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June 19, 2010 - 2:43pm
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House concerts....
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What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Type of group? Are you trying to replicate a club PA?
I have held concerts at home, but all chamber music with no more than a half-dozen musicians - nothing amplified.
I fully agree. All Acoustic is the way to go. Remember the goal is to try and remember the sound of real instruments in a real and natural setting. I would think the acoustic output should be around 80 db.
Another possibility would be a small patio concert which would take the reflective room out of the equation, but if you are sitting close that should not be an issue. In Sin City the temp may be a problem. It would still be fun. Enjoy.
Singer with a guitar.
The better house concerts I've been to used small PA speakers flanking the performer and a mic.
The straight up acoustic ones seemed to lose the singer beneath the guitar or felt like the singer sounded like he/she (especially she) were having to sing beyond their dynamic range.
An example:
The one I thought sounded best was a David Olney / Sergio Webb house concert.
Maybe 30 people...
And they did use some ellctric guitar.
"Stage":
Looking back from first row of chairs:
View from the back row:
So, not for trying to amplify something like a string quartet, more like trying to enhance someone's ability to fill a room.
One guy we are thinking of hosting plays all acoustic guitars, but then he builds parts where he ends up playing a bit and then making a loop and kind of building a song.
So, acoustic, gentle electric, I guess.
Other pics from the above show:
Belongs to the artist or the house?
I agree that adding a vocalist to the mix does pose a problem. I would also add that many do not have the "power" to over take a group of musicians, or maybe even one acoustic guitar played loudly.
This raises an interesting question of vocal realism withint the context of a mic, mic pre, amp and mixer. Many of us who do sing do have strong preferences as to which mics make us (in our minds) sound the best. Now live vs recorded becomes problematic for sure.
Recorded we have just the mic and mic pre running into an ACD...live we introduce the amp and speaker(s).
Another fly in the anoitment.
Got it. A little bit of amplification could be nice.
A very simple set up like you suggest will do it.
You will need very little power, an amplified speaker of 15 watts will do it and will maintain an acoustic vibe.