hear and is controlled completely separate from the speakers playing to the venue.

Highly recommend it or in-ears

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by JackB1

Just wondering how you guys deal with playing certain places where you have to play at a really low volume? I had a club owner last night constantly telling me to turn down to the point where I was hearing my acoustic guitar over the sound coming out of the speakers. I'm thinking to myself...what's the point???
How do you motivate yourself to play and sing, when you can barely hear what you are playing? Should I try some in ear monitors so I can clearly hear myself even at such a low "out of speaker" volume?

How do you guys cope with these super low volume places? It can get very discouraging when you can barely hear what you are doing over the ambient room noise.

I play as a volunteer at a local cancer hospital. I'm one of three people they let play in the main hallway because I can keep the volume down. It's a LONG hallway where one side is glass, the floors are hard surfaces and the ceiling is two flights up. The sound REALLY travels in there and they need to be able to hear people at the nearby (not that near) welcome desk. It's tricky. I got creative. I bring a single Bose S1 Pro and point it at myself as a monitor. It then reflects behind me off the glass and fills the large space at low volume. I usually play a Rick Turner Renaissance RS6, but when I use a real acoustic, I plug the soundhole to minimize the direct sound from the guitar.

My advice is to try and find a way where YOU can hear what's coming from your speaker and let the room get what it gets. With no direct sound beaming into the room, the manager will likely be happy.

[Slim Zooms]

Originally Posted by vindibona1

This reminds me of the old story of the old lady who approached the band leader and asked "Could you please turn down the volume". The band leader replied, "But maam, we haven't started playing yet", to which to old woman retorted, "But it LOOKS loud".

This is funny!