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Where do you stand?

#341
My preference is to the drummer's left but for an entirely different reason. That invariably puts me on the BL's left as well. My left ear is pretty much shot due to 50+ years on a loud bandstand. Add in many years hunting and target shooting in my youth. That position makes it possible for my still somewhat functional right ear to hear when the singer calls an audible and I'm not left standing there totally oblivious to what's about to happen and starting the wrong song. Keep on living, youngsters. Your time's coming.
 
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#342
Left! Once during a gig, there was a problem with one of the drummers mic. While I was standing on the right side of the drummer, the engineer rushed between my headstock and the drums to fix the mic and bumped my tuners pretty hard. I had to retune during the preformanxe...
 
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#345
Zoffy said:
Tonight my band played a party and it occurred to me that I have just always fallen in on the right side of the drummer. I've noticed that bass players generally, but not always, hang out to the right of the drums. Anyone hang out on the left? And would there be any reasons regarding acoustics or sound that I am overlooking as a reason to favor the bass on one side or the other?

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#347
Zoffy said:
Tonight my band played a party and it occurred to me that I have just always fallen in on the right side of the drummer. I've noticed that bass players generally, but not always, hang out to the right of the drums. Anyone hang out on the left? And would there be any reasons regarding acoustics or sound that I am overlooking as a reason to favor the bass on one side or the other?

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For me depends on where the outlets are, but I'm slways near the drummer and keyboard in the back
 
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#348
If you are a right-handed bassist you should stand to the right of the drummer. (left of drummer if a lefty) This allows you to more easily lock onto the kick drum pedal movement by just glancing past the fret board, which you are naturally going to look at from time to time. Bass is supposed to lock onto the kick drum, not the high-hat or snare. Jees!
 
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#349
Don't think of either right or left....but snare/hihat vs floor tom sides....(I'm sure as others have mentioned or eluded to). So it's arguably for timing and the ability to lock in with drummers, as most will keep time with their hi-hat cymbals, the closer you are the quicker you can adjust to timing changes and such. From an acoustic viewpoint....if your bottom end is all one side of the stage, it can become unbalanced and the bottom end can get a bit muddy. In smaller venues, this can pose a bit of a problem. In larger venues where you have foh and monitors, it becomes less of an issue. It's something the band should experiment with so you can develop your own band sound. Genre and playing volume will have a big impact on how you would setup on stage too. But that's always been my understanding and experience.
 
#351
As the bandleader and bassist, I feel a need to stand on the side where the hi-hat is, where the drummer and I can usually make better eye contact. Plus the fact that I've had new/different drummers through the years, I've found myself needing to "coach" him/her sometimes... It's necessary" to make sure we're on the same page with dynamics (crashes, stops, starts, etc). So to me, being on the opposite side of the stage leaves them entirely on their own. And we can't have that, now can we? :)
 
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#352
RichGrippo said:
If you are a right-handed bassist you should stand to the right of the drummer. (left of drummer if a lefty) This allows you to more easily lock onto the kick drum pedal movement by just glancing past the fret board, which you are naturally going to look at from time to time. Bass is supposed to lock onto the kick drum, not the high-hat or snare. Jees!
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Except: In my case, as nature intended, the drummer locks his kick onto ME. I play wireless. Despite the venue or setup, he swears he can't hear the bass. I'm free to wander the stage and he watches my fingers in order to maintain the meter.
 
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#356
Zoffy said:
Tonight my band played a party and it occurred to me that I have just always fallen in on the right side of the drummer. I've noticed that bass players generally, but not always, hang out to the right of the drums. Anyone hang out on the left? And would there be any reasons regarding acoustics or sound that I am overlooking as a reason to favor the bass on one side or the other?

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I want to hear the high hat and bass drum, so it really depends a lot on volume and stage monitors
 
#357
For 50 years it has always been the left side and I will fight any guitar player for that spot. Lol. Most of the reasons have already been mentioned but the main one for me is that I like to hear that natural sounding snap of the snare as well as his intermittent licks. It helps me with syncopation and creativity plus I'm able to get in closer to the hihat and bass drum for that soulful feel without banging my headstock. This also puts those noisy crash and ride cymbals over with those noisy guitar players.
 
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#358
Zoffy said:
Tonight my band played a party and it occurred to me that I have just always fallen in on the right side of the drummer. I've noticed that bass players generally, but not always, hang out to the right of the drums. Anyone hang out on the left? And would there be any reasons regarding acoustics or sound that I am overlooking as a reason to favor the bass on one side or the other?

View attachment 4158413
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in some theory the bassist would be positioned to the treble end of the kit (snare, high tom...) to balance the tone range. so for a right handed drummer whos kit is setup (i think?) standard with the snare and high toms stage left, the bassist and bass rig would be stage left as well.. (that is if stage left means to the left when your on stage facing the crowd). im not an engineer but ive heard this a few times. ive tried both with guitar and bass but once i start playing i forget to think about that sorta stuff so my experience counts for nothing .
 

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