Rant about the Low Midrange

[Rick6]

Usually, when I rant, it's because I don't really understand the subject. I have no doubt that will be true this time, but ...

 

I just got home from a night out. I went, with wife and 14 year old son, to hear a local Latin influenced band. Keys, drums, percussion, guitar, sax/flute, bass. They're playing in what I think has to be called a "performance space" because it didn't have any of the characteristics you usually associate with a good place to hear music. Quite long and narrow. High ceilings. I've been in some 1920's vintage former movie theaters that it reminded me of. All hard, rectangular surfaces.

I can hear the band down the street. Uh oh. It's really loud.

What's worse is there's this midrange howl or roar or something. Partly because the bass is so loud. But, also because the EQ is making the wound strings of the guitar melt into the howl. The keyboard is also using a midrangey sound. And, beyond that, there is drumset and congas.  There is a PA, of course, and a guy running it. I was about 20 feet behind him. (He was midroom against a wall).

I used kleenex in my ears for the first set, which is not an audiophile quality product, but I got my musicians's earplugs, 9db reduction, according to the manufacturer, for the second set.  At first it sounded good, but then the guitarist started playing those wound strings, the sound started howling and I left.

At the break, two of the players who I know said that the stage was very loud -- and made faces about it.

I wouldn't be posting if it was just them. But I hear this all the time, especially with archtop players. Tonight the guitarist was playing a Stratocaster. You'd think that would solve the problem, but it doesn't. I had the same exact problem myself last Tuesday. I'm playing with an Octet, I've got my pedalboard, but there's a Line6 amp there so I don't bring my own amp. The low strings are too loud so I turn all the bass off. Not enough. I turn the midrange down. It goes from too bassy to too tinny. I tried the EQ in my pedalboard -- it solved that problem but didn't sound great otherwise.  

 

So, I assume that this is a well worn rut that bands fall into. What I'm wondering is whether this is something that sound engineers deal with frequently(or is it just me) and what do you do?

 

 

[Pro Sound Guy]

The only thing that can be done.

Everyone bring the stage volume down.

The most quite stage volume I have ever heard with a national act was the Guess Who back

in the early 90's.

I was done in the tent I was in at a Riverfest and the tent behind us was the Guess Who.

BTW I had a nice chat with the original drummer and that moog sounding drum on  American woman

was a small drum he picked up in India and used it on that song

I was back and side stage and I could not believe how quiet the stage volume was on the side

of the stage.  They had a full monitor mix, and you need that with 50ft wide stages.

Bring your stage volume down and convince the rest of the guys to focus on that.

Physics is truth!

[WynnD]

I've long thought that loud bass intrudes on the lower midrange of everything else. (Keys, guitar.... vocal.) And I also play bass. (All the woodwork on the bass in my icon is mine. Neck included.) Too loud just intrudes upon the audiences enjoyment.

[Reson8tor]

You mentioned archtop guitars -- they're notorious for low-mid body resonance feedback, but it's not that hard to notch out with a parametric EQ.

However, there's not much you can do to improve the overall sound, when excessive volume is the immediate problem masking everything else.