Turn Your Amp Around for a Better Concert Sound!

Posted on Posted in Announcements, Stories, Tips from Mark

If you are performing with a small personal amplifier, consider this: Turn the amp around so it is facing the wall behind you. The reflected sound off the wall adds to the richness of the overall sound, and distributes the sound well around the room. And the folks in front don’t get the direct output from the amp.

Tommy Emmanuel does this in some settings. Bose designs their reflective speakers this way, so that some of the sound is bouncing off the wall behind the player.

In December, 2018, my trio Acoustic Guitar Summit performed for the Sacramento Guitar Society in a small gymnasium. We had a crowd of about 150. Each member of the trio had a small personal amp (two AERs and a Fishman), aimed at the wall behind us, We filled up the room fantastically. There was a hard, uncovered wall behind us, so the sound reflected very well. In that setting it was like the best monitor system I’ve experienced.

Give it a try.

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