RE: [Harp-L] Hello! (volume control and all that)

["Steve Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

> It's been quit some time since I posted anything. This post is  about 
> volume
> controls vs "your" volume. I searched the achieves and didn't  see anything
> about this specific subject. Anyway, this is just my opinion.  Volume 
> controls
> are crutches that limit our full tone/ power potential. Why dig  down to 
> get
> that big tone when all you have to do is turn a knob? If you  set the knob 
> and
> leave it alone...fine. My intension here is that I  want us all to be the 
> best
> we can be. Tone/ delivery is a big part of that.  Dependency on the knob 
> won't
> make ones tone any better, it'll just make weak  tone loud enough for
> everyone to hear. This whole thing makes since to me, but I  am certainly 
> open to any
> other thoughts/ corrections. As a side note, most of  the moded mics I see 
> on
> ebay have v/c's hanging off of them somewhere. If I  am on track with the
> above, these v/c's need not be on these mics unless asked  for, especially 
> very
> desirable, hard to find mics. Well, I hope this is a  productive subject. 
> If
> I've upset anyone, I apologize in advance.
> Mike

I read all the stuff here on amps and mics with a mixture of admiration and 
perplexity (is that a word??).  I nearly always play in pub sessions or 
small venues, so, unless someone who knows these things better than me plugs 
me in to the PA, I usually rely on a tiny lapel mic that I hold cupped in my 
hands and a small amp.  As I play Irish stuff I don't need anything other 
than a clean tone and maybe a little added warmth in the form of a twitch of 
the delay knob.  You have a lot of control over your "personal" tone and 
volume with the cupped lapel mic (as opposed to the "tone" you're trying to 
get out of your amp) and it's instructive to practise with the setup to work 
on volume and fullness of tone by varying the hand-cup.  It does make a 
significant difference.  But at the end of the day if you're not putting a 
sweet tone into what is, after all, only the distal end of your tone-chamber 
(the rest being your whole upper body), you won't get a sweet tone out 
either.  This excellent page is still good reading for harp players who want 
to address the question of producing a good tone:  
http://www.jt30.com/jt30page/oldsite/goodtone.html  As for volume control, I 
need to adjust mine slightly for different harp types (same all night for 
10-holes, down a bit for chroms, up a bit for Echo tremolos), and I might 
need to turn down a bit if a couple of the lads go off for an early night 
and/or if the pub goes quiet.  So I don't want to be fiddling with the 
volume knob all night, but it comes in handy occasionally to keep myself in 
balance with the other lads. In my case the knob on the amp is all I need.  
Your scenario may vary!

Steve

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica
HEAR my CD clips: http://www.gjk2.com/steveshaw/cd.htm

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