Are Amps and Cabs still a thing moving forward?

[BigRedX]

4 hours ago, Rich said:

The lack of 'feel' would be the thing I'd miss. I like the idea of the vibrating platform things, but it nails you down to one small area of the stage and I wouldn't like that. Is there some sort of wearable vibration kit that could recreate the feel of a backline thumping away behind you, without having a backline thumping away behind you?

I've never understood this. Based on when I had a traditional bass rig, in order to be able to "feel" the sound I would have had to turn it up so far that I would have completely drowned out the rest of the band. For me, if I'm playing music that I like that's all the "vibe" I need to get into the performance.

[stewblack]

18 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I've never understood this. Based on when I had a traditional bass rig, in order to be able to "feel" the sound I would have had to turn it up so far that I would have completely drowned out the rest of the band. 

It's curious. When I sit on my vibrating love seat (home made version of the vibrating board thingy) and play with headphones I swear the sound of the bottom end becomes louder. Switch off the seat and the bass is thin and reedy, turn it on and it once more sounds rich and full. But here's the thing - I can't hear the seat when I'm wearing headphones. At all. So I'm feeling bass and my brain is telling me I'm hearing it. 

I don't understand the science at all, perhaps someone else can shed light. 

[EBS_freak]

24 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I've never understood this. Based on when I had a traditional bass rig, in order to be able to "feel" the sound I would have had to turn it up so far that I would have completely drowned out the rest of the band. For me, if I'm playing music that I like that's all the "vibe" I need to get into the performance.

Indeed - I made a similar comment earlier about "trouser flapping". In order for your trousers to give the quiver that people talk about, it's gonna be jumbo jet taking off kinda volumes. 

[EBS_freak]

Just now, stewblack said:

It's curious. When I sit on my vibrating love seat (home made version of the vibrating board thingy) and play with headphones I swear the sound of the bottom end becomes louder. Switch off the seat and the bass is thin and reedy, turn it on and it once more sounds rich and full. But here's the thing - I can't hear the seat when I'm wearing headphones. At all. So I'm feeling bass and my brain is telling me I'm hearing it. 

I don't understand the science at all, perhaps someone else can shed light. 

Pyschoacoustics and bone conduction/transition of frequencies through the body.

[Frank Blank]

1 minute ago, stewblack said:

I don't understand the science at all, perhaps someone else can shed light. 

A variant of the Placebo Effect.

[wateroftyne]

Just now, Frank Blank said:

A variant of the Placebo Effect.

Not sure that's the case...?

[stewblack]

Just now, Frank Blank said:

A variant of the Placebo Effect.

Almost certainly, but at the very least it implies that we 'hear' in ways we don't fully grasp

[BigRedX]

2 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I don't understand the science at all, perhaps someone else can shed light. 

For me it's up there with the "everything sounds better when it's loud" phenomenon. The real test of any music is if it still sounds good when it's quiet.

[Frank Blank]

1 minute ago, wateroftyne said:

Not sure that's the case...?

Me neither, just a thought.

[stewblack]

Just now, wateroftyne said:

Not sure that's the case...?

I took it to mean that I am not hearing it but my brain presents it to me as if I was. 

Like a placebo isn't doing what my brain decides it is  It's all a bit beyond me tbh

[wateroftyne]

Just now, Frank Blank said:

Me neither, just a thought.

Sound is all about the brain interpreting vibration. It doesn't matter how it got there.

[stewblack]

1 minute ago, BigRedX said:

For me it's up there with the "everything sounds better when it's loud" phenomenon. The real test of any music is if it still sounds good when it's quiet.

Happy to agree with you there. You can't make bad music better by turning it up. 

But I was specifically talking of the phenomenon where something appears to sound different when actually it just feels different 

[stewblack]

2 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Sound is all about the brain interpreting vibration. It doesn't matter how it got there.

Now that us most surely true

[la bam]

The 'feel' is the sound you're getting from the amp and drum kit, coming together in unison and all the dynamics involved.

It's the same difference as hearing the band through the pa etc as an audience member, and being an audience member listening with headphones instead of hearing the band through a PA, amp or cabs.

Edited August 26, 2020 by la bam

[Krysbass]

I’ve used the same amps and two 2x10 cabs since around 2008. It packs a punch when needed yet takes up very little floor space and as it’s modular its very portable.
 

So I tend to think it’s better to have it but not need it than to need it but not have it.😋

[Happy Jack]

54 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Happy to agree with you there. You can't make bad music better by turning it up. 

True, but you CAN hide a lot of mistakes that way.

🤨

[Phil Starr]

14 hours ago, Marvin said:

The last band I was in the drummer was incredibly quiet, to the point the rest of us kept on asking him to up the volume a little. His response was, he didn't like to play louder because the volume annoyed him.

he sounds wonderful, and he lives in Devon, anywhere near the Somerset border

[BigRedX]

15 hours ago, stewblack said:

Happy to agree with you there. You can't make bad music better by turning it up. 

But I was specifically talking of the phenomenon where something appears to sound different when actually it just feels different 

I think you've misunderstood what I was trying to say. Bad music will still be bad when it's loud but it might be a lot more exciting at volume rather than at normal home listening level.

It's the same as being able to "feel" the bass. It doesn't make the music/sound any better, but it does make it feel/sound more exciting even when it isn't really.

[Steve Browning]

So ..

To some - yes

To others - no

[EBS_freak]

7 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I think you've misunderstood what I was trying to say. Bad music will still be bad when it's loud but it might be a lot more exciting at volume rather than at normal home listening level.

It's the same as being able to "feel" the bass. It doesn't make the music/sound any better, but it does make it feel/sound more exciting even when it isn't really.

Theres a lot of truth in that. I went to see Rudimental at Winter Gardens. The sprung dancefloor and all the sub bass made it quite the experience - certainly something your average person couldn't recreate at home.

[EBS_freak]

1 minute ago, Steve Browning said:

So ..

To some - yes

To others - no

/thread.

[ubit]

17 hours ago, Marvin said:

The last band I was in the drummer was incredibly quiet, to the point the rest of us kept on asking him to up the volume a little. His response was, he didn't like to play louder because the volume annoyed him.

We had the exact opposite problem. The drummer was good but so loud he would make everyone else push their volume to be heard. The resulting cacophony "on stage" would be too loud. We kept saying we need a quiteter stage sound. That way we can control the FOH sound easier. It was always a problem.

[Beedster]

On 23/08/2020 at 21:25, Happy Jack said:

I play pubs and clubs. The idea of turning up at the Dog & Duck and saying, "I didn't bother to bring any backline, where's the venue's PA and sound guy?" is so preposterous that there's really no need to take the subject any further.

Like everything else in music (and most things in life), it's horses for courses. If you only play big, well-organised gigs with excellent PAs, experienced sound guys, and superb monitoring, the why would you bother to haul around a valve head plus a 410? That's not a good description of my musical life.

That's about the truth of it

[casapete]

2 minutes ago, ubit said:

We had the exact opposite problem. The drummer was good but so loud he would make everyone else push their volume to be heard. The resulting cacophony "on stage" would be too loud. We kept saying we need a quiteter stage sound. That way we can control the FOH sound easier. It was always a problem.

I would guess that this has been a perennial problem for most people on here! One of my old bands suffered immensely from this - the drummer played so loudly that everything else struggled to keep up. I ended up having to wear earplugs as it was beginning to affect my hearing. Despite having a few words with him on many occasions, it remained problematic. The snare and cymbals are what did it for me. (In my current band the drummer has an electric kit, so no problems there.) I think what annoys me is that any one band member playing too loud does kind of dictate the stage levels of everyone, really selfish and inconsiderate.

[40hz]

If your drummer is too loud, turn him on to an electric kit. A lot of the newer ones are indistinguishable from the real thing, sound-wise. The drummer in one of my covers outfits uses one (as he also hates playing loud) and it really cleans up the group sound as a whole.

Edited August 26, 2020 by 40hz