live sound

I'm looking at getting IEMs and an IEM wireless setup. What is the Sansamp/ P bass / Mesa Subway of IEMs and IEM wireless? Usually I do a ton of research and try out all these products, but honestly I just want to get something that's tried and true, reliable, battle tested. I would like...

I’ve been playing with a cover band for a few years now and we decided it was time to upgrade the PA, as we’re starting to play in some nicer places. (We run our own sound) The two other guitar players are running in ears and a quad cortex through the PA, they asked me if I wanted to go amp...

Looking for some advice, I got some feedback from our new lead guitar player that my tone could use some more low end, which was a first for me. His quote was something like this "Hey man, I feel like your tone could use a bit more low end, it's sounding a little bit thin" I haven't gotten...

I find myself running the PA at most of my bar band's gigs. I have a SoundCraft Ui24R digital mixer and we're all on in-ears, but most of the locations we frequent have analogue mixing boards that go to a power amp and to house speakers. One of the difficulties I have is trying not to hit and...

I have been playing for close to 2 years now and I have heard terms like "in the pocket" or "locked in". I was listening back to some recordings from a gig I did last night and it sounded decent to me but I don't feel like I really get the concept of "pocket" and I was hoping some of you could...

Hello my TB friends. I just found myself getting into live sound for a small band. I have Mackie powered speakers and I picked up a Zoom Livetrak L8 mixer. Very much a different kind of mixer than I am used to. Anyway, I kind of get most of the features of the mixer, however, the monitor outputs...

What's your preferred go to method for a foolproof bass tone going direct with IEMs/monitors into a PA? I've been trying all sorts of setups for my signal chain and it's always either too complicated or seems like it's lacking in some respect. In this group (cover band) we do our own sound so...

I'm gearing up to develop a bass combo with the goal of optimizing for playing quietly with a big sound and keeping up with medium/small gigs (no PA support). With that in mind, I wanted to do some "research" here first: What is your home rig and how do you dial it in? What model of bass do...

I was just uploading a clip of our band playing this past weekend and I thought "man my tone sounds good here". After that I was curious what some of the older clips sounded like, so I went down memory lane and checked out some clips from a few months ago. I switched over to bass from guitar...

Heyo! So I’m aware that normally, loopers go at the end of your chain, does this still apply when using a DI/pre/distortion? (Darkglass Alpha/Omega) From what I’ve seen/heard loopers belong at the end of you chain so they capture everything you’d want looped, but I’ve also heard DI/pre goes at...

This weekend my band played a venue that is known to have a bit of an odd setup. The stage area has two XLR hookups (mains - left and right) that go to the house which is a whole bunch of smaller-ish satellite speakers spread out over the bar and terrace that the overall volume is controlled...

Hey, all. Got a question for you. I'm in a trio, with drums and Hammond B3 (the real deal, with Leslie). I play my 6 string bass through a Markbass Ninja 500 and a Line 6 HX Stomp XL. So, in this trio (which is instrumental interesting takes on Grateful Dead tunes), the B3 does most of the...

Any ideas on the bass players sound and settings? Tips to play this style? To me i gather he is playing light, mid scooped, possibly front pickup favored? Flatwounds maybe? and some compression. Just curious! Second song with Billy Preston kinda sounded like there was an octave pedal in the...

We are a Minnesota based band that plays the upper midwest but we have been asked to play a private party in Pittsburgh next July. We need to find some local sound/light production. Our local guy is quoting a huge fee (as you'd expect to haul our normal setup out to Pittsburgh) so we'd like to...

I often have difficulty hearing my own voice on stage, and I usually practice and record with headphones. So, I'm thinking of buying an IEM for performing on stage, hoping it will help me have more confidence in my playing. A friend recommended that I go to a headphone store and try them out...

I am looking to buy an amp and cab to pair with a Nash PB-63. I have been running a Fender Rumble 500 combo for a while, and it produces enough volume for my purposes. However, I recently got to run through Hartke HD410 speakers (w/ Darkglass Microtubes Head), and unfortunately for my wallet, I...

So I’ve been peaking around talk bass for a while and usually find the answer to most of my questions, but something I come back to every so often is do I need to upgrade my bass amp for live performances? Not to go into my life story, but I’ve spent the last couple years upgrading my gear from...

Does anyone have experience with the Sennheiser XSW IEMs for bass? Looking online it says the response range is 45hz to 15khz which pretty much restricts anything from a low B (~31hz) up to even a Low F (~43hz) I called Sennheiser and they said it's a straight drop-off, not a taper so it just...

So, I have been using some generic universal fit KS7 buds (Amazon "budget" models) for a while. While I do not feel any discomfort and do not dislike them, their purpose was to decide if in-ears would work for me without breaking the bank or committing to anything fancy. I have decided that I...

I'd like your opinions on playing through a Quality Amp and Cab vs DI to PA. Most of the gigs I play with my Party Cover Band are venues with House Sound and a Sound Engineer. Every other month or so we provide PA for small/medium gig. Our PA is of mediocre Quality, Class D Poweres 12s and 15"...

Hi all, So I read some comments around the DarkRay stating Compression is supposed to be first in the Signal Chain, while others have stated Distortion is Compression and in the case of the DarkRay, Compression in front of the Distortion is not necessary. I particularly really like what I...

I've twice experienced what might be a "wolf tone" and they were when performing with venues' PAs. When I'd play F# on the D string it jarringly sounded like the instrument played a second, different note simultaneously. It didn't happen every time I played F#, nor for the entirely of the set...

Are there any other bass players who own one or several Precision basses and love them for their great (recording) qualities but still favour Jazz basses for live playing (for versatility reasons)? I have a 4-string & a 5-string Precision both strung with TI flats. I love how they sound and sit...

For those of you that do your own live sound and are good at it, is there a resource (web videos/tutorials or book) that you used to understand the basics and get good at it? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Hi all, TL,DR: Would you prefer source audio pedals controlled by midi or multi fx units for a pedal board setup? I'm looking for input from those of you who have tried one or more of the units in the title, specifically I want to know how people feel about multiple source audio pedals...

I'll be playing some reggae and R&B tunes with a quartet in August. We've only got one singer and so I've offered to do backup vocals to push myself out of my comfort zone a little bit. Some of the tunes we're doing have three-part backup vocal harmonies, and I've come to realize that I can use...

I am playing bass in a new church band and my in-ear monitor was cracking and garbled in my ear but the house sound is great. i bought new in-ear Westone 30 monitors with 3 drivers thinking that was my problem but it is just as bad as my old set. I play a Cirrus 5-string. Any suggestions?

In many situations gigging we hire a sound guy where one isn’t provided. I like a good loud stage volume as loud as the drums and only want the volume behind me and don’t like anything in the monitors. Many times the sound guy says he doesn’t even need to put bass through the PA. Should I have...

My six-member old-time acoustic band is back to rehearsing and we have three gigs lined up through June. The nature of our upcoming gigs requires us to use a PA, but I don't want to mic every individual voice and instrument. I'm thinking about setting up 3 or 4 condenser mics strategically in...

I'm a live musician (singer, guitarist) and have been using IEM only in the last few years. Before that I never used anything. My ears have suffered because of it.... but I hate IEMs. I feel like I'm in a fish bowl and it cuts the communication with the crowd and band members. It takes forever...

Not strictly Live Sound but this is about triggering lights directly with sound. I use one of those inexpensive Chauvet lighting controllers which can use its internal microphone to pulse DMX signals to music. But often I find the music level is either too quiet or too loud, resulting in poor...

Hello, I'm entering the world of live and recorded metal bass and I need help on how to EQ it. I've looked for threads that give some advice on specific frequencies such as this one Metal Bassists - How to get your Dream Sound (and do it for less than ,000.00) but nothing focused specifically...

Hey all, Been struggling with how to move forward with my live sound and wanted to call on the group's advice. I've been running a mesa d800 into an avatar 212 and it's been a pretty solid setup but during a recent recording session I discovered there's a small amount of buzzing in the cabinet...

Hi Guys, Noob questions time: I've just received a brand new Radial JDI for a ridiculously low price. I only play active 5 string basses and occasionally synth bass (Novation BSII, Sub 37). I also recently acquired a SansAmp BDDI which I'm very happy with. Other than these two devices I...

Quick question about the Palmer speaker simulator. My live rig currently is a sansamp rbi into a compressor running direct to the PA. After some experimentation, I’ve decided that I like the sound of a mic’d cab much better with the sansamp. Will the Palmer accurately capture the character of a...

Seems like a lot of what have been traditionally rack-mounted gear has now gradually transitioned on to the pedal board, and amp heads have now become smaller due to class D. Cabinets are getting lighter too. I more than enjoy seeing our equipment get lighter and smaller, but I still enjoy the...

I was listening go this Tommy Guerrero song and i liked the bass tone. ‎No Time for Time by Tommy Guerrero I assume he's got a very fast attack on the comp as I can't hear much attack. By my terrible ears, it's not overly bassy, but not much treble. If i had to put it in esoteric terms, it's...

When you play live with PA support for bass and drums, how do you and your bandmates set up amplifiers on stage? Does everyone orient their amps forward, towards the audience? Does anyone do a "side fill" setup where you point your amp across the stage? Do your guitarists do the same thing...

Anyone use drum triggers live with there band? We just did some recordings and the drums triggered sound so much bigger and cleaner than acoustic drums. I see Roland now makes a trigger that has a built in mic and sends two outputs a mic and a trigger. I was thinking of adding this to our...