“WHOOOOOWEEEEEEAAAAAGHHHHH!!!!!”
Uh oh! We’ve all heard that excruciating whine that comes out of a poorly-positioned amplifier or a male audience member heckling a female musician.
Feedback can ruin a show. Just ask Gash Station frontwoman/guitarist Hannah Roberts:
“One show we played last tour was completely ruined by feedback squeals. It could have been avoided, but the sound guy refused to listen. I kept telling him how we needed to be mixed but he ignored me and insisted that we play at 50% volume and stand perfectly still. He said if we did that the audience would focus on our cute songs instead of our cute tits,” said Hannah with a shudder. “To make matters worse, after the show some random dude thought it was appropriate to tell me he thought I needed more agile fingering.”
Events like these are not uncommon. Feedback occurs whenever an open microphone picks up and re-amplifies sound, or when a woman performs in public. Some of the best ways to reduce unwanted feedback are by using unidirectional microphones, performing in complete darkness, or being born male.
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For more tips on reducing unwanted feedback we reached out to some of our favorite musicians:
Mary Azebry (guitar): “One easy way to reduce feedback is by moving further away from your amps and college boyfriends.”
Aaleyah Alrazi (bass): “Get an automatic feedback reducer, or as I like to call it, a dick.”
John James (drums): “Why would you eliminate the feedback that could actually help these chicks get pretty good? Wait … did you mean audio feedback? I have no idea, Sharon usually handles that stuff.”
