http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2010/09/five_reasons_your_bass_player.php
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:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
What a bunch of whiners! I'm a firm believer in, 'You get to play with who you deserve.' If nobody appreciates your massive talent, play with yourself. ;D
Quote from: dadagoboi on March 08, 2011, 02:37:06 PM
What a bunch of whiners! I'm a firm believer in, 'You get to play with who you deserve.' If nobody appreciates your massive talent, play with yourself. ;D
+1
Quote from: dadagoboi on March 08, 2011, 02:37:06 PM
What a bunch of whiners! I'm a firm believer in, 'You get to play with who you deserve.' If nobody appreciates your massive talent, play with yourself. ;D
I would like to whole heartedly agree with this comment, however I fall into the guilty section of agreeing with some of them. Especially the "mike my amp" part.
"I may spend hours building awesome, complementary basslines and even throw in some solos, and nobody notices because it's not some wanking, squealing guitar solo."
Boo f***ing hoo.
Quote from: Dave W on March 08, 2011, 06:12:27 PM
"I may spend hours building awesome, complementary basslines and even throw in some solos, and nobody notices because it's not some wanking, squealing guitar solo."
Boo f***ing hoo.
aww c'mon Dave you know that was really a guitarist who was forced to change to playing bass. :mrgreen:
Quote from: Freuds_Cat on March 08, 2011, 05:23:55 PM
I would like to whole heartedly agree with this comment, however I fall into the guilty section of agreeing with some of them. Especially the "mike my amp" part.
I definitely agree with that one, too, and the one about people being wrong to think that it's easy to sing lead and play bass at the same time.
bassplayers are as big a cry babys as anyone else in a band. nobody is special. :o
A bad sound guy can be a problem for anyone in the band, especially the bassist. OTOH I've seen bassists complain about not being heard when they've cut out all the mids they can with their active preamps and then topped it off with a smiley face EQ on their amps.
Quote from: dadagoboi on March 08, 2011, 02:37:06 PM
What a bunch of whiners! I'm a firm believer in, 'You get to play with who you deserve.' If nobody appreciates your massive talent, play with yourself. ;D
Wait a minute! I'm talented at playing with my........ :gay:
I've taught many an idiot knob twiddler/erstwhile "soundguy" that I control my volume and if they want to play war with it, I will win. The other stuff just sounds third rate guitar players whining because they can't handle playing bass. ...crying about songwriting and bass solos: boo f$cking hoo indeed! :rolleyes:
Quote from: Freuds_Cat on March 08, 2011, 05:23:55 PM
I would like to whole heartedly agree with this comment, however I fall into the guilty section of agreeing with some of them. Especially the "mike my amp" part.
Oh boy, does that one ring true! I had one sound guy say that if he had his way there would be no bass amp on the stage. "I can give you everything you need through the side fills."
Quote from: Psycho Bass Guy on March 09, 2011, 01:15:32 AM
I've taught many an idiot knob twiddler/erstwhile "soundguy" that I control my volume and if they want to play war with it, I will win. The other stuff just sounds third rate guitar players whining because they can't handle playing bass. ...crying about songwriting and bass solos: boo f$cking hoo indeed! :rolleyes:
I always mix my sound for the room. It's second priority what I hear on stage. I've been pretty good over the years. I used to have a 50 ft. cord, and a good sound man way back when. We always worked together to get the sound right, and I always stood as far from my amp as I could during sound check. I miss those days.
No one has ever accused me of not being heard. And the guitarist whose solo can blend out my bass playing in listeners' attention has yet to be born. It's the thing I always hear at auditions: "Wow, you really make a difference in our sound." Not everybody likes that though, but enough people do.
And there is one great Sting quote about the subtle power of bass and that is: "If the band plays a chord, I get to determine with what I play whether the listener hears it as A minor or C major." Right on. Guitarists tend to be utterly confounded by this.
Everybody knows how to do two jobs. Their own job and the sound man's job.
I trust the sound person to know what it sounds like in the room.
As an audience member, I think the bass is too loud much more often than it is not loud enough. IMO the job of the bass is to make the band sound good, not to be heard as a solo instrument.
Quote from: fur85 on March 09, 2011, 06:44:18 PM
Everybody knows how to do two jobs. Their own job and the sound man's job.
I trust the sound person to know what it sounds like in the room.
As an audience member, I think the bass is too loud much more often than it is not loud enough. IMO the job of the bass is to make the band sound good, not to be heard as a solo instrument.
I've seen/heard/worked with a lot of great sound guys. Its the idiotic few that create the reputation.
Trust is something that is earned and certainly not a default.
The volume of the bass, or its 'dynamic signature in the soundscape man' ;D :bored: will be different for every band and style. I dont think I'd like to hear a power trio mixed like a surf band.
Quote from: fur85 on March 09, 2011, 06:44:18 PM
Everybody knows how to do two jobs. Their own job and the sound man's job.
..seeing as how my job was to mix sound for a few hundred thousand people every day for years and many prior stints as a professional sound engineer for several live venues, I know the difference between a competent engineer and an incompetent knob twiddler. The REAL pro's don't try to dictate
anything in regards to onstage volume. It's their job to work
with the band, not force the band to alter their playing dynamic to fit their lack of ability.
One of the most common complements I get on my sound work from bands is that I am easy to work with. That only makes sense; you'll get a MUCH better performance out of band that's happy with their playing situation and without a good performance, all the mix ability and gear in the world means little.
QuoteI trust the sound person to know what it sounds like in the room.
If I can't get a decent sound onstage because of a bad monitor situation, I'm not about to take that same person's word that I sound good out front. Of the few gigs I've had with separate monitor/FOH operators, the more experienced guy unfortunately ends up on monitors because that's an easier gig, so you don't even get to benefit from that in the house.
QuoteAs an audience member, I think the bass is too loud much more often than it is not loud enough.
I can count on my fingers the shows I've seen where the bass was even audible AT ALL. Most times you get the 'kickdrum of doom,' chainsaw tone guitars and a much too loud vocal with an insane amount of delay riding on top of all of it. I honestly don't think I've ever been to a concert where the bass guitar was too prominent.
QuoteIMO the job of the bass is to make the band sound good, not to be heard as a solo instrument.
Agreed.
Quote from: Psycho Bass Guy on March 09, 2011, 10:21:16 PM
Most times you get the 'kickdrum of doom,' chainsaw tone guitars and a much too loud vocal with an insane amount of delay riding on top of all of it.
Hehe :) I was punching the sky as I read this. Sad I know but I vehemently agree. Perfectly put.
A little whiny but some valid points.
•"Bassists come in handy when the singer meets a hot girl with a fat friend."
:o
kickdrum of doom, haha!
The world is good if the sound man mikes my amp. I used to look at soundmen as enemies years ago but I then learned to ask nicely if they would mind miking my amp. It works every time, just be nice to them and almost always they'll help you out and many times you'll get a compliment from them too.
All in all a bunch of egotistical whiners though.
Quote from: Psycho Bass Guy on March 09, 2011, 10:21:16 PM
I can count on my fingers the shows I've seen where the bass was even audible AT ALL. Most times you get the 'kickdrum of doom,' chainsaw tone guitars and a much too loud vocal with an insane amount of delay riding on top of all of it. I honestly don't think I've ever been to a concert where the bass guitar was too prominent.
Very much agreed, and it's getting worse. The Robert Randolph concert I complained about turned out to be sound-mixed by the band's sound guy, and ALL he cared about was the kick drum and boosting the bass so high that the notes became generally indistinct and distorted.
Quote from: bobyoung on March 12, 2011, 01:17:54 PM
The world is good if the sound man mikes my amp. I used to look at soundmen as enemies years ago but I then learned to ask nicely if they would mind miking my amp. It works every time, just be nice to them and almost always they'll help you out and many times you'll get a compliment from them too.
That's what I've experienced also. Just be nice and friendly instead of aggressive and hostile. I usually bring my own mic to the gig and offer it to the sound guy along with the phrase; "I usually mic my cab with this and it works great". Most sound guys who refuse micing the bass are those who learned from other guys that you D.I basses period. They don't know what mic to use or how to do it so when bringing a mic to the gig they seem to trust me in micing the cab. I often get compliments for the sound they recieved to the desk.
I agree with the "always ask nicely first" attitude. Sadly this tends work mostly depending upon the circumstance. If you are the headline act its rarely a problem. If you are the support act of a 2 (maybe 3) band line up being polite will give you half a chance. If you are any further down a longer list of artists buy a lottery ticket, its got better odds.
The other situation that tends to suck is when you play smaller gigs where the venue supplies the rig and the 'engineer'. Again, politeness first but expect low odds.