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Sound loss phenomenon

pbd

pbd

Commercial User
Jul 17, 2003
765
2
Metro Detroit
www.greatcables.us
Disclosures
owner Procables N Sound
#1
I've been a sound tech for years so I know about sound checking loud to have enough headroom. I also know the audience sucks up a lot of sound just being there. Here's the situation; I play for a small church, the room is 50' X 21'. We can fit about 80 people in, packed. We usually have about 40. I am the only amplified player with two guitars and congo's. I sound check loud so the guitar players can hear and we will all be playing together. We add just 30 people and I can't hear a thing! I stand right next to my GK 100W backline combo. I kept checking the settings to be sure none of the kids had adjusted it. Everything was the same as practice. I've had this happen to bass players on live gigs also, a total loss of being able to hear their rigs.

I'm told the volume in the congregation sounded well blended (from a reliable source).

Any thoughts and suggestions for the player to hear better? thanks for your help.
 
#3
brianrost said:
Maybe everyone else is turning up after sound check? That is REAL common :hmm:
Click to expand...

That´s true alright. However pbd said he´s the only one with amplification. But of course the other guys could be just playing harder, which is very common also, especially with drummers.

Where do you stand in relation to the other players? Is your amp on the floor or higher? Is it tilted upwards?
 
#5
Thanks for your input. The entire setup is acoustical except me. I have a 12" kickback that sits on the stage next to me while I stand on the floor 7" below the stage. It is possible that the guitar and congo players are strumming/beating harder. But it's never been as bad as this past week. I heard everything clearly, except my amp. The church is so small that the room is the stage. Is this a frequency that gets lost somehow? From front of house I have control of all the sound and simply turn up what is lost. Onstage is different, you hear everything fine at sound check, then it's just gone!

Thanks
Patty D.
 
#7
I hear everything else great, including the 30 congregation members. I can move around and tune into the rest of the group. I finally turned my bass up a little but a little in that room is A LOT! It sounded like the amp had turned off, which happened one week when my daughter unplugged it. Maybe I'm paranoid now :-)

I have the amp kicked back and pointing right at the back/side of my head. I have to position it to be heard by the rest of the group. Maybe I'll try something different with the position.
 
#8
UPdate if your interested. I repositioned the amp to point directly at me and hope the rest of the team can hear it. I also changed my volume configuration. I read an article at this site Invalid Link Removed That says to turn up the master all the way and adjust the regular volume as needed. It could be my imagination but my bass seems more audible, stronger. I was setting them both about half way. I'll play around with it some more.
Thoughts about where settings sound best?
 

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