1. Very true. If the stage volume is high enough that the SPL of drums, guitar, bass, the wedge monitor, etc is LOUDER than the vocal is at the vocal mic, there is NO chance of good FOH sound. None, zero, zip! Furthermore, when you have all that noise being reamplified by vocal mics and then having some reverb added to the pea soup, you get nothing but mush out front. No instrument separation at all, no vocal clarity .... just plain crap. Sadly, that is how lots of bands gig every week (not the good ones though).
2. A single guitar player with a 100W tube amp can drown an entire band. Surely everyone here has seen the guy (or is the guy it sounds like in some instances) with the guitar amp behind him pointed at the back of his his knees killing the side of the audience his amp is pointed at, while the other side can't hear the guitar at all. All the while, you can't hear the singers at all above the noise. Loud guitars on a small stage = No chance of good FOH sound.
3. Unless the audience is filled with musicians, the likely hood that anyone of them can pick out a "bass line" in a song is remote at best. Unlike nearly everyone here, the general bar goer knows very little about music and what makes a band sound "good" to them. But I'll give it to you. Not always. By default, the definition of "Most" includes "Not always".... right?
Fair. I have heard several jazz and blues bands play like you describe (at least in good bars) and it sounds quite nice. These genres seem to be much more immune to the silly high stage noise problems found in rock, classic rock, modern rock and Metal.
There were significantly fewer I would say. I have been gigging since the early 80's. I have been doing it well since the mid 90's.
Mixing amps and maintaining a good FOH mix is doable simply by keeping the amp volume down. Unfortunately, for acoustic drums, there isn't a volume knob so ONLY a drummer that is very conscious of their stage volume can successfully keep the band sounding good.
I have never liked an acoustic kit that didn't have the kick mic'ed. Unless you are playing jazz or blues, having a well miced kick is pretty important for every genre of rock IMO.
The issue with high stage volume can not be overcome though. If the stage is too loud, the FOH sounds bad. This isn't to say that you can't successfully use a "vocal and kick only" PA and sound pretty darned good. You absolutely can ..... BUT .... it requires musicians that can keep control of their volume and DO WHAT THE SOUNDMAN TELLS THEM.
The moment one of the band members decide that this "guy running sound" isn't going to tell me what to do.... well, things generally go down hill from there.
You did make a good point though. Controlling your stage volume when NOT going straight into the PA and using a silent stage and IEM's requires talent and a desire to make the band sound good above the desire to hear what the musician finds pleasing on stage.
vDrums, IEM's and individual monitor mixes, and modelers going straight into the PA don't guarantee a good sounding band, but they do greatly enhance the odds. If you have a setup like this:
1) You have more than a couple of pennies to rub together and likely have some pretty good sounding gear ... and are likely a pretty decent musician that has been doing this a while (or have wealthy parents).
2) You have a sound person that mixes the FOH completely independent of your monitor mixes to ensure the audience hears a great mix. This relieves the stage musicians from needing to "mix from stage" by controlling their volume based on what they are hearing BEHIND the FOH speakers (which is much more difficult to get right).
3) Each musician can totally control their own monitor mix. Raising the volume on their own monitor mix has ZERO chance of causing feedback (vs wedges which are the #1 source of feedback). This makes it so everyone hears exactly what they need and want to hear in their mix and no sound person can mess them up.
LOL. Not bad :). I would still want the kick miced and have at least 1 good sub as well, but in general, I can't argue with your statement!
Not at all. I still have a pair of e906's for this very purpose. When I was gigging with a tube amp (up until 2013), this is how I always did it. Still, I had to keep the stage volume down. Generally pointed my amp at the back of the stage, and have been using IEM's since the 90's.... so I have always been able to hear a good monitor mix. In the early 80's to the mid 90's .... NOT SO MUCH. Nothing but feedback issues, crap FOH sound, ringing ears (seriously, am I the only one here that has had band members practice with EAR PLUGS IN because it was so loud?), and never being able to get the vocals over the mix.
I learned from watching other bands do it well. I asked the band members how they did it. I talked to the guy running or who owned the PA. I went to touring musicians and asked what setups they were using, etc, etc.
For those that just want to make noise and have fun, it really doesn't matter. If you have heard a really good band and thought to yourself "I want my band to sound like that" .... then you start thinking a little differently.
