Hopeless live sound - all the gear, no idea.

[TimR]

Aren't we talking about a very specific circumstance here?

Where the band has all the gear and no idea.

And we as bass players who have many years of experience just sit there and think how awful it is.

Then we go home and complain on a Bass forum to anyone who'll listen.

Just seems all a bit backwards to me. If I've got the skills to help and advise someone who is struggling, I'll always help. That's the kind of guy I am. I've done it before and I'll do it again. Most bands on the pub circuit have a very basic PA. We're not talking about racks of compressors and multiple mixes of in ear monitors and parametric EQ. With multiple PA amps and arrays of speakers. You'll be looking at some microphones, a mixer, an amp and some speakers.

[Shambo]

I spent the turn of the century mainly working for Stage Electrics as a freelancer. Rock n roll, festivals, theatres, conferences but I had to give it up. I built up a serious dislike for diva musicians that was affecting my preferred happy state of mind. Now, I won't offer an opinion amongst friends, even when pressed. Every musician gets the sound engineer they deserve.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1436302034' post='2816957']...If I've got the skills to help and advise someone who is struggling, I'll always help...
[/quote]

When I started out doing the sound for a local ska/punk/rock band (our son was guitar in there...), then went on to doing their lights, I was often helped out by either the engi for the venue, or by fellow techs from other groups playing, occasionally folks from the audience. In very many cases (more especially at first, obviously...) the advice, counseling, general thoughts and/or criticism was most useful, and enabled me to improve my game very quickly. It's true, there'd be the occasional dumpling that would offer daft suggestions, or come across as a know-it-all, but it's easy to handle such folks with a modicum of polite nodding. It helps that I could switch into 'I'm sorry, I'm British; I don't understand', but that was not often necessary. In all, and in balance, I'd say I've much more positive experience than the opposite. No, I wouldn't be against offering to help in any way I could; it's all in the way one addresses the situation. Leaping onto the desk and turning all the knobs is maybe not the best approach, but a friendly 'How's tricks, fellas..?' can work, as long as they're not 'head down' in mid-session fighting for oxygen. Tact and timing is the thing. If one is rebuffed, so be it. Just my tuppence-worth.

[Jazzneck]

Here we talk about all the gear and no idea re the band.

Last Sunday our band experienced the other side of the coin with the house PA / sound rig and[b] THREE [/b]sound injneers.

Now, they may have been "sound" blokes but they had not got a clue on how to set up their rig for a blues / jazzy band or even their own equipment.

My rig: BareFaced Retro Two10 with TB 500 head and VT bass DI.
Guitarists rig: Marshall Bluesbreaker Combo
Harp player rig: Fender Bassman combo, modded for harp.

Sound check time - they put a mike in front of the Marshall - all good.

Drums - they put a mike in front of the bass drum and another one over the top of the drummer - not bad.

They asked for a DI from the Harp mike and finally agreed to putting a mike in front of the Fender.

Me: took a DI out of the VTbass box and I also went out of this into the TB500 set flat into the BF cab - not bad, acceptable.

Halfway through the second number one of the injneers came rushing onto stage - disappeared behind me and fiddled with something.
My sound was then SH*TE - horrible clicks, nasal as a nasal thing bouncing around everywhere then reverted to "normal" occasionally.
I adjusted my VTbass box - no change.
I adjusted my amp - no change.
WTF? - kept playing and was grateful when we finished and it was all over.
The sound crew reckoned we were great.
My son reckoned we sounded crap.
On breakdown I discovered that my VTbass DI had been disconnected from both my amp and the PA and I'd been DI'd straight into the spare vocal channel.
Their bass bins were disconnected as well.
So my bass guitar had been DI'd only into the mid and treble speakers via the spare vocal channel set up for vocals including reverb.
On politely asking why? I got a shrug of the shoulders and was told that they are still learning the rig!
This PA rig cost them in excess of £10K.
IF we play there again my son is going to be in charge of my signal chain and sound - no argument.
My VTbassDI also is going onto the floor in front me (not behind my rig) from now on so I can see it and all connections at all times.
...........and I still won't trust the b*88ers.

Edited July 21, 2015 by Jazzneck