How was your gig last night?

[mcnach]

4 hours ago, ezbass said:

2nd set follow up. I moved forwards and down, in front of the drums (there was a smallish stage), with keys and guitar, left and right. It sounded better for about 5 minutes, the drums were just drowning out my rig and I won’t turn up because that’d destroy to out front mix, which seemed fine at sound check. There is little or no enjoyment for me if I can’t hear myself and this morning has contemplating jacking it all in, although I’m sure I won’t. Crowd loved it all, so job done. Had a complete blank in one song (Itchycoo Park) and couldn’t remember how to play it, most embarrassing. We shared the night with a mod/punk disco who were louder than us by some measure and one of the monitors blew during our set, which I’m sure was down to them. I didn’t hang around because of the volume and was packed up and home by 1.

 

 

Maybe consider some basic IEM solution?

 

Even if you don't have your own mix, you can typically get AT LEAST a feed from one fo the wedge monitors or the PA speakers themselves. Most are active these days and will have a 'thru' output. You can use a cheap Behringer P1 personal headphone amp, and plug into it whatever mix you can get in one XLR, and your bass on the other. With good sealing earphones (no need to spend hundreds, a KZ with the right tips would be fine) you can get a very reasonable balance. The main thing is that the earphones have a good seal. No need to go wireless, but that would be an improvement if the solution works for you.

 

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, kiat said:

Have you tried hearing more of your bass via IEMs @ezbass?  It can be a very simple and inexpensive setup to be effective. Take the Behringer MA400 headphone amp with passthrough which is about £15. Get your bass into it, connect your IEMs (£5-£20).

 

On stage vary your bass to taste, whilst still hearing the band ambiently.

 

 

very good solution 👍

 

 

 

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, ezbass said:

I have not, but I don't want more gear TBH. Also, I think IEMs are a great idea for a quiet stage, but when you have a tub thumper and a normal guitar amp (not loud by any means) on stage, I think it kind of negates them and I'd rather go for protection over monitoring. I have considered this option in the past, however.

 

Earphones with teh right tips can provide a lot of attenuation. The KZ something or another (sorry, I forget which) quoted 26db reduction, which sounds a bit optimistic but it would depend largely on the tip material and how they fit your ears. The idea is not to provide all your sound via IEMs (that would be ideal, but in reality...), but to provide as much attenuation as possible and just add what you need, and no more. Keep it sensible. In my case, I typically add a bit more 'me' and depending on the situation I may get a bit of rhythm guitar and main vocals, that's it. I started using IEMs because one of the bands I play in tends to be way too loud onstage and no amount of chat persuaded anybody to change their ways... that, couple to the fact I rarely get my own monitor in that band made me research the IEM ways.  

 

I think the problem I see with lots of people considering IEMs is that they either want it to be perfect, or nothing, while the truth is that almost any IEM solution sounds better than wedges and a loud stage. I had assumed it had to be expensive and that it would be too much faff and overkill for pub gigs (which are the ones I had most trouble with, music venues are largely ok)... in the end I have invested in decent wireless, but that's just 'decoration'... the actual function/sound is no better than when I used a simple wired system (in some ways wired is actually better). I just wish I had done this years ago instead of getting frustrated gig after gig.

[EssexBuccaneer]

27 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

If you do so, make sure you KNOW what was being said and not rely on 'apparentlies'

We spoke to the guy this AM, he’s tight with the guitarist (they work together).

 

We’ll be letting the venue know (politely) that we won’t be back. 

[Greg Edwards69]

Little late to report, but never mind.  Thursday we played a double headed with another local band (SX5) at the Cricketers in Leigh as part of a fundraiser for the RNLI. SX5 led on the event and provided the temporary stage, PA, drums and lighting, so we more than happy to go on first. They have their own mixer dialled in (XR16) and use IEMs, so we weren’t quite sure what to do with limited time to set up. So it was decided to bring our mixer for our vocals, guitars and bass, run an output of their mixer into our for the drum mix to retain our own IEM mixer, and then straight out to the spare inputs on their PA speakers. I thought it was gong cause more problems than it would solve, but it ended up working really well.

 

A 90min set without a break to a very appreciative audience (and a busy one for a weeknight) went by like a flash, a quick tear down and SX5 started merely 30mins later. Received a lot of complements from people who’d never seen as before, as well as a number of people who turned up to support us (and the cause) who usually see us playing elsewhere.

 

Whilst I would have like to stayed to support the other band, I was exhausted and knew I had a full on day at work on Friday (in what turn out to be a marathon 5 hour session with an important customer going through amends in a 400 page InDesign document).  So reluctantly, we left at 10.30ish and in bed by 11.

 

Looking forward to doing it again, if they plan on it.

[StingRayBoy42]

Two very different gigs this weekend!

Friday was the Dysfunctionals 3 piece at the Spread Eagle in Polesworth (Imagine if Tamworth had a frumpy, less glamorous sister).
It was one of the smallest places I've ever played - we were wedged inbetween the pool table and the door to the toilets... ROCK 'N' ROLL!
It was so small, we couldn't bring all our stuff in (We have too much stuff, especially for gigs of this size, but I digress) so we had to unload the cables and stuff we needed outside and bring them in by the armful. Yay!

Little Nige on drums again, always a pleasure but sadly not a long term replacement for the previos custodian of the sticks.

Setup was a nightmare as the stage bit between the pool table and the door to the toilets was about the size of an Altoids tin (Altoids Smalls, not the proper ones) so every time you turned round or stood up you'd clout into something.

All set up (we had to grease Henry (BL) up to get him out from behind the keyboard) waited around for a bit, went on to about six utterly indifferent punters... the best we got was a very vauge smattering of applause between songs.

At half time, a bloke collared me and said how nice it was to see a Bass player smiling... I can't imagine why anyone would think all Bass players are miserable sods (unless they've been on Basschat for more than seven picoseconds). I didn't have the heart to tell him it was more of a rictus grin.

Second set was slightly better, a few people came in from the room next door, danced for a verse and a chorus then buggered off again, by the end the 'dancefloor' (the bit in front of the bit between the pool table and the door to the toilets) was packed (it only needed about nine people to be packed) and they enjoyed the last three or four songs, so... that was fun. 
I joined the dancefloor (TBIFOTBBTPTATDTTT) for the encore, which went down a treat.

Pack up and load out was even less fun than load in and set up as the stage  bit between the pool table and the door to the toilets had somehow shrunk *and* there were drunken arseholes  valued audience members in the way... I would have thought that after the fifteenth "'scuse us... sorry... can we just squeeze through there...?" from chaps with enormous flightcases they would have got the message and gone and stood somewhere else, but alas, no.

Mrs StingRayBoy came, she very much enjoyed it.

Played the Jazz for a change (inspired by a thread on here about Jazz Basses) -> there wasn't enough room for my little board so I didn't bother -> secret weapons board (wedged onto a shelf) -> MB 802 -> PA.

Wore the peach pink sparkle converse.


Satuday was depping with the Manchester Ska Foundation at a wedding (Debbie and Andrew) in a marquee outside a pub somewhere near Macclesfield.
Arrive at 430, setup was slightly (but not much) more fun than Friday as we had to drag everything through the audience who were sheltering from the rain... there's eight of us and they're all used to it, so it's usually a pretty easy setup.

Soundcheck went down well (!), first set at 6 o'clock, we went down a storm. Marquee was packed (It was raining out), everyone loving it, dancing and singing along... fab!

The happy couple had their first dance to 'It must be love', which was lovely, the bride's married name is Brown, so 'Sally Brown' (Bad Manners) became 'Debbie Brown' - cue much hilarity and everyone joining in.

They fed us (Meat & Potato pie and chips) at half time which was most welcome.

Second set was great, a packed marquee (still raining out), all loving it.

One of the wedding guests (A very drunken young lady who looked like an AI-designed sex worker (denim thomg, boob tube, knee-high leather boots, cowboy hat)) spent the entire second set haranguing the trombone player, wanting a go on her trombone...  so obvioulsy there were lots of blowing/shiny horn/get your lips on that type jokes... hilarious.
(The trumpet player let her have a go on his trumpet at the end, but her lips were too big to get a sound out of it.)

Played the P -> secret weapons board -> MB 802 -> PA.
Wore the cow print converse.
Two sets of relentless uptempo ska on the LaBella DTFs took it out of my fingers which I've never really noticed before... I must be getting old.

Finished for just after 8, packed up by 9, back in Brum by 10:37 for a cider and a conversation about Lindy Hop with my Stepmum.

Edited 4 hours ago by StingRayBoy42

[Jackroadkill]

8 minutes ago, StingRayBoy42 said:

AI-designed sex worker

 

I think I saw them supporting Ministry once.  They were good, but of course their first album was the best and they never regained their initial fury.  Shame.

[Stub Mandrel]

6 minutes ago, StingRayBoy42 said:

(Imagine if Tamworth had a frumpy, less glamorous sister).

 

Having lived in Tamworth for some five years or so that stretches my imagination. 

[Jackroadkill]

8 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Having lived in Tamworth for some five years or so that stretches my imagination. 

 

There was a wrestler from Tamworth called David Day, and that's everything I know about the place.

[dmccombe7]

10 hours ago, ezbass said:

2nd set follow up. I moved forwards and down, in front of the drums (there was a smallish stage), with keys and guitar, left and right. It sounded better for about 5 minutes, the drums were just drowning out my rig and I won’t turn up because that’d destroy to out front mix, which seemed fine at sound check. There is little or no enjoyment for me if I can’t hear myself and this morning has contemplating jacking it all in, although I’m sure I won’t. Crowd loved it all, so job done. Had a complete blank in one song (Itchycoo Park) and couldn’t remember how to play it, most embarrassing. We shared the night with a mod/punk disco who were louder than us by some measure and one of the monitors blew during our set, which I’m sure was down to them. I didn’t hang around because of the volume and was packed up and home by 1.

Are you IEM or using backline. Just trying to understand why you didn't up your on-stage master volume. ?

I've had occasions like this where all of a sudden drums get louder after soundcheck and guitarist automatically turns up because he knows drummer plays quieter during soundcheck. I just nip up my master to hear myself otherwise i make mistakes when not hearing what i'm doing.

We historically don't put guitar and bass amps thru PA altho we've now started using a PA hire company for some gigs with intention of every gig from next year.

Dave 

[dmccombe7]

10 hours ago, Geek99 said:

I agree, if I can’t hear myself Theres no reference point and also no pleasure 

 

Edit : I like to think “I’m doing that and it sounds amazing”. I watched a phone recording of myself, an acoustic guitard and a talented female singer. I sounded loud to me, but was inaudible on the phone. She’s always telling me to turn up, maybe she’s right 

 

I get that phones don’t always capture bass well but you usually get something 

Problem with many phones is they focus on vocals and everything else fades slightly quiet during singing and come back up when vocals stop so always very wary of phone recordings.

I've usually got the opposite that i cant hear myself on certain stages but on phone recordings the bass is there.

Dave

 

[dmccombe7]

7 hours ago, kiat said:

Have you tried hearing more of your bass via IEMs @ezbass?  It can be a very simple and inexpensive setup to be effective. Take the Behringer MA400 headphone amp with passthrough which is about £15. Get your bass into it, connect your IEMs (£5-£20).

 

On stage vary your bass to taste, whilst still hearing the band ambiently.

 

I'm definitely considering something like this.

Dave

[ezbass]

1 minute ago, dmccombe7 said:

Just trying to understand why you didn't up your on-stage master volume. ?

Because that would destroy the FoH sound, which was fine and we don’t want to get into volume wars. Neither the guitar or keys were any louder, the boys are really disciplined in that respect.

3 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

where all of a sudden drums get louder after soundcheck

Here lies the problem, I think, especially with booming toms and crashing cymbals. I have to find a way to get the kit tuned higher, like Stewart Copeland does - lots of cut, no mud. 
 

What doesn’t help is the feedback from the audience, who said we’ve never sounded better (I think their hearing had been shot by the DJs).

[dmccombe7]

5 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

Earphones with teh right tips can provide a lot of attenuation. The KZ something or another (sorry, I forget which) quoted 26db reduction, which sounds a bit optimistic but it would depend largely on the tip material and how they fit your ears. The idea is not to provide all your sound via IEMs (that would be ideal, but in reality...), but to provide as much attenuation as possible and just add what you need, and no more. Keep it sensible. In my case, I typically add a bit more 'me' and depending on the situation I may get a bit of rhythm guitar and main vocals, that's it. I started using IEMs because one of the bands I play in tends to be way too loud onstage and no amount of chat persuaded anybody to change their ways... that, couple to the fact I rarely get my own monitor in that band made me research the IEM ways.  

 

I think the problem I see with lots of people considering IEMs is that they either want it to be perfect, or nothing, while the truth is that almost any IEM solution sounds better than wedges and a loud stage. I had assumed it had to be expensive and that it would be too much faff and overkill for pub gigs (which are the ones I had most trouble with, music venues are largely ok)... in the end I have invested in decent wireless, but that's just 'decoration'... the actual function/sound is no better than when I used a simple wired system (in some ways wired is actually better). I just wish I had done this years ago instead of getting frustrated gig after gig.

Any chance you could give us some more detail of what you're doing with your IEM. ? Maybe what you use and how its all connected. I'm quite interested in going IEM for next year when we hopefully use a PA hire every gig.

I might even go ampless on stage perhaps use my Mesa TT800 as a pre-amp.

Dave

[Bluewine]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Problem with many phones is they focus on vocals and everything else fades slightly quiet during singing and come back up when vocals stop so always very wary of phone recordings.

I've usually got the opposite that i cant hear myself on certain stages but on phone recordings the bass is there.

Dave

 

I always hear a little more bass with earbuds. 

 

Daryl

[bassbiscuits]

Second gig in two nights, this time a solo acoustic guitar/vocal job at the Organ Grinder in Loughborough. 

First outing for my 1999 Simon and Patrick SP6 into which I’ve taped a Seymour Duncan Woody pickup.
 

Over the last few months I’ve eradicated various gremlins from my rig (noisy power supplies, dirty pots, annoying buzzes etc) and I have to say tonight felt like the best guitar sound I’ve had on stage. Full and loud without being harsh, and lots of dynamics. It was cooking. 

 

It’s a really loud resonant acoustic guitar even unplugged, so being hunched over it inches away from chiming, ringing notes and broingy, bitey chords was a delightful experience. 
 

Flask of earl grey carried my voice through the gig (just about). Which also gave me the chance to tone down the volume, swap pick for finger style and explore some softer singing (essentially to keep my voice intact for longer). 
 

Some good results from doing that actually - will try to remember for next time. For now, bed. 

 

Edited 39 minutes ago by bassbiscuits