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jaymzHal
Silver Member
United Kingdom
297 Posts |
 Posted - 03/02/2010 : 17:21:53
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| Hi guys, I've been away for a little while (strain in my hand and wrist preventing me from playing, university work, girlfriend being kicked out of the country so having to find a new place to live...) but I hope that now I will be back with a vengeance. After a few months without playing and a little while back practicing, I've hit the ground running and have been playing in a band since new year. We play loud technically challenging songs but not shredding, I suppose math rock with a bit of electronica thrown in. My problem is that there are 8 of us (drums, bass, 2 keyboardists, vocals, backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars) and sometimes I find it really hard to hear myself. Does anyone have any suggestions for ways to be able to hear myself? |
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Pedal Dan
Silver Member
USA
419 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2010 : 18:07:42
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Turn yer amp up louder!!! seriuosly, you could try in ear monitors. Although you wouldn't want them to loud unless you are mixing a board signal. |
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Dirk
Platinum Member
Netherlands
1309 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2010 : 19:23:39
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Ridiculously simple, but put your speaker at ear height, on a table or something rather than on the floor, this helps considerably.
Also, the human ear is more sensitive to midrange frequencies, so boosting mids instead of a scooped sound makes you being heard a lot more.
I don't know your particalur situation but these examples work fine for me.
Also try to turn all your bandmembers down as low as possible, both at rehearsal and live, this makes everyting a little easier to understand.
Use baffles or screens around the drumkit if you have to, drums are usually the loudest instrument.
To further add to this, some instruments really fight each other in the mix rather than complement, guitars and bass guitar usually fight both against the keyboard player cause they use the same space, let alone what happens with 2 keyboardplayers, a bassplayer �nd 2 guitarists.
Remember, the more members a band has, the less each has to play.
This may sound really schoolteachery, but it's true.
In a band with 8 people, you just can't play a whole lot of stuff very loud all the time, you can do that in a 3-piece band, there you'd actually need to 
But with so many people, you really need to work on who plays what at any given time, and also work on dynamics a lot more in order not to cancel each other, thus giving a better total sound.
Try it, and good luck.  |
Edited by - Dirk on 03/02/2010 19:25:52 |
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verivorax
Platinum Member
Canada
1185 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2010 : 01:52:44
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I'd like to hear some of the music.. but the two above are both right. In-ear monitors would be great, but you can get a bit lost in your own world..  If you can stay tethered, you can get a decent pair of isolating ear-buds for under $100us.
I'm also a huge fan of the "anti-scoop" and am always trying to get people to turn up their mids!
A third option would be to mic your amp and run it through the vocal PA, using your own amp as a monitor (at ear level would be great, but sometimes wickedly harsh, so tilted back or something), and letting everyone else hear you via the PA.
Fourthly, a pair of quality ear-plugs - the kind you get molded to your ear - would reduce the volume of everything, making your own level easier to determine (almost an outsider's point-of-hearing). The same ear-molds could be used with in-ear monitors as well..  |
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Witloofboer
Gold Member
Belgium
513 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2010 : 18:26:04
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quote:
Originally posted by verivorax
Fourthly, a pair of quality ear-plugs - the kind you get molded to your ear - would reduce the volume of everything, making your own level easier to determine (almost an outsider's point-of-hearing). The same ear-molds could be used with in-ear monitors as well..
+1. Quite useful too as you don't want to become deaf.  |
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jaymzHal
Silver Member
United Kingdom
297 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2010 : 19:46:58
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| Thanks for the advice everyone! I normally play with my amp on a chair, with a naturally midrangey guitar into a punchy valve amp, so there isn't much more I can do there. However, I have been thinking about getting some good earplugs just to take everything down a notch. Can anyone recommend a particular brand? We had a practice today with just 5 of us because the others couldn't make it (bass/drums/vocals/guitar/guitar) and I could hear myself fine, but the songs themselves really missed the keyboards. I guess you can't have it both ways! We're working on recording some stuff, I will post it up here once we have some. |
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Miky
Silver Member
Czech Republic
184 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2010 : 22:37:03
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| I'm planning on getting Etymotic ER-20 EtyPlugs. Allegedly they reduce the volume without any alterations to the sound. I guess all earplugs manufacturers claim that, but from what I've heard these are really good. If you get the chance, perhaps give em a try. |
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Dirk
Platinum Member
Netherlands
1309 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2010 : 17:26:45
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| Before getting a pair of molded plugs, I liked the Alpine music safe plugs. |
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Hearing Myself?
