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Date: Tue, 6 May 2003 10:31:07 EDT
From: Iceman~ol.com
Subject: Re: Stage volume...

The original blues bands from the 50's and 60's never mic'ed the drum sets.

Have you experienced sound checks these days, even in those small clubs that
use a sound man? It starts with the bass drum level alone, brought up through
the PA until the whole room pulsates with each beat. (This is residue from
the disco era, when all the white folk dancing had to be told exactly where
the beat was).

From here, the rest of the drum kit is mic'ed up and levels raised to match
the bass drum, followed by the rest of the instruments.

The original blues bands played with such a confident and tight sense of
rhythm that volume was not needed to translate the groove.

There was a PBS special, years ago, on the Eric Clapton Blues Tribute (From
the Cradle?) tour. Eric's band on stage was huge, including many guitar
players, Jerry Portnoy on harp, a rhythm section, horns, and a guy that just
played a huge marching bass drum. They were playing Muddy Waters tunes. It
was bombastic.

These scenes were alternated with original videos of Muddy's band from the
50's/60's, playing the same songs at a club.

Muddy's band was scaled down, drummer played a very small kit, amps used were
tiny, but the difference in groove was amazing.

Muddy swung effortlessly like a mutha and Eric sounded like he was trying to
force an arena into feeling the beat.

The "Holy Grail" tone was created at low volume levels, something that too
few people seem to remember.

The Iceman