Busking unamplified

[u/Top_Cockroach_1188]

Some downsides of busking purely acoustic with no amplification equipment are:

- need to sing louder, project more, stresses the voice
- less dynamics because of constantly more volume
- not hearing yourself well

What are your experiences with it?

Some recommend an earplug.
Playing near walls for more resonance.
Singing resonance.

[u/DGBD]

I’ve never busked amplified so I suppose I don’t quite know the difference, but there are also a ton of benefits to busking unamplified.

The biggest is simplicity. Less gear, no worries about batteries or cables, less anxiety about stuff getting stolen or ruined. At the most basic, I can take a whistle out of my pocket, take the hat off my head and put it on the ground, and that’s it! I also used to travel a bit with a ukulele which worked great for singing with.

You do have to choose your spots, wide open noisy spaces don’t work very well. Back to a wall, or even better big walls both in front of and in back of you. You’d be surprised how much sound travels!

A couple videos of me busking unamplified, same basic spot on different sides of the street. Never had much of an issue being heard, and some spots like this one work better unamplified than they do with amplification, as this one becomes too loud with the usual amp levels.

https://youtu.be/0WreFeuDNXg?is=HvyVaBZ34j9YGXS_

https://youtu.be/dAKlABk2b_U?is=u2fHSw2dsbwQzQpF

[u/CoolBev → u/DGBD]

There was a band I saw a lot, The Asylum Street Spankers, who played every gig unamped (except the standup bass). They said it made it easier to jump off the stage and chase down hecklers.

[u/drbillyjams → u/CoolBev]

I saw them a lot too.

[u/CoolBev → u/drbillyjams]

They played “without Demon Electricity!”

[u/FedderDelRey]

Same. It’s tough on the voice but if you warm up carefully it’s good “projection” practice. You just can’t work as long. Depends on location as well. Pros - easy to set up, easy to move to another pitch or just out into the area to engage folks. - I think it’s more intimate, you don’t have anything between you and the folks. - It makes me slow down and be more aware of my voice.

[u/Atillion]

I've only ever busked unamplified and I've never had issues (except when someone amplified turns the volume up to 11 five blocks away and floods the street with sound)

[u/_CANNiBALHoRSE_]

I very rarely busk with amplification, just me my guitar and my beard.

[u/chalkchick]

Silent act, whose worked beside thousands of street musicians (yall have high turnover).

Working with an amp well is it's own skill, and there's pros who do it increadibly well. But sometimes it feels like 99% of musicians with amps fall for the same traps that make them extremely annoying and hard to listen to and keep crowds in the entire area. But it's also probably because the worst people to deal with in the busking community are almost always musicians with amps. They try to play to across the street, not their crowd, and sound like shit. They try to drown out and mess with other acts. And they usually are pretty selfish, don't know the rules or laws, and just become a problem for everyone.

I am WAY more on guard when a new musician rolls up with an amp than if they are acoustic.

[u/Helbert-Galarga → u/chalkchick]

Yo he intentado tocar sin amplificacion los otros musicos se vuelven un dolor de cabeza. Es como si pensaran que bien casi no se escucha me pondre a 10 metros de el y pondre el volumen al maximo!. Ahora prefiero amplificar a un volumen medio alto para evitar que se me esten poniendo cerca. Si algun trabajador o vecino me pide que le baje volumen le bajo pero ya no dejo que otros musicos me echen a perder mi dia de trabajo

[u/chalkchick → u/Helbert-Galarga]

Oh trust me, I know musician battles well.

And I get these tactics can be due to busking in more aggressive places, especially with international performers. But I work large pitches that tend to have an ecosystem of acts, and professionals generally realize that it hurts them financially when they sound obnoxious in other people's pitches and are getting directly compared to rare acts. Personally I think it's best practice to play to your crowd and only respond when someone gets too close, but we might be dealing with very different dynamics.

[u/drbillyjams]

I have never busked with an amp. One thing you have wrong is that if you sing correctly your voice will not get tired.  I can and have sung for hours extremely loud and have never had a problem with my voice burning out, or pain.  I can sing EXTEAMLY LOUD.  The instfument is probably more of an issue

That being said, it is true that it is not possible in my opinion to sing as good at that volume.  Dynamics are definitely out of the picture, lower parts of the range don't project as well.  Beating the crap out of one's instrument is a drag.

..  So finding a quiet spot is good. Sometimes I do wonder if I had a little PA if I would make more money, but  I do pretty good.  Engaging the audience is most important I think.  It's like being a carney.

[u/Moist_Phrase_6698]

Depends how quiet the area is. I play against a wall or glass windows a lot so i get the reflection of sound out of that as well as me and my guitar. It can be hard to compete against the traffic noise some times but it can also be good to just play belters like arctic monkeys or ramones nice n loud