Our quartet performed at a venue in which we've wanted to play regularly. Acoustically it's not too good, particularly for those on stage. Very long front to back, narrow from side to side. Much of the stage wall material is corrugated steel.
We are at our loudest there which still isn't too loud. I am not a big advocate of drum miking, & we only request a little PA augmentation for the kick drum. (Vocals went through the house PA & our keyboardist uses a separate self powered monitor)
My rig consists of a Hartke LH-500, an SWR Goliath III (4×10"). In setting up we did a sound check in which I tested my own balance using my 30' cord. While playing with the group standing about 6-7' from my amp the sound was hard, boomy, abrasive, ill-defined in terms of pitch & dampening. I tried boosting treble control, boosting the Foster Horn level, only to find that the treble became brittle, rather than well defined. Notes appeared to overlap & smear in spite of my efforts to mute, dampen, or play stacatto. From a distance these issues didn't seem to be issues, but I didn't have the luxury of being 15-20' out front all night.
When what I put in as a player doesn't appear to come out aurally, I make unnecessary adjustments--all futile & frustrating. I encounter this issue frequently--always when on a hollow stage platform--but not to this extent. I am sure that practicing at loud volumes might help--but I don't have that option. (I saw Chick Correa at the Catalina Bar & Grill the night of his 74th birthday, & Patatucci's sound was more thunderous than I anticipated. I can only imagine the type of internal psychoacoustic adjustments he had to make to stand directly in front of his Aguilar rig & not unravel.
Here is an ancillary problem. The house PAs around here have scooped EQ settings. I saw the red EQ lights form a huge U & would have been shocked if I hadn't heard what it always sounds like when I listen to open mike night. Offensive chesty boom in the vocals & squealing brightness you can't imagine. Nothing natural. Our guitarist can't plug his acoustic guitar into the system without a significant ground hum. He has warned me not to argue with the people setting up the PA, but bad sound means less enthusiasm from the audience.
Normally we play in venues such as the 29 Palms Inn where we are sonic wallpaper, & our PA is simply a Peavy keyboard amp with a 15" woofer and $1.75 piezo tweeter set BEHIND US eliminating the need for a monitor (no feedback issues.) With the EQs set flat & at a distamce the amplification of vocals & acoustic guitar sounds like no ramification at all. Better than anything I've heard, providing that piezo isn't pushed too hard. (To me horns aren't emtirely natural sounding for voice.)
I am seriously thinking of making my own PA consisting of 4 small columns each consisting of a 10" woofer & several piezo tweeter in a series. With 2 of these columns set to the right & left of the drums (maybe a yard or so behind the drums) & the other 2 columns flanking the outsides. I would actually plug into this myself as well as keyboard & vocals. In theory we could be waned from using house PAs & at the mercy of those running them, b) very compact & transportable c) sound dispersed through out the stage so we all can hear each other & know what our balance is.
Some of the higher power Eminence speakers would be great, but much cheaper to just cannibalize my Goliath III cabinet. However Fender will not release the Thiele-Small parameters of those PAS Drivers. That makes building a single optimal size cabinet problematic. Any suggestions or observations?
We are at our loudest there which still isn't too loud. I am not a big advocate of drum miking, & we only request a little PA augmentation for the kick drum. (Vocals went through the house PA & our keyboardist uses a separate self powered monitor)
My rig consists of a Hartke LH-500, an SWR Goliath III (4×10"). In setting up we did a sound check in which I tested my own balance using my 30' cord. While playing with the group standing about 6-7' from my amp the sound was hard, boomy, abrasive, ill-defined in terms of pitch & dampening. I tried boosting treble control, boosting the Foster Horn level, only to find that the treble became brittle, rather than well defined. Notes appeared to overlap & smear in spite of my efforts to mute, dampen, or play stacatto. From a distance these issues didn't seem to be issues, but I didn't have the luxury of being 15-20' out front all night.
When what I put in as a player doesn't appear to come out aurally, I make unnecessary adjustments--all futile & frustrating. I encounter this issue frequently--always when on a hollow stage platform--but not to this extent. I am sure that practicing at loud volumes might help--but I don't have that option. (I saw Chick Correa at the Catalina Bar & Grill the night of his 74th birthday, & Patatucci's sound was more thunderous than I anticipated. I can only imagine the type of internal psychoacoustic adjustments he had to make to stand directly in front of his Aguilar rig & not unravel.
Here is an ancillary problem. The house PAs around here have scooped EQ settings. I saw the red EQ lights form a huge U & would have been shocked if I hadn't heard what it always sounds like when I listen to open mike night. Offensive chesty boom in the vocals & squealing brightness you can't imagine. Nothing natural. Our guitarist can't plug his acoustic guitar into the system without a significant ground hum. He has warned me not to argue with the people setting up the PA, but bad sound means less enthusiasm from the audience.
Normally we play in venues such as the 29 Palms Inn where we are sonic wallpaper, & our PA is simply a Peavy keyboard amp with a 15" woofer and $1.75 piezo tweeter set BEHIND US eliminating the need for a monitor (no feedback issues.) With the EQs set flat & at a distamce the amplification of vocals & acoustic guitar sounds like no ramification at all. Better than anything I've heard, providing that piezo isn't pushed too hard. (To me horns aren't emtirely natural sounding for voice.)
I am seriously thinking of making my own PA consisting of 4 small columns each consisting of a 10" woofer & several piezo tweeter in a series. With 2 of these columns set to the right & left of the drums (maybe a yard or so behind the drums) & the other 2 columns flanking the outsides. I would actually plug into this myself as well as keyboard & vocals. In theory we could be waned from using house PAs & at the mercy of those running them, b) very compact & transportable c) sound dispersed through out the stage so we all can hear each other & know what our balance is.
Some of the higher power Eminence speakers would be great, but much cheaper to just cannibalize my Goliath III cabinet. However Fender will not release the Thiele-Small parameters of those PAS Drivers. That makes building a single optimal size cabinet problematic. Any suggestions or observations?
Just a hint of drums coming through the mix and a clean touch of bass, good vocal levels and full guitars and keys. FOH can be usually heard onstage in smaller venues in that suddenly the sound is filling the space instead of emanating from single (instrument amp) sources. which in turn can reduce sonic spl mayhem onstage. IMO ymmv.
