Scott Henderson Discussion

[corramont]

Hi Scott, once again back here for some advice. I’m in a trio and when we play corporate or well behaved venues we struggle to deliver the same energy when lowering our volumes.

So I’m wondering what is your advice re plexiglass shielding for both amps and drums in situations where these are not mic’d through the p.a.

Is it an option worth exploring or is it a waste of time?

Many thanks, and hope to see you soon in the UK.
Dodi

[Scott Henderson]

I've never tried it, and the only time I've seen it done was at a Mike Landau Raging Honkies gig. There was a plexiglass shield between Mike and the drummer, who was crashing his cymbals so loud that it literally drowned out the whole band. I guess Mike didn't want to go deaf.

I've never seen anyone put shields in front of the amps - it seems like that would make them sound extremely weird. As much as I hate attenuators, I think that would give you a better result.

[gonzo]

i used the plexi solution years ago....

it works in blocking the sound from specific directions,
but behind the plexi, the reflections are harsh.
but on a big stage, would get pretty lost....
really depends on the volume and size of stage.

now, joe bonnamassa has been using the plexi shields for a long time,
and he likes to crank it up,
so maybe he has good insight on it.

on small stages, at decent volumes, it works well,
but at a certain point you can overwhelm the stage volume by reflecting all that sound backwards on small stages.
_________________
Bat's Brew

[dizzy]

Something I have been feeling lately is that the only sound that can’t be done pretty quiet is a higher gain sound. If the amp is turned down with a high gain sound everything sounds thin and bad. So I use a slightly dirty sound on my quiet gigs and change the way I play.
That doesn’t work if your music depends on a high gain sound as part of its essence. Since I don’t play fast legato stuff much I can get away with it.
So I know this doesn’t have to do with your question but it relates. My point is that when you play quitter gigs you could change approaches if that works for your style. But for some people that doesn’t work to express what they want to say.

[corramont]

Thanks guys. I’ll try some options and maybe get back to you here for further discussion. Best to all

[Thanasis]

Coincidentally I went to a gig last night at a small venue and it was the first time I saw the plexiglass in front of the drums.

My opinion is that it works quite alright for the audience as the drummer was deafening loud but then I had to ask the band how they felt about it and they all said that it totally ruined the interplay, as their set depends on it.

The drummer couldn't hear anything beyond the glass and even though they can really groove (I know them very well and I have been to dozens of their gigs) they found it hard at this particular occasion.

[erakare]

[Thanasis]

Erakare I am sure it works when the drummer has monitors, sorry I forgot to mention that at the gig that I was at, none of the guys at the trio had monitors. I think corramont was talking about a set up that doesn't involve a PA and monitors.

The sound man just miked the guitar and took a line out from the bass amp just to direct everything towards the audience but the band was fairly loud so it was not working well on the stage without monitors. As an observer, I could hear everything pretty well.

Having read the thread, I thought I might ask them just to hear what their opinion on it was and they didn't seem to like the idea, especially the drummer who was isolated from the band and the only thing he could hear was his harsh cymbal frequencies bouncing back.

This stage was nothing like you described, your setup seems very well organized and I am sure it works.