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Thread: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

  1. #51
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    Well ... if they sort of agree with you, this should be a short and hopefully agreeable talk. Bring up the subject at the start of a rehearsal. Like, "Hey guys, before we go on to the usual practice, there's something that's been bothering me ..." If all it takes to fix this is for them to play a little quieter in order for you to be heard, this can be solved fairly easily. It'll work out to their benefit, too.
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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    If you have a sound person they should be able to have you in the monitor and mains so you can hear yourself and the audience can hear you. If they can't do that get a new sound person.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    And get early to the performance place and do a sound check and mention your instrument. It is good to be friends with the sound person but that is their job. Ideally they should have monitors and if done well you should hear yourself in those as well as out in the audience. Ask for more mandolin if needed.
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  4. #54

    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    Hi Minnie,
    I feel your pain, been married to a fiddler for almost 30 years. I think it's hard to play a fiddle quietly, probably takes more skill than being quiet on a plucked-string instrument. Also, the kind of music you guys are playing is by nature energetic, which makes it even harder to play softer. If the configuration is to remain two fiddles, then your best solution is to get a louder mandolin. Even though they're not Celtic sounding in tone, an f hole archtop mando will cut through the mix better.

    There are plenty of loud mandolins out there, unfortunately they don't come cheap. Probably best to plan on robbing a bank first, might provide some material for writing a new song!

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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Roy View Post
    Probably best to plan on robbing a bank first, might provide some material for writing a new song!
    Hmmm ... Not sure that's the best plan. It'd likely lead to having to skip town and go on the lam, thus making attending gigs difficult at best - which would be counter-productive. Got to keep that goal in mind. But as to providing inspiration for new songs - I reckon so. Something to think about while skedaddling and lying low ...
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Roy View Post
    ... I think it's hard to play a fiddle quietly, probably takes more skill than being quiet on a plucked-string instrument.
    Well, that's the story us fiddlers have been putting about for a while, looks like it's still working OK It's not really true though. Playing at medium volume is easiest on the average violin, loud or soft is a little harder than that, but only really loud or soft is really hard. Even then, classical fiddlers do it all the time. There's a choral piece (maybe a Tedium by somebody - Verdi?) that starts with an intro with violin part dynamics at pppp, and the next note on the part after the intro is marked ffff - that's dynamics!

    It's worth mentioning that fiddlers get drowned too, often by squeeze boxes or percussion. I witnessed a fine example of the undiplomatic way to resolve this one night at the James Joyce pub session in Brussels (Belgium), when a fine Scottish fiddle player called Eddie S. started to play a slow air, and was joined by a bohdran player going 'BOUMP!' once every bar, slightly off the beat. Eddie struggled on until he could bear it no more. He stopped playing, looked the offending percussionist in the eye, and said "Ah cannae play wi' you making that noise!" Suitably chastised, the bohdranist (?) stood up and walked out without speaking. That was the last we heard of him, because he never came back, and (from memory) 3 months later the unfortunate man passed away. I'm not sure Eddie's complaint was responsible, but it does show that sometimes diplomacy might be better for the conscience if nothing else.

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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    Quote Originally Posted by maxr View Post
    There's a choral piece (maybe a Tedium by somebody - Verdi?) that starts with an intro with violin part dynamics at pppp, and the next note on the part after the intro is marked ffff - that's dynamics!
    I'm sorry, I'm not speaking as a member of the Grammar Police (I'm sworn to secrecy on that matter, or would be, if I were one, which I'm not saying I am or not), but as a regular citizen seeking clarity - you do mean "Te deum," don't you? That darned spell chuck!
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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    I played mandolin at beginner Irish sessions till my fiddle playing got semi-decent. Then I was gifted with a beat up old tenor banjo, which I had brought up to snuff in GDAE tuning. I enjoy playing fiddle on reels, but really like the banjo on hornpipes and jigs if there are other fiddles present. I did learn that my old 1920's Bacon with a resonator was loud enough that the guitar player couldn't hear herself, and she is very good and has plenty of volume. Therefore (prior to Covid shutdowns) I would get to the session early so I could sit well away from the guitar player, aiming away from her (at the fiddles, they don't mind.) We all had fun with more variety in the voicings, and the guitar player was happier I'm was not deafening her and drowning her out. With much volume comes much responsibility.
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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    Quote Originally Posted by journeybear View Post
    I'm sorry, I'm not speaking as a member of the Grammar Police (I'm sworn to secrecy on that matter, or would be, if I were one, which I'm not saying I am or not), but as a regular citizen seeking clarity - you do mean "Te deum," don't you? That darned spell chuck!
    To do Verdi justice, I think it was the Berlioz one everybody called Tedium

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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    I just realized from Rob Ross’ post that another aspect of the OP’s problem may not be the audience hearing her playing but more she hearing her self. I am guessing that there is no monitor for the sound system.
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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    Quote Originally Posted by maxr View Post
    To do Verdi justice, I think it was the Berlioz one everybody called Tedium
    Ha ha ha! I shall defer to what is surely your greater experience in this matter.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    One last thought -
    Voicings
    You will have to get even more familiar with the material/songs you are playing, and be aware of where those fiddles are playing at on the neck.
    Chances are they are lower/mid neck, so if you move up to the higher frets with melody and double stops (and three finger chords), it should rise above that fiddle dominance and create a new harmonic space

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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan Reinhardt View Post
    if you move up to the higher frets with melody and double stops (and three finger chords), it should rise above that fiddle dominance and create a new harmonic space
    Provided none of them vary their Celtic music performances with a tin whistle...

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    Default Re: Help! Drowned out by fiddles!

    Quote Originally Posted by maxr View Post
    Provided none of them vary their Celtic music performances with a tin whistle...
    According to the OP (which no one reads after a while ), that's not in the lineup. Don't give them ideas!
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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