'Improving live tone' thread

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1486738322' post='3234261']


Depends of the case and soundman in question. For me the tone has to reach the amp just like it's suposed to sound to the audience, the amp is there to make it sound louder and EQ is used to correct the stage sound, doing this you're making sure the same tone is sent to the FOH mixer. If one relies on the amp's EQ to tailor the tone its perfectly fine, just take a post EQ DI out of the amp if the cab is flat/uncoloured or just mic the cab for FOH.

A good soundman is the one that doesn't EQ your bass to sound like A or B, the good soundman (and i've found quite a few of them) will only mess with EQ to get rid of resonances in the room and will respect your core tone. Of course this will happen if the bass player makes sure that he's sending his good tone to FOH. But there are also bad techs out there unfortunetly, in those cases just forget about FOH sound and enjoy playing the gig with your mates.
[/quote]

I almost always use a pre EQ DI and no fx, I can make a complete mess on stage of my own mix and sound great out front, this only works if you keep the stage level lower than the PA so most bands fail there to start with and using your backline as FOH dictates both and a compromise must be met.

[dmccombe7]

Surely the soundman should be dropping PA off to hear your backline and adjust FOH to similar sound. I occasionally have to tell sound guy that there is something not right and he adjusts to suit what i want. Of course he may change it back once the gig starts

Dave

[mikel]

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1486737947' post='3234255']
problem is all those guys have their own sound engineers who know what they should sound like, [b]the rest of us have to use an in house sound man who has no idea (and probably doesn't care) what we want to sound like[/b]
[/quote]

That was my point exactly. So???

And those guys had there own sound dialed in well before the big gigs and big PAs came along.

Edited February 10, 2017 by mikel

[No lust in Jazz]

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1486736955' post='3234242']
....its peoples differences that make it interesting. ..
[/quote]

Yes, agreed.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1486736955' post='3234242']
Everything from Glen Cornick, JJ Burnel to Chris Squire. Imagine if there sound guys had simply dialed there unique sounds out and made them generic bass tones live, cos it was easier.
[/quote]

Yes, I've imagined this, but what I saw in my imagination was this... I imagined that the sound men for these bands were hired employees and I've also imagined they had their share of cruddy venues with objectionable acoustics to contend with and I've imagined that they will have mixed the bass to replicate the music as per bands requirements to the best of their abilities; taking into account the what they were faced with when they showed up and unpacked the PA - yes I've imagined this - it took a while.

Good luck with your 'unique' sound, I wish you well.

[rOB]

[quote name='No lust in Jazz' timestamp='1486635425' post='3233371']

Personally I send the DI from a pedal to FOH, use a small combo as a monitor to hear myself - thus I can adjust frequencies to suit what I need to hear and I let the soundman adjust the pedal output to suit FOH band requirements.
[/quote]

More and more I find myself thinking the same thing.

I'm currently working towards getting appropriate sounds from bass and pedals, DI before the amp and using a small amp for monitoring.

Edited February 11, 2017 by rOB

[TimR]

I have a DI out of the back of my amp for big gigs.

Never had a problem.

The other factor is my guitarist has a certain tone and I need to dial my on stage sound to fit with his tone or neither he nor me can hear ourselves or each other. It's not just a case of having 'my sound'.

We both understand frequency mixing and know that volume wars just result in louder mush so both work together.

I have no idea what the audience hear, just have to trust the sound guy.

Edited February 10, 2017 by TimR

[oldbass]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1486627940' post='3233292']
I find getting an on-stage sound that is just a tad more middy/trebly than I like to hear translates out front as a good defined sound. get a warm rich sound on stage and out front = mush.
[/quote]

This +++++1

[ChunkyMunky]

[quote name='ians' timestamp='1486831348' post='3234883']
This +++++1
[/quote]

I've done this on virtually almost every gig I've played on. I usually like a warm and thumpy sound. No wonder I can't hear jack on the front!

Thank you so much for all of your advice, everyone. I've saved it all into a word document that I'll print off and take to my next gig to experiment and play around with. You guys and gals are the gifts that keep on giving.

[KevB]

All this said we've all been to big arena gigs where a top pro is playing through top end gear and using a well qualified sound engineer. And it sounds a bag of sh*te if you can actually hear it at all above that bloody kick drum. There are limits to everything.

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1486842033' post='3234991']
All this said we've all been to big arena gigs where a top pro is playing through top end gear and using a well qualified sound engineer. And it sounds a bag of sh*te if you can actually hear it at all above that bloody kick drum. There are limits to everything.
[/quote]yep been there done that, bloody annoying as hell, hate kick drums they invade my frequency space