I was curious if anyone else gets weird shaking out of Eb or only Eb causing microphones to feedback.
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Eb Shakes the house
- Thread starter jazzciggarette
- Start date
It depends on the natural resonance of the room you are in. Some frequencies will resonate louder. In other locations it might be another note that shakes the house.
If you're in a relatively small space, certain notes will do stuff like that where they'll shake the whole room/house. It appears that "Eb" is the note in your case. A "G" shakes everything in my room. Strange yes, but not abnormal.
Does this happen to you in multiple venues? Most of the time, when the room "shakes" or rumbles, it's because the note you're playing is the resonant note of the room. It can be fixed by adjusting the EQ for that frequency range, but most of the time the sound guy can take care of that for you.
My tinnitus rings at C# two octaves above middle C and F below middle C. G# on my upright bass makes the dishes rattle in the kitchen.
Yep, resonant frequency is what it's called. Every room has one. A certain note, or frequency, will resonate more than others due to the size, dimensions, and structure of the room. A little carpet on the walls helps if it's available or EQ'ing can too. I also use a compressor which helps a little too. The key of D is a killer in my church thanks to the wood ceiling.
Yep, pretty common to have one bass note just overwhelm a room (the note varies by room... low (dropped) D, low F and low F# are the most common bugaboos for me), this is why any pro P.A. system will have at least one dedicated 31-band EQ to notch the resonant low frequency out of the FOH without pulling the whole bottom out of the mix. You can also help the FOH mix out yourself by rolling the low end off your amp. It might not sound as good to you on stage but sound guys really appreciate when you're pro enough to do that and you will be rewarded with a tighter sound out front and quite possibly, more of you in the mix.
This is a situation where a parametric EQ in invaluable. Boost by ~6 dB and do a slow sweep. The offending frequency will become apparent very quickly.
Riis
Riis
i have a parametric EQ on my amp but i am not sure what you mean by a "slow sweep". Could someone explain this?
Sure...here's the conventional method:
Let's say your Eb is rattling the pictures on the wall. With your amp set at normal playing volume, set your para EQ at its lowest freq. setting and boost the level by 5-6 dB. While playing the offending note, slowly turn the freq. knob until the rattling becomes most prominent. This may take a couple of attempts....and a third arm! Once the trouble spot has been identified, attenuate the freq. knob by 3-4 dB or until the room resonance / rattling disappears. If your onboard para EQ has the option, dial in as narrow a bandwidth notch as necessary.
Riis
Nikola Tesla supposedly built a resonance machine that could be used to destroy buildings. The story goes that one time the NYPD was called to his lab because of a neighborhood disturbance. When they went inside he was beating his invention with a sledgehammer because it wouldn't turn off and nearby buildings were starting to vibrate violently. In a way, bass amplifiers are weapons. Science is cool.
If you have enough space to do so, try moving the vocal mikes to a different position in the room. Sometimes even just changing the direction the mics are pointed can make a difference. Moving your bass cab may help somewhat - try raising it up off the floor, first
If all else fails, it's time to change your low EQ settings
We had the same issue in our practice space - long, narrow room with low ceilings and hard walls/floors. In our case, moving the mics did the trick
Hi guys,
Here are a few things you can do to troubleshoot your acoustic problem.
- Play your bass again, but this time make sure all EQ is turn flat. That means, EQ on your bass, amp and if you are playing thru a PA, make sure that is flat too.
- Write down whatever notes get reeeeally accentuated in your playing.
- Compare to the list in the website bellow to find what frequency that is
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
- In most smaller rooms this will not often happen bellow 100hz.
- There is no easy way to take care of that frequency, unless you build some sort of bass absorber. A membrane absorber will most likely be the one to build.
There are some manufacturers out there that provide some decent bass traps at decent prices. Look into:
Realtraps.com
http://www.primacoustic.com/maxtrap.htm
http://www.realtraps.com/products.htm#MONDOTRAPS
Look for something with good acoustic absorption ratings on the frequency range your room is exciting. All these websites offer great info on the a.c. (absorption coeficients) of their products.
As a cheap solution that you can always try and return if it doesn't work is to go to a local HomeDepot or equivalent, and pick up a big roll of R19 or any other fluffy insulation.
They have different rolls for different insulation. Buy at least 4 rolls and stack 2 of them in two corners of the room and see if it helps. If it doesn't help, try a roll of a denser insulation. The cheap theory here is that the denser/tighter the roll, the lower the effective frequency. But this is not laboratory tested, so don't sue me if it doesn't work. Remember, you can always return the rolls if you want.
There are also tons of info out there on how to build your own membrane absorber.
As an example, look up Master Handbook of Acoustics. It has tons of info on bass traps.
Hope this helps someone...
take care
Gil
Here are a few things you can do to troubleshoot your acoustic problem.
- Play your bass again, but this time make sure all EQ is turn flat. That means, EQ on your bass, amp and if you are playing thru a PA, make sure that is flat too.
- Write down whatever notes get reeeeally accentuated in your playing.
- Compare to the list in the website bellow to find what frequency that is
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
- In most smaller rooms this will not often happen bellow 100hz.
- There is no easy way to take care of that frequency, unless you build some sort of bass absorber. A membrane absorber will most likely be the one to build.
There are some manufacturers out there that provide some decent bass traps at decent prices. Look into:
Realtraps.com
http://www.primacoustic.com/maxtrap.htm
http://www.realtraps.com/products.htm#MONDOTRAPS
Look for something with good acoustic absorption ratings on the frequency range your room is exciting. All these websites offer great info on the a.c. (absorption coeficients) of their products.
As a cheap solution that you can always try and return if it doesn't work is to go to a local HomeDepot or equivalent, and pick up a big roll of R19 or any other fluffy insulation.
They have different rolls for different insulation. Buy at least 4 rolls and stack 2 of them in two corners of the room and see if it helps. If it doesn't help, try a roll of a denser insulation. The cheap theory here is that the denser/tighter the roll, the lower the effective frequency. But this is not laboratory tested, so don't sue me if it doesn't work. Remember, you can always return the rolls if you want.
There are also tons of info out there on how to build your own membrane absorber.
As an example, look up Master Handbook of Acoustics. It has tons of info on bass traps.
Hope this helps someone...
take care
Gil
The F# (11th fret, G string) cause my drummers snare to go crazy
What are you doing way up there?
