Sound needs to be heard.

“If a guitar is plucked in the forest, and there is no-one there to hear it, would it truly make a sound?“

Or better yet, “Would it truly uplift/empower/inspire anyone?”

Well, that is what we faced the other night.  All evening long, Carl and I were forced to spend more time being concerned with volume than with inspiration.

Such is the life of a “Rock Star.”

We all know that by now.

Playing in a place that we have entertaining at for going on five years now, suddenly we had no idea how loud we were.  Hmmmmmmmmmm . . . .

Sometimes it’s great to reassess things in life.  To look at them, (or, in this case, listen to them), and re-evaluate the strengths and weaknesses as a way of learning and improving the core ideals that make you who you are.

We want to fit in and be available for listening, and yet, not obtrusive enough to overpower someone’s evening from the stage.

It is a very fine line we walk, and many times not easy.  However, we do it on a nightly basis, and most times triumph.

Apparently, on some nights, we are not the best judge of our own volume and leave it up to others to manage our sound.  That works out most times well.

Our goal is not to be loud.  It never has been.  That is not why you play at higher volumes, anyway.  For most purposes, (as a acoustic duo), you just want to be heard and create a quality sound field.  We’ve all heard noise that is very, very loud, but not very appealing to the ears.  (A jackhammer, or screeching tire, or a politician).

One of the biggest hurdles in any venue is the ambient noise of the establishment itself.  One or two of the places that we play is so loud that Carl and I cannot hear each other sitting right next to ourselves.

And that is when we are not even playing our instruments!

Ideally, the goal is to have all the musical instruments that are being played to be heard by the listener, in equal measure.

Not loud, just right.

In most venues, this can be accomplished at normal decimal levels.  The patrons can still have a conversation, and yet, still hear each auric element as it was intended.

Most nights Carl and I excellent at this, but occasionally, we are reminded just what a fine line we walk.

After being shown a pocket decibel app., we then lowered our volume to an acceptable level that made the staff happier.

It was an interesting night, to be sure.  Once again, we met some wonderful people who made the entire experience enjoyable.

Some people really love music.  You can almost see it in them.  They light up and are truly happy when listening.  Kind of like how happy boaters are, just to be near the water.

We can read it in their faces when you talk to them about what they are listening to.  It really makes our night fun to be able to share our love of music with them.

It was an odd night at TBM.  We were thrown off, but righted ourselves just in time to share our love of music with some amazing people.

In the end, that is what it’s all about.  Hear that?

Rb