Uncontrollable Boom!, a bad gig.

[Dirk Diggler]

A Gramma pad will help with consistency, it really cleared up problematic room issues just like that for me.
Dirk

 

[THUNDERGODX]

I personally try for that Coliseum "ROAR" If I want plink and clank, Ill play silverware. Luckily the type of music I like to play is oriented toward big concert sound, so I get by with it.

 

[JohnnyBottom]

I always use a gramma and a great perk of using AudioKinesis cabs is the ability to plug the ports in situations like this. Always helps to some degree.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

What's the best alternative to an Auralex Gramma pad for those who have spent most of their life in Yorkshire? I. e. cheap.

 

[Zbysek]

Possible remedies:

1. elevate the cab
2. take the cab out of the corner
3. take the cab from the wall
4. HPF
5. notch filter

 

[Carl Hillman]

On the weekend I had a gig in a pub that holds about 125 people; the room was about 75% full. I was a bit late for sound check and got stuck setting up in the corner (which no doubt contributed to the boom).

All night long I fought with my tone, it was muffled and boomy. My gear consisted of a P-bass with round wounds and a 200 watt combo (Traynor SB112). I immediately turned the bass down to 9 o'clock, then I turned the midbass down to 10:00 but it still sounded boomy and undefined. I have never had this problem before in the room and I have played there half a dozen times before. My EQ points on my combo are 60hz, 200 hz, 800hz and 2.5khz. As mentioned above I cut the 60 and 200, the problem was if I cut too much it just pulled the whole bottom end out. The pub has a hard wood floors and wood walls.

Has anybody had this type of thing happen to them? Like I said, I have played that room before (with the same gear) and never had a problem. There just seemed to be a "soupy fog" of boom. Many of the locals noticed it and at one point they were yelling "turn up the bass" (a bass players dream haha) after I cut the low end.

Any thoughts?

Some rooms will simply be boom boxes, despite your best attempts at EQing it away.

Parallel walls, high, vaulted ceilings, and lack of floor/wall coverings can make some gigs a nightmare.

Short of carrying your own bass traps and wall treatments around with you, I don't know what you could have done to mitigate the problem.

While you're playing in these situations, just keep telling yourself, "it's just one gig...this too shall pass".

 

[Pilgrim]

Since I use small, light cabs, I'd just sit it on a chair and reduce the low end output. Moving it up will break up the corner coupling a little bit, and by preventing it from sitting on the stage surface, it eliminates any tendency of the stage to augment boom.

 

[Bassometer]

Did you have your cabinet diagonally across the corner?
Worst placement for a bass cabinet, did you try turning the cabinet 45 degrees so it was flat up against one wall...

No it was flat (parallel) to one wall.

 

[bloobass]

I played a distillery with my band. We played on what was basically a large covered patio, about 20' deep by about 50' long. It apparently had a resonant frequency of Ab, which shouldn't have been to bad right? Except we were tuned down a 1/2 step, so that made it a G for us. And literally EVERY G that was played in any octave caused resonation. Bass, guitars, didn't matter. Weird stuff.

 

[Pat C.]

A kick drum produces many frequencies, but the problematic ones are a bit more isolated. EQing with pillows and tape is a bit harder, and you can't move the kick drum independently

Although they do produce a full, broad band response kicks tend to be "one note wonders". The fundamental note differs due to tuning, but the 1st and 2nd harmonic will greatly dominate the response.

Example:



The boominess problem typically occurs when the fundamental is exciting the room. Re-tuning the drum can help (but it may not help much and some drummers won't want to do that) and the stuffing/muting method can help or hinder as you noted.

As far as moving the kick drum, maybe all bands need a levitating drum kit a la Tommy Lee. Get rid of those boundaries competely.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Although they do produce a full, broad band response kicks tend to be "one note wonders". The fundamental note differs due to tuning, but the 1st and 2nd harmonic will greatly dominate the response.

Yes, I was alluding to there being the important ~3kHz peak for the slap of the beater, but with the problem being the stuff below about 120Hz, and much more separated than for a bass. The issue with stuffing and sticking (which anyway works better on ringing) is that you tend to try to get in the ball park with the drums solo, then have to hope it works with the whole band, as there's always something that happens that chews up the soundcheck time so you don't get to tweak more with the whole band.

If you want boomy try a taiko group with a 3 to 4 foot bass drum. In a cathedral. Those big drums have a fundamental that must be close to 30Hz given the whole band recording I got once as the volume was still significant at the point my mics (rated down to 20Hz) gave up. I might do a plot sometime to find out what it really is.

 

[Downunderwonder]

What's the best alternative to an Auralex Gramma pad for those who have spent most of their life in Yorkshire? I. e. cheap.

A physics tutorial from @Rick James

 

[Downunderwonder]

Everyone is missIng the point that OP played this gig before with no problems. Something was different.

Cab stuck in corner could have been EQ'd down to suitably compensate for the prodigious bottom. He said he tried that.

My money still on someone else doing something differently.

 

[okcrum]

On the weekend I had a gig in a pub that holds about 125 people; the room was about 75% full. I was a bit late for sound check and got stuck setting up in the corner (which no doubt contributed to the boom).

All night long I fought with my tone, it was muffled and boomy. My gear consisted of a P-bass with round wounds and a 200 watt combo (Traynor SB112). I immediately turned the bass down to 9 o'clock, then I turned the midbass down to 10:00 but it still sounded boomy and undefined. I have never had this problem before in the room and I have played there half a dozen times before. My EQ points on my combo are 60hz, 200 hz, 800hz and 2.5khz. As mentioned above I cut the 60 and 200, the problem was if I cut too much it just pulled the whole bottom end out. The pub has a hard wood floors and wood walls.

Has anybody had this type of thing happen to them? Like I said, I have played that room before (with the same gear) and never had a problem. There just seemed to be a "soupy fog" of boom. Many of the locals noticed it and at one point they were yelling "turn up the bass" (a bass players dream haha) after I cut the low end.

Any thoughts?

Maybe the problem occurred because I was set up in the corner - could it have that much of an affect? I know it is +3db for a wall and +6db for a corner but it just seemed way beyond that.

Actually, below 200 Hz or so, the boundary effect yields +6 dB of SPL for each surface near the cabinet, including the floor. So you can end up with a +18 dB SPL boost down low if you're set up tight in a corner.

If the band is set up in a cubbyhole things can get worse reflecting from all the nearby surfaces onstage. In the rooms like that around here, I usually cut the low end just enough so the drummer can hear my note attack. That way the bass doesn't thin out so much out in the room. Another solution is raising the amp a foot or two off the floor and away from the walls to decrease the boundary effect.

 

[okcrum]

Everyone is missIng the point that OP played this gig before with no problems. Something was different.

Cab stuck in corner could have been EQ'd down to suitably compensate for the prodigious bottom. He said he tried that.

My money still on someone else doing something differently.

I didn't miss that. My money is on either a different setup position, different band volume, different sized crowd, or perhaps just not noticing before. It's also possible there's missing info, say, the club remodeled and moved walls around, hardened or softened surfaces, etc. If any of that happened, it's a new room.

I'm inferring from the OP that there's no FOH, so that rules out a different sound operation lifeform.

 

[Pat C.]

Everyone is missIng the point that OP played this gig before with no problems. Something was different.

Except for everyone who posted commenting on that specific thing. And the OP said he was in a different spot than previous gigs.

So the point was not missed.

 

[Bassometer]

I have a lot of take away points from all of your responses, thanks. There is some very good info in this thread.

 

[briandavismurph]

A high pass filter is nice to have in the bag.

The best tool in the box, +1 for the HPF

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Maybe the problem occurred because I was set up in the corner - could it have that much of an affect? I know it is +3db for a wall and +6db for a corner but it just seemed way beyond that.

Hight of the room, monitors, the flooring all could have an effect. Just asking, was it boomy in audience?

 

[Plutonium244]

The best tool in the box, +1 for the HPF

Yep, if I could have just one anti-rumble tool, it would be HPF, I can dial a good sound anywhere with rare exception. In fact, it's about my favorite accessory, period.