The Concert Speakers Are A Lie ! ?

[BoredSysAdmin]

This image, while not shocking, still annoys hell a lot.... I feel like "There's no spoon" and how we were turned into batteries kind of deal

http://gizmodo.com/5644585/the-concert-speakers-are-a-lie?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+gizmodo/full+(Gizmodo)



One of comments on giz:

If one considers it for a moment, this is obvious from a sound engineering standpoint.

Front of house requires the engineer to have individual level controls over the mix. If the guitar player gets 12 heads and 24 4x12 cabinets, there's no way other players - bass, drums, vocals, synth, etc - are ever going to be able to compete. Even if the front of house system could compensate, the mix is always chasing the guitar volume - giving the guitarist control over the FoH mix when they can't even hear it.

Typically the guitarists amp will be mic'd or run as a line out signal to the front of house board. What the audience hears is what's coming out of the house mains not the players' individual amplification systems. 4x12 and 8x12 guitar rigs are still relevant because it provides a certain kind of sound, but in large live venues, the guitarist's rig is not about volume.

But the wall of amps is merely for appearance - especially in today's era of high-tech live sound. Originally you would have just left the amps unplugged, but given the modular nature of guitar amp construction, its easy to see the value engineering: remove the speakers, then remove the amp electronics, and eventually just resolve to building only as much cabinet as is necessary to provide the appearance.

 

[jamie2112]

Most of the time if there are more than 2 guitar cabs per player then there are going to be "dummy" cabs on stage.ZZ Top has only a cabs on stage live at any given time.The "real" cabinets are in isolation boxes off stage.In fact most bands I know and work with have iso boxes for guitar speakers.Its also way lighter than cabs with speakers in them so its easier for techs to move.....

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Most of the time if there are more than 2 guitar cabs per player then there are going to be "dummy" cabs on stage.ZZ Top has only a cabs on stage live at any given time.The "real" cabinets are in isolation boxes off stage.In fact most bands I know and work with have iso boxes for guitar speakers.Its also way lighter than cabs with speakers in them so its easier for techs to move.....

I expected your response as closest person to confirm or deny this, however the overwhelming evidence and multiple confirmation of this lie doesn't help to swallow these tough and sad news

 

[jamie2112]

That is a cheezy euro metal band though and most bands are not that lame ........just sayin

 

[j_garcia]

Regardless, I don't care if they are fake as long as the show sounds good. But if they didn't have them...it wouldn't really make any difference right? Less stuff to carry/move. It is quite easy to see who is running a mic from their little amp to the house feed and who is not. I don't go to see the speakers...

 

[just-some-guy]

Regardless, I don't care if they are fake as long as the show sounds good. I don't go to see the speakers.

ditto.

3 weeks ago i saw KISS, 14th row center. good show and good time

 

[m-fine]

Dude, this is hardly new! The wall of Marshall stacks has been unnecessary for 40 years now. When Cream toured they were real, but it did not take long for engineers to figure out much better ways of filling a stadium with sound. The empty cabinets are a part of Marshall marketing to make Marshall and loud rock synomonous. You will not see big walls of fake Fender or Vox amps.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Dude, this is hardly new! The wall of Marshall stacks has been unnecessary for 40 years now. When Cream toured they were real, but it did not take long for engineers to figure out much better ways of filling a stadium with sound. The empty cabinets are a part of Marshall marketing to make Marshall and loud rock synomonous. You will not see big walls of fake Fender or Vox amps.

I don't know...I think a wall of these would be awesome!

 

[m-fine]

From wikipedia:

This competition for greater volume and greater extremes was taken even further in the early 1970s by the band Blue Öyster Cult, which used an entire wall of full-stack Marshall Amplifiers as their backdrop. Artists such as Slayer and Yngwie Malmsteen also use walls of Marshalls. Both Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman of Slayer can be seen playing in front of a total of 24 cabinets, and Yngwie has used as many as 31. However, it is usually the case that far less are actually powered, as using this many could cause serious problems with the overall sound mix of a live show. In most cases these are "dummy cabs," which are onstage for visual impact, not actually played through. For ease of transportation and lifting, most of these actually do not even contain any speakers. The same goes for some of the amp heads in a scenario like this, as they are just the wooden frame with, in fact, no heavy inner workings.

Such is the ubiquity of the sight of a wall of Marshalls at a rock concert; many artists who do not even use them have the dummy stacks on stage. Rick Parfitt of Status Quo, for example has a wall of Marshalls, but actually uses a combination of Vox AC30 in Marshall cabinets and JCM900's.[13]

 

[GirgleMirt]

This image, while not shocking, still annoys hell a lot.... I feel like "There's no spoon" and how we were turned into batteries kind of deal

http://gizmodo.com/5644585/the-concert-speakers-are-a-lie?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+gizmodo/full+(Gizmodo)



One of comments on giz:

Awesome, so it works EXACTLY like high end interconnects, speaker cables, and other snakeoil, makes the sound better!

 

[highfigh]

Dude, this is hardly new! The wall of Marshall stacks has been unnecessary for 40 years now. When Cream toured they were real, but it did not take long for engineers to figure out much better ways of filling a stadium with sound. The empty cabinets are a part of Marshall marketing to make Marshall and loud rock synonymous. You will not see big walls of fake Fender or Vox amps.

Part of that is due to the fact that Fender never made big amp stacks (although people did stack them in different configurations) and people could get a good sound without needing six stacks of 4 x 12" speakers in each cabinet. Not that a Marshall stack sounds bad but they were used because they were the large amp available at the time and it was easy to daisy-chain them. If you have ever read or heard any interviews with the Beatles, they always said they played but could never hear themselves because of the screaming, even though their Vox amps were fairly loud. Neil Young did a tour a long time ago with great big "amps" behind the band and they had a video screen playing during the show. Near the end of the night, they would have the camera guy go behind the front line and show the amps they were really using- Neil has used Tweed Fender Deluxe amps for decades and they put out a whopping 22 Watts through one 12" speaker.