Exactly.
Whether or not anyone in the audience will notice, or care... I will care about how my bass sounds. Ultimately I'm the first listener I have to please.
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Question for Touring bassists. Need for cabs?
- Thread starter eureka kid
- Start date
Whether or not anyone in the audience will notice, or care... I will care about how my bass sounds. Ultimately I'm the first listener I have to please.
- Mar 8, 2011
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- 51,187
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- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
I’d like to think I play and perform better when I’m happy with my sound, so everyone wins
what if I am a professional, low-ego player that can easily adjust to the requirements of a venue (amps/no amps, IEM, side fills etc) and still inject my sounds and personality via the available interface at the gig?
The show isn't about me or my needs or desire for pant-flapping...amazes me that folks don't buy into this notion...like the guitarist who MUST have a 4x12 for his sound....well enjoy your sound at home, because we need to fit a bands worth of gear in this provided space...1x12 combo is going to have to cut it.
The shakers are a psychoacoustic phenomenon
Can't play everywhere at shaking volumes.
VR is big time, shakers are one way to take advantage of it.
Can't play everywhere at shaking volumes.
VR is big time, shakers are one way to take advantage of it.
But it is about me. I play music first and foremost because I enjoy it. I don't really understand how so many on this site apparently don't.
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
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- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
No need to grandstand, dude. Lots of touring pros on this site and of course we have to be willing to roll with certain variables all the time. I’ve done 100’s of gigs on IEM’s. Just ain’t my preference. Your point is more than valid, but would’ve been way more helpful if you skip the condescending bits.
exclusively? or are you able to weigh the good of the whole vs your individual wants?
Seems like (imho/ime) that is key acceptance #1 of being a decent bandmate/team member.
I am routinely surprised at the number of 'my way or the highway' proclamations I read here of folks more than happy to piss off a gig for their whole band because they can't have some personal demand met (I need an 8ft cubic space to myself for me and my scarves or I don't take the stage!! If I can't have my 8x10 on (a small bar) stage, mic'd and sound-checked for 60minutes, I don't play!)
How desperate are these bands for competent players to put up with malarkey like that? How developed are these egos to be of adult age, but still under the impression that the rest of humanity are just 'extras' in the movie of their life?
(and how insecure of a player is someone to not be able to perform at a high enough level without every little thing perfectly in place? I can't count the number of gigs played with garbage stage sound - but it sounded great out front and the crowd was happy - that is the deal we made when we accepted the gig/agreed to receive money in exchange for entertainment services...it is not about the people on stage anymore than it is about the people in the kitchen or behind the bar)
- Aug 3, 2007
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- Current: Blackstar, DR strings, Nady. Previous endorsements with: GK, Rotosound, Ernie Ball, Cleartone, EMG, Dean, Dava Picks, Rebel Straps, Dickies
I've literally never seen or heard of this example. Not saying it doesn't exist, just sounds much more like the exception, rather than the rule.
I've played on and seen bands play on stages that are more like drum risers and the members had to play off the stage, on the floor with the crowd. Now that's tiny!
If you compromise for whatever reason that's your right. Twisting your opinion into some sort of chastisasion of others seems uncalled for. It's about both the artists AND the audience. Artists may feel like compromising IS both a disservice to the audience and themselves.
I certainly don't want to see bands I enjoy play on gear they feel is unsatisfactory because their gear doesn't matter and the show ain't about them.
to each their own - I though the bit I quoted saying that using IEMs is akin to admitting one has no sound or personality to provide to the show was a rather broad statement to make, and replied with a counterpoint I thought valid, in a hyperbolic manner, to reflect how 'over the top' the statement I was quoting came across - much like you are interpreting and responding to my post with your take that I was grandstanding and condescending when that was not the intent, and any sense of condescension was there to model the 'other side of the coin' of those that play the 'anything less than a full rig is soul-less' card
Thank you. I agree. Maybe some of the wording of my original post could have been a little softer, but his response was uncalled for. I don't do that kind of chest thumping, I DON'T need to.
I've played bass a long time. Decades. I do have a sound. It's taken a long time to develop the sound that identifies me. I would like even a little backline where I can hear my sound, sculpt it to how I like it, then send it to the front of house.
I've been chosen for the sound I provide, I'm not some big time artist, but lots of musicians enjoy my bass playing. Part of that is my perception I get from the live sound of amplification onstage. I've done IEM's and don't like them and it's my right. I'm not a simpleton or an amateur. I know what I'm doing.
When I toured I always had a backline, whether it was provided by the promoter or us. We traveled with our own backline, and on some legs our own FOH, it just depended on what kind of tour, if we headlined or were a supporting act. Often it was a mishmash of both, some club dates, others bigger stages. We had our dedicated iem's for our shows, but many times we had to use wedges and backlines sans ears for some shows as a supporting act. I loved having a great through my iem's, but having a good solid amp and cab, on or off stage was nice insurance to counter gremlins as well. I always carried a good preamp as a minimal. Some provided backlines were pretty used up in some clubs.
I'm not saying I need everything to be perfect. Usually it isn't! I've played more places with bad sound than places with good sound. I've played quite a few shows at house parties and tons at dive bars.
All I'm saying is that if I'm not enjoying myself when I'm playing music, then the entire exercise is kinda pointless. I'm not doing this as some sort of charity. The reason I play music is because I enjoy it... if I'm not enjoying it, there's no reason to do all the work that it requires.
I’m already the bassist in the group. If I’m hired then they know me or about me so they know I’m not going to show up with inappropriate gear or attitude. The band first and foremost wants to hear me because like it or not we bassists steer the band. We can make a ballad go from tepid to powerful. I don’t play with people who don’t have the same respect for themselves and thus their musicianship and showmanship. It’s not ego. Mistaking confidence for ego is unproductive.
You get to the venue and tell the drummer he has to stand and only use his snare. How is your act going to show Coldwater Falls the band they hired? There’s no ego in this. It’s I prefer to use my tools to deliver the best to you I can.
You get to the venue and tell the drummer he has to stand and only use his snare. How is your act going to show Coldwater Falls the band they hired? There’s no ego in this. It’s I prefer to use my tools to deliver the best to you I can.
Maybe I'm crazy but I didn't get that out of it at all. I understood it to mean that he's not willing to allow the sound tech to determine how he should sound. That said, IEM's don't have to be that way. I'm reasonably confident I could get "My Sound (TM)" through a DI like the REDDI or PF-50T and some pedals to force the frequency cuts and boosts I want. I wouldn't like it quite as much, but I doubt seriously I'd be the weak link up there.
As for the low-ego part, there is nothing low-ego about anyone who dares to get up in front of a crowd of people to play music for them, even if they're playing bass.
My reading ability is, admittedly, deteriorating as I age - but I have quoted the bit where I felt it was being suggested that use of IEM is akin to saying one has no personality or sound to add to a mix... off base?
If a band has a keyboard player then a bassist isn't necessary either.
Some may be thinking the only way to get authentic tone is from a "Head" and "Cabinet" but that is not true. Many live and recording situations, going all the way back to the early days did Not need an amp/cabinet in the path to get the familiar tone as heard on many recordings or live shows. Their chosen sound was highly talented.
Figure out how to get your sound on a signal chain, and you can send it to FOH, or an amp/cab sitting behind you, or to a recording console. Practice first, good strings, good bass, and this can plug into many amps/consoles and impress people with your talent and tone. Plug into many backlines and show your talent and tone. Plug in direct and it's still there. It works with EIM and FOH situations also.
Figure out how to get your sound on a signal chain, and you can send it to FOH, or an amp/cab sitting behind you, or to a recording console. Practice first, good strings, good bass, and this can plug into many amps/consoles and impress people with your talent and tone. Plug into many backlines and show your talent and tone. Plug in direct and it's still there. It works with EIM and FOH situations also.
The best KB players can only come up with an acceptable bass part as they think chords 1st and bass 2nd. Now, that may be all the music they a playing calls for and if it works it works. I've played 100's of gigs with a duo using a drum machine. And, it used pedals to select multiple patterns and fills. Most people wanted to know where the drummer was. But, I was singing lead or harmony, running the drum machine, and playing bass. At the end of the gig I would be mentally exhausted.
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