Where does the tone go?

[thinman]

Having spent some time at a local music festival this weekend the overall PA sound was pretty good for all the bands - very clear and controlled.

But, it started to irk me a bit after a while that regardless of who was playing bass and whatever they were using it always sounded the same - a lot of bottom and probably very compressed and totally lacking any individuality.

Is this a common problem - you strive for your favourite tone then end up sounding totally different out front?

[waynepunkdude]

I guess it depends if select post or pre eq on your DI output.

What festival did you go to mate?

[thinman]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='234621' date='Jul 7 2008, 11:40 PM']I guess it depends if select post or pre eq on your DI output.

What festival did you go to mate?[/quote]

It's a pretty small 3 day job called Gazastock! Good place and nice people. Would like to play there next year.

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='thinman' post='234629' date='Jul 7 2008, 11:46 PM']It's a pretty small 3 day job called Gazastock! Good place and nice people. Would like to play there next year.[/quote]

Ah i was wondering if you went to that Zoo8 at Port Lymph, mate of mine went it was an absolute shambles.

I do like local fests we have the Hop fest in Faversham, It's really nice even if the crowd don't like you, you can always just walk home.

[BigAlonBass]

[quote name='thinman' post='234612' date='Jul 7 2008, 11:34 PM']Having spent some time at a local music festival this weekend the overall PA sound was pretty good for all the bands - very clear and controlled.

But, it started to irk me a bit after a while that regardless of who was playing bass and whatever they were using it always sounded the same - a lot of bottom and probably very compressed and totally lacking any individuality.

Is this a common problem - you strive for your favourite tone then end up sounding totally different out front?[/quote]

This is one of the main reasons I bought a wireless setup in the first place. That way, I can wander across to the desk during sound checks, and have a word with the sound guy. When they are stuck mixing different bands, like most of us, they will go for the "Easy Option". A bottomed-out, compressed sound needs the least attention, and "well you can hear it" and "you sound as good/bad as everybody else" are a couple of stock replies. Cigarettes, cans of beer, and jokes seem to get you a better sound. I mean, they're human beings, the same as us, and spending a little bit of time acknowledging their existence, instead of just shouting obscenities from the stage (happens a lot) goes a long way to getting the sound you want. If you're JUST a member of the crowd, you're easily dismissed as a 'troublemaker' or a 'p*sshead' so you have little or no influence on his decisions.

[cheddatom]

I give the soundman a DI for my "lot of bottom and very compressed" sound. Then I get him to mic up my guitar amp for the top end. The combination makes me sound like I do at practice. Maybe more sound guys should mic cabs? Maybe more bassists should be particular about what they want? Maybe the sound guy was crap.

[Adrenochrome]

This is very very common indeed. The other option seems to be to have your bass too quiet in the mix. I actually have my bass sound quite bright onstage, so the FOH mix [even at small pub gigs] is always a lot deeper for my bass but I generally keep plenty of definition which is fine by me - the audience are not usually there to marvel at my bass tone. My bass is always 'present' in the mix and I'm usually more concerned about the whole band sound and my backing vox sounding okay and being in tune.

[ironside1966]

[quote name='BigAlonBass' date='Jul 8 2008, 09:25 AM' post='234733']
This is one of the main reasons I bought a wireless setup in the first place. That way, I can wander across to the desk during sound checks, and have a word with the sound guy.

A lot of engineers use the sound check just to sort out fold back and levels.