I run an open mic night every Thursday night at Parson Jack's Cafe in West Ashley. We start at 8:30pm local time
I have a L1 MII with 2 B1's and a T1.
I have solos, duos, trios, even a full band with electric bass, keyboard, guitar and two vocals run through it.
I used to post vids of the performers here but my camcorder broke, and I have yet to be able to buy a new one.
All vids are shot with this $300 Sanyo camcorder.. the Bose made the microphones of this camcorder sound pretty decent

If you're in the area, come check it out! I usually show up to set up around 7:30pm.

Chris Tidestrom

Maybe I will get my trash can tuned up and sit in one night.

I will be in Charleston Feb 5 - Feb 9. I will miss the Thursday - so let me know if there is anything else worth checking out during the week.

I used to live in Goose Creek back in my Navy days - so I am familiar with the area.

Actually,

If you want to try to set something up near the Embassy Suites in North Charleston - I can probably drag a bunch of folks from the conference that I will be attending (as a vendor).

At our summer meeting with these folks (the Health Physics Society), we do an actual open mic night for the event where us vendors hire a local band and the attendees get up and act like rock stars for the evening. Check out the Facebook Photos from our '09 event in Minneapolis at Britts Pub:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/...5795?v=photos&ref=ts

I am the guy in the brown shirt with the blond strat.

I usually just approach some suitable venue and tell them that I will be bringing in 150 - 200 folks on a Monday or Tuesday night and they end up being most accomodating. A more reasonable number to expect in the winter time may be 30 - 50.

I actually toyed with the idea of dragging my L1s down to C-town this year - but if you are already there and are interested - then it could be big fun and little hassle.

Let me know if this blows any wind up your skirt. A good venue would have to be within stumbling distance. Non smoking would be preferred. The attenddees range in age from college kids - to octagenarians.

SunDog, how DARE you miss the open mic! 8)

The only other thing I have that I know of right now, is my duo (40+ Pirates) plays at a place called Aromas on N. Market St., next door to Henry's. We start at 8pm every Sunday... so it will be the day you arrive. We go through my T1, his Compact and use the house system (SRM450's) as fill.
Hope to see you there, even if you have just arrived in Chas!

Chris,

If I am downtown that night I will drop by.

Let me know if you decide to give the other idea a shot. You could probably make a few bucks in the process - and we could probably play some stuff together.

OK SunDog, I know of a place near there. I will see what I can do... they can be a little tricky from what I have heard.

I got my eyes on this baby... I heard it through my Bose this summer... and it was simply amazing. But I have some other things I need more first, so... it'll have to wait just a little while longer

Hi Chris,

that baby has been my main microphone for six years. I got it shortly after getting my first L1®. It wasn't until I heard several microphones through an L1® that I was actually able to hear the differences. See: my microphone review

Very tempting.

What is even more interesting is that once I was able to actually hear myself (thanks to the L1®), I started to understand how what I did affected how I sound. Ultimately this led me to a place where - if I don't have my KMS 105, as long as I am using something decent, I can be reasonably happy with the outcome. Don't get me wrong. If I have a choice - my microphone or something else. I'll always go with mine. It is a wonderful, effortless microphone that has stood up well over the years. I think that it has helped me to be a better singer, and as a result, I don't NEED it as much as I did six years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by ChrisTidestrom:
I got my eyes on this baby... I heard it through my Bose this summer... and it was simply amazing. But I have some other things I need more first, so... it'll have to wait just a little while longer

Yes ST, I have seen your posts about it... and I am MIGHTY envious!
I was standing in a weird position to my MII and the guy had a pretty soft voice... and it just came out sooooo clearly, even through his Harmony XT. Truly amazing. I just couldn't bring myself to steal it from him...

Hi again Chris,

Just a quick note one the Open Mic scene.

I co-host an Open Mic somewhere, somehow at least once or twice a month, and I've been doing that since long before the L1®. But Open Mic events are different (and to me, so much better) with L1®s.

My observation:
When people with potential can actually hear what they are doing, they can also sense the gap between where they are now, and what they could be doing. Given that opportunity, people can improve.

I have watched and heard people improve this way countless times, often within the span of a song or two. This is incredibly rewarding.

People actually thank me for creating an environment that is conducive to sharing their music. Every time that happens, I think about how much better that is on an L1® stage.

Last weekend I tried an experiment.

I had two wireless microphones (Shure Beta 58s) and a PorchBoard Slapbass running through my wireless instrument rig. I had these circulating in the crowd. People loved it.

This turned the Open Mic into a more accessible kind of community jam. I wouldn't do it at all my Open Mic shows, but for this crowd, it was great.

It looks like you've been at this for awhile, but just in case you are interested here are my notes on running an Open Mic with the L1®

And a quick thought - Thanks for doing Open Mic shows. I think that in a world that struggles to find and support venues for live music, what you are doing can only help.

Thank you ST, you are and will always be a cornucopia of useful tips and information... not just to me, but to the whole forum.

I have a guys come in with huge pedal boards that totally drowns the sound of their guitars. Maybe I should say "drains" instead. So I plug them in directly, find a good preset and... see the disbelief in their eyes by how great their guitar can sound!

Some guys come in with the cheapest Dean Markley sound hole pickup... and I (or the Bose) make it sound like a great guitar/pickup combination!

I had a lady come in with an electric violin. She said "I don't know how this is going to sound... I have never gotten it to sound really good. I have this EQ (A nice Baggs preamp) but... well, we'll see. (insert silent sigh here)"

I plugged her straight in to my T1, set it to the electric violin preset and... if I had had a Bose for sale there that night, she would have bought it! Not only did she sound great, but she played like she had never played before... all because she could clearly hear just how good she was. The shine in her eyes already told me that, though

The players always thank me for "caring" about how they sound. I do my part... and the Bose does the rest.

Yes I have also heard people improve... after a song or two... but after a few weeks, the difference in their performances is really notable. It is extremely rewarding for me too, and I look forward to every Thursday!

The only "problem" I run into on occasion, is some singers hear themselves "too well" so they back off a bit too far from the mic or sing softer than they should in balance to the guitar etc. But by the next time, they are usually "cured" of that

For the ongoing discussion regarding Heil microphones please see:

Heil Microphones

Thank you.