80% of digital modellers & c buyers are bedroom players according to marketing researches

OrganicZed said:
The irony for me (as I suspect is the case for many people) is that I can play with much higher SPLs at home than I get to push when I play live.

I regularly run sound in the venue I play at and I have been told that they want the total band mix to be between 80-85 dB measured at the desk (approx. 50 feet from the stage). We run a silent stage with the drums micd in an isolation booth.

At home I get to play at 100-115 dB+ on the occasions that I have the house to myself.
Click to expand...
Hilarious that’s like the NAMM sound levels can’t exceed 85 dB when noise floor/ambient noise level is 80.
 
Ed DeGenaro said:
Hilarious that’s like the NAMM sound levels can’t exceed 85 dB when noise floor/ambient noise level is 80.
Click to expand...
I remember playing a birthday party a few years ago at a really awful venue for acoustics. As well as sounding like the biggest toilet in the world, it had a noise regulation thing built in that wasn’t very high tech. It was a knock-off SM58 hung above the stage and, if you went above a certain level, it killed the electricity to the only sockets anywhere near the stage. Took a minute to reset. It was apparently a thing to keep the local council happy (built up area and neighbour complaints). No idea what SPL it tripped at but ‘not much’ was the unfortunate answer.

We were an 8 piece (keys, bass, drums, vocals, backing vocalist, sax, trumpet, me). Everyone kept looking at me during soundcheck as the bloody thing kept tripping out and we all know what we’re like…. Our drummer was the quieter kind as they go so usually wouldn’t be him.

After everyone giving me side-eye yet again, I turned my amp off and everyone did a verse without me. Turns out that a single blast on the sax (not mic’d up) was enough to trip it so for once ‘not guilty’ :). We ended up running a single 13 amp extension lead from the other end of the building and plugging everything into that. The staff gave us side-eye but we got away with it - they weren’t around during the sound check and turns out they only normally hosted acoustic stuff with no amps so they had never known it trip / didn’t know how loud was allowable. Still sounded crap in there but at least we got to play!
 
newholland said:
im not saying this in any way as a slight to YOU, but fuuuuuuuuck that. 80-85 db. theres no reason to WATCH that live. itd be absurd topay to watch grown humans play rock music that quiet. id be embarrassed FOR them. whats next, a touch typing exhibition? gad.. ridiculous.
Click to expand...

The genre isn’t rock.

I agree, the volume restriction is quite low, but this is not a venue with a cover charge.

sashimi said:
Are you by any chance playing in a retirement home?
Click to expand...

Not a retirement home, but many in attendance are senior citizens. People complain if the music is “too loud”. I’m not trying to be cryptic but the current forum rules preclude me from being more explicit about the particulars.
 
OrganicZed said:
I’m not trying to be cryptic but the current forum rules preclude me from being more explicit about the particulars.
Click to expand...
Mar a lago golf course restaurant?

Season 9 Nbc GIF by The Office
 
It makes sense for a lot of reasons already discussed here. I have a feeling the real amp percentage isn't far off though, especially if you're not only narrowed down to tube amps. But yeah, it's interesting and not surprising as a number, and I don't think it means much about the different products except that modelers (usually) take up less space and work better at lower volumes, and that they also fill a spot for people who want to try a lot of different sounds at less cost, which a hobbyist might spend more time thinking about than a pro (and a hobbyist is less likely to play out by default). There are also a lot of modeler and capture options that are actually more affordable than even the Hot Rod Deluxe they mention (even when comparing used prices).

It would be interesting to see that actual research though. I'm kind of curious how it defines a "home player" (e.g. does it actually say "just plays at home" like he said?) Like if you used to play out but haven't for some period of time, but might someday in the future maybe, are you a home player? A lot of people who continue to buy guitar gear fit that, whether they used to play in a band when they were a teen or played out well into adulthood. What about if you build your rig around playing at home, and that's where you play 99+% of the year, but you might play out as a fill-in or something once a year (and maybe not even with your own gear)?

Also, fwiw we know there's a ton of overlap between people who have bought a modeler before and people who have bought at least one real amp (I mean... probably most guitarists who have bought a modeler, right? though that will possibly shift generationally), so the "80% of people who buy modelers..." stat is kind of worthless in making any big statements about modeler vs physical amp users if we don't know if the people polled use them as their primary rig.
 
EOengineer said:
What percentage of guitarists are “professional” though? I’m sure a large percentage of tube amp players are also only playing Madison Spare Bedroom too.
Click to expand...
Well it said home player not amateur.

One of my fave guitarists who played with everyone and their brother has been a home player, but not only is he a professional he also is a guitar god and influenced many of the influences around.
Holdsworth spend more time playing at home than on the road.

As I said earlier the cottage industry that MI manufacturing is relies on hobbyists.

And all this pro amounts for x discussion doesn’t take into account semi-pros. Guys that get part of their income from music.
 
You can't make statistics with anecdotal data but the vast majority of players I know, personally, are playing in bands.

Some gig frequently, some don't, some are pros, some are semi-pro, other a just hobbits but none of them are home players.
 
Sascha Franck said:
While I absolutely agree, I would rather say they "dictate" the market (and no, I've got no hard feelings as it's just obvious), whereas certain professionals may still "guide" development into one or the other direction. As in serious companies rather consulting professionals when it comes to a certain feature set, but once that is done, they go for "content" to please the bedroom camp. That's pretty much as well the reason why there's, say, countless amp models that nobody in the real live playing world would usually care about at all.
Click to expand...
Do they? Gear fora are its own micro cosmos. Because up until recently it still was the sales dude in the local store, the guy bugging you from sweetwater and of course prior ad driven guitar rag reviews.

All of which are now rolled into your fave YouTuber.

Think about it this way, until 3 years ago when IK released Tonex and there was no Kemper player the cheapest capturing you could get was like 1600bucks.

No one care about NAM and the likes enough yet.
When the tonex pedal came which was a logical step I’d figured it’d kill Kemper.

So they added their liquid profiling and from there NDSP followed, etc,etc

So from my POV it seems that markets are driven by the same as they always have been. Folks wanting more and pay less

AND being told this piece of gear is what they like.

The list of guys in this industry folks fawn over that should just get down on their knees every day in gratitude that folks buy their BS is mind boggling.
 
James Freeman said:
Replying to tiltle;
It's time to stop being ashamed for being bedroom player, and freaking own it.

I AM A BEDROOM PLAYER, I OWN MANY TUBE AMPS, 4x12 CABS, PEDALS AND MODELERS, AND I LOVE IT!
Click to expand...
I don’t think it’s being ashamed as much then wanting that pro “badge of honor”

Look around various fora and just see how many self proclaimed “session guys” there are.
 
Last edited:
Everyone, even pros, spend time playing at home. The stat is not specifying how many are never playing gigs.

Another way to put it: 80% of players live in an apartment, condo or attached house where they cannot play loud. (I would say that much more than 80%).

Season 2 Ugh GIF by The Lonely Island
 
paisleywookiee said:
What about real humans performing AI music? God that’d be sad.
Click to expand...

It's likely happening already, with anything copyright related being as muddy as it gets in Suno (et al) land.
I mean, you can just have Suno create a song (and by now the quality is almost release-ready) and claim it'd be your composition/production. Nobody would ever be able to really tell anymore.

Any efforts to adress these issues will either be just a shortterm success only or aren't even wanted as so far, the big players make a profit.
There's very little doubt that AI created music will pretty much entirely take over any markets making profit when it comes to recorded music.

If you had an advertising agency today, it'd almost be (economically) stupid not to reach out for an AI service supplying the jingle for your new cereal spot.
The video clips themselves being the next victim of that trend (have a look at just how good Google's VEO 3 already is).
And finally, the advertising agencies will be out of business, too, as the company looking for a new cereal ad will just go all the way straight to VEO 3.

Next to follow: Movie composers. And then movie makers, directors included. Just come up with a plot and type it in as a prompt. Once the legal issues are sorted (or irrelevant), you'll be able to have an authentic 40y old Greta Garbo playing the daughter of an as authentic 80y old Scarlett Johansson as well, add Charlie Chaplin as Garbo's 10y old son if you like.

Sorry for the OT stuff - but that's what things will be like. To get back more on topic: For musicians, what'll be left will be self-sufficient home noodling and playing live. Which could even be OK as the entire business around recorded music is as fucked up as it gets since a long time already. So maybe we'll see a renaissance of decent live clubs (at least over here they're dying a lot since quite some time).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top