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Steely Dan's Freddie Washington is being robbed on tour

npbassman

npbassman

Apr 25, 2002
594
874
Indy
#1
I had the extreme pleasure of seeing Steely Dan the other night and I will say that after all these years, they still amaze. However, I will say that as a bassist I left disappointed because you can barely hear a note that Mr. Freddie Washington plays. I made it a point to get seats right in front of the board to hear the best live mix possible but there was no bass guitar to be heard anywhere. They bury him in the mix and it's too bad because he was playing what appeared to be either a Fender or Lakland jazz bass through a great Aguilar rig. It probably sounded great onstage! I know that this man can play and I felt like turning around and asking the guy at the board to turn him up!

Anyway, overall the night was very memorable and it was a great time had by all in the house. The next night I ran through about 10 SD tunes myself with a giant smile on my face!
 
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#6
Does it sound good overall?
I hate it when the bass stands out from the overall picture. It's unbalanced, but not hearing it at all is of course not good either.:)
Steely dan would be my absolute dream gig!
 
#7
bottomend! said:
ugggg.... I'm soooo sick of incompetent soundmen.
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Of course, it's entirely possible OP encountered a very competent soundman, who determined that the mixing console's location was in the null of one of the venue's standing waves and hence adjusted his mix to compensate. Freddy's bass might have quite nicely audible several feet to the left/right or front/back of that location.
 
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#8
Bob_Ross said:
Of course, it's entirely possible OP encountered a very competent soundman, who determined that the mixing console's location was in the null of one of the venue's standing waves and hence adjusted his mix to compensate. Freddy's bass might have quite nicely audible several feet to the left/right or front/back of that location.
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Hey everyone! It's a pretty decent space (The Oakdale in Wallingford, CT if you wanna see the seating chart) and I did walk around to try and hear me some bass but I think they just turn him down. I've seen other acts there and the bass sounded great in the center and overpowering in the corners. Oh well, the rest of the mix sounded fantastic and I still enjoyed seeing the band! They are so...freaking...good!
 
#10
Donald Fagan probably made it clear to Mr. Washington that this was a supporting role and if they wanted him higher in the mix, they would have him higher in the mix. While the bass has always played a very integral role in their music, it has almost always been in the service of the song as a whole. Most people come to a Steely Dan show to hear the songs, not the bass player.
 
#11
petrus61 said:
Donald Fagan probably made it clear to Mr. Washington that this was a supporting role and if they wanted him higher in the mix, they would have him higher in the mix. While the bass has always played a very integral role in their music, it has almost always been in the service of the song as a whole. Most people come to a Steely Dan show to hear the songs, not the bass player.
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Agreed 100% !
 
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#16
Complain to the Tour promoter or SD online !Why didn't you complain to the sound guy you paid good money for your seat that includes good sound .I always complain about sh!t like that ?
 

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