Re: using house sound for gtr

["Mike Biffle" <mbiffle@svg.com>]

> Last John McLaughlin tour I saw, he did the same. Problem is that if you 
>have 'good' seats in up close,  and the house monitors are aimed at the 
>center/rear for 'reinforcement'  the guitar sound will be very weak in 
>the mix. The band with their stage amps (and live drum sound) will be 
>loud and
clear but you won't be getting the correct levels of the guitar in 
relation. 

Too bad... You always really want to hear JM! It's a HOUSE problem though 
which in many cases does work against you. The larger the house though the 
better the ratio of satisfied listeners to people caught in the "sour" 
spot up front.

> Probably sounds great in the rear of the house. But up close the great 
>visuals were matched with lousy guitar sound. Thoughtless, really.

I know that the guy drooling on your gear at the edge of the stage should 
probably be entitled to lethal guitar levels right in the face... But if 
you're trying to make sure that MOST of the audience (not just the rear) 
hears good sound, direct might actually still be the lesser evil. I 
compromise by pointing one monitor horizontally towards the house from 45 
degrees behind me, and placing the other one either in front or just to 
the side... so I've got a stereo mix to my left or right usually. Sort of 
a modified side fill setup. Then I send balanced XLR from my mixer direct 
to the house.

-Miko