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Absolutely buried at outdoor gig

#162
Marko 1 said:
What kind of magic do the engineers there have that others don't?
Do they maybe just voice the cabs with less lows which helps with volume?
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As I understand it, Barefaced wasn't designed to a price point. Unfortunately some cabs are.

Barefaced get their "magic" from well designed (by Alex) drivers and properly designed (by Alex) cabs. A bass player who wanted to build cabs that get it right.

If you go to the Barefaced site there are magazine articles and videos by Alex, explaining everything.
 
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#163
Well, pleased to report that I got my outdoor gig situation figured out. We played another private party last night with similar circumstances. We were able to spend more time getting our PA and sub figured out - but the game changer was adding more speaker surface area for my monitoring. Specifically - and I realize this is a gamble – I ran a Bag End S15 under my Walkabout. This presented a 2.67 load, but I was able to keep the master volume at 9-10 o'clock. She ran loud, clear and cool for three hours. It's a sweet little rig that fits in my trunk. Next outdoor gig in three weeks. Looking forward to it!
 
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#164
gtirard said:
Yes, but some of us seem to regret the recent trend, even on huge shows, to over-power the subs, not because the sound guy is amateur (obvioulsy), but maybe because it sounds more pleasant to younger ears. I'm sure these guys know what they are doing, but it's not my personal taste. I'm getting old.
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I abhor excessive subs, and much prefer to hear a mix suitable for a high quality recording.
 
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#165
My previous band used a single Carvin 18 powered sub (crossover at 120 or 80hz which those choices are useless imo) My drummer was pretty well versed in sound mixing. We experimented one day with just a kick drum and my bass rig. We had a active crossover in the signal and found that crossing at 200hz provided a great balance with the kick and my four string bass. Plenty of kick thump and I could hear all my notes clearly not just the first position notes. This might help some of you hopefully.. it worked out very good for us including yard type outdoor parties… key was keeping the band from turning up too much and letting the gear do its job.

edit: yes we routed this subw to aux.
 
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#166
Big String said:
My previous band used a single Carvin 18 powered sub (crossover at 120 or 80hz which those choices are useless imo) My drummer was pretty well versed in sound mixing. We experimented one day with just a kick drum and my bass rig. We had a active crossover in the signal and found that crossing at 200hz provided a great balance with the kick and my four string bass. Plenty of kick thump and I could hear all my notes clearly not just the first position notes. This might help some of you hopefully.. it worked out very good for us including yard type outdoor parties… key was keeping the band from turning up too much and letting the gear do its job.
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I find running aux-fed subs prevents things like microphones from being routed to subs in the first place, and makes it much easier to balance tops with subs for those who prefer high fidelity to low frequency mush.
 
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#167
Big String said:
My previous band used a single Carvin 18 powered sub (crossover at 120 or 80hz which those choices are useless imo) My drummer was pretty well versed in sound mixing. We experimented one day with just a kick drum and my bass rig. We had a active crossover in the signal and found that crossing at 200hz provided a great balance with the kick and my four string bass. Plenty of kick thump and I could hear all my notes clearly not just the first position notes. This might help some of you hopefully.. it worked out very good for us including yard type outdoor parties… key was keeping the band from turning up too much and letting the gear do its job.

edit: yes we routed this subw to aux.
Click to expand...

Just to ask.......when routing to sub was the kick and bass also being sent to the main speakers and not just into the subs?

There have been other post on similar topics where people were only sending the bass, kick, ect to the sub woofer and not into the main top boxes.
200hz is kind of a high cross over for an 18 sub
 
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#170
Big String said:
My previous band used a single Carvin 18 powered sub (crossover at 120 or 80hz which those choices are useless imo) My drummer was pretty well versed in sound mixing. We experimented one day with just a kick drum and my bass rig. We had a active crossover in the signal and found that crossing at 200hz provided a great balance with the kick and my four string bass. Plenty of kick thump and I could hear all my notes clearly not just the first position notes. This might help some of you hopefully.. it worked out very good for us including yard type outdoor parties… key was keeping the band from turning up too much and letting the gear do its job.

edit: yes we routed this subw to aux.
Click to expand...
Indeed - we routed just the kick and my bass to the active sub. It wasn't working too hard, honestly. I think the crossover was initially set around 200, but I'm not sure where we ended up after the first few songs (during which we rotate out two members to check levels from the audience).
 
#171
burgerdj said:
Indeed - we routed just the kick and my bass to the active sub. It wasn't working too hard, honestly. I think the crossover was initially set around 200, but I'm not sure where we ended up after the first few songs (during which we rotate out two members to check levels from the audience).
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Were the kick and bass also going to the main top speakers as well? IF not that is a big problem.
 
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#173
burgerdj said:
Indeed - we routed just the kick and my bass to the active sub. It wasn't working too hard, honestly. I think the crossover was initially set around 200, but I'm not sure where we ended up after the first few songs (during which we rotate out two members to check levels from the audience).
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That's not a great way to amplify either bass or kick IMO.
 
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#178
burgerdj said:
Indeed, it's a work in progress for us. I'm certainly no FOH expert - and have routed the good reliable information here over to the members of the band who run our sound. Will report again in a few weeks.
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Do the band a favor and bring in someone who knows PA and have them help go through the system. Plan an afternoon to set up outside.
At a show is not the time to try to figure how to use the system.
 
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#179
LHbassist said:
I saw Queen at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan, in 1976 or so. NO subs, and it was amazing. Loud, and clear, and I heard every instrument like it was on their albums. Same for Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, Mountain, Dr. John, Steppenwolf, Van Morrison, and on, and on.
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My memory of concerts in the '80's (The Police, Rush, Genesis, R.E.M. etc. at the New Haven Coliseum, a big hockey arena) was ear bleed volume that was so painful it took a while to actually start enjoying the show. I'm amazed I didn't develop tinnitus from those shows, and I wasn't a big-time concertgoer. I haven't heard that sound level at any concert in years, and I'm grateful for that (even if the mix might have been better then).
 
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#180
Mike Caldwell said:
Do the band a favor and bring in someone who knows PA and have them help go through the system. Plan an afternoon to set up outside.
At a show is not the time to try to figure how to use the system.
Click to expand...
Best advice yet.
 
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