just james Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Well here's something I never though I'd be asking about. How do I get a better stage (monitor) sound. A bit of back story. I've recently started working with an interesting act as a fun side project. The music is all 80's so there are tons of keys and mad backing vocals. It's a four member band but it sounds much bigger. I get to play the role of bass player/vocalist which is a lot of fun. Unfortunately due to the insane monitor requirements (Vocals, Keys, Sequencer,Guitar synth, V-drums etc.) the monitors are being stacked. The places we play are bigger clubs with half decent P.A. systems and our sound man (who is quite good) is doing his best to help me out without killing the other guys. From what I have been told the front of house sound is brilliant. Everything is nice and clear and the mix is great. However, on stage if I play anything above the A string I'm praying that I do not tank any notes because I can hardly hear a thing from my bass. I know it's not the amp or cab. I know it's not the bass. I run direct out of the amp and use the cab to monitor. I've tried various positions on the stage to get a better read but still no luck. I've tried to work it out with our sound tech by rolling off bottom for stage while he boosts it for F.O.H. but I do not want to sacrifice the overall sound just for my benefit. I have even brought in some in-ears to try help the situation but to no avail. Suggestions always appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Originally posted by just james: However, on stage if I play anything above the A string I'm praying that I do not tank any notes because I can hardly hear a thing from my bass. I know it's not the amp or cab. I know it's not the bass.How do you know it's not the amp, cab or bass? What else could it be? What's your precise signal chain (bass, FX, amp, cab)? Where is your cab located on stage and where do you stand relative to it? How are you EQ'd? Alex Barefaced Ltd - ultra lightweight, high ouput, toneful bass cabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just james Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 Apologies Alex Originally posted by just james: However, on stage if I play anything above the A string I'm praying that I do not tank any notes because I can hardly hear a thing from my bass. I know it's not the amp or cab. I know it's not the bass. That sounded rather arrogant. My confusion arises from the fact that I use the same rig in a couple of other bands without any of these difficulties. I also do not use much in the way of FX in the chain. I have a Roland rack reverb unit on the effects send/return and that's it. The amp is a Yorkville XS800 and the cab I'm using is a Yorkville 8x10. I'm playing a Les Paul Standard Bass and a Fender P as back-up. I'm actually not near the amp right now so giving you the EQ info is difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcadmus Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 It sounds to me like the overall stage volume of the band is too loud. See if you can get everyone to back off a bit. Also, ask sound man to give you only what you need in your monitor -- not the entire band. If what you need to hear is kick-drum, the keyboard and the vocals, ask for only that. It may take some experimentation, but you'll get there. "Tours widely in the southwestern tip of Kentucky" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred TBP Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I carry a wedge monitor cabinet with a 12" speaker in it that taps off the ext. speaker jack of my Workingmans 15 and is placed at angles facing me depending on the space available. Basically I let the soundman worry about vocals and do my own monitoring, although I've met a few out there that can get a decent bass sound without much effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Originally posted by just james: ...I have a Roland rack reverb unit on the effects send/return and that's it. The amp is a Yorkville XS800 and the cab I'm using is a Yorkville 8x10. I'm playing a Les Paul Standard Bass and a Fender P as back-up.Ye gods, you're using an 8x10" and you can't hear yourself? That smacks of overly high stage volume, standing too close to the cab and a lack of midrange. Rather than repeating myself, try going through this questionaire and see if you find any possible solutions: http://www.musicplayer.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/ubb/get_topic/f/5/t/012278.html Also, bridge pickups do a better job of being heard onstage due to the natural compression, decreased bottom and increased mids and top. Turn your amp down and plucking harder should also help you find that cutting punch or growl. And make sure your pickups are correctly adjusted - much higher on the G side than the E side. The reverb is also likely to cause mud issues onstage - best kept for the studio. Alex Barefaced Ltd - ultra lightweight, high ouput, toneful bass cabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Björn Fröberg Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 My initial thought is that besides stage volume, you should get a cab pointed straight at you (as Fred the bass player said), which makes you hear higher frequencies better. Another way (admittedly strange, I haven't done it myself, but it should work. Might sound weird though) is to send the bass to your monitor with the lows cut. This could be done for instance by routing the bass from the main bass channel in the mixer (from the direct out, for instance, or via an aux if you've got one free) to another channel and EQ:ing the lows from the new channel, and sending that to your monitor. Just be sure you don't route this channel to the master though. - Bob Freebird A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. -Douglas Adams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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