Members Vito Corleone Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 Agreed . . . which is why you don't want somebody fooling around with HIS idea about where you should sit in the mix on an ongoing basis.Heck, I'd trust my wife's general observations about who is too loud or too quiet. I get your concern, but unless you're playing keys from a table out in the crowd, you're probably not going to get it right either. At least the soundguy is in the proper position in the room. And, if you're not sending him a signal, what's he supposed to do when your wife comes up to him and says you're either too loud or too quiet? Keep running up to the stage to tell you to turn up or down? Send her your way with a note on a napkin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gspointer Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I love a band that adjusts their levels to what the individual thinks they should be at! It is fantastic when their channel starts clipping like crazy because they just boosted their signal by 8db. I have to assume they want that nice crunchy solid state clipped pre distortion sound, and I surely don't want to tread on their sound! I don't mind as I run my speakers at RMS and watch the limiters and levels, so its all good! plus if they are so considerate as to take the mixing responsibilities into their own hands it gives me the opportunity to mingle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gspointer Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I also love the wife/girlfriend/best friend mixing routine. With any luck by the second set I have heard that everyone needs to be louder(odd that nobody ever needs turned down, Hmmmm) and all the channel strips are maxed out! Then I can mingle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members modulusman Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I also love the wife/girlfriend/best friend mixing routine. With any luck by the second set I have heard that everyone needs to be louder(odd that nobody ever needs turned down, Hmmmm) and all the channel strips are maxed out! Then I can mingle! Yeah I like it when a girlfriend comes up and says she can't here her boyfriend in the mix very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gspointer Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Yeah I like it when a girlfriend comes up and says she can't here her boyfriend in the mix very well. I think everyone does! I don't understand why the drummers girlfriend never tells me to turn up the guitar player though? I know it will happen soon. Probably right after "my boyfriend is too loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SeniorBlues Posted June 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I can see I shouldn't have shared my confidence in my wife's ear. I won't make that mistake again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gspointer Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I can see I shouldn't have shared my confidence in my wife's ear. I won't make that mistake again. Sorry dude. Your wife may be the exception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I can see I shouldn't have shared my confidence in my wife's ear. I won't make that mistake again. It isn't that. But there is some stuff I'm not getting here as regards your initial question: you want to know what type of songs are best to do for a first-song soundcheck, but I don't even know what type of soundcheck you're doing. Who is mixing the sound? From where? What's going through the mixer? If you've got no drums and no keys through the mixer--and I presume then no guitar or bass either--then what ARE you running through the PA? Just the vocals? Well, if that's all you got, you can do that with any song. If everyone is "mixing" themselves from onstage---again---you can do that with ANY song. (And, unfortuately, probably will with EVERY song....) Beyond that....GFs and questionable soundmen aside....I'd caution you against being the guy who might tell a soundman who asks you what sort of of signal you're sending him that "Oh...I don't send a signal to the front. I prefer to just mix my own levels and rely on just my stage volume...thanks though!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 What did they buy? A whole trailer full of Yamaha, Peavey and Behringer stuff. Plus I've got a QSC amp, Lexicon processor and Peavey monitor and sub to add to the fray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 A whole trailer full of Yamaha, Peavey and Behringer stuff.Plus I've got a QSC amp, Lexicon processor and Peavey monitor and sub to add to the fray. Wade has a sub???? This is worth a thread of it's own! :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SeniorBlues Posted June 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I prefer to just mix my own levels and rely on just my stage volume...thanks though!" You forget that I'm coming from a different century - vocals only - and it turns out this band pretty much runs the same way. Our aesthetic, set list, volume level, style, ages (some of us) are pre-1970. I'm agreeing to go through the board primarily because if I'm going to sit towards the rear, as is often the case, I need to be able to hear the vocals, so I'm going to use my keyboard amp to return vocals as well as keys. Under the circumstances, I see no reason why my amp can't be the primary source of keyboard volume. I've played one gig with them and seen two others . . . . . no monitors. I'm sure they use them for larger rooms, but I hope to get them to use them for small clubs as well. The first song should be . . . typical. Saturday, it wasn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 You forget that I'm coming from a different century - vocals only - and it turns out this band pretty much runs the same way. Our aesthetic, set list, volume level, style, ages (some of us) are pre-1970. I'm agreeing to go through the board primarily because if I'm going to sit towards the rear, as is often the case, I need to be able to hear the vocals, so I'm going to use my keyboard amp to return vocals as well as keys. Under the circumstances, I see no reason why my amp can't be the primary source of keyboard volume. I've played one gig with them and seen two others . . . . . no monitors. I'm sure they use them for larger rooms, but I hope to get them to use them for small clubs as well.The first song should be . . . typical. Saturday, it wasn't. OK....but I'm STILL not getting why you're even asking the question at this point. If it's just "vocals only", then why are you concerned about what song you're soundchecking with? And--where is the mixer? Who is running it? And what sort of sound check is he doing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members modulusman Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 A whole trailer full of Yamaha, Peavey and Behringer stuff.Plus I've got a QSC amp, Lexicon processor and Peavey monitor and sub to add to the fray. Well hopefully you can get a decent PA out of all the parts and pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SeniorBlues Posted June 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 OK....but I'm STILL not getting why you're even asking the question at this point. If it's just "vocals only", then why are you concerned about what song you're soundchecking with? And--where is the mixer? Who is running it? And what sort of sound check is he doing? I'm beginning to think you're too young for this question. For keyboard players in this type of setup, the question is often speaker placement . . . so you can hear it in proper balance to other instruments, so your band mates can hear it, and the audience can hear it. Guitar bands, by comparison, have it much easier because everyone is some distance in front of the amps. Saturday, I moved the speaker after the first song, then again after the second, then again after the third. It still wasn't very satisfactory, but that was mostly because we set up in a vertical, rather than horizontal, formation. (Bizarre, I know.) A sound man wouldn't have made any difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members modulusman Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Wade has a sub???? This is worth a thread of it's own! :poke: i'm going to be using 6 subs this weekend. Might be wishing I had more depending on the crowd size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Well hopefully you can get a decent PA out of all the parts and pieces. Yeah. hopefully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 i'm going to be using 6 subs this weekend. Might be wishing I had more depending on the crowd size. If you played a real bass like a fender you wouldn't NEED all those subs to make up for it. :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I'm beginning to think you're too young for this question. For keyboard players in this type of setup, the question is often speaker placement . . . so you can hear it in proper balance to other instruments, so your band mates can hear it, and the audience can hear it. Guitar bands, by comparison, have it much easier because everyone is some distance in front of the amps. Saturday, I moved the speaker after the first song, then again after the second, then again after the third. It still wasn't very satisfactory, but that was mostly because we set up in a vertical, rather than horizontal, formation. (Bizarre, I know.) A sound man wouldn't have made any difference. You asked a question about sound checks. And which songs to play. I've probably done----I dunno----3, maybe 4 thousand sound checks in my 'young' life of playing gigs for 35 years. So I think I probably know a thing or two about them and how to make them go quickly and properly. But where you place the megaphone and how far from the Victrola it needs to be? You're right. I don't know much about that. What sort of ancient equipment are you using, exactly, that would make it difficult for me to understand how to set it properly on a stage??? It's not that complicated really. You set your speaker up so you can hear it. If somebody else in the band says they can't hear it, you either turn up or point it towards them a bit more. If they say it's too loud you either turn down or point it more away from them. As far as how the audience hears it? You really can't tell, because you're on the stage, you're not in the audience. So if you don't have a soundman, you're simply just HOPING they hear you half as well as you hear yourself. What more are you thinking is going to take place? You think you're going to place different instruments in different spots around the room to achieve the most perfect acoustics like you're in Carnegie Hall or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members modulusman Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 If you played a real bass like a fender you wouldn't NEED all those subs to make up for it. :poke: Well my Modulus Vintage Jazz is a licenced copy of a 64 jazz bass. I just traded in my MIA Precision on a Spector Euro LX. The Spector kicks some serious ass. I will probably play my Lakland 55-02 one night and my Quantum 5 the other this week end. We will be playing for maybe a 1000 people. One or 2 subs would not cut it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mstreck Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 We used to start with "Are You Gonna Go My Way". That song introduces the instruments one at a time. It was a good "out front" sound check song. Now that we have our own sound man, he is able to get us sounding good out front rather quickly . The monitor mix seems to change from stage to stage, though, so we still do a sound check song for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KeysBear Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 If you played a real bass like a fender you wouldn't NEED all those subs to make up for it. :poke: Got a kick out of this line. Bass, {{sigh}} I finally have a stage rig I love. I play both a MIM Jazz and a MIM Precision as well as keys bass using a blend of fingered bass and slap bass patches from two JV1010's, heavier on the fingered bass. At bigger venues the bass guitars are going direct or from my Sansamp BDDI direct out so it's all up to the sound guys to make it happen. Meanwhile on stage my Hartke stack is cranking out some beautiful piano like lower end which is just vanity for me to enjoy hearing myself. As I've mentioned before though when I'm not going through the PA my stack can kick some serious bass booty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SeniorBlues Posted June 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 . . . . . as well as keys bass using a blend of fingered bass and slap bass patches . . . . It's fun to see the expression on people's faces who've never heard LH bass . . . . including some very talented musicians. At the moment, I'm the fourth string bass player (haha) behind the lead guitarist, tenor sax, and trombone who all double. We don't have (or need) a dedicated bass player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 So goes the old joke: How many bass players does it take to screw in a light bulb? Zero. The keyboard player can do it with his left hand.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KeysBear Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 So goes the old joke: How many bass players does it take to screw in a light bulb?Zero. The keyboard player can do it with his left hand.... speaking of left hand, I'm left handed which I think helps a lot with playing keys bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KeysBear Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 It's fun to see the expression on people's faces who've never heard LH bass . . . . including some very talented musicians. the routine is they are at first VERY resistant to the idea and try to dismiss it entirely. It's fun to make converts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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