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Forums > Music: Vocals

over powered by guitars

invisible123	Date: July 16, 2004 @ 11:30 AM seems latley that the guitar players that I have tried like to over power every vocal,and am afraid,I my have done some dammage to my vocal,trying to get over them ,any suggestions,of what I can do to help fix
EmpireDay3	Date: July 17, 2004 @ 9:06 AM 1. tell them to turn down 2. point their amps a different direction 3. work with musicians who understand the value of structure in music and that when two things stand out front simultaneously to try to get attention, it usually (and I say usually because there are rare exceptions) sounds like mishmash. 4. buy a bigger p.a. and blow their asses away! any of these should help
pog	Date: July 17, 2004 @ 10:34 AM imho that it's about finding (or teaching) a guitarist about understanding everythings place in the mix.... a lead vocalist and a lead guitarist are both solo instruments... i.e. when one is going for it, then technically, no other solo instruments should be stepping on their toes... as a matter of fact ... poggy rule #1 is "no musician should step on another musicians toes, no if's or buts".... whether it's on a stage or in the social scenes... no exceptions.... in other words, if your guitarist is taking all the leads, or can't turn down to play rhythm parts, the whole band should flog him/her into submission. It's a band, not a who's got the loudest amp contest..... when working live on a stage, the sound level should be at about 80db (just a touch louder than talking level) so that if one member goes "HEY MAN, LETS CUT TO THE MIDDLE 8 EARLY" the whole band knows what the hell's going on....
woodhead	Date: July 17, 2004 @ 4:22 PM I have to agree with pog on this, although we play a lot louder than than 80 dec. But a good band will work onthe over all sound, no one to loud no one to quite. But for rehearsal one thing does come to mind, you need a decent practice pa at the least. Two speakers and a 400 watt mixer is the minimum. If your pa is to small or designed for an acoustic band you will have problems. The basic way I set our P.A. up for rehearsal is, Set the volume and the faders to zero and turn your trim all the way down. then start singing in to your pa and adjust the trim until your meters reach zero, this is the start.you fader should never be cranked up more than your master volume this is the major cause to feed back and can damage your speakers as well as your hearing. But in overall situations guitar players as myself, we like our amps loud, and well you will have to make your guitar player turn down, guess I will have to also
pog	Date: July 18, 2004 @ 1:35 AM That reminds me of a story I heard about some Punter asking the soundman if Ted Nugent could "turn it down a bit" To that, the the soundman responded "You fing tell him to turn it down !!!"
woodhead	Date: July 18, 2004 @ 2:47 PM
Alexi1337	Date: July 27, 2004 @ 2:32 AM lol nice story.
biggles1	Date: October 21, 2004 @ 6:25 PM we have that problem in the band as nick's (who is a young prodogy on guitar) dad is the sound man (cos nick cant drive and there's nobody else trusted) so he turns nick up every time! sometimes sounds awful as u may be able to tell (hopefully not) any how chek it out and let me know if the vox are clear enough?!
hueseph	Date: October 23, 2004 @ 2:13 AM biggles: Seems like you need a new soundman. All good advice so far. My personal opinion is that all bands should have a soundman who is not a part of the band and who has no interest in the bandmembers other than doing sound. You need to have an outside ear. Someone who represents the audience rather than the band. Some good articles on guitars,amps and the myth of louder is better. http://www.guitarnuts.com/amps/index.php http://www.guitarnuts.com/amps/myths.php
Intergalacti...	Date: October 30, 2004 @ 6:42 PM All guitarists are the same, I should know I am one, they want to be louder than everyone else and in some ways they should be but just tell them to turn it down or turn it off
jeddak	Date: November 1, 2004 @ 9:59 PM Make your guitarist play unamplified. Or at least, take away hsi (or her) pedals.
leflaw	Date: November 4, 2004 @ 5:01 PM Take out a power tube or two...
victorsskull	Date: November 5, 2004 @ 10:43 PM or unplug the plug in
imemine	Date: November 6, 2004 @ 12:00 AM Punch Him!
onewhodreams	Date: November 6, 2004 @ 12:12 AM Get an in-ear monitor system. Best investment I ever made
pog	Date: November 6, 2004 @ 12:13 AM I've thought about this issue a fair bit lately, and various ways you can rectify if the guitarist is suffering from LSD (lead singers disease) You see... in order for a guitarist to create a great tone, especially on tubed amps, they must crank it up, thus making the amp run at an optimal level. If the guitarist is running a 100 watt marshall head with a quad box, you arguably would need to turn it up to pretty much to a level comparable to the threshold of pain, in order to make the amp "work". One option, as Lef says, is to take out a power tube or 2, which is a good idea in those situations where the guitarists isn't willing to discuss options to make all of your working environments betterer. However, I have no idea of what sort of stresses you may be placing on the rest of the tubes, and the rest of the amp's wiring with such a configuration, so maybe it's not such a good idea on the long term as far as looking after your gear goes. The other option is to modify the speakers.... instead of running a big assed quad, it is a good idea to invest in a twin box, or get one built, and utilise a 4 ohm type configuration (provided the amp can take it)... in effect it makes everything run hotter.... this way, you can work the speakers a bit harder, yet it won't make the guitarist feel like he doesn't have enough sustain and power. Another option is to invest in a bigger p.a. and micing up the drums.... this can often be an excuse for the guitarist to feel like he's performing in a stadium, and turn up yet some more, saying something like "I can't hear myself". This could be a recipe that will exacerbate the situation, and also give each and every band member permenant hearing loss. One solution is to turn the rest of the band down even more and record it (using any portable unit will do)..... then when you play it back, guitarist will often go ... hell.. I had no idea that I was playing so loud and it sounded that crappy when I do so. Finally, the only other option I can think of right now, is to get yourselves an in-ear monitor system, and mic everything up... the beauty of these systems is that everyone gets their own little mixing desk, so if the guitarist wants to blow his brains out with his own noises... he can.
imemine	Date: November 6, 2004 @ 12:32 AM What about small clubs? I’ve played many of them! “Power Soak”---gives your amp the impression it’s playing at high volume at---Uuuu low volumes. How many guitarists does it take to screw in a light bulb? Just one! ---They hold the bulb in the socket and the world revolves around them.
sween	Date: November 7, 2004 @ 6:22 AM I had this problem ages ago, I was in a band and we had my little teeny amp (the one I got free with my 1st guitar from Argos) for the vocals and the guitarist had this massive bad ass amp stack thingy. It was great when he couldnt make it to practice coz I did vocals through that and everything sounded cool. Problem was when he was there. He would not let me use or even share the thing. The band didnt last too long. Its bad when everyones fighting for the spot light intead of just sharing it. It takes team effort. I reckon communication is the key, you should be able to criticise without offending and negociate with things like this. If not, theres no point, life is just hard work. Harsh but you need to tell these people the score, they may like to hear themselves play with the power of a volcano, however, they keep doin it (and you hurt your vocal chords) you'll blow your top and knock their feckin head off...
jeddak	Date: November 12, 2004 @ 7:47 AM In-ear monitor system. A pricey solution, but this way everyone is as loud as they want to be, without overpowering the rest.
gothian	Date: November 12, 2004 @ 11:58 AM You don't want to play with guys that don't understand or see the band as a whole thing. I hate stars
furiousBall	Date: November 12, 2004 @ 3:19 PM they need to turn down, buying a bigger PA or in ear monitor systems don't address the guitarists not respecting your request to hear yourself. that's amature crap, move on with another guitarist that understands how to work with other ppl