Do most pro players play lightly?

[SincereCorgi]

When I tried the 207 I couldn't get enough volume to be heard in the jam session so I went back to the thinner one. I will try the 207 and not worry about volume and see what happens recording into a mic.

Matt doesn't just use a 207, he uses the round edge of it. I tried it for a few months and gave up, it felt like playing with a marble.

[Mike Romkey]

We were at the first first Symposium, which started with, let's see, Mssrs. Grisman, Marshall, Thile, Compton, Stiernberg and a couple of other pickers jamming on "Golden Slippers." The remarkable thing (of the many remarkable things) was that when it was Chris' turn, he intentionally played *very quietly*. Everybody's volume came down, everybody in the audience strained to hear. He brought the volume up a bit as he put his shoulder into it. But he was trying to make a point, and everybody got it.

A little later Chris said -- in a good-natured way -- that he'd walked around the campus and heard people trying to play "Salt Creek" as fast and loud as possible, and that he hated it. Slow down, play each note. He said he wanted to hear each and every note.

There's an unfortunate tendency to make an idol out of Chris Thile because he is, face it, a musical genius. But I thought all of that made a lot of sense. Mike Marshall has the same advice for students: not too loud, not too fast.

All of which is far easier said than done. I play in a couple of bands, and by far the most frustrating thing is getting everybody to play attention to dynamics. I think it's far better to under-do it on volume than the reverse. I dislike soloing after a blistering and loud banjo or fiddle solo. Nuance goes out the window and all you can do is flail away. Of course, when I kick off "Old Dangerfield" what do I tend to do? Yep: Start it too fast and too loud.

This is an excellent topic. I think being able to play with nuance is what separates the pros from the pro ams and the amateurs. And what's hard enough to do on your own becomes exponentially harder when your talking about four or five people, and combining instruments that are intrinsically LOUD, like banjos, with instruments that aren't, like a flat-top, which is almost impossible to get a decent solo out of unless everybody is behaving.

[Timmando]

Well after the advice from this post and eye-witnessing Mike Flanner picking with a 207 Dunlop on youtube, I got my 207 out of the little box, dusted it off and recorded a song, Suwanee River, and it worked fine. Into a mic I had all kinds of volume, and I was just picking very lightly.

Here it is http://soundcloud.com/mandoman-2/suwanee-river

I think I will just try to get the soundman to bring the monitor up until I can hear myself using this 207. And in a jam session...well, thats a whole nother problem...

[Nick Quig]

Well after the advice from this post and eye-witnessing Mike Flanner picking with a 207 Dunlop on youtube, I got my 207 out of the little box, dusted it off and recorded a song, Suwanee River, and it worked fine. Into a mic I had all kinds of volume, and I was just picking very lightly.

Here it is http://soundcloud.com/mandoman-2/suwanee-river

I think I will just try to get the soundman to bring the monitor up until I can hear myself using this 207. And in a jam session...well, thats a whole nother problem...

Very nice playing and sound! have you tried a 208?

[Timmando]

Thanks! Didn't know there was a 208...I take it it is even thicker?

[Nick Quig]

Same thickness-sharper point- makes it sound a tad brighter.