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Author Topic: bassist must have energy  (Read 8806 times)

David Parker

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Re: bassist must have energy
« Reply #10 on: February 17, 2014, 10:35:15 PM »

Houston and surrounding areas have a lot of talented musicians, but also a lot of truly ignorant musicians as well. I played a gig in Kemah Friday with a band that is pretty much typical for "throwdown" bands. Good drummer, but had a snare that would rip your ears off 50ft away (and he was bragging about it). Guitar player had a Twin Reverb and put the amp as far from himself as possible and cranked it up. Said it was too loud if he set it next to him. They had 2 12" monitors (used to be Yamaha at some point, but the duct tape was all that was holding them together) that did nothing but squeal all night. I carry my own small rig so I didn't have to worry about my keys in their monitors, but I heard very little other than drums and guitar all night. Fortunately the clients were happy (and drunk).
David, there is a bass player here in town that boasts about the fact that he drives sound guys crazy because his rig is so powerful that he drowns out most PA's. Sound familiar?
fortunately I haven't run into that guy! It doesn't take a very big bass rig to get too loud. A 4-10 cab with 500 watts will get too loud for most clubs where I work. That's why they have knobs on them to make them not so loud, if the bassist knows how to use them!
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: bassist must have energy
« Reply #11 on: February 17, 2014, 10:48:44 PM »

Had a gig Saturday, one of my regular bands playing in a Hotel in Galveston, a pre-mardi gras party. Average age at the party was about 50. Small room, maybe 60 in there. Band goes on and the complaints are almost immediate, too loud. I have to address the band, because the majority of the volume is coming off the stage. This band has two members who switch off on bass guitar. I got the one bassist calmed down, nice level, fitting in the mix. then they do the swap, and the other bassist "has to have energy". Hmmm! That energy is just about to get us all kicked out! He was using an 8-10 cab and standing right in front of it. Whew! I wish there was some way to let these type musicians experience what they put me through! And how their failure to listen to me ruins the band's sound.

I call guys like him "gig killers."  They're the guys whose self-entitled behavior means the band usually isn't asked back.  Playing bars isn't about art, it's about accompanying alcohol sales, and if you're impeding the sale of booze you're working against your own self interest.
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Bob Charest

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Re: bassist must have energy
« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2014, 11:10:35 PM »

I call guys like him "gig killers."  They're the guys whose self-entitled behavior means the band usually isn't asked back.  Playing bars isn't about art, it's about accompanying alcohol sales, and if you're impeding the sale of booze you're working against your own self interest.
Absolutely... I would call him something not as nice, for sure!
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Michael A. Yates

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Re: bassist must have energy
« Reply #13 on: February 18, 2014, 12:13:26 AM »

As stated before... Good Luck...
I have the same problem. I did sound at a gig in a venue that only sits about 250 "usually just acoustic cover bands play there" but this night the band walks in with double stacks. Blows the place out. My mix was all out of wac! People where complaining about how loud it was and I couldn't do nothing about it.... Of cores they say its the sound guys fault....  Guess its just one of those things that's going to happen from time to time.
   
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Jordan Wolf

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Re: bassist must have energy
« Reply #14 on: February 18, 2014, 08:47:06 AM »

...the other bassist "has to have energy"...
When one musician's ego is bigger than the band itself, there will always be problems.  Divas and prima-donnas can be a real downer to an otherwise worthwhile show.

One thing: it's important to know what the venue considers "acceptable" in terms of SPL, etc. and if/how they expect and/or allow you to enforce it.

After getting rest-of-the-band pre-approval, I've pulled the power from instrument amps.  That instrument had to go direct the rest of the night...and deal with it.  The next time they came through, I had no issues and it was a great show for everyone.

That's one way I "deal" with egos.  Some, however, just aren't worth the effort, and I simply pop some 'plugs in and let them have at it...  It's a balancing act, and a judgment call that has to be made; but, someone's got to do it.
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"We want our sound to go into the soul of the audience, and see if it can awaken some little thing in their minds... Cause there are so many sleeping people." - Jimi Hendrix

Tomm Williams

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Re: bassist must have energy
« Reply #15 on: February 18, 2014, 10:56:55 AM »

This could well be one of those situations where your association with this band is causing your business more harm than good. I have taken the step to "Blackball" bands from my list of clients due to such behavior.

I usually do this when it becomes apparent that a venue/event owner is about to do the same to me because of the band. So often it all gets blamed on the soundman..............not gonna let that happen.
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Chris Hindle

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Re: bassist must have energy
« Reply #16 on: February 18, 2014, 01:13:59 PM »

Did a gig at reception hall one day, a hall I had been to many times before, and since.
First show with this particular band. Their sound dude had bailed last minute, and recommended me and my rig to them.
Couple of marshall 4x12 set to stun, Ampeg fridge, and a drum kit that featured a Stoopid Snare......
Bet you can see where this is going.....
The punters were pretty well liquored up before the downbeat, so they were having a good ol time. I had plugs in under my Ultraphones.......

Manager comes over, and says "What the fuck man, I've seen you here before. You've never done a mess this loud". I pulled all the faders down except lead vocal and keys.
He just shook his head, and said "Last time I hire these assholes. See you in 2 weeks with xxxxxxxxx?" Yes, I was back. The assholes wern't. (At least I didn't get blamed for the noise pollution problem...)
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Ya, Whatever. Just throw a '57 on it, and get off my stage.

Tom Roche

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Re: bassist must have energy
« Reply #17 on: February 18, 2014, 05:55:21 PM »

Good luck.  Seriously.  Been on both sides of this issue...currently dealing with it from a band member perspective, which is how I'll address it with the rest of my post.  In my band the bass player's volume starts out fine, but over the course of the gig he turns up until the bass is all we can hear.  The bandleader and I end up asking him to turn down because it's so over-powering.  I did chuckle when our leader told him his bass was so loud that his feet were going numb.

The older I get the less patient I am with this crap.  The leader should take charge to nip the issue in the bud.  A band is a musical ensemble; it's not about any member being on stage to give his/her résumé.  It makes the rest of the band look bad and may result in lost gigs.  If the offender won't be a team player, I'd say it's time to find a new band member.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2014, 07:33:20 PM by Tom Roche »
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Steve Oldridge

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Re: bassist must have energy
« Reply #18 on: February 18, 2014, 06:07:00 PM »

the bad thing is they are a really good band. The bassist in question gets a wedge with his own mix, and in addition, has inears with another mix. Glad he didn't ask for bass in his wedge. He's done that before. Another thing, with the 8-10 cab, he doesn't need it that loud to hear it. It's a solid wall of sound directly behind him.
That's usually the case... before I starting mostly playing (instead of FOH) I got a call from a local band that were "re-forming" and I had heard of them before. We agreed on a price and I showed up. 30 secs into sound check, I knew it would be one of those nights.

The band (like yours) was musically talented, but had clue about stage levels for club gigs. Lord only know how they got the rep they did if they used to play like that!!

I asked the lead guitar to turn down as he was drowning out the rest of the band.. but he WAS the head honcho, so that went nowhere.  Finally, in middle of second set, I went over and (sacrilege) turned DOWN his amp..  he got pissed.. but left it where it was.

His [semi-drunk] GF comes over and starts reaming me out for turning him down. Can't hear him.. I told her to go over to point X..  then he joins in at end of set. I told him, that I had made it clear up front that my job (at FOH) was make them sound as good as I could for the venue.. not simply provide a PA system they could crank and could have picked up at a rental shop. That's not how I work. I told him (and her) that he was drowning out the rest of the band, and that if they expected to sound good the rest of the night and be invited back (my opinion) they needed to listen to what I had to say.  I told him that I could make them sound much worse that they already did ::)

They kept the volume levels down and next 2 sets were great. I NEVER got invited back by them... haven't heard much about them since, either. But yeah, as I age, I get less tolerant of the "gods" on stage..
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David Parker

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Re: bassist must have energy
« Reply #19 on: February 18, 2014, 06:30:39 PM »

That's usually the case... before I starting mostly playing (instead of FOH) I got a call from a local band that were "re-forming" and I had heard of them before. We agreed on a price and I showed up. 30 secs into sound check, I knew it would be one of those nights.

The band (like yours) was musically talented, but had clue about stage levels for club gigs. Lord only know how they got the rep they did if they used to play like that!!

I asked the lead guitar to turn down as he was drowning out the rest of the band.. but he WAS the head honcho, so that went nowhere.  Finally, in middle of second set, I went over and (sacrilege) turned DOWN his amp..  he got pissed.. but left it where it was.

His [semi-drunk] GF comes over and starts reaming me out for turning him down. Can't hear him.. I told her to go over to point X..  then he joins in at end of set. I told him, that I had made it clear up front that my job (at FOH) was make them sound as good as I could for the venue.. not simply provide a PA system they could crank and could have picked up at a rental shop. That's not how I work. I told him (and her) that he was drowning out the rest of the band, and that if they expected to sound good the rest of the night and be invited back (my opinion) they needed to listen to what I had to say.  I told him that I could make them sound much worse that they already did ::)

They kept the volume levels down and next 2 sets were great. I NEVER got invited back by them... haven't heard much about them since, either. But yeah, as I age, I get less tolerant of the "gods" on stage..

The bassist in question is a really nice guy, and not a primadonna. A couple of years back the band played a place where the kids running the place wanted their buddies there, not this band. Their complaint was "sounded too much like a CD playing". Well, I've worked many years to achieve that sound. But that wasn't the problem, they wanted another band playing there. So this guy got it in his head that his band had to have ENERGY, and that required lots of bass and drums and guitars. So now the vocals were covered up. We played one place during that time that likes it loud, and they complained it was too loud. He never got over that. The energy a band puts out isn't about volume. A band can energize a club without being loud. It's all about the music and the show. They keep the dance floor full. They have no lack of energy.
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Re: bassist must have energy
« Reply #19 on: February 18, 2014, 06:30:39 PM »


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