Bass Effects Live

[ramrod]

I wanted to ask about using effects live. I've read that you should send a clean "dry" DI to your sound man. What about if you are using effects and want them to be sent to FOH? How do you handle this?

Ramrod

 

[SteveC]

I do it this way:

Bass --> TU2 -->other effects -->DI box -->FOH and amp

This way my basic tone and effects gets to the FOH and I can EQ my amp for stage monitoring as I want without effecting the FOH sound - which is/needs to be different.

 

[TL5]

Like SteveC, my signal path
bass->pedal board-> ART TubeMP used as a DI/pre-amp.

If I use IEM's the signal goes to FOH only. If I use an amp for monitoring I send one signal to FOH, another to the amp from the TubeMP

 

[ramrod]

Thanks Steve,
so you go through your pre-EQ DI?

 

[bassman314]

Depends on my rig..

for my micro-rig, I have my DI between my amp and my SansAmp. FOH gets the XLR, and the amp (a Roland Keyboard amp I share with the drummer) gets the 1/4"

on my main rig, when I use it in house, I use the direct-outs from the amps, so I can get the tone from my Pre-amps. I don't play too much with my tone once it's all set, so it works.

 

[Joe P]

I wanted to ask about using effects live. I've read that you should send a clean "dry" DI to your sound man. What about if you are using effects and want them to be sent to FOH? How do you handle this?

Ramrod

"Read that you should"? I'd say that you 'should' only if you trust the soundman, and both understand what he's doing with both signals! Else - if it were a tech I didn't know, I'd try to keep most decisions concerning my tone out of his hands.

Joe

 

[4Mal]

You really have two choices.

1. send separate dry & wet signals - this of course means 2 DI's

2. combine the dry & wet and send that

Option 1 is best as it offers the sound guy separate EQ / Gain Structures for dry and wet. If you talk with him up front about what you are doing that helps.

Option 2 is what I'm doing currently. My effects are in the eff loop of a Radial Bassbone, I'll send the DI from that. I have an EQ in the loop so I can compnesate for some of the body that the effects suck out.

Effects for me are mostly about a light synthy texture that I get combining Env Filter, Compression and sub-Octave. the env filter tend to remove a lot of body, the comp & sub-octave are my way of putting it back in ...

 

[MakiSupaStar]

"Read that you should"? I'd say that you 'should' only if you trust the soundman, and both understand what he's doing with both signals! Else - if it were a tech I didn't know, I'd try to keep most decisions concerning my tone out of his hands.

Joe

VERY good point.

IMHO, you need to have a dry sound filling it out. Makes it sound fatter. I'm able to do this straight through my preamp. I'm playing through an Ampeg SVT-BSP which has two channels (one dirty one clean). There are FX loops through both channels, but I hook it up through my dirty channel which I can switch on and off with a pedal. The clean channel is always blending into the sound. The amount of each channel is determined by the volume of each channel. If I'm playing through my qtron then I pull the volume on my dirty channel down a little, but if I playing through my synth I plop it up a little. This can be emulated with a DI into your PA or whatever. BUT whatever you do make sure YOU have control over your tone, not some brainless sound guy.