The neglected tone factor

[Sponson Thrisby]

Not sure if this is the forum for this, but I realized last night that the room has a far bigger effect on tone than expected. People fuss over tonewoods, pickups, strings, etc, but the space surely matters a lot also.
We jammed at a different house this week in a smaller, less sound-reflective room (carpeted for one thing). I used the same bass as the last 2 times at our usual place, with the same amp settings, but it sounded much better: rich, deep, but clear.
Admittedly, it's harder to control, but it was a nice experience.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

Good rooms are a treat. Kind o rare.

In college the school gave us an old brick dorm building to rehearse in. The large common room in the top floor had really great acoustics.

I was also haunted. Which was uh… fun?

 

[Wasnex]

IMHO gear is important and makes a difference. Variation in acoustics tends to make more of a difference.

IME, it can range from difficult to impossible to get a good bass sound live. On rare occasion, you may experience really incredible sound. My advice, enjoy it and don't worry why it is occurring. Chances are it's due to an unexpected gestalt involve multiple factors. It's not the strings, it's not the amp, it's not the audio tech...it's serendipity. Use the same gear combination in a different venue and the bass may sound awful. In some instances, moving your rig 2 feet to the left may completely change the experience.

 

[2saddleslab]

Yep, & since no two rooms are alike, including the same room with more vs less people in it, it's important to have the knobs available to twist the room into shape. Hopefully.

 

[bass player 53]

Not sure if this is the forum for this, but I realized last night that the room has a far bigger effect on tone than expected. People fuss over tonewoods, pickups, strings, etc, but the space surely matters a lot also.
We jammed at a different house this week in a smaller, less sound-reflective room (carpeted for one thing). I used the same bass as the last 2 times at our usual place, with the same amp settings, but it sounded much better: rich, deep, but clear.
Admittedly, it's harder to control, but it was a nice experience.

Well, in a related way, symphony halls, opera halls, outdoor concert spaces, etc. have been designed by acoustical engineers for hundreds of years. They vary greatly, and get revised or updated every so often. It’s not lost on the musicians, or even much of the general public on which ones have extraordinary acoustics.

 

[Wasnex]

Well, in a related way, symphony halls, opera halls, outdoor concert spaces, etc. have been designed by acoustical engineers for hundreds of years. They vary greatly, and get revised or updated every so often. It’s not lost on the musicians, or even much of the general public on which ones have extraordinary acoustics.

IMHO different types of music benefit from different types of acoustics. A small chamber orchestra can sound really good in a very lively hall. A larger orchestra will be generally benefit from a bit less natural reverb or perhaps a shorter decay time, unless it is playing slower music.

Amplified pop music tends to work best with a dry acoustic environment. If reverb is desired on some sound sources, it can be added electronically. Halls with lots of natural reverb and a long decay time tend to have problematic build up of low frequency energy. A good recipe for mud.

Outdoors works really well with amplified music as long as you have a big enough system. An outdoor orchestra concert will usually benefit from PA support and the addition of electronic reverb to create the illusion of space.

I have experience reinforcing outdoor concert band and big band performances. Not too hard with a modest PA since these ensembles are fairly loud. My observations suggest it's a lot harder to get enough gain before feedback when doing outdoor orchestra concerts. It takes more skill and a PA setup with better pattern control to do a good job. In all honesty, every outdoor orchestra concert I remember hearing sounded pretty bad.

 

[Michedelic]

Not sure if this is the forum for this, but I realized last night that the room has a far bigger effect on tone than expected. People fuss over tonewoods, pickups, strings, etc, but the space surely matters a lot also.
We jammed at a different house this week in a smaller, less sound-reflective room (carpeted for one thing). I used the same bass as the last 2 times at our usual place, with the same amp settings, but it sounded much better: rich, deep, but clear.
Admittedly, it's harder to control, but it was a nice experience.

I often shake my head(and sometimes laugh)at those players who harrumph and get all dagnabbity about amps that have more tonal options beyond bass and treble. They often say, “I can’t deal with twiddling a bunch of knobs”…well, how hard can that be? You only do it once, at sound check, and maybe make a slight adjustment later.

Every room is different, PA rigs have extensive EQ controls, and as bass sound is complicated in its own right, it’s advantageous to have those options, to sculp one’s sound, if need be. Better to have ‘em and not need them than the opposite. Primarily, aside from whatever sonic anomalies any given room has to offer, you have to paint around the screaming midrange of the guitars, and the boom of the kick drum, especially if the PA is not carrying the entire load. I’ve never understood this obsession with “flat”, either.