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Mid cut or boost (live)

I prefer a

  • Mid cut

    Votes: 7 6.2%

  • Mid boost

    Votes: 83 73.5%

  • Other

    Votes: 23 20.4%
  • Total voters
    113
#41
Like others, it depends on the room (and also the gig, the songs, the other musicians etc).

My main bass, the Attitude is quite mid-rangey, which I play through a Carvin BX700 head with has a plethora of eq options. I use the parametric section to get 'my sound' (essentially a 200-250hz low mid punch and bass knob to taste). I use the contour knob (magic scoop control) to control the mid 'honk'. The graphic eq I try to keep as flat as possible - I turn it off in our rehearsal space - and adjust it to compensate for room acoustics.

As JimmyM says, getting the mid cut, if required, can be a tricky bugger. Getting the balance between just enough to sit in the mix and too much cut is a fine line.
 
#42
Very much depends on the setup and what I'm trying to achieve. There is definitely some magic to be found with a overdriven high mid hump around 1k, the sparkle drive does a great job with that. I've always found mid humps with no overdrive very sterile sounding.
 
#43
I tend to boost my mids to about 2 o'clock, leave bass and treble at 12 o'clock, maybe sometimes roll the bass back to 11 o'clock if playing a smaller venue. Both guitarists have 4x12 cabs, with a pretty thick sound, especially the lead guitarist, so boosting the mids helps me cut through the mix.

At a gig earlier in the year, our singer turned to me and told me to turn down, as he thought I was booming over the top of everyone, so I did and couldn't hear myself at all, few minutes later he turns to me and tells me to turn down again, at which point I might as well have turned the amp off, turns out it was the lead guitarist.
 
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#44
NML1986 said:
At a gig earlier in the year, our singer turned to me and told me to turn down, as he thought I was booming over the top of everyone, so I did and couldn't hear myself at all, few minutes later he turns to me and tells me to turn down again, at which point I might as well have turned the amp off, turns out it was the lead guitarist.
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In my experience this is a common problem at gigs. .guitar players pounding out power chords with the low E included.. coupled with room acoustics, one gets resonant artifacts that folks think come from the bass, and this is exacerbated when one plays at big venues with concert level sound!

I bring this up because it happened to us last night.. and to the headlining band.. because it was cranked up in the venue. Bass/guitar were talking about it back stage after their 90-min set, trying to figure out who caused it :)
It was the room...
 
#45
I lie awake at night pondering this dilemma. I was previously a slight mid booster. Then I got a wireless. Next gig We were playing out doors, one of our vocalists is our sound guy, And I trust him. Everything mic'd up FOH, I play a fender American std precision. Went out front and I really couldn't hear myself much if at all. Not happy about that. I had him turn me up. Well the mains were overwhelmed and couldn't really handle much more bass, so I see why. What I heard tho was the mid range being overwhelmed. I cut the mids, boosted bottom, and turned up. Went back out and there I was. Not saying this is everyone's answer but it was mine. I'm still not satisfied tho. I still feel we run bass starved compared to other bands I see. I sometimes have people tell me they really can't hear much bass or notice it. Comments like " man your fun to watch your all over the neck some times. But I don't really hear what your doing" I'd really like to run an insert on my bass channel into a nice 30 band eq and like another poster said, dial out those ugly bands.
 
#49
JimmyM said:
31 band EQ is overkill imho, especially when the problem is a PA that is running out of gas for bass.
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Our mains are splitting 2500 watts, and our subs split a 3800 watt amp. That's a lot of gas. Probably the speakers at issue. EV speakers purchased in 1987. The mains don't do well when you have a heavy handed and left hand playing piano banging away and a 212 mic'd guitar amp. I just felt that mid range is totally filled by those and the vocals, so I shaped my sound to find somewhere else. but to be honest I'm just making an educated guess.
 
#50
sm49341 said:
Our mains are splitting 2500 watts, and our subs split a 3800 watt amp. That's a lot of gas. Probably the speakers at issue. EV speakers purchased in 1987. The mains don't do well when you have a heavy handed and left hand playing piano banging away and a 212 mic'd guitar amp. I just felt that mid range is totally filled by those and the vocals, so I shaped my sound to find somewhere else. but to be honest I'm just making an educated guess.
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It's a pretty good educated guess, but at the same time, don't overlook their usefulness, even in a densely populated midrange. I don't like overdone midrange, but I do find it helpful when you find just the right range so you can both feel and hear your bass. And I agree that the limitations are in your subs if you're using 80's era EV's. Old EV's are terrific, but the neo loaded sub cabs you can get nowadays are lighter, go lower, and take more power. Even the cheaper ones are worlds better at delivering lots of low end bang zoom in a small package.
 
#51
i'm generally happy with the built-in mid scoop of my sansamp BDDI. it seems to make it easy for the soundguy to get a big, full bass sound in the room that still stays out of the way of the vocals and guitar. if i want more note definition i kick up the treble and presence a pinch.

it isn't my job to "cut through the mix", me and the drums are what gets cut through by the melody instruments and vocals.
 
#52
OOD said:
I have practice with my band Wednesday. I'm going to test this out. I have been running into the pa for years (not my idea) so I am out of practice on how to eq. Now that I have a pedalboard, I finally have options again.
Click to expand...

Listening through the PA vs a bass am is quite different. EQ will be as well. Mids are important there as well but they could be different from what an amp wants to put out. Just beware.
 

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