pete.young Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 I don't know why more people don't use ups on PA. It protects your kit from unexpected fluctuations in per supply voltage and You can essentially ignore volume limiters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 [quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1468953581' post='3094652'] I don't know why more people don't use ups on PA. It protects your kit from unexpected fluctuations in per supply voltage and You can essentially ignore volume limiters. [/quote] I know a few gtrs players with valve amps who wont play venues like this unless they can bypass the cut-off. As I understand this situation tho.... the P.A is a choke point but it wont cut out. If all this was on the table at the quote stage, I'd veto the gig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 There's a separate thread on noise limiters - http://basschat.co.uk/topic/239781-sound-limiters/page__p__2485642__hl__noise%20limiters__fromsearch__1#entry2485642 apologies if my linkage is naff......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1468953846' post='3094657'] I know a few gtrs players with valve amps who wont play venues like this unless they can bypass the cut-off. As I understand this situation tho.... the P.A is a choke point but it wont cut out. If all this was on the table at the quote stage, I'd veto the gig. [/quote] Yes. It's not a cut out device, it's a hard knee compressor type arrangement limiting the volume from the main FOH speakers. If it's only vocals and bass guitar (and keys) going through the FOH I can't see it being majorly limited. Especially if they're using A weighted dB which shouldn't be a problem with nuisance peaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Secret option c) play your bass through a guitar amp (no restrictions on those, I believe); I've had great sounds out of an old Fender Deville... Seriously though, take whatever you need to get through the gig (IEMs, or even a DI box as a splitter to a headphone amp) and move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubsonicSimpleton Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 If you stuck some Marshall badges on an SVT and 8x10 do you think anyone would notice that it was a bass amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 A lot of this comes down to the hall manager / caretaker on the day actually being bothered to enforce it , especially if there is no technically mined sound guy appointed by the hall , they may or may not , but it's still a worry going in. I'd tell the bride and groom the band might lack the punch and solid sound due to these restriction and if you have to play accordingly , honour the commitment etc. Last place I played with DB restrictions , the caretaker actually told us how to tamper with it to over ride (and said he didn't say it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I'd still bring my amp and call it a monitor... which is what it'll be as you'll be DI'd. We played a gig once in a bar where they provided backline during the Edinburgh Festival. I had been there before and chose to bring my own amp: Two small 210 speakers stacked vertically. Yes, it was overkill in that I did not need the power, but the provided amp just made it really hard to hear onstage and I knew this would work. The sound guy was worried and pretty much asked me where I thought I was going with that. In a jovial manner I told him that it's ok, my amp has a volume knob too He laughed and... everything worked beautifully because I didn't need to turn up just because I could. I'd bring whatever I need to serve as a good monitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I wish my gigging life was as easy as JTUK's ideals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 (edited) [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1469009826' post='3095008'] I wish my gigging life was as easy as JTUK's ideals. [/quote] No weddings or functions, No inexperienced players, No budget gear, will only play with top end pros passing through, will only use six D and B monitors as long as cold play aren't in town and lent them off him. There must be more to the tickled trout than meets the eye? Edited July 20, 2016 by stingrayPete1977 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrismanbass Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1469016950' post='3095083'] will only use six D and B monitors as long as cold play aren't in town and lent them off him. [/quote] as long as there's still enough power for Chris Martins steam room ....... yes thats right they tour their own steam room ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 [quote name='lojo' timestamp='1468995194' post='3094877'] Last place I played with DB restrictions , the caretaker actually told us how to tamper with it to over ride (and said he didn't say it) [/quote] Or is that D&B restrictions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 evil... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 [quote name='Chrismanbass' timestamp='1469022848' post='3095164'] as long as there's still enough power for Chris Martins steam room ....... yes thats right they tour their own steam room ..... [/quote] Who wouldn't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 It's the first thing I ask for a £250 split five ways pub gig "is there a steam room?, my pro guys I put together wouldn't touch a gig without one". ?* 8888*680s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1469083961' post='3095551'] It's the first thing I ask for a £250 split five ways pub gig "is there a steam room?, my pro guys I put together wouldn't touch a gig without one". ?* 8888*680s [/quote] What? You haven't got your own flightcased steam room? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Nah it just gets in the way of the football on the telly behind us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1469104553' post='3095770'] Nah it just gets in the way of the football on the telly behind us. [/quote] You should up your game and start playing some large festivals then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Ooh that's posh they've got decking and everything...Got an outdoor gig tomorrow. I can guarantee there won't be decking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 (edited) [quote name='KevB' timestamp='1469111521' post='3095858'] Ooh that's posh they've got decking and everything...Got an outdoor gig tomorrow. I can guarantee there won't be decking. [/quote] You should play some of the knuckle dragger festivals I play. Plenty of decking going on. Edited July 21, 2016 by EBS_freak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12stringbassist Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 (edited) In your shoes, I would turn up to do the gig, taking something small to use as a bass monitor for onstage. In mine, I would bring the amp and 2x10 from my normal rig. If they would let me use that (or the whole rig) and check my stage volume was suitably low enough at the soundcheck, I would be happier. I have hearing problems with one ear and playing without some backline would not be an option for me. I need some actual sound behind me. It doesn't have to be loud. I remember playing a wedding at a castle in Cheshire a few years ago (below). The DJ took up three-quarters of the stage and said we (a four-piece band at that time) would just have to fit in the space he'd left for us. I told the DJ that he could explain to the happy couple exactly why the band they came out to wactch three times beforehand had walked, or I would catch them on their way in and let them know. He immediately budged up into about a third of the space he was using. The happy couple remained happy and oblivious to his arseyness. The venue in the instance in the original post could quite easily allow a bass amp at low level on stage, with an assurance that it was kept at a low monitoring level, rather than lose a band and ruin the couple's day. Edited July 25, 2016 by 12stringbassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted July 25, 2016 Author Share Posted July 25, 2016 This will be my scaled down rig for it [attachment=224279:Mini Rig.jpg] I'll use the lid of my pedal board to tilt it back so I can hear better without cranking like in the pic. Should do the trick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevy-stu Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 [quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1468924102' post='3094290'] yep defo tell the clients. i did a wedding in Kingston Upon Thames where the venue insisted they supply PA . They also supplied an electronic drum kit and maplins in ear monitors. At sound check no one in the band could hear themselves or each other as the sound man didnt have a clue. The in ears were so useless. They fell out of your ears if you so much as blinked. No monitors. The only way to hear vocals was to walk out onto the dance floor as the pa speakers were up in the ceiling and pointing down. Thats just great if you are a drummer or keyboard player. To add to the misery the venue was on an island surrounded by water (Thames!) and you had to use their ferry system to get any equipment over to it. Fortunatley the guitarist and myself brought our backline so we at least were able to use it and promise to keep it down. Just as well because without it this would have been even worse than it ended up being. I was depping and so was half the band. It was all over the place due to not being able to hear each other. The bride was devastated. The groom was angry. The venue having already taken their money didnt give a sh*t and neither did the agency that set up the gig for the same reasons. We had already been paid top whack and we were not responsible for it. The sound guy told me the problem had been caused by multiple complaints from neighbours but the venue needs the bands to make it work. The venue doesnt tell the clients because most likley they wouldn't book in the first place. Tell your clents whats not in your power up front and that its going to be difficult to play your best if you cant hear yourself ........but happy to comply. You dont take any responsibility however for the results [/quote] Yep, i know this venue. They spent a fortune of some clever hidden micro speaker PA system with down facing speakers over the dance floor. Doesn't work, the IEM's are awful and the whole 'live music' thing there is just pointless. The thing that annoys me is so many venues are cropping up, mostly these barn conversions, or big houses with land that decide to erect a marquee over the summer to cash in on wedding market. They don't seem to want to accept the responsibility of providing a venue that can cope with live music, and all that's associated with it. They tell clients they have bands all the time, and it's always fine, but it's often not.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 This is the bit I don't like... '[i]● We also monitor the noise from a number of other locations outside the marquee on an hourly basis to determine if the level of noise is too much (ie. is traveling to our neighbours). While using the decibel monitor is useful some music or vocals travel more than others so please bear with us if we ask you to turn down certain aspects.'[/i] Bass frequencies travel. There's nothing you we can do about that. This means that 200m from the venue, all you can probably hear is bass. If you turn down only the bass, in reaction to this, then within the performance area the band mix will be altered and the bass will probably just disappear. What needs to happen, in these circumstances, is that the whole band needs to turn down, not just the bass. Then the band mix in the venue may be quieter but at least it will be balanced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 ^^^ Yup, this is back to what I said about this stuff needing professional input. Had a pub once where the music levels were set inside the main music bar, not outside where the neighbours were - madness - but this is what happens when the local authority thinks they know what they are doing.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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