where do you position your practice amp?

[Elwood]

Following up on an earlier thread "compressor/limiter pedal" where I found that the volume differed noticeably between even neighboring notes, I discovered the real problem was the position of my amp in my practice area. I'd expect some sort of parabolic curve in the acoustics, but not something more like a sine wave!

 

Every bass instructor I had placed a small practice amp on the floor next to my chair, so I thought nothing of doing the same when I got an amp (on the floor, shooting under my legs). Due to the cabinet construction or something, some frequencies were just much weaker from that angle. When I raised the amp, angled it up toward me, or moved it across the room, the inconsistency went away. There aren't a lot of places in this small room to put the amp, but I think I can find a better spot.

 

Where do you folks position your practice amp?

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

Erm... wherever I feel like. I've never noticed this problem you are referring to. Unless, of course, I'm misunderstanding your post.

 

Bass amps tend to "project" a lot, so sometimes you can be standing next to the amp and struggling to hear yourself over the rest of the band whereas, if you move a few feet away, to the other side of the room, you can hear the bass much better.

[Rocky McDougall]

Elwood, I think the "Liveliness" of the room has some effect. I use a 75wt 12" Peavey for a practice amp. My music room is very hard. 12x14 room with hard tile floors and no curtains. If I put the amp on the floor, the sound is very muddy and not very smooth. If I elevate the amp off the floor about 10" it makes a lot of difference. Also since my amp is rear-ported it must be away from any wall. Usually, have it about a foot from the wall and angled at a 45 degree angle to kill the back reflection of the soundwaves off the wall. No matter where you are, the room has a lot of effect. The smaller the room and the higher the volume, the more problems you face.

Rocky

[rizzo9247]

Sound waves increase size but lose volume at a distance. The wave first coming out of the speaker is small, but loud (think the size of your hand making the letter 'C'). When the wave moves further from the speaker it gets even larger wave, but loses volume (think the size of a bow, like a bow and arrow).

 

With this being said, you want to hear the most of the soundwave without getting too far from it. I currently use a tilt-back design amp for practice so the sound waves can be sent upwards towards my ears, and depending on volume, I usually am about 5-10 feet away. If you have a practice amp that is not that tilt-back design, try to elevate it so you can actually hear the notes clearly, instead of just your legs getting the brunt of the sound.

 

I had a little 15-watt amp when I started playing and kept it on the floor, not realizing what I was doing. After I applied the laws of the soundwave , I propped it up on bar stool and noticed the difference immediately. Good luck

[TimR]

Ellwood, if I read your original post correctly, it suggests that you have the amp pointing under a desk. There will be lots of frequency cancellation/reinforcment going on as the sound waves bounce off the bottom of the desk, and get funnelled back out into the room. Some frequencies will therefore be louder and some quieter. Ideally you need to make sure the amp is level with the front edge of the desk pointing out into the room, and not pointing back under it.

 

I don't have that problem, I use headphones!

[mcbn]

I find with my small practice amp (20 or 30 watts and an 8" speaker), I hear it best when it is a few feet off of the ground and about 12" away from the wall.

 

I generally keep my practice amp on top of a bookshelf, desk or 410 cabinet in my music room.

 

Just be sure to get that sound up where you can hear it.

[alexclaber]

I'm slightly concerned at rizzo's (and Kramer's but to a lesser and more typical degree) rewriting of physics...

 

Alex

[Phil W]

 

Tell them how it is Alex!

 

We've had some great threads about cab placement somewhere.

I did have a look, elwood but I've not found them yet.

 

Hey found a good one, have a look further down.

 

 

[Rocky McDougall]

I love my headphones!

 

Rocky

[yourlord]

I've been trying to work out rizzo's description in my head, but it's just not working.

 

Sound is a compression wave in a medium. As the wave travels away from the source the wavefront expands and the available energy is distributed across it. Since at the amp the wavefront is relatively small all that energy makes for a lot of compression (loud), but as the wave moves away from the speakers the energy is dispersed over a larger and larger area (ignoring friction) so the level of compression (and hence the volume) goes down.

[Phil W]

nice thread here - go ahead and click on it

 

Though I don't see how you'd have this problem alone with a practice amp, but there you go.

[TimR]

His description is fine, he just doesn't use the standard terminology. As a wave travels away from its source, the wavefront gets larger, not the actual wave.

[jeremy c]

If this is a survey, my practice amp is right next to the piano in what would be called the dining room if it had a dining room table in it.

 

But it has a piano, an amp, a half dozen basses and guitars, three filing cabinets full of music books, a computer, a xerox machine, a fax machine, phones, and various other stuff. No one has eaten in the "dining room" in many, many years.

[kenfxj]

I recently picked up a Fender B-DEC for practice. I keep it in front of me angled up towards me so I can access the controls. I rarely have the volume up above 25%.

 

It's been a lot of fun so far.

[rizzo9247]

I've been trying to work out rizzo's description in my head, but it's just not working.

 

Sound is a compression wave in a medium. As the wave travels away from the source the wavefront expands and the available energy is distributed across it. Since at the amp the wavefront is relatively small all that energy makes for a lot of compression (loud), but as the wave moves away from the speakers the energy is dispersed over a larger and larger area (ignoring friction) so the level of compression (and hence the volume) goes down.

 

His description is fine, he just doesn't use the standard terminology. As a wave travels away from its source, the wavefront gets larger, not the actual wave.

 

Ditto...lol

[Elwood]

No doubt about it, I gotta either move or tilt that amp. I do generally practice with headphones (along with a MIDI file from the pianist), but like to practice a few times with the amp (and MIDI through the stereo) for a more "live" feel. Of course, add the rest of the instruments in the band when we all get together, and it's like a whole new song, but that's getting off topic. I suspect bass amps are less omnidirectional than general-purpose amps, and placement in the room in relation to the bassist is more critical with a bass amp. Thanks, folks, for sharing your experience and wisdom with a relative newbie.

 

Just one more question: When you choose to practice with headphones, rather than the amp, I presume you listen to your bass plus some other source. Do you listen through your amp's headphone jack, or through some other computer/instrument interface (as I do--Digidesign Mbox 2)? Thanks. This is all very enlightening.

[Petethebassman]

As many small practice amps lack bottom, try placing the amp in a corner for more bottom end. Works for me.

[DavidMPires]

My Blue cab makes a fantastic seat and I can take to where I want :grin:

[Musicbookman]

put it right in front of you, my man. then you'll hear it exactly how the audience will hear it (and that's what you need to hear).

[Tom Capasso]

elwood,

 

I have noticed that different places in my house can alter the tone. I make no attempt at scientific explanations for this, since I don't see how it will help me.

 

There is an area in my basement that really emphasizes the low end, and there is a set of low notes that just sing (best when used with a ballad for the sustain). Knowing that this effect exists, I may choose to use that or play somewhere with a more normal response.

 

I do find that I can practice without caring if the room conditions create an optimal tone, but when I am working on my EQ, I will stand 10-20 feet away to see how it sounds when the wave fully forms (oops - that's almost science ).

 

As to headphones, I own a Tascam trainer unit, so I usually put my computer into the "line in" to provide the song that I'm playing along with. My head has a jack for this (and a headphone jack), and I use that sometimes. The tone is better in the amp head, but the Tascam is smaller to move. I will also use the amp with the computer line in and play through my speakers (rather than headphones, but I don't do this much.

 

Tom

[Ross Brown]

My head has a jack for this (and a headphone jack), and I use that sometimes. Tom

 

Does this hurt?

[mcbn]

Just one more question: When you choose to practice with headphones, rather than the amp, I presume you listen to your bass plus some other source. Do you listen through your amp's headphone jack, or through some other computer/instrument interface (as I do--Digidesign Mbox 2)? Thanks. This is all very enlightening.

 

I've got the Tascam Bass Trainer II which I use sometimes.

 

I also use a Zoom 506 II. It has some cheeZy (with a capital Z) effects that have no purpose live but makes a nice little practice box with a tuner.

[Tom Capasso]

 

Nice!

 

Tom

[Rocky McDougall]

Just one more question: When you choose to practice with headphones, rather than the amp, I presume you listen to your bass plus some other source.

 

I use the TASCAM BT-1 almost exclusively with lightweight Sony "open" headphones. They are more comfortable than heavier closed headphones. PLUS ! I can hear my wife when she screams at me.

Rocky

[Elwood]

 

I use the TASCAM BT-1 almost exclusively with lightweight Sony "open" headphones. They are more comfortable than heavier closed headphones. PLUS ! I can hear my wife when she screams at me.

Rocky

 

Ah, very important point. I have a different style of Sony headphones and NOT hearing the wife scream has gotten me into trouble more than once.

[Phil W]

I use the Tascam BT1 though I have gotten a little tired of the sound which is a little distorted, to me, I tend to go with one ear on, one ear off. Mostly I practise unamplified but several times I week I just plug in my rig and play at a low volume or plug the Tascam through the rig.

 

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=5&Number=693959&Searchpage=1&Main=48309&Words=cancellation&topic=0&Search=true#Post693942

 

Go ahead and checlkout that thread; though it's not specifically related to your original question it will explain about physics and cab placement.

 

 

 

 

[DavidMPires]

My other half usually slaps me in the back of the head. lol

 

I do also use headphones with the tascam

[Rowbee]

I play into my Euphonic Audio head which has a line out of the headphone socket into the back of my PC, which has a lineout to a hifi amp. This means I can play along with music or I can do some recording (to a recording quality acceptable to me at least) and go through my hifi speakers or through headphones.

[...]

Where I can hear it.

[DC Ross]

Behind me in my office