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Played an outdoor gig in a new venue and found that my usual gear didn't sound good.
I was using a Roland JC55, same amp I use in other venues. It usually sounds warm enough (although it isn't an especially warm sounding amp), but in this case, tilted back maybe 30 degrees with nothing behind it, it sounded too icy. How do I describe the sound? Too cold? Too brittle? Not creamy? It might be that it sounded that way because I had it cranked louder than usual.
That led me to wonder about the issue of matching the amp to the venue. I can't recall reading much about it. Is there a predictable difference between an amp which sounds good outside vs inside? In a long narrow room vs a wide one? Backed up against a wall vs a few feet away? In an echoey room vs not?
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06-22-2025 11:36 AM
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I'm not aware of any "predictable" differences or useful rules-of-thumb regarding the issues you describe.
I will say that outdoor gigs almost always sound/feel different onstage than indoor gigs, but I've never done an outdoor gig where I felt that difference would have been overcome by using a different amplifier; usually just moving the amp so that it's closer to (or points more towards) my ear is all that's required.
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About all I think I know is that closed-back amps are better than open-back, because there is nothing to reflect the sound that goes to the rear, so it's lost.
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I do use my different amps at different venues, but with a new venue, predictablity is pretty inaccurate. I can sort of compare the new venue to a similar venue that I have played in the past, but trial and error is still how I figure out which amp to bring.
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In an open space you are getting the real sound of the amp. My main concern would be the volume, cause every amp has a range of workable volume.
Changing the volume affects the sound a lot, as is floor vs chair and close to a wall vs further. Apart from that you just compensate for the room sound.
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I hear you about the JC amps. Love them, but the term I’d use is “glassy.”
FWIW, my Henriksen Blu Six sounds fine indoors and outdoors, with a little 5 band EQ twiddling.
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My Twin sounds good, indoors or out!
The only real problems I ever encounter is when a stage is overly bright and that is usually generated by being forced to place an open back cab too close to hard materials like stone, tin, glass/mirrors or if you've ever been on an open back concrete stage i.e no band shell.
If I can get the amp 18" away from that surface usually the shrillness coming from the cab rear is mitigated. If it's the stage floor we are talking about a rug in front of the amp will help minimize the harsh slap back. I have concrete in my home that is mitigated by a 20 foot high ceiling, no rug required. It can be a game of trial and error. Some stages just sound bad, some sound amazing.
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The only rule of thumb I'd offer is that outdoor gigs require a louder amp - with no walls or ceiling to reflect sound, an amp that is fine for indoor gigs can be underpowered for outdoors. To mitigate this, you might push the amp harder than you normally would. Some amps handle this well, and others don't.
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“Outdoor gig” can mean several things…. Garden in the party? Or big stage on a festival? Very different things….
But yes, amps do tend to sound different outside when there are no walls for the indirect reflections.
I did a jazz trio gig at a private party in a garden last saturday, low volume situation. They placed us next to the pool where there were big stone tiles. My Henriksen Blu 6 sounded fantastic on those, haha! The Blue Six has a bass port on the underside and the stone tiles reflected the sound very nicely ;-)
When I play loud festivals my Twin is my go to amp. That actually doesn’t sound that different from indoors, inspite of open back and lack of indirect sound by reflections. The exception is when I play with my Amy Winehouse tribute band. Inspite of it being a 9-piece band we are not loud on stage and there I can get away with an old Framus tube amp of around 30 watts (2xEL36 power amp), tilted backwards and pointed at myself.
I don’t like to depend on monitors on stage. Even when your amp is miked, the monitors sound always very hifi and spikey to my ears, so I like to hear my own amp and only have the other instruments on the monitor (usually only vocals and keys, for drums and bass the stage volume usually is enough).
Here you can just see my amp tilted back and mic’ed behind me (with the Amy Winehouse Tribute):
Last edited by Little Jay; 06-23-2025 at 02:26 AM.
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Always sounds good when I use my Princeton Reverb…. Or the house Twin at my local pub for that matter.
That said I’ve been playing outside all week with no amp at all in a roaming situation. Traddy stuff.
You just have to accept you aren’t getting natural foldback from the room and don’t overcompensate.
Maybe it’s just getting used to it. I don’t even feel the need for reverb these days. Outdoors playing is different. I’d say 50%+ of my gigs have been al fresco this year. It’s quite funny really, anything short of a rain storm, out we go.
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I bet that's a great band to be in!
Originally Posted by Little Jay
“Outdoor gig” can mean several things…. Garden in the party? Or big stage on a festival? Very different things….
But yes, amps do tend to sound different outside when there are no walls for the indirect reflections.
I did a jazz trio gig at a private party in a garden last saturday, low volume situation. They placed us next to the pool where there were big stone tiles. My Henriksen Blu 6 sounded fantastic on those, haha! The Blue Six has a bass port on the underside and the stone tiles reflected the sound very nicely ;-)
When I play loud festivals my Twin is my go to amp. That actually doesn’t sound that different from indoors, inspite of open back and lack of indirect sound by reflections. The exception is when I play with my Amy Winehouse tribute band. Inspite of it being a 9-piece band we are not loud on stage and there I can get away with an old Framus tube amp of around 30 watts (2xEL36 power amp), tilted backwards and pointed at myself.
I don’t like to depend on monitors on stage. Even when your amp is miked, the monitors sound always very hifi and spikey to my ears, so I like to hear my own amp and only have the other instruments on the monitor (usually only vocals and keys, for drums and bass the stage volume usually is enough).
Here you can just see my amp tilted back and mic’ed behind me (with the Amy Winehouse Tribute):
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I had to learn NOT be much dependent on my stage sound - in so many live situations one has to adjust to the setting, the levels, the real estate, the other musicians .... As long as I can HEAR MYSELF and the bass (+ a little keyboard if it's a larger group) I can manage ....
A closed back cab (tilted) is def. the better choice outside and the more wattage the better.
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Much less to do with the amp than room acoustics.
People saying the twin sounds great anywhere, well... a twin can beat almost any room into submission. I kid... but it has such a big full sound coming from the amp, it's hard to screw up.
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Yup it is ;-). And some Amy songs actually have room for some jazzy chord voicings and an occasional bebop lick! Originally Posted by garybaldy
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As there are typically few reflecting surfaces , your sound dissapates more rapidly outdoors. I would agree this requires a bit more power. I play patio shows weekly , I use my trusty Fender tweed Deluxe , and my Mesa Rosette depending on if it's more acoustic or electric oriented number.
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Indoors, amp placement is important. I always carry a 30' outdoor rated heavy duty extension cord to allow total freedom of amp placement.
Low frequencies care about proximity to walls and especially corners (too close too boomy). Even at moderate sound levels the distance between parallel walls or ceiling and floor can "force fit" certain longer wave lengths out of tune to match the resonant frequencies' wave length distance between the reflective boundaries.
I set my amp so that it is "off axis" with regard to large surfaces; I rotate the amp to point toward the most distant corner of the place and place a shot glass under the front edge for about 10 degrees elevation to decouple some low end from the floor.
Outdoors, amp orientation is important and much more clean power is needed. It is good to use the tilt back legs with increased power to keep the audience out of the "beaming" line of sight.
Your amp sounds different outdoors; you're lucky, the drums and bass sound even more different for them, and to you if you notice. General stage communication, calling tunes, signaling, cues, etc. are all a little more difficult outdoors.
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Basicly the adjusting to different stages is simple: use Your amps eq. Bass depends on the room and the treble depends on how You cut thru the rest of the band.
I have used to play just for myself (the rest of the band hears me anyway), so I turn the amp to myself. I like to keep it loud so I can play gently. If I turn the amp too down my right hand starts to use too much strength per note.
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