Lead singer wants my amp behind drummer?

[lfmn16]

You set your amp next to the drummer, do a sound check, ask the drummer if he can hear you, done. Tell the singer NO.

 

[Kanekutter05]

if he wants "volume dampening", why doesn't he just ask you to turn down?

the drummer hasn't complained to you that he can't hear you, has he?

is the singer the band leader for this band?

Singer is band leader/songwriter/musical director/whatever else you can be head of in a band. This has been his band for about 10 years, and his sister is the keyboard player. Lead guitarist has only been in the band for about 9 months, me about 6 months and the drummer has only been in about a month. Drummer and I were good friends before this band and I brought him in when our last drummer was “removed” (read: couldn’t play to save his life). Basically the drummer and I just want to get out and play some shows because it’s been close to 10 years since either of us has been in a gigging band. After these first few shows we were going to suggest writing some new stuff with the new lineup and see what the lead singers reaction was. If he just wants session players for his songs then yeah we will be breaking off to start our own stuff.

With all that synth/octave action, do they really need a bass player?

Not really. It’s a damn shame too because I just picked up an Alpha Omicron and it gets totally washed out when I kick it on. The only way I’ve been able to cut through so far is to basically dime the mids, bridge pickup on my jazz bass and pick like a frickin maniac. Not my ideal bass tone, but at least I can hear myself.

 

[Whil57]

Wow, thanks everyone for the responses! After reading all of these, my guess is that he wants the amp there for 1) volume dampening and 2) so the drummer could hear me better.

The other reason I definitely am not doing that now is because I am constantly fighting to find a frequency to where I can sit in the mix. As I said in the original post, we have the lead singer/rhythm player...he plays a distorted tone using a Markbass super synth pedal with the octaver on 99% of the time, then we have the lead guitar playing a distorted tone, and then we have the keys which play a synth-y type tone which also has an octaver effect and she plays down in the lower registers on the keyboard. With all that, there’s not much space for me anywhere in the mix.

I’m starting to think the singer just hates bass players...

Wow, all those octavers, i wouldnt last five minutes listening to that.

 

[BurningSkies]

Hey all, pre-apologies if this is common practice...but my band has our 1st show together on Friday. We were discussing how we will set up on stage and our lead singer tells me that he wants my bass amp completely behind the drummer. At 1st I didn’t pay that much attention to the statement, but then I started thinking about every show I’ve ever been to and how I’ve literally never seen the bass amp directly behind the drummer.

I will see him before the show so I’ll ask him why, but is there any reason whatsoever to put my bass amp directly behind the drummer? We have the lead singer (also plays rhythm guitar), lead guitar, keys, drummer and myself.

Any insight on that would be awesome, thanks in advance!

This is fantastic if you want every mic on the drum kit to be a bass-amp mic.

 

[Wisebass]

Did you tell him where you would like his microphone to be located?

In the kickdrum!!!

greetings

Wise

 

[Spidey2112]

In the kickdrum!!!

greetings

Wise

Close enough...

 

[stigbeve]

Lead singer meant right behind the drummer???? My cab is always behind our drummer if the stage permits but off to the side, never right behind him.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

everybody get behind the drunmer!

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

if you didn't have a drummer to start with, you wouldn't have this problem.

edit: or a singer in this case..

 

[the harp unstrung]

Only reason I can think of is to make sure the drummer can hear you. But that may impact your ability to hear yourself. It will definitely impair your ability to make any adjustments on the amp.

On stage, that’s what monitors are for. Perhaps they are worried about getting a decent drum monitor mix. If that’s the case, it makes more sense to have 2 cabinets, and turn one of them to point at him. Or, with a long enough cord, run one over behind him.

Redhead, 2x10 stage left...extension cab, 2x10 to the drummers’ right.
Everyone was happy, and I thought it opened up the sound and tone.
I did that for my last 3 years of gigging regularly.

 

[Drucifer]

Maybe that is his ignorant way of saying "I want to hear more drums, less bass guitar". Talk to him about your mix. He could be wrong, or he could be right - in a way that you are too loud or overplaying.

Or it might be a way of saying "we need to hear the bass on both sides of the stage"

 

[Mugre]

How the butt-kicker was born. Decades ago, when stage monitors were crap and drum companies made throne like this in which you could put your folded up cymbal stands:

A road manager for the band Chicago who had just finished or was about to invent the Pignose battery amp, decided to do something about the drummer and the bass player hearing each other. He took a 10" from an SVT and mounted it in the bottom of the throne and fed it from a multi-out of the bass amp or bass channel in the house I don't remember which. His thinking was that no matter how boomy or muddy it was in those sports arena caverns, if nothing else, the drummer would be able to feel the beginning of the bass note. Source: An interview at least 30 years ago when "REP" was still a magazine with a live sound engineer from the band Chicago.

On topic: the singer is trying to solve what he perceives to be a problem. I suspect he's hoping the drummer will lock in better if it's harder for the drummer to ignore your playing. Eye contact is actually more effective.

mugre

 

[interp]

People in hell want ice water.

 

[LowDownHawkeye]

I have attended quite a few shows....and played a TON of shows. I have never.....

1).....set up a stage in a way that there were several feet of space behind the drummer. Usually the drummer is pretty backed up to the rear edge of the stage.

2) .......seen a bass rig behind a drummer. Ever. Tell your singer (in a nice way) to shut up and sing and let the grownups work out the stage plot.

I don’t dispute this - you have far more experience than me. But I did recently watch a Radiohead show at Austin City Limits, and bass player’s amp was behind the two drum kits they had on stage, and the bass player stood most of the time behind them both also. Some times he went so far forward as to be level with the two drum kits, but I don’t think he ever went further than that.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

Recipe for Band Mix
Get a P bass
add extension cab
Put the cab behind
put the P bass in hands
mix to taste
add a dash of singer.
And it’s a band cocktail!!

 

[Ric5]

Hey all, pre-apologies if this is common practice...but my band has our 1st show together on Friday. We were discussing how we will set up on stage and our lead singer tells me that he wants my bass amp completely behind the drummer. At 1st I didn’t pay that much attention to the statement, but then I started thinking about every show I’ve ever been to and how I’ve literally never seen the bass amp directly behind the drummer.

I will see him before the show so I’ll ask him why, but is there any reason whatsoever to put my bass amp directly behind the drummer? We have the lead singer (also plays rhythm guitar), lead guitar, keys, drummer and myself.

Any insight on that would be awesome, thanks in advance!

That is done sometimes ...

sometimes if you have a good pa then all amps are set up on the side of the stage and sidewash the stage so they become a stage monitor.

I sometimes play with 2 cabs, one faces forward and faces sideways towards the drummer.

Another setup that used to be used that seems to have fallen out of favor is to put a bass amp/cab on either side of the drummer.

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

Have the drummer setup his kit facing away from the crowd, and have your rig behind him but pointing towards the crowd

 

[waveman]

Good luck with that... lol

But what if you can't hear yourself because of stage volume? If there is a hearing issue, then run the bass through the PA as well and give the drummer a monitor

 

[okcrum]

Funny - I saw this for the first time by another band at a gig I played last Saturday. For the specific situation we were in, an outdoor private party, this worked well. I've certainly always been as close to the drummer as possible. It makes a WORLD of difference. James Brown would have had his bassists sit in the drummer's lap, if he could. Bootsy was always on top of the drummer for a reason. Tightest band in the universe.

[EDIT] The OTHER band used this config, not us. Guy above^ is right tho, behind IN MOST CASES is not a great idea for various reasons.

Actually, JB's is the only band I've seen do this, other than a drummer's big band - Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, etc.

 

[Grahams Groove]

Singer is band leader/songwriter/musical director/whatever else you can be head of in a band. This has been his band for about 10 years, and his sister is the keyboard player. Lead guitarist has only been in the band for about 9 months, me about 6 months and the drummer has only been in about a month. Drummer and I were good friends before this band and I brought him in when our last drummer was “removed” (read: couldn’t play to save his life). Basically the drummer and I just want to get out and play some shows because it’s been close to 10 years since either of us has been in a gigging band. After these first few shows we were going to suggest writing some new stuff with the new lineup and see what the lead singers reaction was. If he just wants session players for his songs then yeah we will be breaking off to start our own stuff.



Not really. It’s a damn shame too because I just picked up an Alpha Omicron and it gets totally washed out when I kick it on. The only way I’ve been able to cut through so far is to basically dime the mids, bridge pickup on my jazz bass and pick like a frickin maniac. Not my ideal bass tone, but at least I can hear myself.

That sounds awful. I would certainly be having the conversation about sonic space and clarity if everyone else was using octave pedals, distortion, and a heavy left hand on the keys.

Seems like a waste of your time based on what you've described. If you played high on the neck all night with an octave up and the treble dimed, no doubt you'd catch some flack. Why let them completely gobble up the chunk where bass is supposed to sit in the mix?