piano drowned out

[57arr]

hello, recently ive started a band which will play music similar to queen but im unsure how to avoid having the piano be drowned out by the electric guitars, bass guitar and drums when it comes to gigs. are the pianos used by professionals electric and connected to amps or is it possible to make an accoustic heard over all the noise? thanks, craig

[super_ardua]

hello, recently ive started a band which will play music similar to queen but im unsure how to avoid having the piano be drowned out by the electric guitars, bass guitar and drums when it comes to gigs. are the pianos used by professionals electric and connected to amps or is it possible to make an accoustic heard over all the noise? thanks, craig

I had a friend which played an electric guitar with a concert grand.  It drowned him out.  The piano had a much richer sound.  But I suppose that was one guitar.

[xvimbi]

hello, recently ive started a band which will play music similar to queen but im unsure how to avoid having the piano be drowned out by the electric guitars, bass guitar and drums when it comes to gigs. are the pianos used by professionals electric and connected to amps or is it possible to make an accoustic heard over all the noise? thanks, craig

Acoustic pianos used by professionals are usually amplified (imagine an open air concert without amplification). In essence, every instrument needs to be picked up by microphones, carefully balanced and output through speakers if you want to have a consistent sound experience within a gig and from gig to gig. Also, you won't be able to bring an acoustic piano to your gigs, so an electric keyboard would be the most practical solution, because you don't want to rely on what they have at different venues.

[Brian Healey]

If you're planning on playing gigs, then a portable keyboard+amplifier is a definitely necessary. Unless you have a road crew that will bring your piano to every venue, or you only play venues that have a house piano (which is becoming more and more rare these days), then you can't be a gigging keyboardist without a keyboard/amp. Plus, that solves your problem about being drowned out. Another option, if an acoustic piano is available, is to simply mic the piano and run it through an amp or PA system.

Most of the time you're going to need amplification to avoid getting drowned out simply because many guitar players, bass players, and drummers seem to have a fear of playing quieter. If you can get it through your bandmates' heads that playing through an amplifier doesn't mean having to play loud, then you might be alright with just an acoustic. I play in a band now with an electric guitar, electric bass, and drums, and during rehearsals I play unamplified acoustic piano exclusively. The only reason I even use a keyboard is because most of the venues we play don't have pianos. My bandmates know that they have to adjust if they can't hear the piano, or if the sound is improperly balanced in another way. All it takes not to be drowned out is keeping your bandmates from constantly turning up their volume knobs. And believe me, guitar players love to turn up those volume knobs 

[alvaro_galvez]

The sound of an acoustic paino is always going to be muffled or "cast aside" by the sound of a booming bass and a distortioned guitar. That is a fact I have learned through experience, so no matter how much you amplify your piano it´s sound will still be cut off and muffled. This is the reason why a piano only plays notes when backed up by guitars, basses and drums. By playing notes I mean that you dont play with any kind of dynamic changes or "feeling" (this is why people use the featherlight touch keyboards), you just mash on the right keys and that it.
I agree with Brian on that, besides from the obvious weight and size issue the fact that you can plug in a keyboard to the amp sistem directly (no mics) gives you a clear voltage advantage over the other instruments who rely on mics to pick up their sounds. This advantage will let you stand out over the other intruments, though you´d sacrifice sound quality in this process.

[donjuan]

hello, recently ive started a band which will play music similar to queen but im unsure how to avoid having the piano be drowned out by the electric guitars, bass guitar and drums when it comes to gigs. are the pianos used by professionals electric and connected to amps or is it possible to make an accoustic heard over all the noise? thanks, craig

hmm noise, huh?  cant they just turn their amps down to accomodate the piano??

[Cecin_Koot]

I play the piano in a band with two electric guitars, a bass, 1 lead singer and... thats it.  I am also the composer in the band, i have many programs on my laptop such as cubase and sibelius, that help you compose songs.  The piano could be heard well, but it didnt play the melody, but in some pieces it does, then everyone else is abit more quiet, like in a large choir when the Altos sing the main part everyone else is quiet, even though there arent many of them compared to the Sopranos, Tenors and Basses. 

[MrRonsMusic]

There's an old saying, "If you can't hear the piano, you're too loud!"  Try to get the members of the band to bring their volume down.

There needs to be balance.  A true sign of a amateur band is that they play too loud!

I strongly suggest that you use an electronic keyboard.

To your success,

Mr. Ron
https://www.mrronsmusic.com