• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Cannot hear bass at large venue

S

schmig

Nov 30, 2008
318
31
#1
Hi all,

As per usual, presume this has been discussed, can't find the thread however.

Am playing a biggish venue this Friday...standing room for many hundreds. Played there a couple of weeks back and could not hear myself AT ALL. We did a sound check but by the time the gig got going all I could hear was clicking from the monitor in front of me. Was standing in front of an amp and couldn't hear squat, though it was plenty loud.

Heard recording from audience and I was audible alright, however, during the gig itself, I could play from memory/knowledge only as I could not hear a note.

Any advice? Am 6 foot 4 so possible monitor is just hitting me in the chest?

Have picked up some earplugs and don't know whether they will help. Actually went to the point of bending over and trying to hear my amp the last night - still, nothing. Don't think my hearing is damaged or anything...

NOT looking forward to Friday if I have a repeat experience.
 
#3
Change in EQ'ing?

What's your rig/cabs, genre of music, what other instrument volumes are you fighting against?

Clicking makes me assume you're playing metal and have your EQ scooped, but that's just a guess.

You don't have your profile info filled out, so there's nothing else to go by other than assuming.
 
#6
Blues/country/rockabilly, very upbeat, solo heavy.

Drummer, 2 guitarists and vocalists. One guitar EQ'd for warm sounding solos and the other for quite scrappy sounding.

Playing a Jazz bass with flats on, think on the night I had both pickups full and the tone about 70% up, not my usual as I couldn't hear myself much during soundcheck.

Was going through someone else's 100W amp, DI's into PA also.

Bass going through compressor (pretty much all at noon) then VT bass, giving it just above noon on the mids, bass about same, slightly less treble, character and drive somewhere like 7 or 8 o'clock.

Am no expert on this stuff I went from years of playing in my living room through headphones to playing pretty big gigs in the space of a few months.

One change I've made is to restring with rounds on insistence of the band leader, to give some more growl.

Re. in ear monitors, can get these wirelessly connected to DI box or something? Presume is DI - this chunky box that somehow appears on my amp at the bigger venues with sound engineer.
 
#8
My concerns would be...

100w amp (make sure it's pointed directly at your skull)
and possibly compressing more than needed.
Going from home to live you can probably back off the bass knob on the VT-bass pedal.

Also... good sounding at home through headphones and audible on stage live are often drastically different sounds depending on your rig and onstage monitor capabilities. Sometimes in order to hear yourself on specific stages you have to make changes to your preferred tone on stage. If the soundman is taking a DI signal before the amp he's not using anything from the Amp anyhow.
 
#10
I'm 6'4", and I have to be mindful of how the monitor and the amp are aimed. Aside from in-ear monitors (and I personally would not want to hear my bass through an in-ear monitor only), stage volume is the issue here. If your floor monitor and amp are aimed at your head instead of your knees, and they're cranked up, and you STILL can't hear, then your amp and monitors are woefully underpowered for your band's stage volume level. Either everyone turns down, or you get better amplification.
 
#13
I cant help but think you are underpowered.

Possible solutions if in-ears or not obtained:

A) get bigger stage rig.

B) have soundman give you a monitor with some bass guitar in it.

C) A and B

I played a gig last month that was a nightmare. The soundman flooded the stage with bass drum and this drowned out my rig and I was, like you playing from memory. Could this be the case with you. Is the stage volume crazy hot and drum heavy?
 
#14
schmig said:
...Playing a Jazz bass with flats on, think on the night I had both pickups full and the tone about 70% up...Was going through someone else's 100W amp, DI's into PA also. Bass going through compressor (pretty much all at noon) then VT bass, giving it just above noon on the mids, bass about same, slightly less treble, character and drive somewhere like 7 or 8 o'clock...
Click to expand...
Next time try the tone control (of the bass) all the way up . . . 100% . . . the Fender tone control is a mid/treble cut, only . . . and try the VT tone controls (mids, bass and treble) all sraight up, at noon . . . or better still, the bass control at 11 or so . . .

But the biggest problem that I see is the lack of a big enough amp . . . In My Experience (50 years), you'll need 300 tube watts or 450 SS watts (at least) to "be able to hear yourself" AND provide stage monitoring for the rest of your bandmates.

schmig said:
...One change I've made is to restring with rounds on insistence of the band leader, to give some more growl...
Click to expand...
That'll also give more clarity to your lines . . .

stylonpilson said:
What changed between the sound check and the gig?...
Click to expand...
Usually the only thing that changes from sound check to the gig is the people in the audience, which CAN have a lot of effect on the room's acoustics . . .

. . . :cool: . . .
 
#15
Sounds to me like a phase issue. If the monitor and your amp were out-of-phase, then they're basically cancelling-out each other on the stage, and the more you turn up the worse it gets. This can occur as a matter of the speakers being actually out of phase, or a filtering effect that can occur from speakers that are not parallel to each other (tilted monitors turned askew are worst). It might be the mic/di channel or the monitor sub flipping the phase.

If your amp is in phase with FOH, or not loud enough to matter, then everything will sound ok out front.

Work with the sound guy to make sure his monitors are in phase with your amp. Set all of the cabinets square with each other as much as you can, no angles. Try turning DOWN if that happens again.
 
#16
DeluxeRed said:
Sounds to me like a phase issue. If the monitor and your amp were out-of-phase, then they're basically cancelling-out each other on the stage, and the more you turn up the worse it gets. This can occur as a matter of the speakers being actually out of phase, or a filtering effect that can occur from speakers that are not parallel to each other (tilted monitors turned askew are worst). It might be the mic/di channel or the monitor sub flipping the phase.

If your amp is in phase with FOH, or not loud enough to matter, then everything will sound ok out front.

Work with the sound guy to make sure his monitors are in phase with your amp. Set all of the cabinets square with each other as much as you can, no angles. Try turning DOWN if that happens again.
Click to expand...

+1

This happens more than people know.

You can also try having your amp off to one side pointed at you.
 
#19
Another option: Is the drummer's monitor one of those tall ones that's right by his hi-hat? If you're standing on the other side of it, you don't get the benefit of it. Put yourself in a position to hear HIS monitor as well as yours.

...this is in addition to: you need a bigger amp (100w combos are for rehearsal...by yourself...maybe), you need to take control of the monitor mix and demand more bass guitar in your monitor...or at least the 'front of house mix' in your monitor, and you need to make sure your bass amp isn't pointed directly at your monitor. The bass frequency sound waves will just collide in bad ways.

Lastly, if all that's being used is a DI, please request that the soundguy mic your rig as well. Having two channels for bass really helps to fill the sound out and the soundguy has options to mix the signals for the optimal house sound.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back