I wish we could get our audio dialed in at church. We got a new x32 maybe 1-2 yrs ago and for the most part it sounds ok but our sound guys are all volunteers who only know how to adjust a fader. That's it! As far as bass, we have 2 jbl 15" subs on either side of the sanctuary and for some reason the bass response is terrible. I go thru foh as well as onstage cabs and with foh there is almost no bass response. It sounds extremely thin and weak. No punch or depth at all and it almost seems like something is out of phase. I really don't know but it drives me crazy. I use a Mesa 800+ and 115/112 on stage so I can actually hear and feel something. Apparently, I'm the only one with the problem with it because no one else seems to be concerned, but it just irks me that we have this nice equipment and no one seems to really care to get everything dialed in and make it actually sound good
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Worship Bass Pedalboards
- Thread starter Cshanks5
- Start date
I understand your frustration.
It is possible that your onstage rig makes it difficult for the sound guy to dial low frequencies in FOH.
If you want to enjoy feeling low frequencies without causing troubles to FOH, you might consider getting tactile transducer such as Backbeat or Eich Bassboard and Eich Drumchair. I own all three.
No Ive tried it with my stage gear off. Same thing. I'm also wondering if the placement of the subs is causing cancellation of frequencies or something. I would say the stage is probably 20-25ft across with subs at the corner of each side. Then about 2 ft to the exterior wall from the edge of the sub. I will say when we have had guess groups who come in and use their own pa systems, it always sounds really good. There is definitely something off with our setup.
That really sucks, I totally get how you feel having played regularly at a church that spent a fortune on a system and then every week the mix was weak and lifeless. It too was almost as if something was out of phase or over compressed, I gave up in the end.
Fortunately where I am now I was able to project manage the system install and thankfully it has some serious booty!
I would totally recommend that the sound engineers are invested in by the church, there are pro audio companies that will run training and seminars that could possibly help no end. There is a YouTube channel under the name of Attaway audio that is quite useful for getting interested engineers started. He is really good at giving tips on how to do basic eq for each instrument.
Having a good Work flow is really important when mixing as well as knowing what frequencies to hit, when I go to the desk there are set things that I do in order at soundcheck so that I know that the basics are covered. From there it is hopefully just fine tuning.
Lastly having a good relationship with the musicians is essential, being able to listen and understand not only builds healthy relationships but gives an opportunity to get several heads together to overcome issues.
Sorry for the ramble…
They sound quite good and have given me inspiration to try more and more drive. Only positive feedback thus far.
Kudos for pushing the envelope! An inspiration.....
I like the HX One quite a bit. I think you have to have the right mindset for what it is. Some folks expect a smaller Stomp, but if you can be happy with one effect block at a time, it is a win. I use the tuner/mute feature along with a few selected effects and it has kept its place on my board for a long while, now. It's great for OD, Octaver, Chorus, Delay, HPF, Reverb, and perhaps the Noble/Regal block. Yesterday, I used it for a Memory Man modulated delay (tap tempo) and for a Chorus on two song intros. HPF the rest of the time. Easy to power, small footprint, good price.
Subs are tricky to set-up and get tuned to the room and the rest of the system. How they cross-over frequencies to the subs can be the source of a poorly tuned system. Underpowered the subs, too. The phase issue could be real, too.
Some tips you might find value in..... Have you ever put on a good reference CD on the sound system, turn it up, and see if the system rocks? Donald Fagan Nightfly is my reference recording for this purpose. You should be able to get the system sounding like a great stereo at pretty high SPL's. Get a reference recording sounding good (sub cross-over, drive line gain structure, system level room EQ DSP, etc)......Then.... start working in the instrument signal chains. But get it sounding good with quality reference material first. I was an engineer some years ago and my senior expert wizard engineer used Dobbie Gray "Drift Away" as his reference song to check all playback systems. I never heard such an awesome sounding playback (for bass guitar) as that song on big studio monitors with lots of power. When professional installers were putting in our expensive 1400 seat system, I walked in and they also had Donald Fagan cranked up, and I just smiled.
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Tanner's are the best. I've tried them all.
Thanks. To be a little more in depth...
Load in was easy. I had to make two trips to get the stand, but now that I can leave the stand at the church, it will be bass on back, pedalboard in one hand, Moog in the other.
Set up was quick as well. We used one of the guitar wireless packs instead of running another XLR.
Getting a good sound was straight forward. I actually read the manual on this one (*gasp*). I was on a plane, and brought it along with me. I also found a book about the ins and outs of synths. It was more about the outs than the ins, but there was some good info. I think the Moog manual was more helpful in understanding how things work. Armed with my new non-vast knowledge, I was able to get a nice tone. As expected, the bedroom tone wasn't going to cut it live, so I had to make a few adjustments...make it sound a little 'uglier' to fit the mix.
The first run through was fun.
The key change shouldn't have thrown me...it's a pretty straight forward song with not too many changes. But, I think I got in my head. I wasn't really nervous about bringing it, until I had to get a little out of my comfort zone. But, I asked if we could play it again, and I was fine the second time.
The performance was amazing. So much fun.
The only thing that i am unsure of is the envelope filter ADSR section. The amplifier ADSR makes sense, but I'm missing something with the filter section. I have to play with that more. But, I have it set up for a nice fat (phat?) sound.
I own the EHX and have purchased a few different microsynth presets. I've never heard the stomp recreate the Microsynth well.
I've tried to take the EHX off my board in place of the stomp and have never been satisfied with doing so.
This is very helpful and will prevent me from chasing this rabbit. My WL loaned me his Stomp with a MicroSynth preset and I tried it out today. An OK imitation but not the real thing, agreed.
Yeah. For me, it's looking like it was the Grizzly. I'm not sure what I was thinking....that pedal is just the right overdrive for a lot of what I'm playing. I still want two different ODs on my board, but I was completely satisfied with it yesterday.
