anyone here play guitar?

[Soyo]

just curious how many people here play guitar. if anyone does, have you ever played inside and outside and noticed the sound/tone difference?

the reason I bring this up is because today I went up on top of this big hill that over looks basically the whole city, and I took my acoustic up there and played for about an hour. I was amazed at how good it sounded, I don't know if its just the wide open or something, but then I came home and played in my room and it almost doesn't even sound like the same song.

theres some word for it I think but I can't think of what its called... anyways just curious if anyone else has noticed this, or knows anyother cool ideas of places to play

[Karen512]

......not I.

[Soyo]

dangit, I saw a reply and thought someone did... you dissapoint me lol

[Karen512]

Originally Posted by Soyo

dangit, I saw a reply and thought someone did... you dissapoint me lol

Sorry, I will leave now..........

[jcz1987]

I use to play the quitar in my garage but I have never played outside before. It always sounded the same for me.

[Soyo]

try outside, on like a hill, or a big open field... and hopefully your talking about an acoustic... because an electric will sound the same because its coming out of an amp

[burnM]

Do you have a subway station where you are?
When I lived in Montreal, there was almost always someone playing an instrument in there. It sounds awesome because of the acoustics, I guess. I've always wondered about playing my guitar in a public washroom (I'll never do it... that'd be way too weird) but, if you've ever sung a song in one (drunk at the bar?) it sounds pretty cool.
I used to have an upstairs apartment on Main street in my town that had an open section of roof outside my kitchen window. We used to get hammered, climb out the window with our guitars and sing and play until we passed out. Sometimes, the people going in and out of the restaurant across the street would stop and listen to us for a while... we even took a few shouted requests. It was fun to ham it up for complete stangers... still brings a smile to my face thinking about it

[ac427cpe]

ah yes, acoustics.

And the reason it sounds better than in your room, is your room probably has: a bed, furniture, wallpaper, curtains, etc… all of which deaden a room. And it’s the same with any instrument, the better the sound can carry, whether it’s from reflecting correctly in a practice room or a “live” room, or carrying like in your hilltop scenario.

Most of the places I am listing are where I have/do play my violin, the guitar is more sporadic, as I don’t usually carry it around with me…

I’ve played in some pretty crazy places, in the city (not including concert halls/practice rooms/places designed for playing) my favorites are: parking garages (hehehe, sometimes people give you money), rooftops, bathrooms (not public bathrooms…), and random hallways.

most crazy and awesome place I’ve ever played: on the Great Wall, just got back from doing a concert there (yes, violin… not guitar. Sorry.)

[Dustin_S]

Soyo- Sorry bud, but you could not be more wrong. well...maybe you could, but still.

Like someone else mentioned, playing inside will sound different because at the very least, you've got four walls and a cieling to reflect/absorb/refract/distort the sound. An acoustic guitar and an electric guitar simply have different amplification methods, but the sound they produce is changed in the same ways.

our swing choir sang in the National Cathedral- that place had a good three seconds of completely natural, un-miced resonance. it sent chills down my spine.

[Soyo]

yea I guess I never thought about the electric sounding better too... it makes sense now though, I admit it, I was wrong haha

once I get a few more songs under my belt I wanna go play on a street corner or something so maybe I'll make some money but my city isn't that big so I doubt many people will walk by

[-Davo]

I'm a lead guitarist. I've been playing for about 10 years.
Some of my work is on my website www.revoke.pretenda.com (and of course, pictures of yours truely )

If the sound is pointed Directly AT me, then I find no differant inside or out.
I have played outside once with a P.A system at a gig I did last April, I was behind the P.A and couldn't hear what was going on.

[2Slow4U_Noob]

Originally Posted by Soyo

yea I guess I never thought about the electric sounding better too... it makes sense now though, I admit it, I was wrong haha

once I get a few more songs under my belt I wanna go play on a street corner or something so maybe I'll make some money but my city isn't that big so I doubt many people will walk by

I've always wanted to do that. Just for fun though. I'm not that good, but if I had someone play lead or sing, I can play chords and just sit there. I live in Austin, Tx the live music capital of the world. Theres someone playing guitar or harminica on every corner.

[Soyo]

haha oh yes, I used to live in corpus christi, Tx and went to austin many times

I just think it would be cool to see how many people would acctually stop and listen for a few minutes

[RSX-S777]

I don't know about the dynamics of sound...but playing outside, especially on a great day or in a great location (like the top of a hill ) certainly FEELS different...

[kcap122]

yeah man, i play rhythm and vocals in my band, the thing your talking about is called Acoustics.

Think of the way sound travels, it makes spherical waves out from where your guitar is. If you're in a big open space, some of those waves are going to go straight to your ear without bouncing off anything.
On the other hand, if you are indoors in your room, the waves will travel out, bounce off the walls, and then hit new waves coming from your guitar. This causes something called wave cancellation, but the point is, depending on the shape of your room, you will lose a lot of the sound quality.
The reason that studios have cork on their walls is not only to keep the recording room quiet, but also to elminate any bouncing of the sound waves off the walls. If there is no bouncing waves to hit the sound waves that you're presently making, there is no wave cancellation and thus a pure sound.

w00t. guitar geek represent