Looking For Live Sound Help

dbx 231

 

A compressor isn't going to help cut feedback. I'm not saying not to get one, just don't expect it do do what it doesn't.

 

I would be looking at a good parametric EQ

 

My first response is keep your stage sound the same regardless of room size and let the sound man earn his money.

 

#1, figure out a way to get your stage volume down as low as possible. And by "your" I mean everyone in the band, not just the bass. What's your monitoring system? The biggest cause of feedback from amplified acoustic instruments is ambient noise onstage. If you've got 4 or 6 wedge monitors all pushing frequencies in the direction of your bass, you're in a losing situation.

In-ear monitors for everyone and other instruments going through small combo amps (or direct) would be the obvious best answer but may not be viable from a cost perspective. But if you, at least, could rig up some sort of in-ear monitoring system for yourself that would allow to run your string bass through either a small combo amp at low volume, or direct to the board with no onstage amp at all, the feedback issues would be significantly reduced and that would be even more effective if it could be applied across as much of the rest of the band as possible.

#2 as others have noted, a robust EQ. 30-band graphic might work but I would go with a parametric for maximum control.

#3, I have seen some upright players in amplfied situations stuff foam into the F holes. It looks pretty ugly and I suppose it somewhat changes the fundamental sound of your instrument (which you said you don't want to do)... but it may provide some relief if remedies #1 and 2 are impossible or ineffective.

Your situation has to be frustrating as heck. I wish you the best.

 

What I always try to do (can't always get the time to make it actually happen) is to build a great "sonic environment" on stage first, with FOH all the way down. Get it sounding great to all the players, in every position. The goal here is mainly to make it as fun as possible for the players, so they'll be able to give their best performance. Some sound is going to bleed off the stage & out into the audience. Use the FOH speakers to reinforce the stage bleed as appropriate - in other words, take the term "sound reinforcement" quite literally. Most bands, & even a lot of sound pros, do it opposite - start with FOH & bring up the monitors almost as an afterthought - & sometimes the time crunch keeps a good stage mix from getting done at all.

For somebody who's just starting out with nothing, I recommend considering in-ears. If you don't have an existing system (wedges, etc.), what you'd have to spend on a good set of wedges could go to a decent set of in-ears instead. In-ear doesn't always have to mean wireless & doesn't have to break the bank.

That would be my personal choice as well. A graphic gives a good visual clue what's going on & can be a lot easier for some people to understand. A parametric can be a lot faster if you know what you're doing, but confusing if you don't.

 

+ 1 on the IEM. With acoustic bass, having an amp driven loud enough to compete with the rest of the band standing a bit away from the upright is just asking for feedback. IEMs will take care of that.

Since you are pretty stationary with the upright you should consider a wireless system. I use mine pretty exclusively and you can get a really good set of custom in ear monitors and wireless system for around $700 or even less.