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Sound on stage

N

Noddy Boulder

Jun 11, 2012
72
0
#1
I was wondering if anybody has had a similar problem and found a fix for it?

The last 10 gigs or so I have been getting a problem on stage. The first few tracks sound OK, then after about the 3rd track the note that I am playing sounds about 3 frets out of tune, but when I check the tuning it is OK. This is really annoying as I play the tracks but sounding out of tune. Sometimes I compensate as I think that I am out of tune but in actual fact am not! What could be the cause of this problem? Could the bass be too loud on stage causing some kind of interference, should I rely on less sound from the cabs and more on the monitors.

I play Spector Rex and Ibanez SRG500 through Little Mark III. Cabinets vary as I use the cabs provoded by the venue. Any help in this matter would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
 
#2
Every time I have experienced this exact scenario its always one of the guitars. I always double check to make sure its not me then hand the tuner to one of the guitarist and ask them to check. Problem solved.

Another possibility is tuning by ear. Your ear will put you into just intonation (this works well until you change key). What you want to tune to is equal temperament (all notes are equally out of tune so every key sounds in tune, this is where a tuner will take you).

Also tuners are not all created equal. Pretty rare but I have seen two tuners that were off from each other.

Just a couple ideas.

YMMV
 
#3
Could also be you're hearing harmonics bouncing around and not being able to focus in on your bass. If your cab isn't tilted up toward your ear, tilt it so the mids and highs don't just blow past your head and into your knees.
 
#7
First thing to do is get a different tuner and/or talk to the guitarists and compare your tunings. It very well could be different songs/different effects on the guitars which is causing you to hear weird stuff on stage.

I have played shows where certain notes I would play would sound terrible with everyone else, while every other note was just fine. Acoustics, how the PA is set, intonation issues....it's hard to tell sometimes. Start with the other players, compare tunings and go from there.
 
#8
I once had trouble with certain strings at a particular position (in my case a B-string at the 10th fret) sounding harmonics louder than the fundamental. It drove me crazy with that particular 5-string bass. Some brands of strings were better than others, flat wounds were way better than rounds, but in the end I pretty much stopped using that one position until I sold the bass. Is that OP's situation or is it lots of notes where the problem occurs?
 
#9
Wow, thanks for all the input. I will try out all of the suggestions above. On stage the tuner I am using is the one that comes with the B3, I have another tuner so will try that at the next gig next week. Problem with that is I can't mute when tuning.

I have a feeling that it is the acoustics, but will also check to see if it is the strings etc.

Once again many thanks. I hope to sort it out as it drives me crazy!
 
#15
Check if all tuners user are tuned to the same frequency (A = 440hz)

Are all instruments correctly intoned ?

I've had guitar players grap the guitar to harshly and pushing the strings to hard down on the freeboard and therefore putting more tension on the string = making the note sharp.

If you sound 3 frets off... are you playing the song in the same key :P ?
 
#17
I just ran into the tuner problem myself on a hired gig. All hired players meet for the first time at a rehearsal studio, we plug in, we tune separately and we get the ball rolling. Guitar 1 & bass are in tune, guitar 2 is not.

The problem here isn't that we were out of tune when we started, the problem is when someone can't hear pitch well enough to recognize that they themselves are out of tune and it leaves the other string players asking "Is it me? No, not me....what the hell's going on"
 
#19
With guitars sounding lower and basses getting brighter the battle for frequency range has gone into full swing. It used to be that when a guitar player made a mistake, he was so far into his own range that every eye in the building went right to the guitar player. These days, there are lots of things that can be played wrong/out of tune, and no one (even the players on stage) has a clue who it is because they are all in the same frequency range.

If it is happening a few songs into the set, it is more than likely a guitar going out of tune (which in most cases happens a lot faster than on bass) and/or a difference in tuners. Most tuners (even cheap one) can be calibrated. You guys should tune at the same time when it's quiet (maybe at practice) and make sure that you calibrate your tuners to match. Then make sure they USE them. A LOT.

The other possibility is that the two guitar players are playing chords with different voicings. And being that the same frequency battle is going on, it sounds like it's you messing up.

The only other thing that pops in my head is possibly speakers out of phase, but that would be apparent right out of the gate, not a few songs in. Sometimes that can give the illusion of "something doesn't sound right" with the music when it is the speakers the whole time.
 

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