Wired
All of my on-stage experience to date has been unplugged. That is, I have never dealt with amplification of any sort. I have sung the lead in operettas and musicals of all sorts as well as numerous musical roles, of course. All of it unamplified. But I have never – until tonight – had to sing onstage with a full band, had to deal with mic technique, had to try to follow exactly where the hell we are in the song with a monitor blaring the bass line alone...
The "Music Masti" at Agile2008 was my wired debut. Damn, it's hard to figure out where you are, to keep track, to be able to hear un-monitored instruments when you are singing in a band.
Now I have designed sound for stage productions, even mic'ing actors where needed. But now I know what it's like to be on the performing end. Who'd a' thunk it was so hard? This is what happens when you let popular culture pass you by.
Sigh. There's a lesson in this. There is no substitute for doing, even when it seems that "it" is a natural extension of what one already knows. Maybe it's the geek mystique: "How hard could it be?" But when you pick up that mic and you realize that it's actually not that self-evident,.. it's no longer an extrapolation from the known the assumed, but genuinely into the unknown, it's a bit of shock.
Regardless, it was unbelievable fun.
Rock on!
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