Bassist stage placement?

[vvvmmm]

Stage left is by the hi-hat of a right handed drummer. Stage left (or right) is from the perspective of the performer facing the audience.

Yes, what is why I stay there, as said - my left ear is already damaged (tinnitus) so the ride and right crash might as well have at it (I never worked with a lefty basher).

That way, I can answer phones and hit on gurrls, always aimin' 'em at the right ear.

 

[wmhill]

High - hat side of the drummer. Yes, I've worked with lefties. Just my preference...

Yep, years ago I played with a lefty drummer. It took me a couple of weeks to decipher the issue. I switched sides and got back to the snare/hi-hat side, problem solved.

 

[non]

stage left. high hat side for right handed drummers.
less headstock damage from bumping into cymbals on cramped stage.

 

[devnulljp]

Also, just to add, I'm not complaining I'm a bit of jackass, got some ego on me. Just strikes me as odd that the engineer, who owns the damn place put me in front. Anyway, what's your take on this, and what's your preferred spot on stage

Sounds like the engineer has his/her eye on you. Check drinks for roofies

 

[dragon68]

Moving the singer away from the drummer isn't conventional, but it might be reasonable.

In one of my current bands, the female lead singer is staged to be the center of attention. But although she sounds like a belter when recorded or through FOH, her unamplified voice is not actually loud. And the drummer in that band is a former touring pro who plays with a lot of stage charisma and sings great harmonies, but he's a fairly hard-hitting drummer.

Given that set of strengths and limitations, we have the drummer stage left, singing over his hi-hats to the room, which not only makes him more visible but also reduces the amount of drum bleed into the singer's mic. Double win.

Sounds kind of like Night Ranger. Jack Blades (bass, center stage) and Kelly Keagy (drums, stage left) share vocals. That way, one of the singers is center stage and the other singer is more visible.

They kept this layout when I saw them recently when Fred Curry (formerly of Cinderella) sat in on drums due to Kelly's absence.

 

[Fight4Bottom]

As so many have said, "No rules". My personal preference is to be on the drummer's right. That way, my fingering and his kick drum foot are all in easy sight.

But then again, this is Talk Bass, and what I wrote isn't bass-centric. So I'll amend that to say my personal preference is to have the drummer to my left!

 

[kjp360]

I'd start off by saying that do whatever works for you and your group. There are indeed a few reasons that a non-singing bass player should definitely end up standing dead centre, but you have to dig deep IMHO. People are most interested in watching singers and musicians playing lead/melody instruments. Here's a few I can think of:

• Two ego-maniacal guitar players and/or singers will argue which one of them stands there if you don't.
• Drummer is the lead singer, sings from the back and you are the best looking/most demonstrative/have the best vibe or all of the above.
• There is no singer and you are THE s*!t as stated above.
• The gig is at a bass player convention and/or you are regularly featured on the cover of Bass Player Magazine...and no one has ever heard of the singer.

There may be more reasons...

 

[lbbc]

Front Right of Singer and front left of Drummer (stage set up like Night Ranger). Then wherever I want to be...I'm wireless!

 

[Tnavis]

I'm almost always stage right. I can make eye contact with everybody that way, and can monitor through my amp while still hearing a decent enough mix of everything. There have been plenty of gigs where with dual guitars I've been just to the right of the drums, but on smaller stage plots I always wind up standing in between cymbal stands and it's annoying.

 

[TheDayMan]

I'm a floater. As long as I can have some space in front of my amp and hear myself, I'm happy.

 

[monti2889]

Maybe what I'm about to say has been said, maybe not....I didn't read all the replies....lol
So....as far as "where" you stand on stage, doesn't really matter...as long as you can hear the things you need to hear. Now it's debatable where your rig should be placed. For my band....either side of the drums, I prefer to have a guitar rig (at least space enough to fit one) between the drums and my rig. This helps with keeping the sound balanced and avoids the volume from my rig resonating on the drum kit. Otherwise, we want to keep a small amount of distance (3-6inches min) from walls as this avoids coupling your cabs. On the same note, you'll generally want to avoid corners, for similar reasons. Ok, so...back to where you stand...if your drummer is a hat timer, and your playing style requires that you hear the click of the hat....you should stand so that is a prominent sound you hear. If your drummer is a kick timer...then stand so you can clearly hear the hit of the kick (or be able to see the resohead). With all that said...there are no rules, where you should be....just suggestions.

 

[Axtman]

I have, on occasion, been placed off stage because there was not enough room on the stage. ;-) or sometimes I am placed in some dark corner of the stage. ;-)

 

[sotua]

So this has been bugging me for a bit. I'm 18, and have only been in one band, at least as a bassist, and I'm wondering about stage placement. You always see these bands, singer in the middle, drummer in the middle back, guitarist and bassist on either side of the amplifiers.

The thing that's been on my mind however is if those are some sort of rules or just an inaccurate portrayal, just something a few bands do sometimes, because our first gig.

I was front and center on the stage. I'm not the singer, I shared a few words with the audience, but it's a 4 piece type band, it's not my band, the singer/guitarists stood by the sides of the stage, and I was right there in the middle.

Is this a normal thing? I was just told where to go. It's not some genre thing either. It's the kind of band where everybody gets their piece, but it's an equal partnership.

Maybe I'm overthinking it, but is it normal to put a non-singing, barely talking bassist in the lead singer's spot on stage, or is that just some dumb non-rule?

I wouldn't mind. My preferred spot is somewhere to the side of the hihat so I can easily get eye contact with the drummer, but never had any issues being anywhere. Don't sweat it. Play your ass off from any part of the stage and all should be well.

 

[gitfiddl]

I've been trying to remember where and why I wound up where I did when I was actively gigging. Most rock gigs, I would be stage right. In most jazz and big-bands bands, it was stage right as well, and the piano was on that side, too, with the bass in between the piano and the kit. Only three or four gigs/bands do I remember setting up to the drummer's left. Stage left is where I prefer to be as a keyboardist.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

It's honestly up to personal preference and convenience.

My 'personal' space is typically stage right (to the right of the drummer) like many of the bands in the 60s, think 'The Who.' I also find it easier to keep an eye on everyone on stage from that stance. Again, what ever is more comfortable and which ever is easier to keep an eye on the whole stage, you wouldn't want to face away.

Me too! And for the same reasons. And yes, the drummer can watch you and still play the high hat... Besides, which side did Sir Paul stand? Ok, different reason...

 

[lamarjones]

The recommended place for bass is near the hi hat. But we are all adults.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I don't care that much. I just don't like being in the back with the drums to my left way too easy to bang tour headstock into the cymbals.

 

[Nephilymbass]

So this has been bugging me for a bit. I'm 18, and have only been in one band, at least as a bassist, and I'm wondering about stage placement. You always see these bands, singer in the middle, drummer in the middle back, guitarist and bassist on either side of the amplifiers.

The thing that's been on my mind however is if those are some sort of rules or just an inaccurate portrayal, just something a few bands do sometimes, because our first gig.

I was front and center on the stage. I'm not the singer, I shared a few words with the audience, but it's a 4 piece type band, it's not my band, the singer/guitarists stood by the sides of the stage, and I was right there in the middle.

Is this a normal thing? I was just told where to go. It's not some genre thing either. It's the kind of band where everybody gets their piece, but it's an equal partnership.

Maybe I'm overthinking it, but is it normal to put a non-singing, barely talking bassist in the lead singer's spot on stage, or is that just some dumb non-rule?

I stand wherever I want onstage. Never met a decent soundguy or venue owner that opposed that.

As for the frontman being front and center and the drums being behind them.... It's probably the most common thing but there are no rules really. At the local level most soundguys don't want to move all their drum mics and lines to put the drummer wherever they want but normally the bass player is free to stand wherever. Lot of bands set up different ways. Royal blood is just two guys side by side pretty mush. Lot of the bands with keyboard players and stuff like incubus, 311, and deftones will have the drummer off center so the band is more evenly spread out across the stage. Normally when bands I've been in open for a national act if the national act keeps their drums on the stage (which takes up a lot of stage real estate) we spread out evenly across the front. Instead of having the drums center. It's just kind of douche move for the drummer to set up center stage in that situation if there's one guy on one side of the drums with tons of room and two on the other side that are trying not to have a sword fight with their instruments all night

 

[west al]

I always preferred to be to the drummers left side. I just felt more comfortable turning to the right to see center stage.

 

[Real Soon]

If there's no space restriction or house requirements (one venue here puts all bassists stage left due to a giant reflecting wall directly in front of stage right, part of the building's structure), I typically jam myself in stage left if it's a smaller stage, and sometimes stage right if it's big enough that I'm not right next to the drummer. I like drummers, but top priority is not having to dodge cymbal stands as I like to move around during the set. & though it's a bit counterintuitive at first blush, being rear stage left helps keep me moving as I eyeball the band while keeping my bass's neck in the periphery, so overall it's my first choice.

That said, I've played with a trio a couple of times that had me right up front stage right, and that was fun as I had prominent parts and a bit of ambient pedal solo time. Good excuse to put on a nice outfit, too lol