How was your gig last night?

[dmccombe7]

58 minutes ago, taunton-hobbit said:

Cheap stair carpet from the inside of car, over the bumper - job done....

 

😎

Drummer just got a new Ford Kuga and it came with a load in cover that velcros onto the carpet and folds out over the bumper. Quite a smart idea so gonna look into that.

Dave

[mikebass456]

Bought mine from The Roofbox Company - it was specific to the back of my Megane Tourer, and had the fold out rubber mat attached.....👍

[Stub Mandrel]

8 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Never heard of setting up desk with white noise. What / how does that work. ?

 

Dave

 

The desk sends white noise to each and then both sides of the PA with a special high quality microphone positioned in the 'audience'. It works out the frequency response of the pa + room and any resonances automatically eqs them out. That means you can use the same settings in different venues, even using their pa, and get pretty much the same sound. Obviously tweaks may be needed and in venues where guitars and bass are backline only we need to do our own adjustments (for example on Saturday I was near a corner and had to cut my bass control, which I normally have slightly boosted).

[Boodang]

7 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

The desk sends white noise to each and then both sides of the PA with a special high quality microphone positioned in the 'audience'. It works out the frequency response of the pa + room and any resonances automatically eqs them out. That means you can use the same settings in different venues, even using their pa, and get pretty much the same sound. Obviously tweaks may be needed and in venues where guitars and bass are backline only we need to do our own adjustments (for example on Saturday I was near a corner and had to cut my bass control, which I normally have slightly boosted).

Is it white or pink noise?

[BigRedX]

8 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

The desk sends white noise to each and then both sides of the PA with a special high quality microphone positioned in the 'audience'. It works out the frequency response of the pa + room and any resonances automatically eqs them out. That means you can use the same settings in different venues, even using their pa, and get pretty much the same sound. Obviously tweaks may be needed and in venues where guitars and bass are backline only we need to do our own adjustments (for example on Saturday I was near a corner and had to cut my bass control, which I normally have slightly boosted).

 

Since room problems are a mix of frequency and time domain problems and EQ is a frequency domain solution this method only works for audience members who are stood at the point where the microphone was. 

[Stub Mandrel]

25 minutes ago, Boodang said:

Is it white or pink noise?

Possibly pink, sounds more like roaring waves than static hiss.

[Stub Mandrel]

4 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

Since room problems are a mix of frequency and time domain problems and EQ is a frequency domain solution this method only works for audience members who are stood at the point where the microphone was. 

 

Yes, but it still gives a good starting point. Our vocalist operates the desk from a tablet and fine tunes it wandering around the venue.

[dmccombe7]

8 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

The desk sends white noise to each and then both sides of the PA with a special high quality microphone positioned in the 'audience'. It works out the frequency response of the pa + room and any resonances automatically eqs them out. That means you can use the same settings in different venues, even using their pa, and get pretty much the same sound. Obviously tweaks may be needed and in venues where guitars and bass are backline only we need to do our own adjustments (for example on Saturday I was near a corner and had to cut my bass control, which I normally have slightly boosted).

WOW that's amazing.

What desk is it ?

Dave

[BigRedX]

8 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Yes, but it still gives a good starting point. Our vocalist operates the desk from a tablet and fine tunes it wandering around the venue.

 

And of course the sound will change again a soon as the venue fills up with audience.

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

 

And of course the sound will change again a soon as the venue fills up with audience.

 

Indeed, but that applies with any setup...

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

WOW that's amazing.

What desk is it ?

Dave

 

QSC Touchmix 16.

 

https://www.qscaudio.com/products-solutions/mixers/touchmix-series-compact-digital-mixers/touchmix-16/

[MichaelDean]

35 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Indeed, but that applies with any setup...

Fun fact, some chairs in fancy concert halls are designed to have the same absorbtion coefficient as people when folded so that the sound doesn't change from soundcheck to the show! Obviously a niche case and not a lot of use down the Dog and Duck, but I think it's cool!

[mikebass456]

8 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

Fun fact, some chairs in fancy concert halls are designed to have the same absorbtion coefficient as people when folded so that the sound doesn't change from soundcheck to the show! Obviously a niche case and not a lot of use down the Dog and Duck, but I think it's cool!

Conversely, I've previously gigged in front of an audience that were about as responsive as a row of folded chairs.....😲😆😆

[EBS_freak]

1 hour ago, MichaelDean said:

so that the sound doesn't change from soundcheck to the show!

Isn't that called a jazz gig?

[nilorius]

Last night i played at local pub called "Depo" for 20 minutes (5 songs). A season together for 5 bands. We played good and all was fine exept that they didn't have music stand and i had to play standing backside and keep my sheet on amp.

[cheddatom]

After a very long 2 months off in the hope my ribs would recover, we were finally back out last weekend. The Gifford Arms in Wolverhampton on Saturday was sold out. I was hoping for the same comedy sound guy as the last time we played there but unfortunately it was a thoroughly pleasant and competent engineer. Still, at least we sounded good but I don't have a lot to rant about!

 

Sunday was the Hope & Anchor on a lineup supporting The Vapors. We were on at 5:30 pm which seemed very early to me but it was absolutely packed in there! I was forced to use the awful house kit. Obviously the bass drum couldn't stay still which forced a couple of errors. Thankfully my bandmates were tolerant of it this time! We went down a storm and we've seen merch sales online trickling in from London since. Result!

 

It is so, so good to be back out gigging, even if it does still hurt a bit.

 

Photo of my beautiful cymbals set up above the absolutely terrible house kit at the Hope & Anchor... Mini rant then: Imagine your band leader telling you that you have to use the house bass, and the A string tuner keeps slipping. You knew it was going to be terrible, you knew you could swap for your own gear in plenty of time, and yet you're forced to go with it due to others' ignorance. The band leader, the promoter, the sound guy, the headline act... everyone thinks it's fine to force the drummer to play sh*t drums but you're never forced to use a sh*t bass are you?!

 

[Lozz196]

I think you`re right, why should anyone have to put up with sub-standard gear when you`ve brought along your own better stuff. In my last band the drummer used to regularly suffer with provided kits, especially felts/nuts on stands, and the stools.

 

A good heads-up though, as we`re playing there in a few weeks, I`ll let our drummer know.

[Boodang]

5 hours ago, cheddatom said:

After a very long 2 months off in the hope my ribs would recover, we were finally back out last weekend. The Gifford Arms in Wolverhampton on Saturday was sold out. I was hoping for the same comedy sound guy as the last time we played there but unfortunately it was a thoroughly pleasant and competent engineer. Still, at least we sounded good but I don't have a lot to rant about!

 

Sunday was the Hope & Anchor on a lineup supporting The Vapors. We were on at 5:30 pm which seemed very early to me but it was absolutely packed in there! I was forced to use the awful house kit. Obviously the bass drum couldn't stay still which forced a couple of errors. Thankfully my bandmates were tolerant of it this time! We went down a storm and we've seen merch sales online trickling in from London since. Result!

 

It is so, so good to be back out gigging, even if it does still hurt a bit.

 

Photo of my beautiful cymbals set up above the absolutely terrible house kit at the Hope & Anchor... Mini rant then: Imagine your band leader telling you that you have to use the house bass, and the A string tuner keeps slipping. You knew it was going to be terrible, you knew you could swap for your own gear in plenty of time, and yet you're forced to go with it due to others' ignorance. The band leader, the promoter, the sound guy, the headline act... everyone thinks it's fine to force the drummer to play sh*t drums but you're never forced to use a sh*t bass are you?!

 

You should have used the Elvin Jones trick of nailing the front of the bass drum to the stage floor! 

Worst house kit I've ever used had a split snare batter head held together with duct tape... I've learnt since then. Always have at least my own pedals and definitely my own throne or I'll get back ache, plus a spare snare head! I don't mind so much if the kit is ok but why insist when there's enough time to set up your own kit?! I've just invested in a nesting kit in bebop size to make the load in & out easier in the hope that'll persuade venues I can use my own with a minimum if fuss.

[Bluewine]

On 23/03/2025 at 06:49, dmccombe7 said:

Last night with BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam band in Bishopton Social Club turned out a fantastic wee night.

When we arrived we were quite taken aback by the size of the venue. It was small with only 8 tables seating around 40. It apparently holds 80. Manager said things have been slow but he was surprised at ticket sales being so poor.

Anyways it didn't look too empty so we just went for it and the audience were up for every bit of it. This was THE best audience interaction we've ever experienced. Enough so that when the singer was introducing the band he mentioned it was my birthday and the audience erupted into a "happy birthday" to me. When he mentioned its the drummers next week they did the same all in great humour. For a laugh he said the guitarists was in 2 weeks and off they went again and then Lynn's birthday was May and off they went and finally our singer Mikey even got a "Happy Birthday" too because they thought he was missing out.

The whole night was like this. Not a lot of dancing first set but when we came back 2nd set they had obviously been lubricated at the bar and were up from first song. When we joked about what song we were doing next they responded by cheers or disappointed "awe's" when we didn't do an Osmond ballad, but just a great fun night. One of the best nights i've had as far as audience participation goes.

Great positive comments at the end of the night too. Had one guy come over at the end and asked if i was the bass player and when i confirmed yes he said it was the first time he'd seen a bass player play the proper Jean Genie bassline with all  the runs and fills. He was a guitarist himself. 

Organiser told us we were the best band they'd ever had in the club and those that never showed will regret not being there, but we have been asked to come back with date to be confirmed.

We even had the honour of the amazing DJ Celebrity in Scotland Mr Tom Russell in the audience and at the end he couldn't be any more complimentary. "Band was very tight, obviously well rehearsed and compared to other Glam bands i've seen, far superior." Our Sweet covers were superb but unlike tribute bands we were covering just about every Glam band.

His mate has provisionally booked us for Jan 2026. When we asked about the venue and if PA and lights etc his reply was "i want you to replicate exactly what you have tonight" so i'm guessing he liked it 

1 hour drive home so not too bad. Was home for 2am. 

Usual gear. Sandberg VM4 into Shure wireless, Keeley comp, Mesa TT800 and Mesa SW210/115 cabs, platform boots as standard. 

Dave

Not from last night's gig but the boots can be seen.

 

Nice gig Dave.

 

I need one of those.

 

Do you have to lace up those boots.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

On 27/03/2025 at 09:03, cheddatom said:

After a very long 2 months off in the hope my ribs would recover, we were finally back out last weekend. The Gifford Arms in Wolverhampton on Saturday was sold out. I was hoping for the same comedy sound guy as the last time we played there but unfortunately it was a thoroughly pleasant and competent engineer. Still, at least we sounded good but I don't have a lot to rant about!

 

Sunday was the Hope & Anchor on a lineup supporting The Vapors. We were on at 5:30 pm which seemed very early to me but it was absolutely packed in there! I was forced to use the awful house kit. Obviously the bass drum couldn't stay still which forced a couple of errors. Thankfully my bandmates were tolerant of it this time! We went down a storm and we've seen merch sales online trickling in from London since. Result!

 

It is so, so good to be back out gigging, even if it does still hurt a bit.

 

Photo of my beautiful cymbals set up above the absolutely terrible house kit at the Hope & Anchor... Mini rant then: Imagine your band leader telling you that you have to use the house bass, and the A string tuner keeps slipping. You knew it was going to be terrible, you knew you could swap for your own gear in plenty of time, and yet you're forced to go with it due to others' ignorance. The band leader, the promoter, the sound guy, the headline act... everyone thinks it's fine to force the drummer to play sh*t drums but you're never forced to use a sh*t bass are you?!

 

 

Nice cymbals.

 

I use to be very particular about backlined bass amps. At this stage of the game for me, anything that makes it easier to get in and out of a gig, I'll take it.

 

Daryl

[SICbass]

43 minutes ago, Bluewine said:

 

Nice cymbals.

 

I use to be very particular about backlined bass amps. At this stage of the game for me, anything that makes it easier to get in and out of a gig, I'll take it.

 

Daryl

Yep, I noticed about ten years ago when buying my first class D amp, a Genz Benz, that when looking at spec, my eye started immediately dropping to the bottom of the list. What does this sucker weigh?

[dmccombe7]

5 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Nice gig Dave.

 

I need one of those.

 

Do you have to lace up those boots.

 

Daryl

The boots have zips but you need to adjust the laces for the top few holes depending on whether you tuck your sparkly trousers inside or have your wide flares on the outside. They are a bit sore on the feet and legs if you need to stand in one place on stage for 2-3hrs. Ok if you can move about tho.

Dave

[mikebass456]

9 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

The boots have zips but you need to adjust the laces for the top few holes depending on whether you tuck your sparkly trousers inside or have your wide flares on the outside. They are a bit sore on the feet and legs if you need to stand in one place on stage for 2-3hrs. Ok if you can move about tho.

Dave

Respect. 🤘😎

[dmccombe7]

14 minutes ago, mikebass456 said:

Respect. 🤘😎

The things we do for bands 

Dave

[Woodinblack]

Well, a new venue has opened up recently in our town, it is under a resteraunt, quite low ceilings, low lighting, little groups of chairs, very tastefully decorated, the sort of place you would go to meet someone for having an affair or something - looks like a little jazz club, very cute. I can imagine a sultry singer in the corner, with a guy on a double bass and a drummer, with a bass, snare and tom playing with brushes some gentle music.

 

Only they didn't get that, they got us!

 

I was a bit worried about this one as it really didn't seem like a good fit, but a gig is a gig and they booked us. Turned up earlier than others, started loading in, at least there is room out the front to go straight in (can't park there, but there is a car park round the corner, but loading is fine). 

We had the whole of the window area, so had to wait for the drummer to set up to see how much room we had, had a couple of feet between a monstera and the cymbals, enough for me. The only hard part of the setup was getting in each others way and the fact there were already people there who wanted to chat.

 

But the place filled up with quite a few people we knew, and some people who came specifically to hear us, including one woman who plays bowling in the room below where we practiced on thursday night so though we sounded good!

Started off quite quiet and went down well. The drummer got louder and faster through the gig but not much you can do about that. After much discussion we didn't really change the set list that much, brought back some older ones, couldn't do the newer ones as a lack of practice over the last few months.

But all in all, a good gig, people seemed to enjoy it, the staff liked it, and after years of declining venues in town, its nice to see one come back.