Longing For Clarity by The Wandering Angel via FlickrIf you play rock, the blues, or anything similar, you’ve probably noticed that there are times on stage when your guitar sound is just downright muddy, sloppy, or unclear. Other times, things sound peachy to you on stage, but then your buddies in the audience let you know that from where they were, it sounded muddy and garbled. Well, fear not! Here are a few ideas to add some clarity to your live sound. These are just a few suggestions that surround some possibilities in tweaking your sound, or using extra gear. Got some other ideas? Hit me with some comments!

And now, with no further ado:

5. It ain’t how big it is, it’s where you put it. Is your amp small and wimpy compared to the row of Marshall stacks you see in those movies? Don’t feel insecure about it. Just make sure that when you’re on stage you place your amp somewhere where you aren’t standing in front of it, where it points out to the audience, and projects well into the center of the room, ideally about a foot below ear-level for the listener. You’ll have to rely on common sense, as each room is a little different.

4. Quit floating in space. I’m talking about your reverb, flanger, and delay. If you use any of these effects, make sure you’re using them judiciously. Reverb in particular can quickly dilute your sound if you’re not careful, especially with solid-state amps where the effect goes from subtle to ridiculous in a slight turn of the knob.

3. Stereo-licious. If you have a head unit or an amp with an independent output, can swing the cost of an extra cabinet, don’t mind the clutter in your room/practice space, and enjoy adding mileage to your poor, aching back, then go out and get yourself another cab! Having a cabinet on each side of the stage can help distribute your sound across the room evenly, ensuring that each and every audience member is subjected to your lovely, lush tone.Turning your gain down a few notches will add more clarity to your sound

2. Split Personality. Try splitting your signal between one amp playing your distortion sound and one amp playing clean. Turn the clean tone amp down a little so it blends into the background a bit, and voila! Yes, this is similar to running stereo, but in this case you want both amps close to each other, so the effect is one of a layered sound. Adding that clean tone layer will do wonders for offering a great deal of clarity and punch to your sound. If your setup lends itself to it, use an AB-Y switch to go between playing one amp, or the other, or both. Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.

1. Less Gain, Less Pain. Turn down your distortion. I know, it sounds crazy. Bat**** crazy. But just trust me on this one. Having the gain knob up all the way might be fun in your bedroom, but at stage volumes it can be downright obnoxious. Turning your gain down a few notches will add more clarity to your sound, and you might not be sacrificing as much bite as you think.