Accoustic Nightmare

[mynan]

This probably happens at church gigs more than anywhere else, but what do you do when the venue is medium sized, with hard floor, walls and ceiling...the system is decent...mains and subs...you're down to just your 210 cab with the volume so low that you can barely hear yourself, but the sound guy is still telling you to turn it down cuz it's "too boomy" even when he pulls you out of the house???

 

[MingusBASS]

Pray.

 

[sloshep]

Change the angle of your speaker. I usually aim my speaker to where it points to the front side of the stage. That way its not too close to any walls. You might want to also want to get it off the floor a bit, kind of like a monitor. I usually play on a smallish stage ,wooden floor that is elevated. Its a tough battle to be able to hear yourself and not overwhelm everyone else. Plus I have to fight with side fills for the acoustic guitars and vocals. Church gigs you gotta love them.

 

[Jodizzle]

^ +1
It's all about the angle. Try to minimize the sound "bounce-age" - get creative.

 

[Ole Man Blues]

We played a lot of gigs like that back in the late 60's. Mostly gyms at high school and jr high. Some wedding reception halls were pretty bad too. We just started turning down those type of gigs where the acoustics were just lousy. As our work increased we could pick and chose which gigs we wanted.

40 years later I still don't have an answer for boomy halls and churchs. Just do the best you can with what you got........

 

[adouglas]

Decouple. Get the amp away from walls and floors, and especially corners.

EQ. Emphasize midrange, not bass. Cut bass if necessary.

 

[bbernard]

Also try turning your sound completely off. Soundmen in church are often volunteers and don't have much, if any, experience. The boominess could be the kick drum, the guiter, or a keyboardist with a heavy left hand.

Once it has been determined that your bass is the cause of the boominess then I agree with the suggestions above. I would also try technique changes like playing closer to the bridge and deadening strings (leave space between notes).

 

[Kristopher]

In-ear monitors!

 

[jongitarz]

Check into the Gramma by Auralex. It works.

GRAMMA Isolation Riser - Acoustic sound isolation products from Auralex Acoustics.

 

[fly]

In-ear monitors!

was gonna say the same thing.............

 

[mynan]

Thanks guys. I have a picture of my Markbass combo on my computer desktop at work and one of my co-workers saw it and said "Now that looks like what I need". He then went on to explain that he uses an Ampeg 112 combo and then about the accoustics in the room at his church, where he plays, and his struggle with the sound guy there.

His problem brought back a ton of bad memories from my similar experiences in the past with the same situation.

Fortunately for me, the guy that designed the sound system at my church thought he was a genius and decided to mount the subs from the ceiling in the back of the room, which leaves enough room in the front for the bass amp to be nice and loud.

One solution that I saw was at Mars Hill church. Their bass player uses in-ears and stands on a rumble pad. I think they are made for in-home movie theaters so that the seat vibrates at the same frequency as the subs.

 

[Ole Man Blues]

Also try turning your sound completely off. Soundmen in church are often volunteers and don't have much, if any, experience. The boominess could a keyboardist with a heavy left hand.

This was my problem for a long time, the heavy left hand of a keyboardist. After I bought a Bongo I was able to fine tune my tone to be more defined and punchy and was able to over come the bass of the keyboardist. I can turn up now without causing the mix to turn to mud............

 

[Rano Bass]

Put the speaker on a chair or small table.
It works for me.

 

[bovinehost]

How many bassists does it take to change a light bulb?

None. The keyboard player does it with his left hand.

 

[Oldtoe]

Pray.

I LOL'd at that one.

 

[timmy5strings]

You might want to try a 15" cabinet. I notice my 2 x 10 up close, doesn't sound that loud, but if I walk about 10-15' out in front of it, its booming. I think the 10's project out further than the 15". If I play smaller places, I tend to use the 15 so I can hear and feel it within 5' of me. I'm not sure why this happens, does anybody else notice this?