Re: Auckland Fest Saturday 25th July 2015 - LOCK AND LOAD
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 12:23 am
When we ran gearfests at the Manor, y'all had three sound proof rooms at your disposal, free parking, chilly bins full of ice to put your cold beer in and the best coffee in town on site.
But despite us labelling the doors saying what room to set up in for what style of gear/music you were into, people still picked the wrong space and complained about the noise.
So there's no such thing as an ideal space. We've held them in some great venues over the years, but there's nowhere with individual studio booths. There's nowhere that you can isolate sound and still see everything. Tough shit. Deal with it.
I've never seen a gearfest in any town where people didn't complain about something! In fact if there were no complaints you probably weren't doing it right.
I think you have to approach a gearfests understanding that there's no way they'll ever suit everyone. But they are almost always fun and worthwhile events.
What they are (or what they are best for) is this.
1 - Putting names to faces. It is always a surprise connecting the online persona to the real life person.
2 - Socialising with fellow forum members. Finding out that despite the bollocks we talk on here, people are pretty good guys in real life.
3 - Seeing and touching guitars and guitar related gear that you may never get near to again in your life! Lets see any shop with a collection of gear like *UNIQUE* or olegmcnoleg can bring which you can be trusted to just pick up and carry off to try with your own rig.
4 - Getting a chance to crank your gear and hear it at volume it was intended to be used at. Unless you live in a soundproof bunker or practice in a band regularly, how many of you guys get above bedroom level without raising hell with family and neighbours?
On the flip-side, Gearfest etiquette probably needs to be better defined. We've done so many of these now and they still turn to aural mush within minutes. It never takes long and NZG people are the best at putting the "Caca" into Cacaphony!
I reckon these are guidelines are worth keeping in mind.
DO - set up and test your gear briefly, then leave it be.
DON'T - blast your own gear for the entire time. It sounds the same as when you last played it. If you need to crank it for 3 - 4 hours, there's a bunch of practice rooms you can hire.
DO - have a look around at what else is nearby before you pick a spot. If it looks like you're going to be competing sonically, find another spot.
DO - have a crack on someone else's gear. Or try your guitar through other amps. Give it a hoon, see what it can do but keep it short. What was my term for that? "2-Minute Noodles" Have go briefly then give it a rest.
DON'T - overcrowd the sonic space. Be aware of other people trying to do what you're trying to do too. Hear a rig at its best. So if you are having your 2-minute noodle and someone else starts up, that's probably your cue to stop and let someone else have a go.
DON'T - complain about the noise. There's gong to be noise. You know that going in. Deal with it.
Whaddayareckon?
But despite us labelling the doors saying what room to set up in for what style of gear/music you were into, people still picked the wrong space and complained about the noise.
So there's no such thing as an ideal space. We've held them in some great venues over the years, but there's nowhere with individual studio booths. There's nowhere that you can isolate sound and still see everything. Tough shit. Deal with it.
I've never seen a gearfest in any town where people didn't complain about something! In fact if there were no complaints you probably weren't doing it right.
I think you have to approach a gearfests understanding that there's no way they'll ever suit everyone. But they are almost always fun and worthwhile events.
What they are (or what they are best for) is this.
1 - Putting names to faces. It is always a surprise connecting the online persona to the real life person.
2 - Socialising with fellow forum members. Finding out that despite the bollocks we talk on here, people are pretty good guys in real life.
3 - Seeing and touching guitars and guitar related gear that you may never get near to again in your life! Lets see any shop with a collection of gear like *UNIQUE* or olegmcnoleg can bring which you can be trusted to just pick up and carry off to try with your own rig.
4 - Getting a chance to crank your gear and hear it at volume it was intended to be used at. Unless you live in a soundproof bunker or practice in a band regularly, how many of you guys get above bedroom level without raising hell with family and neighbours?
On the flip-side, Gearfest etiquette probably needs to be better defined. We've done so many of these now and they still turn to aural mush within minutes. It never takes long and NZG people are the best at putting the "Caca" into Cacaphony!
I reckon these are guidelines are worth keeping in mind.
DO - set up and test your gear briefly, then leave it be.
DON'T - blast your own gear for the entire time. It sounds the same as when you last played it. If you need to crank it for 3 - 4 hours, there's a bunch of practice rooms you can hire.
DO - have a look around at what else is nearby before you pick a spot. If it looks like you're going to be competing sonically, find another spot.
DO - have a crack on someone else's gear. Or try your guitar through other amps. Give it a hoon, see what it can do but keep it short. What was my term for that? "2-Minute Noodles" Have go briefly then give it a rest.
DON'T - overcrowd the sonic space. Be aware of other people trying to do what you're trying to do too. Hear a rig at its best. So if you are having your 2-minute noodle and someone else starts up, that's probably your cue to stop and let someone else have a go.
DON'T - complain about the noise. There's gong to be noise. You know that going in. Deal with it.
Whaddayareckon?