What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

Well, changes in humidity can certainly affect unsealed woods and paper speaker cones.

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Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

I will swear that changes in barometric pressure and relative humidity affects how we hear, but also how our guitars play.

Bill
I believe this in my gut. Ever notice the pitch shift when u yawn with congestion?

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Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

I will swear that changes in barometric pressure and relative humidity affects how we hear, but also how our guitars play.

Bill

Saw a John Frusciente interview on recording and gear, and he made the point that he double-tracked his guitar parts on different days for this very reason.


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Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

I'm gonna chime in again and say 2 things: 1 at a show, you're turned up so it sounds better and fuller. And 2 it's mixing with the band so it can be brighter and sound good.

At home there's space to hear all the ice pick and you're probably at lower volume so your 9 or 10s in standard aren't going to sound super full. I got fed up with cranking my damn amp every time I practiced just to hear some pleasing full bassy tone and said to hell with this I'm tuning down a whole step. That plus a lil more output in my pups and my 10 - 52s hit my lil 8" Vox practice amp hard now and gets fat full tone at tea time volume levels. You gotta give it a try.
 
Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

I will swear that changes in barometric pressure and relative humidity affects how we hear, but also how our guitars play.

Bill

I used the same rig for literally thousands of sets over a period of many years, and I could hear a slight but definite difference in the speaker response that seemed to correlate with the humidity. I was playing a number of different guitars during each set and the change was consistent across all of them, so I'm pretty confident it was the speakers. (They were 65W Celestions in Marshall cabs.)
 
Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

Others have said it - comparing practice sound to live sound is a fool's game. Drums, bass and keys flesh out so much of the frequency spectrum that guitars often end up mid/treble rich - a tone that can sound horrible when isolated.

This is what I keep hearing and it really makes sense. I'm no expert by far, but I'm listening and learning. Sure the mediums the OP is listening to are different, but the blends no doubt have to have a large influence. Also the reason certain amps (and settings) don't sound as "rounded" (for my lack of a better term), but put into a band, that same sound suddenly is much better balanced.
Over simplified, I'd call that the "context" of the sound. A bit like singing just a harmony part by itself sounds lacking.
 
Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

Over simplified, I'd call that the "context" of the sound. A bit like singing just a harmony part by itself sounds lacking.
I believe you just nailed it. When I was in active bands I played with the rest of the band 90% of the time and didn't pay attention to how I sounded by myself. Now we live in different states and get together once a year or so to play live so it'sjust me 99.9% of the time.
Glad to know I am not losing my mind!
 
Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

I believe you just nailed it. When I was in active bands I played with the rest of the band 90% of the time and didn't pay attention to how I sounded by myself. Now we live in different states and get together once a year or so to play live so it'sjust me 99.9% of the time.
Glad to know I am not losing my mind!

Not losing your mind, just human!

My rule of thumb for alone playing is +2 on bass and -2 on mids and +2 on reverb. This makes my gig rig sound like I want it at home.


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Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

I don't know if my gear has ever sounded consistent from one time to the next. I can plug my guitar into a dead clean amp, 2 days in a row, and it will sound different to me. Is it my brain? Did something change overnight? Who knows...this is just a fact for me. So I practice with what I got. I work on other things (technique rather than tone), and pretty soon, that sound is sounding a lot better to me.
 
Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

And then the air pressure dropped...:friday:
 
Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

Remember also that low pressure is usually associated with an increase in humidity. The humidity results, at least in a normally drier climate, with moisture being absorbed by the paper in a speaker cone. This causes the cone to increase in weight, thus not move as fast for any given signal change. I would think that would cause a change in the transient response.

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Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

Sound carries better with high air pressure. Even the stereo will sound flat and limp with low air pressure as will your guitar and amp.
 
Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

I can plug my guitar into a dead clean amp, 2 days in a row, and it will sound different to me.

Yeah, I have seriously considered tracking airpressure to see if I can document cause and effect.

One reason I would like to see if barometer can track is that I almost never notice this problem live... Makes sense moving venues, but even when playing same space repeatidly, I practically never encounter this problem. Almost always at home... Same settings as previous day.

Maybe there are too many variables when live to notice difference?

Do you notice this more at home than in the real world?



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Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

I notice this everywhere. Home, where I have a lot more control, and live, when I don't. It isn't like night & day, but it is different, and it can mess with your brain. I am getting better at accepting it, rather than chasing the ideal.
 
Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

Think about Jimmy Page's Yardbirds setup compared to what he used with Led Zepplin. Or Eddie on VHI compared to what he uses today. We are guitar players we will NEVER be happy with our tone. We are doomed to chase the next pedal, head or ax until the day we die.
 
Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

What you described is exactly the reason I like to make recordings of myself or my band. I have learned that what I may be hearing standing or sitting by an amp (and even that makes a difference) is not necessarily what is being heard out in front where the audience is. It's especially true when you go from low to high volume.

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To my great frustration, I have been trying to explain this phenomenon to my band mates over the last 10 years, apparently without success. They just can't seem to get the concept that what might sound good to you standing in front of the amp or worse, sitting behind the drums, sounds like crap 10'-15' in front of the band. I'm about done trying to explain it to them.

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Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

I notice this everywhere. Home, where I have a lot more control, and live, when I don't. It isn't like night & day, but it is different, and it can mess with your brain. I am getting better at accepting it, rather than chasing the ideal.
It happens to me a few times a month and this my work around... If I have a project, I focus and get it done... If not, I run scales focus on technical and put it away before it gets irritating.

Everything will be great 4-8 hours later.

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Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

It happens to me a few times a month and this my work around... If I have a project, I focus and get it done... If not, I run scales focus on technical and put it away before it gets irritating.

Everything will be great 4-8 hours later.

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I do the exact same thing.
 
Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

Kind of new to guitar. I will be so dialed in, go to bed wake up. and it sounds bad? I tell wifey, man I love my set up, ODs all he right order perfect delay and then? Next day it gets changed LOL People are funny I guess. Look at Joe Bonamassa . Guys has so many killer amps dumbles, vintage guitars and still chasing his tone . Crazy but thats part of the charm
 
Re: What is going on with my ears/brain that makes my setup seem worse than it is!

Killer post. I thought it was me. I tell my wife the electrons changed orbit or something. I am literally almost ROTFL
 
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