Sound reflection from behind

[Ryan.]

Until a crowd shows up to help soak up the sound your only line of defense is to turn down. I do clubs a helluva lot worse then what you posted. Glass mirror walls all round the stage with a low tin ceiling above the stage and until a crowd shows I have to keep the volume down so it's not bouncing back biting me in the ass. Usually I just start off with just a touch of kick and vocal only on the mains and vocal only on the front wedges. Little, bass, guitar and vocal on the drum wedge. Just because you have every thing miced out doesn't mean you gotta run it all thru the FOH. You need to go out and listen to what the stage wash and see what's missing then add what's missing is what I do. Then wait till the body count adds up then bring in the other miced instruments. The only gig I ever did that when I showed up the place was already packed was a New Years gig 2 years ago OKC . Usually most gigs when we start off the place is about 1/4 way full, but then by the end of the night the place is packed. I have the guitarist with a wireless and go out into the crowd FOH listening zone and cue me for each set since I'm mixing on stage. That's all I can do. be nice to have a sound person like some gigs we do that has a in house system and a dedicated experienced sound person always love those gigs the best.

All good tips, can't wait to put them in action... my problem is... once the show starts... there is no one at the mixer. Cause I'm on stage. What I'd like to do is just have a friend pull up the master mix when people come in.

I might just pay a guy to do a walk on. We'll see.

[kmart]

Well my plan... our singer does flooring, so I'm just going to have him pick up a 6'x10' piece of the thickest black carpet pad he can get (free) and then use white duct tape to write our name on it. And just hang it behind the drumkit.

That's certainly A plan, and it might help with the sound issues, but then you have to deal with the fact that behind you it will look like {censored}...

Duct tape your name on it?


Don't jury-rig a backdrop; if you're going to spend the time & effort for a backdrop, do it right, and make it actually look decent.

And as said above upthread, in addition to potentially being against fire code, it's WAY more of a hassle than you are probably estimating; I have a professionally done beauty, and I leave it in the vehicle more often than I hang it.

[Ryan.]

Lol, actually its a common site in my area to see crappy band backdrops... we'll see. I'll take pics if we use it. I think it would be kinda dope if the lights are out and backlight is on it.

[dboomer]

So the initial question was about drapping a black piece of carpet padding behind us (with our band name in white duct tape) to help decrease some of the bounciness.

 

 

When you use something like carpet you will only absorb the high frequencies leaving the lows still bouncing. So now you still have most of the energy bouncing but it is very unbalanced frequency wise. Now the room sounds "bouncy" and lop sided.

 

The sound bouncing off the back wall that you are right up against is a good thing. It reinforces the band to the audience. You do not want to remove it. You want to remove (absorb) the sound from the far end of the room and keep it from bouncing back out of time. Because of the distance involved it will smear your sound.

 

You probably don't have many real world options except to turn down and not over-excite the room.

[Ryan.]

When you use something like carpet you will only absorb the high frequencies leaving the lows still bouncing. So now you still have most of the energy bouncing but it is very unbalanced frequency wise. Now the room sounds "bouncy" and lop sided. The sound bouncing off the back wall that you are right up against is a good thing. It reinforces the band to the audience. You do not want to remove it. You want to remove (absorb) the sound from the far end of the room and keep it from bouncing back out of time. Because of the distance involved it will smear your sound. You probably don't have many real world options except to turn down and not over-excite the room.

 

 

I believe you're right.

[twostone]

All good tips, can't wait to put them in action... my problem is... once the show starts... there is no one at the mixer. Cause I'm on stage. What I'd like to do is just have a friend pull up the master mix when people come in. I might just pay a guy to do a walk on. We'll see.

Or get a wireless and mix it yourself if the club doesn't pay enough to comp for a sound man and here in my area we have way to many clubs like that.

[Scodiddly]

Reducing the cymbal splatter off a wall like that is going to be well worth a bit of time and money.

There's a pretty solid chance you can just rent some black drape from a theatre type company, or maybe a place that does trade shows. That way you can get something that's fire-treated.

[Ryan.]

Maybe Aged will loan me some drape from the Crest?

[philw44]

If possible see if you can hang the drape slightly in front of the wall.

Sound goes to drape - absorbs - hits back wall - absorbs again. Works more effectively, acousticians call it a double dip dampener.

From looking at the picture i personally think a thin piece of curtain to tame some of the highest frequencies from cymbals will do just fine.

[Zeromus-X]

Our backdrop is huge, heavy, cost us a lot of money, and is a total pain to store and transport.

 

 

Huh?

 

We have a 8' tall x 20' full color heavy-duty vinyl backdrop behind the band. At the end of the night, we drop it on the floor (sometimes outside, if there's not much room inside), roll it up, and slide it into a piece of 6" PVC. Stick the endcaps on and throw it in the trailer.

 

I guess if you don't have a trailer or van, it would be difficult.

[agedhorse]

Maybe Aged will loan me some drape from the Crest?

 

 

All my acoustic control is fixed.

 

Rent from STL. Be sure to rent a support structure, tape won't hold and residue on their drape will just mean you bought a very expensive drape.

[Ryan.]

All my acoustic control is fixed. Rent from STL. Be sure to rent a support structure, tape won't hold and residue on their drape will just mean you bought a very expensive drape.

 

 

Wow, their prices are REALLY reasonable. I thought there is no way I'd go this route. Thats cool. Thanks!