Pete Academy Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Yet another night where the sound on stage was boomy and I couldn't hear a thing, yet everyone else thought the sound was great. 'Don't worry...it'll be OK when the room fills up.' How many of you get this? Bloody frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 When you say 'everyone else', you mean the rest of the band or the crowd? I've had it a few times, normally when our guitarist wanders off for a chat with the soundman post-soundcheck... you get some last-second, unsanctioned twiddles, and it's not quite what you thought you'd achieved through soundcheck. I normally just give him a dead leg for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 It just seems that the bass sound problems can be solved easily by just having bodies fill the room. Not always the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) It's the curse of the bass player. Drummers love big echoey rooms, guitarists too. Sound engineers and bass players hate them. I specifically installed a pre amp in my Jazz so that I could go out front at sound check and twiddle with my own sound to improve it in a dodgy room. What sounds good out front won't necessarily sound good onstage but at least you know the bass will sound ok for the audience. One of those gramma pads to isolate the amp from the stage would probably help as well. Edited March 25, 2012 by gjones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Try the Auralex Gramma Pad,Pete.They work great on boomy stages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) [quote name='gjones' timestamp='1332688042' post='1591627'] One of those gramma pads to isolate the amp from the stage would probably help as well. [/quote] [quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1332688959' post='1591636'] Try the Auralex Gramma Pad, Pete.They work great on boomy stages. [/quote] These. I use a Marbass Mark Stand as an alternative de-coupler. [color=#ffffff].[/color] Edited March 25, 2012 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 [quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1332688959' post='1591636'] Try the Auralex Gramma Pad,Pete.They work great on boomy stages. [/quote] Is the vibration-cushioning gadget, Doddy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 In fact after reading this thread I've persuaded myself to buy one. From Dolphin music £38 plus postage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essexbasscat Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 The old "It'll be great once the room fills up" scam. Does it equate to "It'll ride up with wear" in the rag trade ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Played a gig like that last weekend. 4 bands on, all mentioned how bad a sound on-stage it was, but the out front mix was great. Same old though. "Can you turn the bass amp down, it`s too loud through the pa". Well why not let me get the on-stage volume I need from the amp, and use the volume control on the pa to achieve correct FOH levels? Similar with monitors. "Thats as much as I can put through them". As in, not audible when the band is playing. With a whacking great pa that must have cost upwards of 5 grand. With our £1000 pa we can get triple the volume through our monitors, and that`s with the whole band going through it, not just vocs. After doing this for nearly 30 years it shouldn`t amaze me anymore, but it still does. I know it`s difficult getting the right sound for all bands, but surely the point of on-stage vocal monitors is to have the vocals loud enough to hear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 [quote name='essexbasscat' timestamp='1332693311' post='1591715'] ...Does it equate to "It'll ride up with wear" in the rag trade ? [/quote] Yes, along with 'Your cheque is in the post,' 'Of course I'm wearing a condom,' and 'What could possibly go wrong?' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1332694320' post='1591733'] ...surely the point of on-stage vocal monitors is to have the vocals loud enough to hear? [/quote] Had this very issue last night. Finally got the vocals audible at soundcheck only to have the monitor make a very loud sustained farting noise during the gig. Very off-putting. Kicked the bloody thing several times just to annoy the engineer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WalMan Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Gramma pad +1 Check the guitarists amp settings to make sure it's not his boom contributing. As before from my moan about one of mines settings. since I had a word at r/h (backed up by the other guitarist) he has made some changes that IMV make a huge difference without destroying his sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1332694602' post='1591737'] Yes, along with 'Your cheque is in the post,' 'Of course I'm wearing a condom,' and 'What could possibly go wrong?' [/quote] In that order? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 [quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1332697721' post='1591798'] In that order? [/quote] Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Maybe its just me but so long as I can hear what I'm playing I don't really care what it sounds like on stage. Just so long as its good out the front! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I did have one gig where I couldn't hear myself at all during the first song... and then realised I'd dialled my volume down I know I'm a bell end, but that was new territory for me Does the gramma pad work across the board then? I thought it was just for wooden floors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 [quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1332702108' post='1591895'] Maybe its just me but so long as I can hear what I'm playing I don't really care what it sounds like on stage. Just so long as its good out the front! [/quote] I do care how it sounds on stage. 9 times out of 10 I'm going through the PA which I'm not in control of,so I want my sound on stage to be how I want it. Ideally I then want that sound louder out front,but ultimately that's down to the soundman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) [quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1332702382' post='1591901'] I do care how it sounds on stage. 9 times out of 10 I'm going through the PA which I'm not in control of,so I want my sound on stage to be how I want it. Ideally I then want that sound louder out front,but ultimately that's down to the soundman. [/quote] Exactly... and another point is stage volume and why I can't see the move towards tiny rigs that can't fill a decent stage....unless you have balls-out monitoring to help out, but then you'd need to know the P.A crew you are using and what they can provide. A few PA.s will not put bass through the mons so you need to fill the stage with your rig. The outfront sound is his problem. If you can't hear what the others are doing and someone misses a cue..which can happen...you have a train-wreck which you don't even know about or fix far too late.. I don't get boom on stage...and I have a semi parameter EQ on the amp to notch it out, which is about the only time I might switch it in..very rarely. Edited March 25, 2012 by JTUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 For some reason the sound-guy at the gig I did wanted the amp turned down low, then said he would put the bass through the monitors so I could hear it. So I had an amp that wasn`t loud enough on stage, so I couldn`t hear myself. Nor could the drummer hear me, as he didn`t have any monitors at all. Plus I had monitors that the vocs couldn`t be heard through, due to trying to have some bass put through them so that I could hear myself. All this, rather than let the amp be loud enough for on stage, and use the volume control on the pa to control how loud the bass was FOH. This way he could then have let the vocal monitors handle only vocals - which I may then have been able to hear. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, methinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 [quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1332688959' post='1591636'] Try the Auralex Gramma Pad,Pete.They work great on boomy stages. [/quote] +1 I've gone from spending an inordinate amount of time fiddling with EQ settings and getting a half usable sound to just dumping my cabs onto a Gramma Pad and getting on with playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 [quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1332687969' post='1591624'] It just seems that the bass sound problems can be solved easily by just having bodies fill the room. Not always the case. [/quote] It really depends on whether the venue has any restrictions about packing the underside of the stage with bodies. No matter how many times I've asked that question over the years, there always seems to be a reluctance to let me try it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) Well filling a room up with bodies does significantly change the amount of absorbative material in it* Effectively it turns the playing ares in to a huge full range absorber, which really truly does clean the sound up significantly. Its not going to mean jack to you on stage, but you'll be pleased to knwo that the first three rows will get great sound, which will get progressively worse through the audience toward the back, unless the PA is properly flown (up high, above the great unwashed - thats the band) so as to ensure some top end gets to the back of the auditorium..... * Best to use fresh ones though - they do whiff when they go off.... Edited March 25, 2012 by 51m0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I nearly bought a gramma pad until I encountered a boomy room and a wooden stage. I managed to sort it all out with the Rane. So that's another option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeBrownBass Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1332694779' post='1591740'] Very off-putting. Kicked the bloody thing several times just to annoy the engineer. [/quote] Remind the engineer to kick your amp over while your at it next time. When you wonder why some engineers are arseholes, the above quote fully explains why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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