Members johnbarnesiii Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 Hi guys, I have a kind of elementary bass question, pardon my lack of knowledge ... I play in a band that uses keyboard sequencing tracks. We don't have a bass player, all bass tracks are pre-programmed in Pro Tools using different virtual synths. For rehearsal purposes, we will be purchasing PA speakers to output all of the keyboard tracks except the bass tracks. I wanted to ask your opinions regarding the best solution for outputing the bass tracks (for both live & rehearsal)... One option is to buy a bass amp to output the bass tracks of the sequences. However, would it be better and more true-to-sound to output the bass tracks to a subwoofer? The thing is, we want a solution that works for both rehearsal and live purposes. Live we can rely on the house PA to output the non-bass tracks. But I assume that a subwoofer is not self-powered? Like can a subwoofer operate independently of main PA speakers, with a power switch and volume, etc? In other words, would that work as a standalone unit to bring to shows to output the bass tracks into? And would we be able to control the volume in that way? I considered a keyboard amp in the past, but they've never been powerful enough, as we're a pretty loud rock band. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted November 21, 2015 Members Share Posted November 21, 2015 A bass amp will have more power, and likely sound more natural. A Sub woofer rolls off everything to a much lower frequency then what you'll want for live music. You wont get any upper harmonics, just the lowest fundamental notes. You'll have a hard time distinguishing the actual notes being played unless you have some upper frequencies. A bass amp will produce frequencies up to about 2K which should be adequate. Its designed to project the lows so the audience can hear them. Allot of this will come down to how things are mixed too. If you mixed the tracks to studio monitors the bass will not sound the same pumping it through some bass amp. Nowhere close in fact. The only chance you have of making it work would be to remix using the actual setup, in an actual concert hall where you plan on playing and include the bass amp as part of the mixing process. I wouldn't even bother attempting it myself. I'd definitely put everything through a PA. The PA speaker Crossovers are going to separate the frequencies to the proper speakers. Lows will go to the woofers and the mids and highs will separate out to whatever mids and horns are being used. The main thing is the mix you created in a DAW will sound the most natural through a PA which will provide a fairly flat frequency response Use the separate mixer tracks for the recorded tracks. You'll need a multi channel interface to play back the separate tracks to separate PA mixer channels. If you need to hear more bass on stage, you can then simply crank up the monitor send for the bass channel or route it through its own aux buss which can drive its own stage monitor. If the stage monitor is self powered, you'll have control of the volume and tone from the knobs on the monitor and not have to jack with what the audience is hearing from the PA mains. The other part about this is its customizable. You can up size or down size depending on where you're playing and not be making major technical changes which will screw up your sound quality. Its tough enough getting tracks to work with live music. No need to reinvent the wheel here coming up with new ideas. PA's can handle anything you can invent. Its just a matter of buying the right gear for the right application. The rest comes down to running it properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted November 21, 2015 Members Share Posted November 21, 2015 In this particular situation I would use both. As WRGKMC pointed out, the synth sound including the bass will be much better through the PA. The need to have a solid bass sound on stage could be accomplished by running just the bass through a bass amp. The bass can still be separate from the rest of the synth sounds and have its own channel on the PA. The FOH guy can then balance the bass in the PA with the sound of the bass amp coming off the stage. There could also be as much or as little of the bass in the monitors as you desire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FreestyleIntruder Posted November 23, 2015 Members Share Posted November 23, 2015 I wouldn't run the synthesised bass sounds through a bass amp. Most bass amps will probably colour the sound far too much, and also will be unable to accurately reproduce the extreme sub-bass frequencies that you are presumably looking to achieve*. If I were you I would get a sub for your rehearsal space PA and, when you are gigging out and about, make sure to mention in your tech rider that your band has a lot of meaty sub-bass going on*. *these are both assumptions on my part; obviously I haven't actually heard your band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.