Many tone-minded musicians spend a significant amount of time in the rehearsal studio turning knobs on their amps and pedals, figuring out how to get a better sound for the next gig. However, what often happens is that a rig that is perfectly dialed in in the studio sounds completely different at a show. This can be frustrating, especially if you don’t have a soundcheck or have limited time to set up your sound. Each gig is a different beast with its own set of variables.
It’s a given that there are always differences in room acoustics that affect your sound and that these have to be compensated for via equalization, gain, and even playing technique adjustments. As such, it helps to have a general starting point for your tone that you can adjust as necessary. There are a few simple things to keep in mind to minimize the amount of knob turning you have to do on the gig.
We always ask one or two of our regular friends who know our music and how we usually sound, because they will spot anything that might be a little off or not mixed right. A fellow musician is preferable, but anyone with enough savvy to give useful feedback will do. Most intelligent music lovers can tell if they are hearing all the instruments and vocals, whether the sound is clear and the bass is at the right level.
Having a lot of bass in your tone sounds great in the rehearsal studio, or in your bedroom, but can muddy the sound in a performance venue. It can also make it hard for the bass to find its place in the mix.
our practice volume at our rehearsal space is our starting stage volume at al of our gigs, with emphasis on vocal being dominant…
Don’t rely on the audience to tell you if the sound is “good” or even at the right level. Except for savvy musicians and sound engineers, few of your listeners have the vocabulary and understanding to say more than" too loud", or even “can’t hear the vocals”.,
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If you’re a guitar player, you drag around an amp and cabinet. That’s just how it goes, right? Well, what would happen if your cabinet fell off a building or failed to get packed? Or, what if you simply got tired of lugging the heavy thing around? Could you still play gigs?
Unless you’ve decided to try gigging with only a direct box and some pedals, you’re going to end up miking up a cabinet both on stage and in the studio. Of course, if you’re doing big gigs, the sound team will take care of it, and similarly in the studio, you may not have to think about it.
Matthew Horn
October 14, 2019
For me it all depends on volume. My amp can go to about 10-11 o’clock before the tone starts really changing, so I set my settings according to that, since I’ll most likely get mic’d up. I feel if you have to turn up all the way to keep up with drums, it’s not the best venue, but I keep my bass fairly low as is, so in those cases, i just adjust the presence first, then treble