I may be pretty late to the party on this one, but I’m learning that volume is a bigger deal than I realized.
Last night, the band and I played at Anthony’s Soul Cafe, which is a very different venue from Tumbleroot. At a place like Tumbleroot, where people come to drink, dance, and enjoy the music, you can crank it up a bit. Nobody’s likely to complain that the band is too loud. Well, almost nobody. 😂
But at Anthony’s, or the Mineshaft during lunch, or any venue where people come primarily to eat, the rules change. People want to enjoy the music, but they also want to have a conversation without shouting across the table.
That sounds simple enough, right? Not so fast.
We don’t have a sound person sitting out in the audience monitoring everything, so we have to manage it ourselves. I bring two guitars. Ron has a keyboard, guitar, and ukulele. Tom has a bass guitar. Each instrument has its own volume. And then there are the vocals. Change instruments or songs, and suddenly the whole mix can change.
I think we are doing a pretty good job with it, but we are certainly still figuring it out. We are learning as we go, and trying to make the music sound good without driving the diners out the door.
Turns out, playing music is about a whole lot more than playing music!
Every gig teaches you something. This one reminded me to turn it down a notch. 🎸