Why do I even own an amp?

[georgestrings]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

True, but in the spirit of the season, I'll admit that some bass players are completely clueless that they're blowing out a venue even if they take it out of the PA.

Yeah, I've seen that - with guitarists and drummers, too... That's one of the many reasons why I love running wireless - I always get out front during soundcheck to see what things sound like...

Like the saying goes - if you're hearing yourself really well on stage, you're probably too loud... I play just loud enough to be able to hear what I'm playing - which also includes adding in a bit more mids than I care for, rather than jacking up the volume - if I'm having trouble hearing my notes...


- georgestrings

[Zonked]

I think what many guys in bands don't understand is that when you play a bigger venues, there is no way in hell that you can tell what your rig sounds like out in the audience. It may sound perfect to you on stage but totally sucks out front.

I am the bass player and soundman in my band. The other guys don't know $h!t about the PA. It is MY job as soundman to make sure that the band as a whole, sounds as good as possible out front. We are getting paid pretty decent money, and our reputation is on the line each and every time. WE (the whole band) better sound good if we want to keep working.

Just this past Saturday, my band played a wedding in a pretty big hall with a full stage and about 300 people. First I made sure the guys were confortable as possible with monitor mix on stage. Then I worked on the mix for the audience. If the bass drum is boomy, I will EQ that out and make any other adjustments needed. The guitar may be to bright so I will deal with that. etc. I will also work on the vocals and set all levels so that the sound is balanced and sounds the best possible out in the audience. It is very unlikley that the sound coming from stage doesn't have to be adjusted for the betterment of the whole mix. The guys trust me and we are getting many compliments for the music and the sound.

I did sound a few time for a few local bands but got tired of stubborn players who would refuse to work with the PA and the room. It was like it was a competition to get attention in the band. Guys would bring rigs that would overpower the room and the PA, and told me not to mess with their tone out front. I first thought that the "ME" mentality was a maturity and experiece factor but found out that it is not true. There are many older and "experienced" guys playing their instruments and not the song. They make sure they stand out. Everything else is secondary. I wasn't getting paid enought to deal with that. Just my two centavos.

[modulusman]

Originally Posted by backtobass

I'm also both bassist and soundman for our band when we play small venues.
We all go direct, guitars and bass. No amps on stage at all. All use in ear buds except drummer with a monitor. In fact I'm now agonizing over my next bass purchase because I know that however the sound of the bass itself is, is pretty much how its going to sound.

As far as the volume wars, they are over.

Of course, it helps that I'm running a Mackie 1608 board where I can have up to 6 individual monitor mixes.

Now you just have to worry about monitor volume wars. The fact that any a**hat in the band that has an I-pad can adjust his own monitor level isn't a plus for me unless you are all using IEMs.

[Zonked]

Originally Posted by modulusman

Now you just have to worry about monitor volume wars. The fact that any a**hat in the band that has an I-pad can adjust his own monitor level isn't a plus for me unless you are all using IEMs.

That new Makie digital wireless mixer does look interesting, but I will wait till they work out any bugs and see what other companies offer shortly. The guys in my band wouldn't need their own I-Pad. They would just have to ask me for what they needed in their monitor mix, and as long as it was do-able and didn't mess up the mix, I would try to give them what they wanted.