essexbasscat

[quote name='JTUK' post='1355010' date='Aug 29 2011, 09:45 AM']Majorly important, IMO. Our drummer is currently raving about my sound and I take this as a compliment as his kits always sounds great and therefore I trust his sense of sound and what he wants/needs to hear. Some people can tune them and some REALLY can't so all I have to do is position my sound to compliment his. That means I don't obsure his kick drum but for my tastes, I have to have it audiable and playabable to my style and preference. The fact that he rates it as the best sound is pleasing as it means we are half way to a good section straightaway without even playing. I am often bemused or laugh about people getting obsessed with mids to cut through and then f*** the sound out of sight from a collective band sound POV. The bass needs a sound that the player can handle...and mids can be very hard and harsh unless you are really on it, technique-wise. Plus it doesn't help in seperation..etc etc I think people look to mids as a saviour when it can be anything but..... The whole band needs to sit down and check sonically their sound in the mix...and we have been round LH in the keys before, but you are seriously missing a simple trick if the sound is poor in the first instance The number of times where a bass will obiterate the drums ..mostly..is staggering if my last weekend of watching gigs is anything to go by. These guy HAVE to play compressed but the fact that they can't hear the damage and set up their sound in the first place, also means they have no chance of using compression... Poor sound...=poor band, pretty much.[/quote] A number of very good points here

Majority opinion seems to be swinging towards cabs in this topic. Reflected on this a for a bit. Anyone else noticed there seem to be more threads discussing the pros and cons of amps than threads discussing cabs ? Just a thought......

As it says on the tin, which one gets more of your attention, the amp or the cab ? Discuss........

Lasted about 1:30 before picking up the bass to play along with it

Hi all I'll probably need to get my own stage monitor at some point, so I'd appreciate a little guidance from everyone out there as to best ones to get, ones to avoid etc. The active monitor vs. passive monitor topic ? I'm not fussed at all about going for new, if there have been some really good monitors out there in the past, I'll be happy to scout around and wait for one to come up in the market place. Nothing too big though please, as it will have to be used in the pubs and clubs too Thanks for all your ideas BC

Happy birthday ! Piccys of pressie please

[quote name='bremen' post='1352966' date='Aug 26 2011, 08:09 PM']The run-up (what's the technical term?) is C major. Not what you might expect. Make your guitarist/keyboard player do it stacatto![/quote] +1 for sure !

[quote name='Thurbs' post='1350305' date='Aug 24 2011, 02:45 PM']I got one of these: [url="http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1696"]http://www.samsontech.com/products/product...cfm?prodID=1696[/url] and it's perfect, you can create your own mix of vox + band or vox + bass, depending on your set-up. How much for perfection? £35.[/quote] That looks like a really handy tool. How do you use yours Thurbs ? the output is for headphones, but there's more than one way of processing that signal of course.

[quote name='dood' post='1349597' date='Aug 23 2011, 10:08 PM']Yes! Infact I positively rely on my ER15/25's for singing! I've not used a vocal monitor for my own voice since using these 'plugs and my fellow musicians have reported that they have noticed a dramatic improvement in the tone and pitching of my voice. Ok, so I'm no Myles Kennedy, but even so - I can run my own harmonies without getting confuzzed! Here's my trick - I select the value of filter so that the music 'outside of my head' is near to the same volume or a bit quieter than my 'voice inside my head' if that makes sense. I can hear my bass clearly and I pitch my harmonies against my bass NOT the other band members. Thus I can concentrate on getting my notes right and leave the other guys to concentrate on theirs. Its particularly useful as I am 'one of those' who loves the sound of 3 and 4 part harmonies, but whilst I am busy enjoying them, I screw up - so sadly, it's best if I cant hear what the other guys are doing as much as what I am. I therefore ask for no vocals in my monitors at all! Hang in there with the plugs, I had a similar problem, but I found listening back to recordings helped me identify what I needed to adjust when I sing. Hope this helps![/quote] Hi again Dood, how you doing ? Yes, like you, I enjoy playing bass and being part of some 3 + 4 part harmonies, Silence is Golden, That Boy and Nowhere Man - The Beatles etc. The more harmonies the better ! Sometimes, we end up busking tunes and creating harmonies on the fly. Other times it's a quick "You doing the high or the low ones ?" we all know where we are with the well practiced numbers, but we're often listening to what's going on and sorting things out in real time, or changing things in the moment to keep things interesting. In that kind of environment, I'm listening closely to the other singers for cues, so clarity is really helpful. That clarity also helps me to create the tone of voice for a given part in a certain song, something I'm working on more than ever. Not great at it, but working on it. Which is why I struggle with the muting of certain frequencies with ear plugs ! It's also one of the reasons why I find it easier to play at quieter volumes. I've tried leaving the one earplug in for the ear that's closest to that high hat and cymbal (ouch !). It's a compromise, but not best of neither. Do earplugs always muffle frequencies to protect the ears or are there models / brands out there that just lower the volume levels without sounding muffled or flattening out selected frequencies ? Thanks for your post Dood, it helped with sorting out this topic in general Also, thanks to everyone else for your thoughts on this, it's appreciated.

[quote name='Doddy' post='1349501' date='Aug 23 2011, 09:15 PM']Yeah. Although most systems have a volume control on the receiver,and most wireless ones have a limiter. I use a wired system which has an volume control on it which is not set too loud. To be fair though, the soundman must be a bit of of dick if he fiddles with your monitor volume.[/quote] The soundman is the guitarist in control of the PA. He likes to turn the volume of the whole PA up for the second half and some other times too, so erm .....

[quote name='Doddy' post='1349420' date='Aug 23 2011, 08:32 PM']You can hear the band fine with in ears......most times it's even better because you can have your own mix of whatever you want. Safe limit? I don't know.......I just turn the volume up to where it's clear but not uncomfortable.[/quote] Something about in -ear monitoring. If the soundman suddenly turns up the monitor volume without warning, does the volume correspondingly rise in your ears ? are your ears vulnerable to a clumsy hand on the monitor volume control ? pardon ?

What people are saying so far is really beginning to dig into this topic for me. I'd like to ask a few questions though; - Nottswarwick. Was there some realisation for you that made it easy to pitch vocals without external feedback ? or was it a case of practice, practice, practice ? Also, while you're singing, where's your focus ? is it on your 'internal voice' ? or something else ? how do you discern your vocal volume level in the greater context of the band as a whole ? - Monckyman. If you're wearing in -ear monitors, can you still hear the rest of the band clearly ? How do you know when you've reached the safe limit for in-ear volume levels ? Really curious of Essex here...... thanks all

There's some interest in another thread about earplugs elsewhere. I didn't want to hijack that one with my question, so here's another thread about earplugs. Does anyone sing while wearing earplugs ? I have a pair of ER15's which have been a blessing to have in case the guitarist cranks the volume again However, singing with the earplugs in is a bit of a challenge, as some frequencies tend to be muffled by the earplugs. As a result, I tend to modify my singing voice, which just makes singing more difficult. I'm also not clear about the kind of sound my voice is creating, which leads into cycles of doubt, which in turn hinders performance. I've ended up removing the earplugs to get around these problems. I'm much happier with the clearer feedback I get for my voice, but it's back to square one on the earplug issue. Any thoughts BC ? Thanks

OBBM. He's on here. Check the feedback -says it all.

Not the run of the mill corvette that one, so difficult to say. 4 stringers usually go for a bit less than that, but that one is different. Warwick enthusiasts will probably know more