At the last rehearsal with my band (hard rock) we entered a new place, beeing not really familiar with the amps there, and after that my peeps told me that they didn't hear the bass very well and asked me to spin the volume a bit higher next time, but I thought that I sounded pretty cool in the mix. Has anyone experienced stuff like that too? :eek:

As a sidenote, I think that I should'da have just boosted the mids, and not increase the overall volume, but that's another matter.

Yeah, it was weird.
Until my last gig, everything we did was indoors (with this new band) and was either in a room, or up against a wall or in a corner stage.
A couple weeks ago though, we were outdoors and up on a platform with nothing around us.
I thought I was playing rather loudly - at least what I heard standing right in front of the cabinet. It was about as loud as I remember hearing before. However, when our keyboardist went out for the soundcheck, she said she could not hear me.
That was reeeeally weird.
There was another thread here last week that explained that if there we no walls or ceiling, or supporting reinforcement, that one would lose up to about 75% or the volume.
That was new to me, makes sense, and explains it for my case.

no.

yes

Not really, I like to be loud enough. :D That is to me having a volume that is in balance with the drums, and a good EQ setting that isn't intruding on the other instruments' territories.

I know a professional bassist who hardly ever uses more than the 100 watts his Ampeg B100R has to offer, and a guitarist I know has complained to me about the small rig of his and that it's just not powerful enough for their pop gigs....

only in soundchecks, where my amp is left at bedroom volume from when I use it at home.

ive frequently been asked to lower down. but the thing is if i lower down too much i cant hear myself clearly, and with distorted guitars i like to crank it up

Well, I've been asked to turn up on several occasions. I only use a 500 watt Bergie 210 and I only have to compete with a guitarist's half stack. I'm usually cranking it near full, so at that point I add mids and cut lows instead of turning up.

i used to, then i got an aguilar 4x10 and aguilar 500sc

sometimes...

it's weird because I like it very very loud behind me... trouser-leg-flappingly loud, but sometimes even I think it's a bit too loud to get a balanced mix... and even then I sometimes get asked to turn up

most of the time i'm asked to turn down though :D

ive been asked to turn up a couple of times. mostly by our drummer

ive been asked to turn up a couple of times. mostly by our drummer

Same here, I was surprised too cause I didn't think everyone was really relying on me for timing as much as the drummer. Crazy.

All the time. I like to be very conservative with volume. That just puzzles some people

I frequently get asked to turn up when playing reggae. I have found that, with the medium-sized rooms we usually play, that the bass sounds better when coming from one source (my amp on stage), rather than also coming through the PA. So it is loud. The leader of the band likes to have the bass LOUD for reggae, and who am I to question?:cool:

yes, much more often than to turn down. Usually by the drummer, but sometimes the singer... :eek:

Yeah I've been asked to turn up or turn down. I don't stress that much.

When I worried, was during 2 seperate rehearsals, when the guys said "we all need to turn down"...

..."Oh, except you".

That worries me :)

All the time. I like to be very conservative with volume. That just puzzles some people

+1, I tend to be more conservative as well. Especially when I am playing Sunday worship. I am not in the monitors with exception of the drummer's so I adjust my level so it sounds balanced on stage to me with the worship leaders vocal and guitar monitor. Our worship leader will normally turn around and ask me to turn up my volume.

Yes. I am often asked to turn up.

When I played with my progressive trio, I was asked to turn up pretty much on a nightly basis.

In a jazz setting, I think I've been asked to turn up maybe once.

Of course, many a time. I've also been asked to turn down, many a time.

It's hard to gauge how loud you're playing when you're stood next to your amp, I rely on my bandmates to let me know if there's a volume issue, and I do the same for them.

Turn up the bass? Never heard that one. :)

With my heavy metal band,2 distorted guitars and a loud drummer I am always asked to turn down,even when I can't hear myself. :p

BTW we recorded a gig of ours and watched it later.Sometimes songs are only drum'n bass,thats why they are asking me turn down. :D

It's only happened to me once that I remember. I was playing for the youth worship at my guitarist's church, and normally they run their bass DI, but I brought my amp and prefered to run it without the DI, since the PA in the youth room, although large, didn't have subs. I could hear myself on stage fine, but the soundguy said I was free to turn up. I looked over at him and said "I've been playing bass for eight years, and I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone tell me to turn up before today."

I was asked at our last gig to turn up...and I play guitar!:eek:

Yes.

ive been asked to turn up a couple of times. mostly by our drummer+1
If the time-keepers ain't tight, EVERYBODY :crying:

I usually get the turn it up from the patrons, but doing so usually buries the drummer. We don't mic him because he is a hard hitter and we run our own sound most of the time. I have some presets that I use that will fill the room. One has a killer phase that sounds like a jet engine when I am trilling or ending a song. I like it loud, but don't want to bury the rest of the talent in the band. We usually get a decent mix. Most people that want me to turn up are just intrigued by seeing 2 hands on the neck and flurries of notes. They are sick people!

actually,the ones who tell me to turn my volume down are bass players who dont like the distortion i cause because of the volume but my band members want to hear the bass a lot because they like the weird stuff i do and they hate bass players who can barely be heard\bass players that dont make anything interesting in the songs they play

Yep, It was the first time I'd ever gigged with an all-tube amp.

I'd turned up loud enough to very easily hear myself anywhere on stage
(loud rock band/PA was voc-kick drum only/no sound man) When asked, several people
in the audience said "good mix", but the bass could be a little louder...:eek: (I'd never heard this before)

Its happened a few times since, and I had just the opposite results when I played quality solid state amps for over 15 years. (couldn't hear myself on stage while I was already to loud for the room)

Coincidence...I don't think so.

I usually play very, and I mean very, loud. So I always get into a lot of arguments with my bandmates and our engineer. Last show we had I decided to skip all the crap and put the volume in my amp in a moderate setting. So we start the soundcheck and my engineer yells somthing like: "OK Klauun!! You made your point, NOW TURN YOURSELF UP!!!!" :D

Yes,quite a bit.
I know what I'm playing and I find myself keeping my volume low as to hear the guitar player better but mostly to lock in with the drummer.
I try to keep a vise grip on the bass drum.

I was in a band once that used to tell me to turn down. They were old...

The only time was the first time I played with other musicians.... I showed up with my shiny new SWR Workingman's 12 combo, and of course was completely drowned out by the guitar player's 30 watt Fender blues combo and the drummer... The drummer kept asking me to turn up, and I had it cranked... I had gotten my first bass a couple of weeks prior, and was originally going to buy a 30 watt Randall combo.... but then I decided to SPLURGE and get a 120 watt 1x12 SWR Workingman's 12, thinking "at least i'll be set for awhile"... little did I know...

i find it hilarious that in my band the singer keeps telling me to turn it down, but our lead guitarist will interject saying. "no way! turn it up! i want more bass!!" its good fun ;)

I'm pretty sure I get asked to turn up every gig.

I've been asked both to turn up and to turn down many times over :)

Goes to show that they should just let me handle the volume as I'm the only one who seems to be able to know when I'm good in the mix...

I play in the Staffordshire Youth Jazz Orchestra, and the guitarists and me and the other bass player are constantly being asked to turn down by the conductor at rehearsals. Once, we all just turned our amps off, and pretended to play. He didn't realise, and at the end of the piece, told us that the volume had been perfect... :eek:

Then, for one piece, he actually asked us to TURN UP! OMG! I asked if we could have it writing to prove that he had actually said it. :ninja: :D

Yes , very often acutally , im pretty lazy when it comes to volume. I try to find a good mix. I also think it is very important asa musician to listen to others and dont like to have "ego volume". It is mostly drummers who wants louder bass , but we often rehearse with monitor systems so its no big problem.