So as some of you might have heard, Fun DMC made the decision at the beginning of the year to “run direct”. By that, I mean that the volume created by all instrumentation, drums, guitar amps, and bass amps, has been significantly, if not completely, reduced by switching from analog and acoustic instruments to digital processors. The once powerful Vox AC 30 electric guitar amp has been replaced by Guitar Rig 5, a modeling program by Native Instruments run through a MacBook Pro.  The Ampeg bass head and cabinet have moved to a Line 6 HD 500X processor.  And the Tama drum kit, once the pride of Fun DMC drummer, Talon Holmes, has been moved to make room for the Roland V-Drum kit.

Why

The main issue is volume control. To begin with, the drums set the volume for the entire show. Being as that the drum originated as an instrument of war, there are limitations as to how soft one can strike a drum and it retain its effectiveness. Once the drums are set, the remaining musicians generally adjust the volume of their instruments to match the energy of the drum kit. Add in the sound pressure created by floor monitor wedges and you have quite the wall of volume to contend with before the main speakers are even turned on. Of course this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For the most part, concert halls, convention centers, outdoor stages, and most bars are are able to withstand this set up. However, this isn’t always ideal in other situations such as corporate events, weddings, and smaller, often multi-generational events. As Fun DMC has been playing significantly more events such as these, running our instruments direct allows us the flexibility to bring our full band show to any situation.

Our own protection

Ask any seasoned musician what their most valuable tool is and they will undoubtedly answer “their ears.” Protecting your hearing is critical to being able to perform your craft. Night after night, many musicians often leave their gigs with ringing in their ears after prolonged exposure to high volume. While massive side fill monitor rigs may have been the standard in the 80s for bands such as Van Halen, it is quite common in this age to see most of the old stalwarts wearing ear plugs or in ear monitors. In fact, Ultimate Ears, the company that introduced in ear monitors to the industry, was founded by Alex Van Halen’s drum monitor tech, Jerry Harvey after Alex complained he could no longer hear the band on stage. Fun DMC has been running in ear monitors since it’s first day. However, in order to further protect our hearing, we chose to further reduce the stage volume by cutting out the risk of lengthy exposure to high volume situations.

Front of house mixing

Often, the front of house engineer is competing with the volume on stage when it comes to setting the final mix for the band. The drummer is hitting the cymbals so hard they are bleeding into the vocal mics, the guitar player is continually raising the volume of their amp to keep up with the stage volume and their own hearing fatigue, and the vocalists are asking for more and more of their own vocals in the wedges until the monitors are on the verge of feedback. Running instrumentation direct allows the front of house engineer to create a clean mix free of the preferences of the on stage performers.

The elephant in the room

While running direct seems to be a win-win for the client, there is definitely a sacrifice on the part of the musician. After all, nothing compares to the energy and pressure of a live drum kit or a low end thump of a bass guitar. Being completely honest, it has been an adjustment to keep up the stage performance when so much of the energy we have been used to has dropped. However, I think it is a testament to the band that as far as the observer is concerned, Fun DMC hasn’t lost an ounce of their signature high energy stage show. In fact, I’m willing to hazard a guess that most of our clients and fans aren’t even aware that the change has been made.

The critics

Yes, they are out there. Yes there are purists who scoff at the idea of mesh head drums kits and amplifiers without tubes. And to their credit, there was a time when electronic drums (particularly the models from the ’80s) and cheap guitar processors made the case for analog and acoustic. However, to say that these options have evolved significantly would be an understatement. There are an infinite amount of YouTube videos that A/B tube amps vs modeling processors where the difference is almost indecipherable. I will concede that it does take more time dial in the sounds within a modeling amp. That said, I’ve been completely surprised by how authentic the sounds of Guitar Rig 5 emulate the real thing.

To sum up

One thing that you can rest assured of is that Fun DMC will always put the needs of the client first. Whether that is through selecting music that will entertain your guests or finding equipment that will better suit your needs, we are a constantly evolving band willing to be flexible to put on the best show for our fans.