How to Adjust Keyboard Volume to Other Instruments

As a keyboard player, it's up to you to match the volume of other instruments for good support or lead play during gigs. Every song has different sound levels for optimum performance based on the mood and instrumentation. It's a teamwork process when you're up on stage, but here's what you can do personally on keyboards to successfully blend in with the mix.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Get the sound check in. Don't skip this important step: though you may think you can predict the sound level of a drummer or guitar, you really won't know the volume levels until you do the sound check. Even with a drummer or guitarist you've worked with for a long time, checking instrument volumes before every gig is critical, and it's best to actually play through a few bars, rather than just hitting a few notes on each instrument and "playing it by ear."

2. Turn yourself down for background play. Look at the musical landscape of a song and determine when you're going to be taking a back seat. On songs with keyboard accompaniment, you want to remain there in the background to support other sounds.

3. Amp up for solos. If you will be doing a solo during a song to showcase your keyboard style, that is an acceptable time to get a volume edge so the audience can hear your chops.

4. Change in small increments. If you're tweaking sound levels during an actual song performance, less is better than more. You can amp up your sound in a series of increments, but be careful not to spike and suddenly be playing entirely too loud.

5. Work with your band members to anticipate volume changes within songs. Dynamic songs may have specific hinges where volume change conveys a mood. Get these choreographed as much as possible.

Tips & Warnings

• Work with your band members. Impromptu volume changing can lead to a volume war as any and all players turn themselves up, negating the effect of any one volume change. Make collective decisions about volume to avoid this eventuality.