Joining my First Band!

[squirefan01]

2nd band practice last night. I worked my *** off this last week and it really paid off. Still a long ways to go but the guys were happy with where I'm at so that's great. This is really a great stepping stone for me.

[jps]

Are you using the 4001CS for this jazz band? (Assuming, of course that you have one!)

[squirefan01]

I wish I had a CS! I have my '87 4003 that I love, but it's a bit noisy. I am using my Alembic Essence (with Europa electronics) with this band. I can get a nice variety of tones out of it.

[jps]

That should sound great in this setting.

[squirefan01]

Our gig is getting closer...this Thursday! My practice has been going very well but our drummer is really having issues (serious health issues with his knees & weight that are really causing problems personally and on the drum set). It's been a great experience for me and I am looking forward to playing out!

Here's a question though. When I am at home with my rig, I have dialed into the sound that I like for each song, and I marked down the bass & amp settings for each. I tend to cut down the mids & treble for the sound that I like. However, when I get with the band things are a bit muddy. I talked to the old bass player last week about this and it seemed to me that he did have the mids/treble up higher than I did.

So I wondered if it's common that when other instruments are present, simply cranking up the mids/treble a notch or two is always required to "cut through" better? Or is it just not that simple?

Thanks

[bitzerguy]

Ahhh! Fletcher-Munsen Effect (no, not the band) strikes again. You are correct Greg. At gigging volumes, you have to boost the mids and tweak the lows and highs down a bit to cut through. It has to do with the way our ears pick up sounds at different volume levels. More about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher-Munson_curves
http://www.recordingwebsite.com/articles/htmyhrp.php

I always dial in my tones at gigging volume, then tweak the mids down for home practice.

[squirefan01]

That's why I love this forum! Great info. Thanks a lot!

[jps]

You will find that what sounds good at home or rehearsal will not be the same at gigs. Acoustics vary from place to place and the stage itself can do a number on your sound. Learn to be flexible with how the bass is going to sound and adjust as needed.

[squirefan01]

Well, we did it! Great show last night. I played 6 new tunes and the old bass player played the 8 older tunes that he knew. It was in a big hall, with boomy bass so I just had to turn down the lows a bit, but otherwise it sounded good. I made mistakes but always recovered quickly, so I was happy with that (and the band wasn't complaining.

What an experience, to play for a crowd (maybe 100 people tops so not a huge crowd), for family & friends, with real musicians, and get through it!! Somebody video taped it and my wife taped my favorite song to play so I'll watch that tonight and see how my own perception of mistakes fit into the overall scope of the band's sound.

Can't wait for next time!

[jdogric12]

Very cool - glad to hear that. Can you youtube it?

[jps]

Great job, Greg!

Can we see the video?

[squirefan01]

I just pulled the video off of my camera. I'll look into seeing what to do to get it ( a .AVI file) to YouTube. Great idea!

Thanks!

[squirefan01]

Here is "Sky Blue" from our show, dedicated to my daughter Lola on her 9th birthday...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN0RoGr6HlI

[jdogric12]

Nice! Very cool. Dag now I want a ceegar.

[jps]

Cool, nice to see your first performance with this band. Next time, bring a Rick!