Cuzzie

Yep - or lecture a speaker manufacturer on cone excursion, dynamics, you name it because they did A-level physics many moons ago.......

I have witnessed a warrior take on Frank Appleton CEO and founder of FEA labs compressors that truly was 🤦🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️

With no effects you are ‘unlikely’ to get lost in the mix, but you can be more present. With effects like you mention you can easily get lost, hence compression or parallel paths or both

Or like I said compression alongside a sound modulator/overdrive/distortion etc

Time I have spent reading basschat I could probably have written a novel, won the Nobel peace prize or invented something and retired living the high life. Fortunately I multi task and do it mainly whilst on the throne so it’s not completely dead time

That’s a great point - some pedals/gear you get instantly, some take a long time to get to grips with the intricacies of its ability to get right for you. I am still learning about my amp all the time as I dial in different bits

@Al Krow it wouldn’t matter how many examples I or anyone gave, for example Marcus Miller - as @peteb said you would find one who may not on a solitary gig and use as justification. @krispn nails it - a lot of the big touring musicians have bare stages so everything is off stage, older school someone is operating the pedals for them, lots will be midi sync’d and they will be playing to triggers, some will be playing to possibly a bass overlay (Dusty Hill). Add to the fact the venue PA and sound person is likely to be phenomenal it’s a whole different kettle of fish. Probably another reason the threads like this details is exactly what people are trying to counteract that Pete mentions. For peeps out there starting out or wanting info, trying to Wade through the chaff can be confusing, hence the reason people take the time to address the balance. Copy pasting opinions taken out of context from others, steadfastly sticking a view besides a body proof to the contrary based on an agreement to it somewhere found as justification does not help. Endless clips, pictures, settings etc. Asked for from other people, yet when asked to contribute for others in a similar vein - a flat refusal because 3 clips were posted the other day on another thread (or possibly a plethora over the years?!) Questions about workings and intimate uses gear which don’t involve reeling off the spec sheet are ignored/washed over. Surely the whole part of this community is to share that information. Personally I would only ask a question knowing that in a similar circumstance about something I knew, I would take the time and give due diligence to answer back to someone who deserves it. If you really don’t think a PB compressor is necessary (which is totally fine) actually what you need to do is know a bit about compression and how to use it, to know a bit about soundboards and mixing and then discuss it backwards, it’s just lame saying ‘Ha, world class bassist X doesn’t use one’ Well you know what, he/she are world class, they will have their sound nailed to the nth degree - for someone of limited ability like me not working with a world class team and sound systems etc. Actually it could just help to provide a pleasurable audio experience around the duff notes and dodgy singing. it’s cold outside, let’s hope you’ve come in.....

We can all hope.....😉🏃‍♀️💨

But he does use a TC electronic head which has an inbuilt spectracomp compressor......... Carting out old names no matter how good they are is a ludicrous game, as my man above said they were hardly common place - you may as well say they mainly used tube and not solid state heads and that their cars used leaded petrol not unleaded.

Yup MXR Dyna Comp was about the first in 1972. Most of Jaco’s stuff was about his MXR Digital Delay rack. Of course with things like Helix, Kemper, Fractal etc. you can bet there is a bit of compression in the signal chain

Well done - he also only had 4 strings - defo poopy plops compared to the thumb rest crew

Nice work pal 👊🏾👌🏾🙌🏾💪🏾🤘🏾

I’ve heard some of them, some ok, some I am staggered why they are listened to. I reckon high on the first list is likely an envelope - bootsy, sir phsycho sexy being listened to and a muff type fuzz, weirdly enough a compressor would help them enjoy it.....😉

Think of compression like the auto align in a word document. It doesn’t matter whether it’s left, right or centre aligned - you set it you start typing and it makes it a uniform document. You can still double space, tab, use punctuation etc. But within that it looks neat and tidy like it should

Correct - bass is the foundation. As for the first pedal, well it’s not all evil, a simple1 knob spectracomp will get you there and then via the PC you can alter parameters. If you want to go deeper there are others. I really don’t think it’s that bad as a first pedal providing you work with it, non of us picked up the bass and immediately played Hysteria we all had to work at it. it’s the Johnny fart pants who goes in with chuff all idea and inclination to work at it and buys a 58 knob and parameter to be part of the club, wants it to be an ‘effect’ and notice a massive change and then curses it. So far as live vs recorded, maybe that’s my irritation like your one-why is something that benefits a sound (and is acknowledged) only useful in one setting and not all? Maybe that’s me, but if you went to a poorly balanced gig, I doubt you would come away and say, oh well their recorded stuff was ok, nevermind......

Compression is an essential part of music. Bass compression is even more essential as not only does it lend itself to compression being the foundation of the song and the building block of the music having a good understanding of it and how best to use it serves the purpose of making you and the people around you sound better

Welcome to the world!!! So far as the chain goes, there is no hard and fast, but will also depend on anything else you are playing with - for example with a filter pedal if you have it before and you squash your sound too much you may lose it’s ability to form a squelchy sound to open that envelope. If you use an octave pedal it may be better before to make it a tighter signal for tracking. You may want one at the start and end of chain, first can even the attack out, a load of pedals doing whatever, then re balance at the end. No hard and fast, but what is right for you. As for setting your compression up, TJ’s video wasn’t bad on explanation posted earlier. Have a listen to this If you (not pointing at anyone) can’t hear the benefit and alteration to the sound you want to achieve by compression here then you have cloth ears, and further more if you can’t see how it would be applied in a live situation then that’s crass I am afraid. I am fully with you about not putting a sound before other instruments - it’s a recipe with ingredients to be blended - compression is there to help and stop you slipping with the salt to ruin the flavour

Knowledge sharing is definitely a good thing for many people I agree, I and others defo interested n that limiter stuff specific to your set up ......😉

44 seconds I step on it - it’s obvious and no it’s not a volume push - it’s all at unity gain - and yes I think most will hear a difference. @Al Krow I am sure you can squeeze something out for the masses clip or no clip IMG_4389.MP4

I think you forget that my work pattern denotes I don’t always have a few mins to find the video clip which is hidden somewhere in my phone as I try to finish up and get to a polling station to vote. We could stop going in circles, but then that may involve you sharing some info....😉

Well that’s not entirely on the spirit of things - regardless of clips being posted or not (strange reply saying you have posted enough clips over the years considering you ask for clips and settings regularly from others) we all like to learn things. asking about the effect of your limiter and how you use it is valuable information for people who want to protect their speakers. Things like what is the volume threshold where it happens, how hot does the signal have to be, gain staging, stacking pedals and how it affects it - do your different cabs have different tolerances. Does your mixer have a compressor on it, what type, how does it work etc. There is a breadth of practical things that could be shared that is not just quoting spec sheets and numbers and can be useful to people, and you have some nice equipment that you could demonstrate your understanding on the subject and practicality of applying it, how you use your gear. Surely that’s not unreasonable?

How about an answer about the limiter and speaker farting and mixer compression wins clips being posted? Seems a fair trade? Maybe you could post clips limiter on and limiter off whilst playing so we can hear the sound and view how the speakers are moving? That would be helpful to many demonstrating your point

It was set at unity gain - it just did its job

@Al Krow Just to follow up on the compressors as limiters, or just a limiter as a decent use as opposed to a pedal compression live, and popping a few things together from posts you have made. You often say it is there to protect your speaker cones form unwanted volume spikes. Please can I ask what kind of volume are you playing at to make the cones to practically fart out? You have high quality gear that could and can be pushed quite hard - if it’s not being pushed do you need a limiter at all? Also (and there is nothing wrong with it) you proudly go bass - amp - cab on gigs, no pedals. The pedal board is at home. Are you playing at a higher volume at home as opposed on a gig which needs you to have a limiter on your signal? Even using filters/synth at home etc. Is it at such a volume to rag the cones? Wouldnt it make more sense to protect the gigging cab? Just interested.

Question then. Do you have a sound engineer mixing your band when you play mainly? If it’s just your Heath and Allen Mixing desk you use who balances the sound when you use your own PA? What is the compressor type and it’s abilities on your desk and do you use it on all channels/instruments etc?