L1® Unofficial Performers' Guide: Difference between revisions

for the Bose® Personalized Amplification System™ family of products.

If you will be using the Bose System for the first, second, or third time and are looking for quick-hit things you need to know you are in the right place. This is for you in the role of performer who may or may not actually own an  L1&trade;  System. <!-- TODO Initially, I will write this with the solo or duo act in mind. There may be another version later for larger ensembles. -->

<table border="0">

<td>

<!-- not sure this belongs here or on a separate page, but I converted it to a template so we can present it in several places if we want -->

{{L1™ System Benefits}}

=== Multiple Performers Sharing One L1&trade; System ===

Electric guitarists used to play and sing through their amps, but this soon stopped when they started to concentrate on the tone of their guitars.  Now, few musicians are willing to share their amps, based on the idea that any sound other than that of your instrument will somehow corrupt the tone.  This is probably true for guitar amplifiers playing at heavy distortion levels (voice will be heavily modulated due to clipping).  But it is not true of an L1™ speaker.

Several instruments or instruments and voices can be amplified simultaneously with complete independence of tone and no corruption of any kind, other than having everything come from one source.  Always try to take advantage of the ToneMatch&trade; preset feature. For instance, if you are doing a “single” and have a drum machine and/or sequencer driving a bunch of MIDI modules, use channels 1 and 2 for personal-preference preset settings, like your vocal microphone and, say, an acoustic guitar with a pickup. Then use an external mixer, which you probably have if this example describes your musical work, and put it into channel 3 or 4.

=== ToneMatch&trade; Presets ===

 

 

How does it sound? - It may seem unusual for a few minutes because you are hearing yourself in much the same way the audience is hearing you. This is a big difference because you will be hearing yourself in the context of the room instead of out of context in the monitor.

 

The Matrix is the title of a popular movie that deals with “what we think we perceive is what we perceive”. Of course, this is basically true. So, when we play music for an audience, we see our musical partners or band-mates, we see musical instruments and we see our audience. Normally, we also see a stage crammed full of audio equipment and technical complication. We also see the back of a PA system (“The Mains”) that is delivering, somehow, some part of our performance in someone else’s concept of a mix, to our audience at an unknown sound level.  And, after the performance we ask our audience how it sounded.  Many say “good” to be nice, independent of how it actually sounded. The sound man says the same, possibly to keep his job. Your band’s employer (club owner, party planner, father-of-the-bride, etc) may not know how to communicate anything about sound to you, but if you don’t get invited back to play, you can guess how you went over. You might think “they don’t understand my art” or “our tune selection is too esoteric”.  One thing is for sure:  you never really know how you sound.

 

 

 

 

Using a typical triple amplification system, a professional front-of-house mixer rides vocals, varies the level of horn sections and rides (and often misses) lead solos. They do this because they and not you can hear a mix over the mains “out front”.

 

The Bose Personalized Amplification System™ changes all this. Now you can hear the mix your audience hears. Are the vocals too soft? Now you can do something about it. Turn it up (of sing louder)! Or, more probable, turn everything else down! Is your guitar solo easily heard? Are the drums too loud? Don’t get mad. Work together as a band and play the tune right. Play with dynamics. When that sax solo comes in, drop the whole band’s level so much that every little juicy nuance can be heard. How will you know? You will hear it.  Listen! Support the lead instrument by playing quieter, or less, or most likely (the best-ever approach), don’t play at all! It might surprise you to know that many of the top professional players in the world are most revered and respected for what they don’t play than for what they do play. It’s exactly the same as a “playmaker” in a team sport. Yeah, the big scorers get the headlines. But the players that make the most assists quickly become the most valuable players. Delivering the song you are playing is the same as making a goal in sports. 

 

And about playing loud: This can be real exciting, but not as a steady thing. Don’t hammer your audiences into numbness without a letup. And don’t numb your whole band by a steady diet of loud.  veryone appreciates a letup. Treat yourselves and your audiences to the knockout punch, but make it infinitely more dramatic when you launch it from almost dead quiet. Showbiz requires dramatic over-exaggeration for a memorable effect. Combining loud play with really quiet play is the best way to get the point across. This might be a new world of playing for you. Try it. Now you can hear it and now you can do something about it. It’s interesting: most “hit” records are produced to sound loud, and it is done with a big sacrifice in dynamic range or peak-to-average sound. Call this “punch”. You can make it sound better than a record. Mix it live by playing it right.

 

{{:Bass Regeneration}}  <!-- this is an inclusion of a separate article -->