Stage Sound From Venue to Venue

amos · #1 02-13-2008, 07:17 PM

we played again at Dante's (PDX) last night. Their PA sounds great, but on stage everything sounds like ass. A few weeks back we played at the tonic which was a much narrower room and smaller (lower) stage and we could hear everything and everyone clear as a bell. Dante's is a much nicer place with a much bigger stage, however on stage my rig sounds like total ass, very boomy. I tried dialing out some bass and dialing in some mids, and it helped a little bit. I run my amp bridged so I freak out at the most minute flash of clipping, and was frustrated how high my stage volume was from out front compared to on stage.

derrico1 · #2 02-13-2008, 08:02 PM

Not sure that you're asking, but on boomy stages, try moving your cab away from walls and corners, elevating it, tilting it toward your ears, turning down, and/or using a high pass filter to cut the low mud.

amos · #3 02-13-2008, 10:56 PM

I'm just looking for suggestions, as I can't really tell if it was the stage (dante's stage is very nice), or just mainly the room. I used to use a GRAMMA pad back in the day before it got stolen... they are really cheap nowadays maybe that would help.

There is a 50 hz filter on my power amp. I don't really dig the sound of it too much in our practice space, but it may help in a live sutation.

CapnSev · #4 02-13-2008, 11:10 PM

I think that's a common thing among soundguys. Lots of times when I have a bad, or an ok soundman, the house system sounds great (which is the important thing) and the stage mix is terrible. I think it's an easy shortcut and a lot less work to get a good house sound, and not worry about how it sounds on stage.

To me, what separates a good soundman from the rest, is one who will take the time to create a nice mix on stage with the band - then work on the house from there.

MakiSupaStar · #5 02-14-2008, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CapnSev

I think that's a common thing among soundguys. Lots of times when I have a bad, or an ok soundman, the house system sounds great (which is the important thing) and the stage mix is terrible. I think it's an easy shortcut and a lot less work to get a good house sound, and not worry about how it sounds on stage.

To me, what separates a good soundman from the rest, is one who will take the time to create a nice mix on stage with the band - then work on the house from there.

+1. Couldn't agree with you more.

amos · #6 02-14-2008, 12:17 AM

Yeah, we kind of all decided we need to make sure we do a full soundcheck before we start our set, meaning sound checking all of us playing together. Our singer strained himself last night because he oversang on the first song since he couldn't hear himself.

bassplayinggirl · #7 02-14-2008, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CapnSev

I think that's a common thing among soundguys. Lots of times when I have a bad, or an ok soundman, the house system sounds great (which is the important thing) and the stage mix is terrible. I think it's an easy shortcut and a lot less work to get a good house sound, and not worry about how it sounds on stage.

To me, what separates a good soundman from the rest, is one who will take the time to create a nice mix on stage with the band - then work on the house from there.

Amen to that. I like to believe we can trust the soundman to make sure we sound good, but it always seems that our worst gigs are the ones where we can't hear ourselves properly. At the best ones we are confident in what we're doing and how we sound. Duh.

buzzbass · #8 02-14-2008, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amos

we played again at Dante's (PDX) last night. Their PA sounds great, but on stage everything sounds like ass. A few weeks back we played at the tonic which was a much narrower room and smaller (lower) stage and we could hear everything and everyone clear as a bell. Dante's is a much nicer place with a much bigger stage, however on stage my rig sounds like total ass, very boomy. I tried dialing out some bass and dialing in some mids, and it helped a little bit. I run my amp bridged so I freak out at the most minute flash of clipping, and was frustrated how high my stage volume was from out front compared to on stage.

I have a BBE after my pre in the signal chain. That thing is the best/most handy piece of equipment I own. For the most part, I don't even mess with my EQ setting on the pre anymore. The BBE helps me to dial a good tone in for just about any room now. Then I'll just make a subtle tweek, or 2, from the on-board pre on the bass.

modulusman · #9 02-14-2008, 09:11 AM

If the soundman has it sounding good out front then he is doing his job. If you are having problems hearing yourself on stage then you need to let him know. I have played a lot of places where it sounded bad onstage but great out front due to room acoustics.

amos · #10 02-14-2008, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buzzbass

I have a BBE after my pre in the signal chain. That thing is the best/most handy piece of equipment I own. For the most part, I don't even mess with my EQ setting on the pre anymore. The BBE helps me to dial a good tone in for just about any room now. Then I'll just make a subtle tweek, or 2, from the on-board pre on the bass.

Ya man I use the bbe pre w/ sonic maximizer built in - I may have actually had the lo contour up too high, causing the issue I described.

amos · #11 02-14-2008, 04:58 PM

Tuesday night made me wish I had a 2x10 in addition to my 12s. Cause a lot of places my setup works perfectly but I really think at that club I could have used a bit more umph. Hopefully I can find an 1804 to replace my 1602 which will allow me to run three cabs.