Stage Sound and Stage Mix

This is perhaps one of the top areas where live sound goes wrong and one of the easiest things to fix.  So many musicians complain of "bad stage mix" or of being unable to hear themselves clearly.  My experience is that most, if not all of this, can be cured through proper amp and cabinet placement and orientation.  IEM's are truly the best solution to this but also is a significant added cost of which many musicians are loathe to incur.  IEM's are also an ego killer and this really is the bottom line for many musicians.

If you are truly interested in providing the best performance experience possible for your audience you will begin by making your stage mix the best it can be.  One of the most common issues is stage volume both from the performer's position and from the FOH.  In applications with sound reinforcement (casually referred to as PA) bands with amps and/or cabinets too big for the room overpower the FOH and the overall mix is just trash plain and simple.  A good part of this is a holdover from back in the days where the band's individual amps were the actual sound system - before the days of good sound reinforcement.  These days even small venues usually have a good sound system thereby making this practice totally unnecessary.

The first thing bands can do to improve stage mix is to point their amps and cabinets either across the stage from opposite sides of the stage or point them backwards toward the drummer.  This helps get the stage sound out of the FOH sound which makes the FOH sound engineer's job infinitely easier.  Make the sound engineer's job easier and you make having an excellent FOH mix a probability rather than a crap shoot.  Think about it - what is one thing people always talk about when asked about a concert.  "The band was incredible - they sounded better than the album"  or "they sucked - I couldn't hear a thing."  Which one of these do you want to be and which one do you think the audience would consider seeing again?  Far too many bands set up with their cabinets facing out into the audience because they have this image ingrained in their heads.

Unless you are playing arenas pointing your cabinet out at the audience is only going to overpower the FOH.  If you are playing arenas you already know this and do not need to read any further.

The second step is to either elevate your cabinet to hip or chest level or angle it up at your head where your ears are located rather than pointing it at your ankles where your ears are not located.  As a bassist I prefer elevated cabinets to angled as this method worked miracles for me being able to hear myself on stage.  This immediately takes care of volume issues.  I have had guitarists whine that when they point their cabinets at their heads that it is too loud or that they don't want to damage their hearing.  Turn it down Einstein.  Interestingly enough if you can convince everyone to point their cabinets at their heads the volume wars cease to exist - getting everyone on board is another matter entirely.

Another thing that really helped me was stepping back from the cabinets a bit.  I found that there are sweet spots on the stage where I can hear myself very well in relation the drummer and the guitarist.  Guitar is an interesting thing in that I can hear it anywhere I am on the stage but bass is a strange creature due to the length of the sound waves produced.  

It all boils down to being honest with yourself about why you are on stage.  Sure I am there because I truly love performing live but the real reason I am there is to provide the best musical experience possible to the audience.  For me that means canning the ego and the attitude along with trusting that the sound engineer is there to do their job the same as me.  Pummel the audience with my bass rig on top of what the FOH is already providing is arrogance - not performance.

Bi-Amping

For a period of time I ran a dual head setup into a Hartke VX410.  Purely from a tone perspective it was the best sound I ever had up to that point.  The two amps I ran were a Hartke HA2500 and an Acoustic B200H.

I had modified the Hartke VX410 so that two speakers were driven by the Hartke head and the two other speakers were driven by the Acoustic head.  I fabricated special short length speaker cables to keep things clean and organized.  The Hartke head provide my cut, grit, and clank while the Acoustic head gave my tone some warmth.  The two in combination were as close to perfect as I had ever gotten.






Feeding a signal to both heads was accomplished using a passive Radial  ABY pedal which took the incoming signal from my bass and split it into the two heads.  For the most part the Radial ABY pedal was silent unless I switched from both heads to alternating the heads.  The switch did make an undesirable click when stepped on.  I later upgraded to the powered Radial Bones Twin City ABY with optical switches.  A bit pricey but WOW the switches are absolutely silent.

The cabinet I used was a modified Hartke VX410 with the crossover and tweeter removed.  I built a custom four jack input plate in order to accommodate the two outputs from each head.  In retrospect I probably could have gone with just two inputs but at the time four was more and more was "better."

The speakers were wired cross-wise so that one amp ran the top right and bottom left speakers while the other amp ran the top left and bottom right speakers.  For me it was the best of both words and one of the few times I could actually hear myself in a live setting.  Transporting this get up was not too bad although the heads were heavy and took up a lot of space compared to what I run now.

Currently I run two Mesa/Boogie Subway 112 cabinets and a Bugera Veyron M BV1001M bass head and I love the compact and lightweight characteristics of this rig.  I am entertaining the notion of getting a second Bugera head, perhaps the tube version, and running another bi-amped rig.

That "Perfect" Sound

Sound.  The eternal quest for sono perfectus.  If ever there were a journey whose destination was not an actual place I could arrive at this would be it.  For me this experience has been frustrating and rewarding all at the same time.  The constant evolution of my sound has reflected my own understanding (or lack!) of what my sound should be.  Full disclosure means that this will be an ongoing topic and I hope the reader will chime and share their experience of their pursuit of tone.

The biggest component of having a good sound has been understanding how all of the frequencies interact not just as it directly relates to bass but for the group as a whole.  In the earlier years I thought the bass tone control was made just for me - so I would crank that sucker for all I could get out of it.  Knobs for mids and treble?  Those were for guitarists and should not have been put on a bass amp in the first place.  The results?  Mud.  No clarity.  No definition.  It took me years to understand and accept that cutting the low frequencies and boosting the mids and treble in my signal chain actually made my bass ring out clearer in the mix.

Getting the clarity was crucial but was not the sole aspect to getting a better sound.  It took getting my ego under control to take the next step which was to accept that the FOH needed a very basic, relatively clean signal to work with.  Once I was able to do this my FOH sound improved multitudinously and so did the overall sound for the whole band as a result.  An interesting side benefit was that once sound men figured out that I wanted to provide them as close to an ideal signal as possible they were suddenly amiable to working with me to achieve an even better signal overall.  As an added benefit I have been very fortunate to receive constructive feedback and suggestions from sound men.

Being able to separate my signal into two components has really helped me to achieve a better FOH and stage sound.  My return to using a pedal board allows me to send a very simple signal to the FOH and to my amp on stage.  The FOH can then do what they want/need with my simple signal and I can dial in my stage signal to suit the elements of whatever particular stage we are on.  The amazing thing to me is that once I simplified my signal and simplified it to the point where the sound man was happy with what he was getting that same signal turned out to be very close to what I wanted to hear on stage.  Funny how those things happen.

Sending a simple signal does not necessarily mean that I don't use effects - I have just learned to use them at lower amounts.  I find that with a simple signal a little effects go a long way.  I no longer run obscene amounts of chorus or distortion.  Rather, I use them as seasoning to give my bass sound a hint of flavor here and there.  Aside from my Mesa/Boogie Subway Bass DI at this point the only effects I am using are and MXR M87 Bass Compressor, a Boss Bass Chorus CEB-3, and a Way Huge Pork & Pickle.  The compressor is an always on pedal while the chorus and Way Huge are used sparingly.  The results?  Clarity. Precision. No mud.  And the best sound I have had to date.

Metronome

As a bassist I view part of my job to be one half of the rhythm section - inherent in this view is timing.  In a live environment timing can be the difference between a good band and an awful band.  Lack of timing and precision by a band bespeaks a lack of maturity or awareness of the big picture.  I have walked out on bands who are unable to get the timing together and I have been so impressed by other bands' precise tight timing that I not only have gone to more of their shows but I have encouraged other people to go check them out as well.

For me there are a couple of levels of timing that I attend to.  The first is personal timing which involves the use of a metronome.  With all the free apps available there really isn't an excuse not to have and use one.  I use Pro Metronome by EUM and while the free version does not do everything that the paid version does it handles my metronome needs just perfectly.

Playing with a metronome is an eye (and ear) opening experience.  I always thought I had great timing until I started playing with one and realized I really had gotten lazy.  I now use a metronome every chance I get when practicing privately.  I play all my scales and arpeggios at 70 BPM which forces me to slow down and really listen to what I am doing with each note.  For me this is a critical component to becoming a better musician.

The second level of timing that I take into consideration is playing to a click when practicing our set list.  I am very fortunate to be part of a band of like-minded musicians who agree on the approach to practicing and rehearsing our music.  Our drummer handles the recording for our band and is always happy to provide me with tracks without bass and with a click for me to practice to.  This helps me to identify areas of songs where I may subconsciously drag or rush which in turn helps me deliver a better rehearsal experience for the other members of the band who are depending on me.

The third level of timing that I take into consideration is how I fit in with the rest of the band.  First and foremost is the drummer because he is, after all, the timekeeper.  He and I need to be lockstep in what we do.  This does not mean we do the same thing but that we do our thing in a manner that fits together, makes sense not only to us but the rest of the band, and that our reference point is the same and not subjective to what we are feeling in the moment. Our guitarist is not only an amazing timekeeper but he has an objective awareness of what is going on in the group setting.  For us to make adjustments mid song is not a catastrophe in the making - everyone is already paying attention, knows what should be, and makes it happen.  The metronome makes that possible.

At the moment the drummer uses EIM's to have a click and the rest of us follow him but ultimately the goal is to have everyone with EIM's and  a click in all of our heads.  Some might argue that this makes music sterile but for us, with odd time signatures, time and rhythm changes, and stops and starts the click really makes sense.  While we seek perfection in our craft we fall far from it for we are human after all.  The metronome just keeps us all on the same page.

Dissecting my Playing - Part One

For many years my bass playing was like a bull in a china shop; bombastic, sloppy, all over the place, imprecise, uneven, and just embarrassing.  In the beginning this was a product of both my excitement to play live and my need to be heard in a group setting when playing with drums and two guitarists.  It seemed that back in those days I could never hear myself  in the mix.  Over time I improved that situation but for the longest time my solution was to play harder which translated to a lot of sloppiness.  There were a number of things I did to improve it and I will touch on some of those things here.

After getting fired from a band for asking too many questions and challenging the lies I was encountering I found myself with some time on my hands.  After taking some time off I returned to playing.  I thought it might be a good idea to do some back to the basics practicing as well as learn some standard cover songs while looking for my next gig.  This involved headphones in order to not subject my saintly wife to the audio assault from the basement.  Imagine my shock and dismay when I discovered that what I was hearing in my mind was nothing close to the garbage coming through the headphones.

Step one for me was to slow it all down and analyze every aspect of every note I was playing.  Consistency from one note to another was a serious issue.  This is still an issue I continue to work on but not as glaring an issue as when I started addressing it.  Along with the consistency issue I paid critical attention to the attack, body, and end of each note.  This was HUGE.  Depending on where, how hard, and what method I use to strike a note this could be all over the place.  Striking or hitting the strings hard would be louder but hitting or striking too hard was over driving the pickups and distorting my sound.  I spent months listening to and critiquing my technique both while playing and by listening to recordings of my playing a few days later.  It struck me how I heard (in my mind) one thing and heard entirely another thing a few days later when listening to a recording of it.

I read an article awhile back that really resonated with me and I want to summarize the gist of it here.  It was an interview with a bassist who played with Prince for a number of years.  When asked what she learned from Prince that had the most impact on her as a musician her response was a close to an epiphany as I will ever get.  She said Prince once said at a rehearsal that the most important member of the band was the space between the notes. 

Current Basses

Talk to any bass player and given enough time the conversation turns to the basses they have in their stable.  Most bassists I know have at least one back up bass and many have more than that.  Being a weekend warrior I have a difficult time justifying owning a lot of basses although I do own two at the moment.

I own two nearly identical ESP-LTD B5E's purchased about two years apart.  As referenced in an earlier post I made the move from four string to five strings to accommodate the lower tunings of the band I was in at the time.  I did not have any interest in going back and fourth between the two tunings and so I made the decision to stick with the five string bass.  Over time I sold off my four string basses to good homes and had just the ESP-LTD B5E.

I was (and still am) playing in a prog/hard rock band with my best friend for several years and had always had the thought in the back of my mind that it would be a good plan to have an identical back up bass "just in case."  Just recently I joined a second band that is tuned to C standard rather than B standard.  I had a strong aversion to tuning a bass up and down for each time I played with either of the bands.  Add to that the intonation nightmare that would have been sure to ensue and the addition of a second identical bass to my stable seemed justified.

So now I have one bass tuned to B standard and a second identical bass tuned to C standard.  It may seem a bit far-fetched to some but it works for me and I like it.  I still need to get another case because it looks like my two bands will be gigging together soon.

Pedalboard

For the longest time I avoided pedals like the plague.  I fancied myself some sort of "purist" in that the only pedal I would use was a tuner.  Back in the eighties I used a Boss stereo chorus guitar pedal and an old Big Muff Pi perhaps entertaining delusions of grandeur ala Cliff Burton.  Then I went through a period of only playing through a head and a cabinet and no pedals up until about four years ago.

My best friend and I were in a band and he was (is) a total gear head.  Not to the extent that he was at the cutting edge of every new faze but he did keep up with the newest stuff.  When he moved from a Boss ME-80 to a Line 6 he graciously bestowed the ME-80 upon me to fiddle with.  For me, having limited experience with pedals, it was a steep learning curve and in retrospect it was a wasted gift. I ended up giving it back to him and reverted back to the "no pedals" policy.

A little over a year ago I got caught up in the pedal craze with the release of the Zoom B3n and found myself the owner of such a pedal.  This one was more intuitive for me and since it was specifically designed for bass it made sense to me.  I spent hours exploring the patches and amp models.  It opened the gates for creativity.  I loved it but live I just could not make it work.  It did not cut through the mix.  Disappointed I returned to the drawing board and to the straight head and cabinet setup.

I spent a lot of time considering what I wanted to accomplish from a live environment perspective.  I was familiar with the differences in the bedroom tone (and in my case the headphone tone as well) and what actually presented in the live mix.  What I was seeking to achieve was a livable balance between the bedroom tone and live tone.  What I achieved was better than I had hoped - in fact I believe I may have achieved the perfect tone in the process.

I will talk more about this in an upcoming post after I talk about personal technique and how I set up my bass but for now I will leave you with this gratuitous pedal shot.

Personal Style and Technique

I have noticed that people make essentially the same comment or observation after seeing me play.  It usually goes something along the lines of "You have a very unique style/way of playing bass" or "how did you learn to play bass like that?"  I am hoping these comments are positive observations and not veiled "you are doing it wrong" statements.

I never was comfortable using a plectrum and finger style just came naturally to me.  I have never taken formal lessons on bass so my technique developed as a result of my interpretation of the styles of a wide range of musicians I admired.  One interesting thing I have found over the years is that four people can observe the same musician and try to recreate the style of that musician and end up producing four different styles.  That's the beauty of creativity.  The galloping of Steve Harris and the typewriter fingers of John Entwistle are perhaps most evident in my technique but nearly every artist out there including drummers, singers, guitarists, pianists, and everything I hear have influenced my playing.  

I think perhaps the most influential of my experiences was as a child opening the lid to our piano at home and watching the hammers strike the strings.  The mental image of the operation inside the piano has stayed with me ever since.  This is where I think the "unique style/way of playing bass" comments are coming from. Overall my style is a combination of tapping, plucking, crude slapping and popping, and finger style.  It probably has no chance of entering into the realm of "proper" technique but it works for me and feels natural.  In the end I think that is what is special about bassists who do not use plectrums.  The individual anatomy of our hands coupled with our interpretation of what we are playing gives each of us a unique and special style.  

My First Bass

The very first bass I bought was a Carvin V440T that I bought in 1986 at the urging of my best friend who played guitar.  It was an eighties thing and looking back now seems ostentatious especially in light the fact that I did not even know how to play it.

It was a very well-made instrument and crazy expensive.  I think I paid over a thousand dollars for it which was a lot of money back then.  While the tremolo was an interesting piece of gear to have I rarely used it and as I developed as a bassist and became more focused on tuning I found that it impacted my tuning.

I left music for a number of years to start a family and never gave music a second thought until my best friend, who had continued to play music, dragged me back into it about five years ago. The band we were in at the time was into drop tuning and as they dropped lower and lower I was less able to properly intonate the bass.  Ultimately I ended up buying a new ESP -LTD 204SM and then as tunings dropped even lower an ESP-LTD B5E.

The Carvin V440T was sold earlier this year with mixed emotions.  While I play five string basses exclusively now I will always remember my first bass fondly.