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Loud rehearsals.

AndreasK

AndreasK

Jun 11, 2014
360
334
55
Northern Norway
#1
Not live, but this was the best place I could find.

My band is so lucky to have a superb space for rehearsals. Our guitarist is a music-teacher and his school just built a big new studio with all the stuff we could ever want. We have a relatively big PA, with 18" subs and tops, for drums (electric) and vocals. I´we got my own rig, (4*10) and we have two half stacked guitarist.

At our normal rehearsals, volume is relatively OK and we just set up facing each other. But sometimes (yesterday) we wanted to get loud. It got stupid loud. And muddy. Some of my notes got buried and others too loud and boomy. We agreed for next time to try everything facing in the same direction, which should improve things. But, is there anything else we should consider? Earplugs, yes! PA behind? Infront? All speakers in line? Any suggestions and input will be appreciated!
 
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#3
Volume Wars! And, yeah, I know its stupid. But like I said, usually we don´t go too loud. But sometimes it just happens. For me, this time, I just got a new, second, cab and I wanted to try pushing it a bit. And sometimes its just cool to play loud and feel the bass as well as hear it ;)
 
#5
That is interesting. And explains quite a bit more. And a very good reason to get used to playing loud.

I thought the main problem was speakers facing each other causing a pool of mud in the middle. Which it still could be? Anyone care to share how thy set up the room for loud rehearsing?
 
#7
Yes! I´we tried crappy foam ones, but I´m getting something decent. We don´t get to play very often, and usually not too loud. I´m closing up on 44 yrs, so I´m experiencing enough bodily decay, if I´m not going to damage my hearing as well ;)
 
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#8
AndreasK said:
a very good reason to get used to playing loud.
Click to expand...

It's true that some genres call for the Theater of Excess. But, don't forget that a lot of the Theater of Excess is just theatrics. For honing your arrangements and sonics, I'd suggest rehearsing at a level that makes sense for the rehearsal room, then mic or DI at lager venues to get your FOH volume from the PA. Your sound will be more consistent that way, and you'll keep your hearing for longer.

As for running loud in a rehearsal room, every room has its own acoustic signature—depending mostly on its dimensions, construction, furnishings, and how many mobile acoustic baffles (a.k.a people) its stuffed with. If there's a pair of long walls and a pair of short wall, I'd start w/ drummer and amps set up across a short wall (assuming they'll all fit in a line). Set amps some minimum distance in front of the drum kit, as to avoid deafening your drummie. Invalid Link Removed will significantly bump the bass response of cabinets set next to a wall (or, worse, a corner). So, if your bass rig sounds muddy, try pulling it away from the back wall (or corner!). You won't be able to do much about room modes without serious redesign, treatment, and investment. However, you can (and should) re-eq guitar and bass amps to minimize the murk.

Don't run PA, just vocal wedges. (Drum rig, obviously, back by the edrums). If your room is long enough, you might find it helpful to put vocal wedges some distance from the amps and drums. The more space b/w vocal monitors and backline racket, the less gain you'll need from the wedges, and so the better the odds of hearing a little of your vocals before the wedges erupt in peals of feedback.
 
#10
AndreasK said:
Not live, but this was the best place I could find.

My band is so lucky to have a superb space for rehearsals. Our guitarist is a music-teacher and his school just built a big new studio with all the stuff we could ever want. We have a relatively big PA, with 18" subs and tops, for drums (electric) and vocals. I´we got my own rig, (4*10) and we have two half stacked guitarist.

At our normal rehearsals, volume is relatively OK and we just set up facing each other. But sometimes (yesterday) we wanted to get loud. It got stupid loud. And muddy. Some of my notes got buried and others too loud and boomy. We agreed for next time to try everything facing in the same direction, which should improve things. But, is there anything else we should consider? Earplugs, yes! PA behind? Infront? All speakers in line? Any suggestions and input will be appreciated!
Click to expand...
EQ properly. Get good pickups if you won't already have them. If it's actual particular notes getting buried get a better bass with no dead spots, if it's particular instances of notes learn to play better. Pre-eq, re-eq, and learn to turn down. Don't run your amp and cabs near max power, they'll always sound like poopie. take hard reflective surfaces off the walls, put down carpets over hard flooring, cover up windows with foam, make the whole room sound proof, then you can really crank it. Tell your guitarist to stop using a bass amp as a guitar amp and switch to a real guitar amp model and have him eq properly to not take over your space. Have everyone use sonic maximizers and rock in-ears. tune and intonate all the instruments properly after leaving them in the playing position for hours right before you play. Use pitch correction if you need to, yes, on everything. Prerecord the whole rehearsal and just mime it.
 
#12
EQ´ing definitely! But we need proper speaker/amp placements first. @Bassitudes Both guitarists are using guitaramps. Orange tubeamp and some Roland thing on the other. The room is professionally, purpose built, with some soft acoustic floor covering. And soundproofed. Freestanding walls with 3 layers of plaster. A much better room than we probably deserve. It would probably help covering walls with fabric or carpets. And weer not THAT loud. I´we got an Ampeg PF350 into 2 SVT210AV´s, gain at about 1 and volume noon to 1.
 
#13
AndreasK said:
EQ´ing definitely! But we need proper speaker/amp placements first. @Bassitudes Both guitarists are using guitaramps. Orange tubeamp and some Roland thing on the other. The room is professionally, purpose built, with some soft acoustic floor covering. And soundproofed. Freestanding walls with 3 layers of plaster. A much better room than we probably deserve. It would probably help covering walls with fabric or carpets. And weer not THAT loud. I´we got an Ampeg PF350 into 2 SVT210AV´s, gain at about 1 and volume noon to 1.
Click to expand...

could be that your notes are dissapearing cuz your cabs have really bad freq response. Could also be the reason your bass notes are getting muddy as heck, because you don't have fundamental you're relying on being in the guitar players' tonal range to create the illusion on your lower notes, with mismatched tuning intonation, distortion both from amps and from the waves hitting each other and cancelling out, etc you're gonna lose alot. I also noticed that when you turn up loud enough it seems to get harder to "fill in" notes that aren't ever actually there liek low fundamentals because you have such a loud reality hitting you in the ears.
 
#14
So its pretty much down to trial and error? I´m OK with that and I think derrico1 gave us a good starting point. Then over to EQ´ing.

EastCoastThump said:
If there's a pair of long walls and a pair of short wall, I'd start w/ drummer and amps set up across a short wall (assuming they'll all fit in a line).

Don't run PA, just vocal wedges. (Drum rig, obviously, back by the edrums). If your room is long enough, you might find it helpful to put vocal wedges some distance from the amps and drums. The more space b/w vocal monitors and backline racket, the less gain you'll need from the wedges, and so the better the odds of hearing a little of your vocals before the wedges erupt in peals of feedback.
Click to expand...

The room is quite big, and we have a few wedges, so we should be able to do all of this:thumbsup:
 

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