Members Thumper Jack Posted January 30, 2010 Members Share Posted January 30, 2010 Hey guys, I currently have an echo problem in a venue my band are planning on playing in. It's an abandoned warehouse that has never been used for a band before and it's pretty big (approx. 12m x 18m). When we played for the first time together there were large amounts of echo/reverb coming from the instruments because of the room we are playing. According to the people listening to us the drums overpowered everything and it all became a big mash of sound. We have been thinking about lining the walls with cardboard boxes to try and reduce the natural echo of the room but otherwise we hav no clue what to do. Any ideas?? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MJastrzebski Posted January 30, 2010 Members Share Posted January 30, 2010 We have been thinking about lining the walls with cardboard boxes to try and reduce the natural echo of the room but otherwise we hav no clue what to do. Don't. Major fire hazzard. Reduce your stage volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trevcda Posted January 30, 2010 Members Share Posted January 30, 2010 If at all possible to do safely, get your mains aimed down at the crowd so that its dispersion doesn't fire directly at the back wall. With enough people this will help get the sound where you want it and help to minimize slap back. Of course if you're all stage volume and not mic'ing, that's a different deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TimmyP Posted January 31, 2010 Members Share Posted January 31, 2010 Send the drummer out to a good teacher till he learns to play the drums with sticks, instead of pounding them with the little baseball bats he's using now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bugzie Posted January 31, 2010 Members Share Posted January 31, 2010 I deal with a similar situation on and off. The drummer is a monster and can't do anything lightly. I handed him a set of "hot rods" and told him to play hard. It worked pretty well. Come to think of it he still has them, gotta get them back. Also watch the amount of effects that are used. You certeinly won't need much if any reverb. Aiming the speakers at the crowd will help quite a bit, but make sure you don't have them in a position where they might fall over. The warehouse where I wolrk out of was an old manufacturing facility and someone "borrowed" the old cubicle dividers from what used to be the offices. Lined up against the back wall helped a bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnnyGraphic Posted January 31, 2010 Members Share Posted January 31, 2010 +1 on the drummer. I did a gig in a ballroom and the drums just overpowered everything! Tried to get everybody else quiet in the hopes of getting the drummer to 'turn down' to no avail. Stage volume is what you need to control. And you probably don't need any effects on vocals at all either. You'll get plenty of wash from the building. Another thought is some sort of drapes behind the stage/drummer to absord the sound. Make sure it's fire proof/retardant or you're asking for trouble. Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted January 31, 2010 Members Share Posted January 31, 2010 Seems to me that you guys are now entering a learning process. At least you're aware that your sound presently "sucks" in that venue. The next step is assessing and accepting whether the building is the problem,,,, or YOU guys. If you can't do anything about the building itself, learn to use it as your sound-partner. Work with it, not against it. You already know there's plenty of reverb, so you don't need reverb processors. You know the drums are too loud, so get him to turn down,,, or use a shield,,, or the Hot-Rods,,,, or get a sensible drummer. I'd also be willing to bet that cutting the bass frequencies might help a bit too. You're probably dealing with standing waves I would think. What are you using for a P/A? Do you have a FOH EQ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Phil Clark Posted January 31, 2010 Members Share Posted January 31, 2010 I was going to suggest a drum shield as well. And keeping your stage volume to an absolute minimum. Often when I am running sound in an "echo chamber" room, I don't use any effects on anything except for a delay when the song calls for it. Effects are meant to create the feel of a large echoing auditorium when that echo doesn't occur naturally. So adding reverb when it is already there just muddies the whole mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TimmyP Posted February 1, 2010 Members Share Posted February 1, 2010 A drum shield likely won't do much. You'll likely need a complete aquarium with a top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted February 1, 2010 Members Share Posted February 1, 2010 A drum shield likely won't do much. You'll likely need a complete aquarium with a top. Agreed, in a live space all that a shield will do is redirect the sound to another live surface. No (or little) net reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members raskongdub Posted February 8, 2010 Members Share Posted February 8, 2010 fill the room with people. the more the merrier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drummer_jay Posted February 8, 2010 Members Share Posted February 8, 2010 Why are we all assuming the drummer's a metal freak that's beating the crap out of his kit?!? I mean, we drummer tend to be of low IQ but some of us play with finesse! I grew up playing jazz... and dynamics are my love. Yet, I've played in big empty concrete rooms where even a light tap of the snare is annoying! If your drummer IS beating the crap out of his kit.. Then yes, you need to have a talk with him. (it's not an easy one). If he's using proper dynamics and it still a problem.. OUCH! Some rooms are meant to store crap and not for music! In the old days people would suggest rugs, blankets, cardboard and anything to soak up sound. Now days, that's too damn dangerous and I'd say don't even think about it. Like others have said... PEOPLE will help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oregonjoe Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Find an old stage Curtain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Find an old stage Curtain. Be sure it has a current fire cert. tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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