Tone

[LowRick]

I do, defo. Last weekend there was a blues event in the city nearby. It was great. Good people enjoying, good bands playing. Me being in the former group this time, payed good attention to the bass tones of each band. the 3rd band had a bit of a whiney bass tone. Imho, in blues, the singer can whine, the guitar can whine, the harmonica can whine, the keys can whine. but the rhythm section can't. So i decided i didn't like them

Anyway, the tone is only part of whats important anyway. So many factors, but it's definatly one of them.

 

[Pat Harris]

Tone doesn't exist in a vacuum.

I'm after whatever gets the best results for a given playing situation in a given room. Sometimes that means adding some low end to fill out the stage on an outdoor festival, and sometimes that means dialing back all of the low end because I'm on a hollow stage. I'm always going to "sound like me," because that's how I play, and I put far more time into making sure the sound of the bass works with everything else that is around me.

 

[Doc Blue]

I haven't played live (yet), but ran sound for a lot of years. Tone matters. Like others have said, send me a good signal to work with. And what you hear in your monitors is not what FOH sounds like.

On a side note, when I first set up a jazz and Rumble combo at home, I set all the knobs 1/2 scale and the EQ flat. Open E and the 12th fret sounded almost like the same note. Messed with knobs until there was clarity and distinction. Ended up with more neck pup, less tone roll off, less bass, more low mid. Have also lost a lot of high freq hearing so I rely on others for input.

 

[interp]

I don’t “worry” about my tone, I just do everything possible to ensure that it’s always great. But it’s all for me; I don’t really give a rat’s a** what the audience thinks about it.

 

[Dan Pomykalski]

I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I'm not sure how many people would notice wether I sounded good or bad, and plus it's a matter of opinion anyway.

I try my best to sound good though, just in case... You never know who's in the audience.

 

[micguy]

People in the audience don't notice better tone, but they notice better performance, and I perform better with an inspiring tone.

I don't think people notice one person's tone, but when the whole band has their tone down, along with everything else (timing, pitch, etc), I do think they notice. We're not there to be noticed for awesome tone, we're there to make awesome music, of which tone...is a part.

 

[LowRick]

I don’t “worry” about my tone, I just do everything possible to ensure that it’s always great. But it’s all for me; I don’t really give a rat’s a** what the audience thinks about it.

 

[SteveCS]

For the folks that don't care, would you not care if your keyboard player used a piano patch instead of an organ patch, or if your sax player suddenly turned up with a clarinet or an oboe?

 

[Wfrance3]

unless your audience is quiet and the room is just right, then it doesn't really matter much.

Exactly. So, I please myself, don't get lost in the mix best I'm able and that's abut it.

 

[PDGood]

I guess I was just wondering if it matters live and 'tone', regardless of preference, gets lost in a noisy bar crowd.

In general, the sound of the room/stage is the thing that varies the most and can affect tone in a negative way. When setting tone, it's those things that I'm adjusting for. When people come in, that actually helps because bodies absorb sound and reduce the reflections that the hard surfaces of the room present. The talking/laughing does add to the noise that has to be played over, but that's more a volume thing.
But I get your point - the average person probably can't recognize if you have good tone vs poor tone. All they know is the overall experience. They like it or don't and don't know why. Poor tone may be part of the reason why even if they can't recognize the specific cause.

 

[HolmeBass]

I think good tone is precisely what keeps you from getting lost in a noisy bar.

I think that most people don’t make a conscious judgement about the bass tone, or kick, snare, guitar, etc. They do make a subconscious judgement about the overall sound of your band though, and all of those components factor in.

 

[klokker]

I've found a tone that works in our mix. So that's important. But I don't have to chase it anymore, I have a pretty good idea of what works and the difference between what it sounds like on it's own and in the mix.

I spend zero time chasing tone or messing with knobs other than minor adjustments at a rehearsal or gig. A little thumpy goo once in a while on a slow song, but other than that no changes.

 

[Garry Raines]

I'm currently having issues within my band regarding simply bring heard. We play many small venues and FOH support is not needed. Even when it is, I can't seem to make others in the band as well as their significant others that it would make the band sound better if the bass guitar could be heard clearly. They seem to only want to hear the vocals, guitar, and keys. The snare drum usually cuts through the mix well, but the kick is also MIA. I've tried to explain that the bass guitar should sound should be more than just the sound of "humming in thr background".

 

[Kevin Teed]

How many guys worry about thier Tone when playing out in a bar or a live audience? It seems that unless your audience is quiet and the room is just right, then it doesn't really matter much.

Absolutely! My tone inspires me. I've received lot's of compliments on how my basses sound with people telling me it's the first time they could actually tell what the "bass" was doing.

Edit to add: 60-70% of the bass sound the audience is hearing comes from my rig and we run our own PA 95% of the time.

 

[Ellery]

How many guys worry about thier Tone when playing out in a bar or a live audience? It seems that unless your audience is quiet and the room is just right, then it doesn't really matter much.

1) I want to come close to replicating "my" sound onstage, as part of my expression. 2) I want to sit in the mix complimenting and supporting the band without adding junk/ bad sounds that interfere with or take away from the presentation.

 

[Altitude]

I made the transition to IEMs last year. One result of which is that I now have pretty much no control over the tone the audience hears from me.

I had to drop the leash on that; it was driving me a little crazy at first. Now I just make sure my bass sounds good and that I'm playing as well as I can, and let the FOH guy handle the tone. There's a little bit of Zen there if you do it right.

 

[Lava]

I do. Playing a gig with bad tone is no fun.

 

[baileyboy]

No one cares, except you and maybe some bass geek at the bar.

 

[40Hz]

I do.

In the acoustic environment you find in most bars it might not matter as much. But as a musician who takes some measure of pride in the art and craft of bass playing, I do what I can to get the best tone possible no matter where I am.

If you don't respect yourself and what you do why should anyone else?

Maybe it doesn’t really matter. So what? We’re musicians.

Do it anyway.

 

[NathOBX]

I keep mine about the same, i do adjust the lows and low mids to the room, or to the sky in some cases.