Difficult time in Mix

[wishforbass]

Hi guys and girls .
Lately I'm busy with my music career and collage so come here much less.
My new band is a rock band ,they sound kind of good .
One of the problem I am facing is in mix sound I get from my bass .I fully lost in mod when guitar start playing .I tried to add bass and got super bommy ,I push my mid on amp and still can not make it out of mix .the problem is that in some part of the song I have some melodic line and no one can hear me even myself .

I use nordstands pickups in My Ibanez sr1300 .
I switch to passive tone level about 60% , full volume and pickups are both running on bass.the alone sound is Amazing sound but when guitar come in my bass lost and only hear some muddy bass at background .it is my first band with heavy guitar in it so I don't know what to do .


I will be happy have some tips from you guys .
Rig :fender rumble 100
Zoom b3
Ibanez sr1300

 

[mdogs]

Get a bigger amp

 

[DigitalMan]

+1 to a bigger amp

Also, do you have a clean tone, or do you use some kind of overdrive or distortion? A little bit of distortion can help cut through. It doesn't have to be much. Some of the most useful bass tones *do not* sound amazing on their own.

 

[Keger Jupit]

Rig :fender rumble 100

There's the problem. 100 watts is great for practicing at home, or recording. In a band setting, esp a rock band, you stand no chance. A single 12 isn't doing you any favors either, at least in this case.

A good starting point is about 300-400 watts, & then a quality speaker box (2x10, 2x12, etc). More power equals more headroom, but more speakers equals more volume due to the increased surface area.

You're on the right track as far as EQ experimentation is concerned, you just need...more.

 

[Nashrakh]

+1 bigger amp.

You may also want to reconsider having both pickups on full because there is a supposed mid scoop that goes along with it. That's also my experience - I like to favor the neck and mix in some bridge on my Ibanez.

Lastly, maybe the guitar is the problem - either too loud, a smiley face EQ, or both.

 

[Seano76]

I find when I need to cut in a heavy guitar band , I will favor the bridge pickup. Solo'd it sounds ******** but it works in a band with bassy guitars.

 

[Mushroo]

You need a louder amp.

But if money is tight, and you need to make do with your current amp for a while, there are two effects that can help you get more real-world usable volume: HPF (high pass filter) and compression. Your Zoom B3 has these effects.

 

[Seano76]

If you can't afford a better amp, maybe use the rumble's XLR out to get some help from the bands PA.

 

[wishforbass]

Guys actually I'm Lou enough that I don't need push even more than 50% because I get too loud and I use pa .so I believe it can not be the amp , because with 50% power I'm loud for band more than enough and after 60% my sound kind of make the guitarist faded in mix .
Actually I believe something should be wrong with eq.

 

[Turbo Sparky]

There's the problem. 100 watts is great for practicing at home, or recording. In a band setting, esp a rock band, you stand no chance. A single 12 isn't doing you any favors either, at least in this case.

A good starting point is about 300-400 watts, & then a quality speaker box (2x10, 2x12, etc). More power equals more headroom, but more speakers equals more volume due to the increased surface area.

You're on the right track as far as EQ experimentation is concerned, you just need...more.

^^^^^
^^^^^
This!

+8!

 

[Camaro69]

try more mid and less bass on the eq

if that doesn't work, you may need more amp

 

[Reedt2000]

How are you judging this mix issue? Are you listening to phone recordings or video which will tend to capture the bass frequencies poorly? Is it from your perspective on the stage when guitar amps are elevated and the bass amp is on the floor? You might try pointing your amp toward your ears (I gig a 300 watt combo but if it's on the floor right behind me pointing at my knees it is hard for me to hear). If you're not being overpowered (I agree with others here that 100 watts can easily get swallowed up by guitars and drums) it might just be your perspective.

 

[Somanytoys]

Yes, 100 watts for bass isn't much with guitar and drums, especially depending on the guitarist's amp's wattage, and if he's got it on 11. I know this is blasphemy, but you could ask him to turn down just a bit, at least until you're able to get your volume up to his level. *Do this at your own risk, it helps to know how to duck and weave*

XLR into the pa is a really good idea, if there's enough headroom in the pa for bass (watch your line out level, if there is one), and the compressor/hpf suggestion is also a good idea for the time being. Can start with cheap ones if you need to just to do the job for a while.

Other suggestions:
-Raising your amp up 2-3 feet may also help a bit, at least for you to hear yourself, to get the speaker more to your ear level.

-I don't know anything about this amp, but I've noticed on some smaller amps, if they have a "deep" or similar button for more bottom, it robs or muddies all of your defining mids and highs. If you have one and are using it, try turning it off and see what happens. You won't really be losing anything anyway.

-if you're able, and since nobody else can hear you already, you could stand somewhere outside of the guitarist's speakers' direct sound field, and turn your amp towards yourself - a corner would be perfect (preferably you in the corner with the amp facing you). It may help you a lot not having his sound blasting directly at you and competing with your amp's sound.

Any little bit will help. I've been there and it completely sucks not being able to hear yourself, even when others can hear you in the audience.

A multi-speaker cab would probably help if you have a speaker out jack on that amp, until you can get a bigger amp to push the cab. Like was said above, more speakers creates a bigger sound field, it should help some, even with the low wattage. 10s are punchier, carry mids better.

It all depends on what you want to/can afford to spend money on first. The small things will probably cost less for short term, but hold you back from a bigger amp purchase long term.

Good luck, I hope something helps.

 

[wishforbass]

How are you judging this mix issue? Are you listening to phone recordings or video which will tend to capture the bass frequencies poorly? Is it from your perspective on the stage when guitar amps are elevated and the bass amp is on the floor? You might try pointing your amp toward your ears (I gig a 300 watt combo but if it's on the floor right behind me pointing at my knees it is hard for me to hear). If you're not being overpowered (I agree with others here that 100 watts can easily get swallowed up by guitars and drums) it might just be your perspective.

The recorded sound of the mixer .
And the official video they took for the social Media.

 

[Camaro69]

Most fender amps also are not :flat: eq at the center of the knob, but scooped.
try the bass on level 2-3, both mids at 9 or full, and add the high to taste.

I always used just the neck pick up on my 2 pick up basses


Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Somanytoys]

The recorded sound of the mixer .
And the official video they took for the social Media.

Oh, I thought you meant live/practice.

That's another issue, but the XLR direct to the mixer may help you with that as well, especially if it's a direct signal and not line (that's replicating the amp's settings).

 

[mdogs]

Guys actually I'm Lou enough that I don't need push even more than 50% because I get too loud and I use pa .so I believe it can not be the amp , because with 50% power I'm loud for band more than enough and after 60% my sound kind of make the guitarist faded in mix .
Actually I believe something should be wrong with eq.

I don't believe this unless you are playing at an extremely low volume. But, then EQ is the problem.

 

[Mark76]

What's the tuning for the band? Is it standard (B/EADGbe) or dropped? Could your guitarists perhaps cut some lows to give the bass room to breathe? Could you all take some time to experiment with the mid range to find frequencies where your particular instruments can cut through the mix without treading on each others toes? Are you using reverb or is your sound bone dry?

 

[Reedt2000]

The recorded sound of the mixer .
And the official video they took for the social Media.

Ok, I don't mean this to be insulting in any way but if your bass is not run into the mixer it won't be present in the recording. If it is then just turn it up or EQ the mixer channel to make it sit better (the same can be done to guitar channels to make them step on the bass less). A video is not a good judge of mix if it is relying on the camera's microphone cause as I said before, bass is hard to print well compared to the other frequencies present in a full band. The other thought I had is that if your are playing the same thing as a guitar (like a riff for example) the bass won't always be distinct. In that case it supports and fattens up the guitar tone. It is there and would sound strange if it wasn't, it just won't stand out as a separate instrument all that much.

 

[Brad Maestas]

If we're talking just about the sound in the room, we still haven't discussed the issue of how loud the other people are in this group. It's easy to get lost in the mix if the other people are playing too loud. This is a very common problem with rehearsal and stage bands in small rooms. It's supposed to be a group. You mix to eachother first.

A recording setting can be different. If you're miking up the room then the above applies to a degree. If you're all completely separated then it's really the engineer's job to capture a good sound and get it to sit in the mix properly. When you're dealing with very dense mixes frequency allocation becomes very important.