Why point the guitars away from the singer?

[SpaceNorman]

....there's really no reason for big loud amps on stage anymore. Let the PA do the work. That's what it is for.

 

I think you have to caveat statements like "let the PA do the work" with a prerequisite about needing a properly designed PA that's up to the task. Obviously, a well designed PA system - in conjunction with modern instrument signal processing means you can eliminate instrument amps on stage. However, if one's frame of reference for PA is a cobbled together setup for mains and maybe a couple of floor wedges for vocal monitor ​​that I see so local acts using - don't think for a minute you'll be leaving stage amps at home and be satisfied with results by simply running everything thru the board.

 

Eliminating instrument amps from stage requires a PA system (or perhaps more accurately stated - monitor system) that's designed with that in mind. ​

[Vito Corleone]

 

I think you have to caveat statements like "let the PA do the work" with a prerequisite about needing a properly designed PA that's up to the task. Obviously, a well designed PA system - in conjunction with modern instrument signal processing means you can eliminate instrument amps on stage. However, if one's frame of reference for PA is a cobbled together setup for mains and maybe a couple of floor wedges for vocal monitor ​​that I see so local acts using - don't think for a minute you'll be leaving stage amps at home and be satisfied with results by simply running everything thru the board.

 

Eliminating instrument amps from stage requires a PA system (or perhaps more accurately stated - monitor system) that's designed with that in mind. ​

 

Agreed.

 

​I was replying to someone who said he "always has enough PA to blast the audience". But it's not always true that everyone has even the first idea of what "enough PA" really means. Yes, if all you have is a couple of little speakers on sticks and you're trying to push some vocals up above the stage volume with them, then you almost certainly don't have enough PA to run the whole band through it.

 

​But if you actually have ​sufficient ​gear for the task? Then all that stage gear and the commensurate volume is not only unnecessary, but often counterproductive.

[WynnD]

I can see IEMs working in that direction. Need to have enough people willing to spend $400 for their own system. I've got one IEM set, but don't have any interest in buying everyone else their system. My FOH is a ZXA1 EV system with matching subs. Very clean and 128 max spl. (Measured, one meter on all the cabinets. Think that translates into 131 max spl per system and 3000 watts total to the audience.) Quite frankly, I don't ever want to run it at that level. I've got 4 wedges. It's not a concert system. If we ever do a concert that requires more juice, we'll rent or hire a guy to provide a system. Personally like to play low enough to place the PA in the backline. And yes, I have done that without feedback. Those have always been the best bands.

 

[Vito Corleone]

Your system is almost certainly sufficient. It's more about just getting the rest of the guys to see the need for spending money for their own monitor system. Perhaps not having you on their butts to turn down all the time would be reason enough for some. Maybe the increased ability for their own control or improved sound quality will be the reason for others.

 

​For me, it was a combination of the facts that A) I could hear my keyboards better and clearer than I ever had in my life, B) my harmony vocals were more on-pitch than they ever had been before, C) my ears weren't ringing at the end of the night, that sold me on them.

 

​Beyond that, having my own monitor mix that I could control and not carrying around a stage full of monitor gear was also a big plus.

 

​And I think it makes for a cleaner look on stage. (Also note that I don't think the bass players neck pointing away from the singers is distracting anyone away from them in the slightest )

 

 

[sirfun]

I've got IEMs, but have barely used them. I might use them this Saturday for solo channel monitoring.

 

just for hitting the solo button on the mixer and using as ear protection when not soloing a channel ?? )

 

ok !! )

 

I have to agree with southpaws stage right for safety reasons !! )

+

 

 

 

[Craig Vecchione]

I can see IEMs working in that direction. Need to have enough people willing to spend $400 for their own system. I've got one IEM set, but don't have any interest in buying everyone else their system. My FOH is a ZXA1 EV system with matching subs. Very clean and 128 max spl. (Measured, one meter on all the cabinets. Think that translates into 131 max spl per system and 3000 watts total to the audience.) Quite frankly, I don't ever want to run it at that level. I've got 4 wedges. It's not a concert system. If we ever do a concert that requires more juice, we'll rent or hire a guy to provide a system. Personally like to play low enough to place the PA in the backline. And yes, I have done that without feedback. Those have always been the best bands.

 

Given your near-Crusades mission to lower volume on stages everywhere, you might consider using the IEM even if it's just you. Get some well-sealing buds. The band can play as loudly as they please, and you can set your levels where you please. I've done this in bands that have some players who simply hate the perceived isolation of buds (even with stereo ambiance mics) and it works well.

[Drummer44]

I can see IEMs working in that direction. Need to have enough people willing to spend $400 for their own system. I've got one IEM set, but don't have any interest in buying everyone else their system. My FOH is a ZXA1 EV system with matching subs. Very clean and 128 max spl. (Measured, one meter on all the cabinets. Think that translates into 131 max spl per system and 3000 watts total to the audience.) Quite frankly, I don't ever want to run it at that level. I've got 4 wedges. It's not a concert system. If we ever do a concert that requires more juice, we'll rent or hire a guy to provide a system. Personally like to play low enough to place the PA in the backline. And yes, I have done that without feedback. Those have always been the best bands.

 

 

Without immediate regard to IEMs...

 

Have you ever tried eliminating stage amps, running all instruments through your PA, FOH speakers ahead of you, monitors aimed at appropriate musicians and "volumn-ed" appropriately?

 

-D44

[WynnD]

musicians who can't handle being told to turn down aren't worth the trouble to work with. The others generally don't need reminded. I do have Leslies that I like playing through. 118 DBc max for soloing. that can't keep up with a loud guitarist. I won't mic them.

[Vito Corleone]

musicians who can't handle being told to turn down aren't worth the trouble to work with. The others generally don't need reminded. I do have Leslies that I like playing through. 118 DBc max for soloing. that can't keep up with a loud guitarist. I won't mic them.

 

 

 

So its all about whatever it takes to get YOUR tone and everyone else in the band has to "turn down" or do whatever else to get along? You've got YOUR list of what you will and will not do or put up with but anyone else with a similar attitude is "not worth the trouble to work with?"

 

 

 

how well has this worked out for you over the years?

[Drummer44]

musicians who can't handle being told to turn down aren't worth the trouble to work with. The others generally don't need reminded. I do have Leslies that I like playing through. 118 DBc max for soloing. that can't keep up with a loud guitarist. I won't mic them.

 

 

Some guitar amps don't sound "right" to some guitarists until they're cranked up to where the tubes add the "right" amount of distortion. Not my bag, but that perceived "wonderful tone" they look for from their amp sounds like what you're after with your Leslies? One method to get the target tone would be to change amps, but I wouldn't expect that to be a popular suggestion, just as you probably wouldn't react well to a suggestion to change from your Leslies.

 

So what's a Leslie, anyway? An amp/speaker thing, yes? Is there a pedal or modeler or something (Line 6 Pod, whatever) that can be inserted in the signal path to emulate whatever a Leslie sounds like?

 

When I asked whether you've tried running all your instruments through the PA, I didn't mean via a mic in front of an amp; I meant direct -- if necessary using an emulator of some sort in the signal chain -- and for example, with mic cables.

 

-D44

 

[Vito Corleone]

Being in a successful band usually involves a certain degree of compromise by everyone both onstage and off. It's not 4 or 5 or 6 solo projects with everyone getting their own way 100% of the time. Just doesn't work that way. Booker T could maybe get away with saying there will be no compromises to how he got his organ/Leslie sound and everyone else in the band must work around that; few other keyboard players can. Or should.

 

There are some very good Leslie simulators on the market. I use a Neo Ventilator which is pretty damn sweet. I'm virtually 100% certain that no one in the audience can tell the difference between it and a real Leslie nor cares within the parameters of the performance my band is putting out. Anything above and beyond that would simply be for my own personal enjoyment. (The rest of the band doesn't give a hoot about my Leslie sound either.) Some guys refuse to go that route and MUST have the 'real thing'. That's fine if they want to haul it around but to refuse to mic it and further demand that everyone else must play quietly enough so it can be heard throughout the room is, frankly, rather absurd.

 

I've played with the guys who insist on the twin Marshall stacks run in stereo and up to 10 as the only way they can get their "tone". Unreasonable unless your name is Eddie van Halen. I won't work with such a guy. (Not on THIS level, anyway.) And some keyboard player who insists the entire band must acquiesce to the needs of his precious Leslie tone? Especially one who's walking around with a db meter checking the levels of everything on stage from 1 meter out or where ever as if that's somehow the holy grail of what a band should sound like? Sorry buddy---there's the door.

 

 

[Drummer44]

I'm virtually 100% certain that no one in the audience can tell the difference between it and a real Leslie nor cares within the parameters of the performance my band is putting out. Anything above and beyond that would simply be for my own personal enjoyment. (The rest of the band doesn't give a hoot about my Leslie sound either.)

 

 

I'd guess that's usually the case, not just about yours but about instruments in general. I think audiences are generally ditto about guitars, drums, whatever. Nobody much cares about my drums or cymbals brands, my rack equipment, etc. When I noodle on an electric guitar, I play a Gibson or a Rickenbacker... and nobody in our audience cares which.

 

An overly loud instrument in the mix, bad... but I agree there are several ways to solve that...

 

-D44

[senorblues]

musicians who can't handle being told to turn down aren't worth the trouble to work with. The others generally don't need reminded. I do have Leslies that I like playing through. 118 DBc max for soloing. that can't keep up with a loud guitarist. I won't mic them.

 

For the most part, I agree. The last time I played through leslies, I had a B3 through two 122s. The guitar player had a Gibson L500 with no pedals. I don't remember the amp, but the point was that we both wanted to be able hear each other. A lot of guys seem to be interested in their tone more than the notes they or anyone else is playing. If the bands that influence them are playing loud in order to get their music across, that's what they will try to emulate. The first loud band I ever heard was the Yardbirds - in a fairly small school auditorium. It was oppressive . . but if they had played at what some of us consider to be a more reasonable level, I wonder if their music would have had much impact.

 

[Vito Corleone]

 

 

I'd guess that's usually the case, not just about yours but about instruments in general. I think audiences are generally ditto about guitars, drums, whatever. Nobody much cares about my drums or cymbals brands, my rack equipment, etc. When I noodle on an electric guitar, I play a Gibson or a Rickenbacker... and nobody in our audience cares which.

 

An overly loud instrument in the mix, bad... but I agree there are several ways to solve that...

 

-D44

 

All agreed. I'd just add the caveat that I don't want anyone to think that I somehow believe that sound and tone doesn't matter just because the audience doesn't understand a lot of what goes into making the music. "The audience doesn't know the difference" is no excuse for a lousy tone. (An excuse I've heard WAY too many times over the years.) Because they WILL know if something sounds BAD---or at least know that they don't like it---even if they don't know why it is they don't like it. Audiences may be ignorant, but they aren't stupid.

 

​But, just as with anything else, you have to understand when you've reached the point of diminishing returns. Or when that search for the ultimate killer tone starts to become counterproductive in other areas.

 

​I get that a guitarist (or anyone else) wants to have what they feel is their perfect tone. And that's all well and good to the degree that it benefits the entire band and/or doesn't put me out. You wanna carry out twin Marshall stacks? Fine. But if I've got to help you luck them around? Or it means we gotta get a bigger trailer or increase our load-in/load-out time, etc? Then I'll need to be convinced the band, as a whole, benefits from this extra effort in some way. And then to the degree you want to have excessive volume on stage or otherwise infringe upon MY performance and ask ME to compromise to accommodate your needs? Then again, there really better be some collective benefit here or we are going to have to come up with a Plan B.

 

​Fortunately, with today's technology, it's possible to get probably about 90% there with almost any sound you're looking for without needing to use gear that is oppressively big, heavy and loud. Certainly close enough to where nothing that the gear puts out needs to sound "lousy" when compared to the classic stuff. If somebody wants to go to all that extra effort for that final 10% (which, in my view, is nothing more than personal satisfaction as a player), that's all fine and good. Just don't expect me to help you load it in and out. Or turn up/down or otherwise compromise what I'm doing just to make you happy.

 

 

[GtrGeorge!]

I play into the PA for my electric and acoustic sounds, my brother (who is also on this gig for the last 4 years every show) plays thru a small amp. I get my thing going..he gets his. The secret is, his amp is a 5 watt amp and its aimed at his head. To be specific, his amp is to the left of the floor monitor and it is aimed right back at him, not the audience. We do a little DI on him, as well..so if its a big room ..we can add a little volume to his guitar tone...but just a little. We both are pros...and Love a good guitar tone and we both achieve a chemistry in this mixed method. I would love IEMs but cost is prohibitive and honestly I don't have much experience with them to justify spending a chunk of change to learn. I have what I need...and I don't fix what isn't broken.

But I want to add my voice here to Guido's point: Bands require compromise and realistic thinking to achieve goals.

[StratGuy22]

I run my 5000W PA appropriate for whatever room we are in. I don't have a clue what the db's are and frankly I don't care. I'm not going to say to the bass player "hey can you turn down about 2db's for me" he won't know what I mean either.

 

I dont know know how loud your Leslie is, if it's not enough to keep up with the PA, mic it and run it through the PA. I agree that you don't want to kill everyone in the room with a too loud guitar, but there is going to be some volume. People will stay, hell, some people even like it. Again, appropriate for the room, appropriate for the gig.

 

 

Everyone is mic'd, everyone is coming through the PA. Everyone does work together. I do have to constantly explain that it's not lead keyboards all the time. Butwhat can you do. I turn her up for songs where the keys are prominent and back her off for songs that aren't. Same with her vocals.One volume. Oh well. We are always appropriate for the room, and it's loud but not stupid loud. We aren't there to quietly knit scarves in the corner we are there to rock the hell out.

 

This is was the second last song of the night, past 2am.

[Vito Corleone]

Hey, one of your monitors is backwards!

[WynnD]

Should clarify why I won't mic my Leslies. For those who don't know what one is, it's a critical part of the "B3 Hammond" sound. It is mechanical powered speaker cabinet that provides a tremolo/vibrato for organs. (And sometimes guitars.) The technology goes back at least 70 years. Anyway, I love the 3 dimensional sound bouncing off the walls of where ever I'm playing. The moment you stick a mic on it, that 3 D sound is converted into not quite as good 2 D sound. I'm playing a Roland VK-77 organ and it has a "rotary sound" generator built in. It's just about as good as a mic'd leslie. It's not as good as a leslie itself. So when the sound guy insists on sticking a mic on my Leslie, I just don't bring them and connect straight to the PA. The audience won't know the difference, but I will and I won't be pissed about it. It's really pretty good and whenever space is short onstage, I usually just play though a straight amp. (Usually a 1972 White Kustom 250 guitar amp with 2 x 15" woofers and a cellular horn. That's 125 watts directed at the audience. Leslies are 360 degrees. At least half the sound towards the walls.)

 

Now on to loud musicians. I've really gotten to the point where a loud musician at an audition will be a loud musician always. We just move onto another person auditioning. The lower volume is that valuable to me and most of the others I'm working with. It's more important than the playing ability of the musician. I will always take a worse musician who can play at a lower volume over a guitar-god who is loud. I'm probably wrong about not telling those that are being by passed for being loud, that we aren't going any farther because they are loud. I'm guessing they've already been pissed off by people asking them to turn down frequently. I'm not interested in becoming their next complainer.

[Vito Corleone]

I run my 5000W PA appropriate for whatever room we are in. I don't have a clue what the db's are and frankly I don't care.

 

​All sound engineers have their own methods of doing things, but I've worked with dozens over the years and I don't recall one ever busting out a db meter unless the venue had some specific db limitation we had to adhere to. You get the best sound for the room and the right volume for the event and whatever number that measures out to be would be that number. I have zero clue as to how many dbs any piece of gear I own puts out at any distance. I'm sure there is some number written in a manual somewhere and maybe the gear reaches that number or doesn't or exceeds it? Who knows? Who cares?

 

​It either sounds good and does the job it needs to do, or it doesn't. Call me crazy, but this method has served me well throughout 1000s of gigs in 100s of venues for nearly 40 years.

 

 

[StratGuy22]

Should clarify why I won't mic my Leslies. For those who don't know what one is, it's a critical part of the "B3 Hammond" sound. It is mechanical powered speaker cabinet that provides a tremolo/vibrato for organs. (And sometimes guitars.) The technology goes back at least 70 years. Anyway, I love the 3 dimensional sound bouncing off the walls of where ever I'm playing. The moment you stick a mic on it, that 3 D sound is converted into not quite as good 2 D sound. I'm playing a Roland VK-77 organ and it has a "rotary sound" generator built in. It's just about as good as a mic'd leslie. It's not as good as a leslie itself. So when the sound guy insists on sticking a mic on my Leslie, I just don't bring them and connect straight to the PA. The audience won't know the difference, but I will and I won't be pissed about it. It's really pretty good and whenever space is short onstage, I usually just play though a straight amp. (Usually a 1972 White Kustom 250 guitar amp with 2 x 15" woofers and a cellular horn. That's 125 watts directed at the audience. Leslies are 360 degrees. At least half the sound towards the walls.)

 

Now on to loud musicians. I've really gotten to the point where a loud musician at an audition will be a loud musician always. We just move onto another person auditioning. The lower volume is that valuable to me and most of the others I'm working with. It's more important than the playing ability of the musician. I will always take a worse musician who can play at a lower volume over a guitar-god who is loud. I'm probably wrong about not telling those that are being by passed for being loud, that we aren't going any farther because they are loud. I'm guessing they've already been pissed off by people asking them to turn down frequently. I'm not interested in becoming their next complainer.

 

What about 2 mics? I hear you on. Loud guitarists. Luckily the people in my band are team players. Like I said, the keyboard player always needs to be explained to, that "I can't hear it out the front" doesn't mean it's not in the mix, and that when you are standing behind the mains and you CAN hear it, it basically means it's too loud. I know if I can hear my lead in the FOH from where in standing, it's too loud as well. You set your mix and if anyone else wants "more me" I put more then in their monitor mix.

 

But she means well, definitely adds to the band, Is a hard worker who pulls her weight. Just gotta keep her reined in.

 

​

 

Often I'll set a good rocking mix, and then back it down a bit for the first set, maybe bump the kick up a touch. Then I have someplace to go if we need more later on. Often it stays there all night. We play for all ages, not just younger people, and I think it speaks volumes (no pun intended) when everyone sticks around for most of the night, even the old people. This clip is from our last Xmas party we played, one of the last songs, and the THIRD TIME we played wagon wheel that night. They kept asking for it even though we already played it twice. The harp player was a buddy. I think he might have been a touch loud but I let it slide.

 

We just had our 7th year anniversary as a band, same lineup so you could say we work well together.

[Drummer44]

 

All agreed. I'd just add the caveat that I don't want anyone to think that I somehow believe that sound and tone doesn't matter just because the audience doesn't understand a lot of what goes into making the music. "The audience doesn't know the difference" is no excuse for a lousy tone. (An excuse I've heard WAY too many times over the years.) Because they WILL know if something sounds BAD---or at least know that they don't like it---even if they don't know why it is they don't like it. Audiences may be ignorant, but they aren't stupid.

 

​But, just as with anything else, you have to understand when you've reached the point of diminishing returns. Or when that search for the ultimate killer tone starts to become counterproductive in other areas.

 

[Etc...]

 

 

Yep, agree with all that, too. Good post.

 

-D44

 

 

 

[Drummer44]

Anyway, I love the 3 dimensional sound bouncing off the walls of where ever I'm playing. The moment you stick a mic on it, that 3 D sound is converted into not quite as good 2 D sound. I'm playing a Roland VK-77 organ and it has a "rotary sound" generator built in. It's just about as good as a mic'd leslie. It's not as good as a leslie itself. So when the sound guy insists on sticking a mic on my Leslie, I just don't bring them and connect straight to the PA. The audience won't know the difference, but I will and I won't be pissed about it. It's really pretty good and whenever space is short onstage, I usually just play though a straight amp.

 

 

Have you compared that 3D sound to the sound of a simulator such as the one Guido mentioned?

 

Or in the interest of learning, have you compared to using 2 mics such as Strat asked, or even 3? (This one wouldn't ring my chimes, since it doesn't improve load-in/load-out issues, but seems useful for you to know if the option might be useful occasionally.)

 

When we switched to the DI approach, that immediately saved lugging at least 4 amps to a gig (I resist gigging anyway, these days, even more so if it's going to be painful) and it cleared up lots o' stage clutter. And more stuff would fit in less vehicular space. The change really only required, in our case, a slightly larger mixer.

 

(Edit: One guitarist also had to buy a pedal of some sort for some effects, and a DI. No big whoop.)

 

But for the purposes of your volume issue, it also means the board has control of everyone, so bubba or bubbette on any given instrument can't screw up the mix too much all by themselves (assuming board guy has a clue and uses it).

 

-D44

[Vito Corleone]

 

 

Have you compared that 3D sound to the sound of a simulator such as the one Guido mentioned?

 

Or in the interest of learning, have you compared to using 2 mics such as Strat asked, or even 3? (This one wouldn't ring my chimes, since it doesn't improve load-in/load-out issues, but seems useful for you to know if the option might be useful occasionally.)

 

When we switched to the DI approach, that immediately saved lugging at least 4 amps to a gig (I resist gigging anyway, these days, even more so if it's going to be painful) and it cleared up lots o' stage clutter. And more stuff would fit in less vehicular space. The change really only required, in our case, a slightly larger mixer.

 

There's really no way to fully re-create the live sound of a spinning Leslie speaker once you mic it or simulate it. The full Doppler effect created by the spinning speakers can never be fully recreated as it involves sound bouncing off the insides of the cabinet, off the walls of the room you're in, etc. Therefore, the sound/feel of having that Leslie on stage is really only for the enjoyment of the player. The audience is never going to really hear it in the same way anyway. So, in the case of the OP, it seems he wants that's enjoyment for himself onstage and he wants everyone else in the band to play quietly enough so that it doesn't interfere with his enjoyment of hearing his Leslie onstage. And IEMs or foldback monitors are out of the question because that would, again, mean micing the cabinet (or using a sim) and not getting that full Leslie effect.

 

​So it seems that all the bother/weight/transport/clutter advantages of using a sim are outweighed by the personal enjoyment he receives when he plays through a real Leslie onstage. And if anyone else on stage wants to play so loud that it interferes with his enjoyment, then THEY are the selfish ones.

 

[StratGuy22]

Should clarify why I won't mic my Leslies. For those who don't know what one is, it's a critical part of the "B3 Hammond" sound. It is mechanical powered speaker cabinet that provides a tremolo/vibrato for organs. (And sometimes guitars.) The technology goes back at least 70 years. Anyway, I love the 3 dimensional sound bouncing off the walls of where ever I'm playing. The moment you stick a mic on it, that 3 D sound is converted into not quite as good 2 D sound. I'm playing a Roland VK-77 organ and it has a "rotary sound" generator built in. It's just about as good as a mic'd leslie. It's not as good as a leslie itself. So when the sound guy insists on sticking a mic on my Leslie, I just don't bring them and connect straight to the PA. The audience won't know the difference, but I will and I won't be pissed about it. It's really pretty good and whenever space is short onstage, I usually just play though a straight amp. (Usually a 1972 White Kustom 250 guitar amp with 2 x 15" woofers and a cellular horn. That's 125 watts directed at the audience. Leslies are 360 degrees. At least half the sound towards the walls.)

 

 

 

I can't see how putting a mic on the cabinet would change it from "3D" to "2D". I can see the difference coming out the mains, but not at the source. That would make it so you still get your "3D" sound and they can bring it up in the mains so the audience can hear it better. They don't know the difference anyway. Not being facetious, but like you said they generally can't tell.

 

 

 

Do do you guys have individual monitor mixes? When we play I have my guitar, my vocals, a touch of the other guitar & his vocals and that's it. I don't put keys or the other vocals in my monitor. I don't need to hear keys to do my thing, I assume she's got it covered over there. I hear a bit of her vocal from the bass players monitor who works off her harmony. I have my amp push off the front a bit to fill the area in front of the stage and out of the angle of the mains. Then I just put what I need in my monitor. If I need more I don't turn up my amp, I turn it up in my monitor.

[Vito Corleone]

 

 

 

I can't see how putting a mic on the cabinet would change it from "3D" to "2D". I can see the difference coming out the mains, but not at the source. That would make it so you still get your "3D" sound and they can bring it up in the mains so the audience can hear it better. They don't know the difference anyway. Not being facetious, but like you said they generally can't tell.

 

 

​Presumably for whatever degree of "3D" effect is detectable out in the audience. Which is also presumably why he wants all the others' stage volumes to be so low. Once its mic'd, the audience won't have the "3D" effect any longer.

 

​I would argue that A) the audience doesn't care about the "3D" effect B) no one can absorb it beyond a few feet in front of the cabinet anyway C) few would notice it even if they could detect it when they are busy drinking, dancing, talking, trying to get laid, and whatever else they are doing besides oohing-and-aahing over the sounds of the Amazing Magical Leslie Machine on stage next to the organ player.

 

​And, most ironically perhaps, is that Leslie cabinets are designed to be heard in 360-degree sound to get the full effect. Churches would often put them somewhere in the middle of the room. Putting one on a stage facing out towards the audience doesn't really give them the full effect anyway. So whatever advantage there would be to not-micing one? I'm not sure what that would be for the audience.

 

​Some guys insist on having one and mic'ing it because they think it still sounds better than any simulator. That may be true (and obviously is for them, which is all cool). But to bring one along and not mic it for the AUDIENCE'S sake? That as soon as it has to be mic'd, THEN I'm not bringing it??

 

​Yeah...not really getting that.