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What Am I Missing?

#41
S.F.Sorrow said:
Also, unless the engineer is the lazy type he really should be able to work the faders and adjust the level of the bass as needed. Especially if he is a regular who is familier with your style of playing, knows the repertoire, the room, the equipment, etc. But like I said, getting into an argument with the engineer might not be the best idea...
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Actually, the Pastor had a professional live sound engineer to come and make board adjustments/settings to attempt to balance everything to best fit the house.
I don’t visit the board to make changes. I get the sound that I want from my bass and pedals and send him a feed. I’ll ask him to make changes for my hear back, but that’s about it.
 
#42
Thumpin6string said:
From what I see on your pedal board, you have the enhance on the WTDI set around 11:00. On Edens, running the enhance higher than 9:00 or so can kill your ability to cut through. That along with too much compression might be an issue too. On my WT400, I keep enhance under 9:00 and compression fairly light. This could also be why slapping would seem louder than finger plucking. Might be worth trying.
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The Eden Bypass was on, so except for volume out there was no effects circuitry engaged.
 
#45
I was always of the mind that the various techniques naturally produce different volumes.

The question about whether the volume differences between palm mute/finger style/slap are too much for the ensemble you are playing with is entirely situational.

I would use compression to reign in the slap, and a mild clean boost to up the volume of the palm muting, but would still expect there to be a volume difference between the 3 techniques.
 
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#48
S.F.Sorrow said:
Also, unless the engineer is the lazy type he really should be able to work the faders and adjust the level of the bass as needed. Especially if he is a regular who is familier with your style of playing, knows the repertoire, the room, the equipment, etc. But like I said, getting into an argument with the engineer might not be the best idea...
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This was my original thinking as well. He's the mix engineer, not the mix observer. While I make great efforts to eliminate and/or minimize the need for chasing after my tone and level, the mix engineer should be willing and able to manage the mix according to the song and the environment.
 
#51
Geri O said:
This was my original thinking as well. He's the mix engineer, not the mix observer. While I make great efforts to eliminate and/or minimize the need for chasing after my tone and level, the mix engineer should be willing and able to manage the mix according to the song and the environment.
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Yep! And although his comments matter to me, his experience really lacks experience. :D

See my post #39 for what I found to have been the root cause. Plus, if I really had poor techniques they would have presented issues a few decades ago while playing in other bands before this past Sunday. :)
 
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#56
JimmyM said:
I’m not big on throwing gear at a technique problem. You need to even out your volumes with the different techniques. And no, playing palm muted thumb doesn’t necessarily mean you lighten up considerably. Instead of several compressors, you should just work on evening out your volumes the old fashioned way.
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Agreed! Compressor is production tool, not a clutch for a bad technique. OP, work on your technique, practise switching from one to another and back and keep consistent volume.
Couple of tips: OP, use more "meat" when playing with your fingertips (think double bass). I have seen/heard couple of players sound really thin and it's just a technique thing: using too little of fingertips, like classic guitarist.
As for palm muting, again more "meat" and pull harder to compensate that you are muting strings.
On the other hand, if that thumb is much louder, pull less.
 
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#57
Nightman said:
I use a few playing techniques while supporting our Praise Team. Today, the sound guy tells me that the house board doesn’t register a strong signal from the bass DI when I’m palm muting and finger plucking, but gets a strong signal when I play with my thumb.
I was never under the impression that palm muting was supposed to deliver a signal as strong as when using a thumb slapping technique.
What adjustments do I need to make and am I wrong in my understanding?
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ya ... it is called dynamics
 
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#60
Nightman said:
Actually, the Pastor had a professional live sound engineer to come and make board adjustments/settings to attempt to balance everything to best fit the house.
Click to expand...
Unless you are only playing back prerecorded music that isn't really going to help all that much.
If the person at the desk can't make those adjustments in real time it's a lost cause as soon as anything on the stage changes.
 
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