Keira WitherKay wrote
conrad can correct me but at least 250/300 people in the auditaurium and he had a screen , much like they sell to be used in bedrooms to dress behind ......... this possible helped reflect all the sound forward...or maybe it was just a cool backdrop ........
but yeah no amps, no overhead mics, just an extremely talented man and his beautiful sounding guitar ..........and performing to a full house.......... so yeah maybe we can do more "purist" acoustic gigs if we wanted to........ and put the p/up manufacturers outa work hehehehh
however when he performed with the quartet or quintet his guitar was swamped somewhat by the cello/violins but when he played solo it was awesome .......
so instead of adapting our guitars to sound LOUD and unnatural we should rather just find venues that favour good acoustics and have guitars that have big "voices "
that concert for me was great in that it did shake my thinking on technology.i woulda expected at least overhead mics /guitar condenser mic ...but no ....... lets just say i was impressed
I remember one open mic night at TJs where they decided to do away with the PA and just have everything completely unplugged. I suppose the theory was that this was a friendlier environment for the noob performers.
I recall another occasion when somebody played at one of Andy McGibbon's shows and turned right down (he was telling Andy to turn down, turn down, I think that technically he was still amplified, but not by very much).
On both occasions, and much to my surprise, the audience adjusted their own volume to suit the proceedings.
However it's a risky modus operandi. One intoxicated person could easily bring the house down. You could escort them out, but by then the damage would have been done. When we saw Martin Carthy in London he was playing in a small venue - 90 seats (on benches, not seated at a table) and special permit from the fire brigade for the night to have 30 more standing. We were in the front row and could hear Carthy's guitar and voice easily (even when he went "off mike"). Carthy could have played with no amplification.
Except there were a noisy couple behind us. She just generally chattered. He alternated between shooshing her and observing rather too loudly that "I saw him play this one better at Cambridge in 1988". They would have ruined an "unplugged" gig. Or would they? Maybe a couple of glares and a lack of volume to give them some "cover" would have shut them up.
Some years ago I saw Craig Ogden play with the JPO. He had to have an amplifier with him - an acoustic guitar, no matter how good, against an orchestra is an uneven battle. Though I did leave wondering how the piece he played - which was written for a guitar and orchestra - ever got performed in the first place.
