Home | Back Issues | Other Mel Bay Sites | Purchase Bass Products
All Mixed Up | Applying practice to reality: Celtic bass
Extended Range Bass Neck | Classic Chord Chart

All Mixed Up

by Lonny White

Each and every night, in hundreds if not thousands of venues around the world, audiences of all sizes are being wowed (hopefully!) by the virtuosity and skill of the musicians onstage before them. Clearly, being a performer can be a glamorous job that most people only dream about. What many people - musicians included - sometimes overlook is the importance of the people working feverishly behind the scenes to ensure a high caliber production.

As a bass player, it's your job to make the band groove. Don't limit this to what happens onstage though - in your position as the liaison between the melody and the rhythm, you have a unique opportunity to serve as the ambassador of the band to the venue's production staff and FOH crew.

So, your rock star tour bus just arrived at an unfamiliar venue, the ABC Theatre…where do you begin?

Meet the Locals
Remember the old saying "you don't get a second chance to make a first impression?" Well, it holds true in the world of sound engineering as well. Before you even think about unpacking your SVT and stack of 8x10s, make a point to find the house engineer and introduce yourself and your bandmates. A friendly hello and a handshake will go a long way towards building rapport with the crew and letting them know that you appreciate them as much as the audience will be appreciating you. Think of it this way - an engineer will work harder to make you look and sound great if he knows you and likes you on a more personal level. This doesn't mean you have to become nightly drinking buddies, but some friendly, casual conversation will reinforce the notion that you are NOT a prima donna and ARE interested in working together with them, to put on a great show.

Be ready to answer questions about the group's stage setup, style of music and technical requirements, everything from how many vocalists are in the band, to which particular Marshall speaker your guitar player wants to be miked. Depending upon the complexity of your group's instrumentation and stage setup, it may be helpful to create a printed stage plot that clearly denotes your group's optimal setup.

Listen and Have Flexibility
Now that you're on your way towards becoming one with the crew, you can start to think about the particular elements of the evening's show. While you might know your band's songs like the back of your hand, chances are good that the engineer and crew will know the acoustics of the venue and any strange or electrical sonic quirks better than they know their own house.

Ask them if they have any preferences in terms of where and when you set up your bass rig - there's nothing worse than finding out that your 20-space rack and dual speaker towers have to be unplugged and temporarily moved into the wings so the stage can be mopped. Find out if they have a preference in terms of going direct or miking your enclosures - while most engineers prefer to take a direct line off of your preamp, some find that the added punch and warmth of their preferred microphone setup is optimal for their efforts within a particular venue.

If what they want it is not what you'd expected or have used in the past, don't put up a fight. Improvisation is a part of all musical performances to some degree, from the most rigid Broadway pit orchestra, to the most freewheeling jazz combo in town. You have to be prepared to adapt accordingly, whether it's something as trivial as being positioned to the left of the drummer instead of the right, or being miked when you've always been a direct kind of guy. If they are asking you to do something a certain way, chances are strong that they have a very good reason for it and you may never find out why.

Keep Your Gear in Shape
No matter whether you're playing at Madison Square Garden or a tiny rock club, it's important to maintain your equipment in top working condition. While that noisy tube in your rack might add some tasty fuzz when you are playing solo in your living room, it's not exactly going to have the same desired effect when you are patched into a 10,000 watt line array system. Engineers can only work with what we as musicians are able to give them so make sure that your bass tone is clean and free of hum, hiss, and buzz. The sound and condition of your equipment speaks volumes about your professionalism. There's no place in professional sound production for loose or corroded input jacks, cheap cables, or rusty XLR contacts. Whenever possible, bring spare cables and a good direct box as a backup. You never know when something is going to go really wrong, like a circuit breaker failure on stage left (it's happened to me!).

By the same token, show equal respect for the house equipment and public address system. If you want to really demonstrate your courteous side, don't roll equipment over speaker or microphone cables and make sure that wherever you choose to set up your stage rig is not blocking stage monitors, drum risers or crew sightlines.

Constant Communication is Key
From the moment you arrive at the venue to the time you first take the stage for sound check to the eventual curtain call, think of the entire production as a basketball team - always talking to each other and calling out the plays.

For example, if you're going to be playing the occasional slap break during the show, make sure to point this out to the engineer in advance (preferably during the soundcheck) and ask if he would be interested in setting those levels separately. That way, you'll allow plenty of time for a nice, punchy sound with adequate compression to be dialed in so you won't blow your grandma away in the front row.

Sometimes it might be helpful to work out a series of hand signals to the front of house crew and monitor engineer to help you remain connected even during show time. Don't be afraid to ask for a different mix in your monitor if you're having a hard time hearing yourself or others in the band. Monitors are there to help you play better, and an engineer a few hundred feet away will need some friendly guidance from you in terms of what you'd like to hear in your monitor. Just remember to ask politely!

There are times, unfortunately, when frustration will get the best of you. Particularly after a long day on the road, it's easy to get temperamental and say (or do) things you might regret - especially when you are onstage and potentially within range of very sensitive vocal amplification equipment! Therefore, treat every microphone as if it they are always "on" and NEVER say anything negative about anyone - your bandmates, other bands, members of the crew, your mother, etc.

Keep Your Volume in Check
Today's bass systems are more powerful than ever. My own rig 2,000 watt rig is capable of reproducing a low "B" note so loudly it could probably be used to relocate a house fairly efficiently. Having lots of power available is a very good thing as it affords you additional headroom for dynamic punch, but when over-used or improperly set up, that killer rack rig won't sound much better than mud. Not only will your bass signal sound terrible through the PA, but you're also going to impact the sound crew's ability to easily EQ the rest of the band with so much vibration and bleed emanating from your speakers. Onstage there are plenty of metal objects that tend to shake and make plenty of unpleasant noises whenever rattled, so do your best to roll off some of those lows and focus on clarity. Not only will your rig have less work to do, thereby extending the lifespan of your power amp and speakers, but you'll be able to "hear" yourself instead of simply feeling lots of low-end rumble that clutters up the rest of the mix.

Don't forget that house PA's are there for a reason - to amplify the stage sound to the audience. The louder you play and the less you blend onstage, the harder it is for the engineer to cleanly blend the mix together in the house.

"The loudest instrument onstage defines how the entire rest of the house mix will come together," said Jim Morris, founder and chief engineer at JLM Productions, who has mixed such acts as Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac and Tantric. "Ideally, the band can blend together in such a way that they can let the PA handle the bulk of the true amplification duties."

Say Thanks Before You Hit the Road
You've successfully made in through load-in and soundcheck and just played a terrific show. Before you pack up your Pedulla and depart for home, do your best to find the crew and extend them a parting thank-you and a handshake. While the evening may have had its share of ups and downs (remember, no show will be absolutely perfect), offering your sincere appreciation of their behind-the-scenes work while you were up there being a superstar will be something they will very much appreciate. You never know who just might be at the mixing desk during the next show.

Lonny White

---

Based in downtown Chicago, Lonny White is accomplished musician, instructor and luthier, with numerous commercial sessions, musical theatre pit orchestras and live performance work to his credit. He endorses M.V. Pedulla Basses.