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Steely Dan's Freddie Washington is being robbed on tour

#61
Saw the show in an outdoor theater in Kansas City; yes, the bass was muffled, undefined, and low in the mix.
A real drag as I was looking forward to hearing Freddie's take on the "Peg" lines. Even on sparser tunes like "Josie"(where the verse vamp is almost all bass), it was a struggle to pick him out of the rhythm section.
 
#62
Michedelic said:
Saw the show in an outdoor theater in Kansas City; yes, the bass was muffled, undefined, and low in the mix.
A real drag as I was looking forward to hearing Freddie's take on the "Peg" lines. Even on sparser tunes like "Josie"(where the verse vamp is almost all bass), it was a struggle to pick him out of the rhythm section.
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Op here - Funny you say that because I took a drummer friend with me to the show and when the played Peg he said, "man, where's that signature line?? I can't hear it". He was referring to the slide up to what I believe is the F major 3rd. Of course, he left the show completely happy after hearing Carlock nail the Steve Gadd licks on Aja. I'll admit I enjoyed that too!
 
#63
I saw Steely Dan a few weeks ago. Theater show, I was third row center. Could not hear the bass. But this is not exclusively a Steely Dan issue. I have been to over 300 concerts and I can count on my fingers the shows where the bass was clear. It's a soundman issue, not the venue, as I have seen multiple artists at the same venues.

John Entwistle - Could never hear him, unless it was his solo band. With Ringo or even the Who he was buried in the mix.
Jack Bruce/Timothy B. Schmidt - Never had a problem hearing them, regardless of which band they're playing in.
Everybody else (except jazz) - lost in the mix, buried by the bass drum.
 
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#64
FWIW I saw Steely Dan 4-5 years ago at an outdoor gig (Greek Theater, Berkeley CA).
Freddie W played a sunburst P and came through loud and clear, he sounded really punchy & totally locked in with Keith Carlock. I was up on the terrace in the cheap seats.

My only complaint with the mix was Walter Becker's vocal mic...it was on.;)
I mean it's good he's off the smack and still alive, but someone really needs to tell him to shut up and play his guitar.
 
#65
I have seen them a few times. always great sound! in 2004 at a 25,000 seat amphitheatre, the mix was great and perhaps the most hi-fi gig I've been to. in 2009 in a killer 2500 seat theatre, it was also very good in row 30. last summer they were tighter than ever, it was outside at a 6000 seat venue. we were in row 14 or so, center, and yeah, Freddie was buried, doing lots of licks on that fender/aggie rig. i could see 'em, but not hear anything but muffled rumble. it really was a bummer..
 
#66
interp said:
I go to a Steely Dan show to hear the songs, and I want to hear ALL the instruments. I would wager that most SD fans agree with me.
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+1, but it goes for ANY band.

petrus61 said:
I agree and I expect to hear all of the instruments too, but I don't expect the bass to be more prominent in their mix than vocals or keys. I don't think anyone is saying that the bass isn't audible at all, just that it's a little low in the mix. If I went to a Steely Dan show, I wouldn't be that disappointed unless I couldn't hear the bass at all. If the mix was that disproportionate, I'm sure it would be addressed a few songs in. I'd be willing to bet that out of the several hundred people in the audience, maybe five of them walked away saying "Great show, but I couldn't hear the bass player."
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Augh! That's EXACTLY what several people in the thread are saying including some guy named Sadowsky who has had words with the Steely Dan man, himself, several times.

I saw Herbie Hancock and the bass was an indeterminate low rumbly whooooff, that was drowning out the rest of the band including HH, and it was HH's own touring less-than-sound man.




I go to any show, and I expect to be able to hear ALL instruments the same way I can pick out any instrument in an orchestra — even when the soloist is being featured I can still pick out any other instrument I choose to focus my attention on.
 
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#67
npbassman said:
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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I was at this same show. My seats were farther back than yours and I heard him just fine. Curious...
 
#68
npbassman said:
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!
Click to expand...
I just saw SD at Ravinia in Chicago, Freddy's tone was so fat. Its the best tone I've ever heard live. He killed it. I was on the lawn and I couldn't see his rig. Sounded like a J Bass... The fatest J sound ever.
 

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