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Too much bass

10cc

10cc

Inactive
Oct 28, 2013
5,721
6,622
#1
Like most of us I've attended lots of live shows. But my god these sound engineers need to ease up on those subs. Within the last few weeks I've seen Duran Duran and Hall and Oates and the bass has no definition. Just one big low freq that rattles everything in site. Why? Why must this be. HPF's for everyone!

Back when I was younger I do not remember it being like this.
 
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#4
Didn't know there was such a thing. ;) How much of this can be attributed to the urban bass 'n' drum culture? Before hip hop was popular the mix was more evenly distributed between EQ bands as well as between instruments. Joe Puerta from Ambrosia made an interesting point in an interview once when he suggested lowering the sub bass volume and adding to the low mids (I'm paraphrasing). This cleans up the annoying rumble and allows the notes to be understood. Check out his tone. Fantastic.
 
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#6
I was at a blues festival and the bass on the main stage was nothing short of overpowering. The sound guy took a break and a sound gal took over. She brought it down to a 'normal' level and it sounded great. That was until the sound guy came back from his break and up went the bass again.

Fortunately the other 2 stages were far better mixed.
 
#12
I've got a sub hooked up in my man cave (barn) to my sound system and its barely audible but it does the job of filling out the sound fine. These guys must really be leaning on that sub signal.

I did a festival about a month ago and I'm so glad I had a HPF. Once we got a sound check going I was very quick to wrangle that low out of site. The sound guy had no option at that point but I don't think he even knew what was happening anyway.
 
#14
We don't often get PA support but on the few occasions that we do I have been pleasantly surprised by the mix.

I am normally the 'sound guy' in that I walk the room and signal to the guitarist (who mixes from the stage) how I want the PA and his guitar setting, and I adjust my bass accordingly. We haven't had any bad reports in the last 3 years and believe me some of the drummers friends can find fault with anything.
 
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#19
The technology has become light years more advanced - but the sound techs have forgotten (assuming they ever knew) how to mix live sound. Everybody these days seems to think they're mixing for studio. Possibly because (or so I've been told) everything at most shows gets recorded in case it can be used for a 'live' album some day?

I've been to one big concert (Tull) in the last ten years where, although it was loud, you could still hear everything clearly - and the bass didn't sound like sludge. Everything else I've been to has been pretty bad. So much so that I've given up on live concerts. If I can't catch the band in a small theater type setting I just don't go anymore.
 
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#20
Clef_de_fa said:
I thought you quit TB and music for good
Click to expand...

If I weren't myself guilty of of half reading posts, I'd say, "Learn to read!" But since I am guilty, I'm not sure what to tell you other than - nope, never quitting nor even taking a break from music, and leaving TB in a month. Probably just for 3 months, possibly for good.
 

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