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Music Fans Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for music historians, critics, and fans. It's built and run by you as part of the Stack Exchange network of Q&A sites. With your help, we're working together to build a library of detailed answers to every question about music history or appreciation.

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Why do musicians play on carpets?

14

I oftenly see rock or metal bands playing on carpets while performing on stage or on studio.

It's nice to see, but is there a reason for these carpets? Is it for a better sound?

For an example, here's Foo Fighters live on studio ON carpets.

2 Answers

4

Lots of musicians used them so that they would have the same surface at every tour stop, there are some pretty gnarly venue floors out on the road which ends up wearing down on feet. Especially with all the hallucinogens present in the 60s and 70s it was probably really comforting having the same surface everywhere you played.

3

Carpets absorb the sound and doesn't allow it to bounce/reflect off of surface. This is done to make sure there is no reverb effect in the studio or the auditorium. Otherwise, the music would sound more like noise with all that sound reflecting off of the hard and uncovered surface.


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Why do musicians play on carpets?

14

I oftenly see rock or metal bands playing on carpets while performing on stage or on studio.

It's nice to see, but is there a reason for these carpets? Is it for a better sound?

For an example, here's Foo Fighters live on studio ON carpets.


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9

Lots of musicians used them so that they would have the same surface at every tour stop, there are some pretty gnarly venue floors out on the road which ends up wearing down on feet. Especially with all the hallucinogens present in the 60s and 70s it was probably really comforting having the same surface everywhere you played.

edit

did any musicians of the time ever comment on this ? a quote from one of them would make this a more definitive answer - Angst May 29, 2017 at 8:17

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