Small Gig advice!

[xxxplorer]

I played a halloween party last night (10/25) at a friends house. It was me a bass player and a drummer. We were crammed into a 10 x 10 room. I had my 50W JCM800 2204 with 2x12 and my bass player had his hartke stack (4x10 on a 1x15). To me it sounded horrible!

Drums were the only thing that sounded good. Our drummer would try and play soft, but we were battling for volume the whole night... and everything kinda got run together. We don't have this problem in our practice room, or when we play out side gigs... even bar gigs have never been this bad. I think it has something to do with the way the amps were facing, but if you guys have any advice on how to sound good in a small room then have at it... our drummer has a lead foot though!

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Small Gig advice!

Powerful amps + small rooms = disastrous.

Really... way overpowered for such a small space imo.

You've said it yourself... you were battling for volume. Such a little space is fed up with volume quite fast. 50W-tube 2x12 may sound "appropriate", but I have a similar combo... and for a mix in such a situation it simply isn't... especially with a drummer. It's the same problem so many bars around here have... the are all too loud and sound crappy because of that.
And the Bass... 4x10 and 1x15 stacked? Same thing... even more so.

I'd recommend... if you play similar tiny venues on a regular basis... you get some smaller amps and the drummer gets either drum silencers or goes the e-drum way (I know, I know)

Just my 2c

 

[xxxplorer]

Re: Small Gig advice!

My drummer does have an electric set... but it does take away some vibe. Plus we have to haul out our big P.A. to use that and that thing is HUGE!!! Are there silencers for drums that won't totally kill the sound? I have a smaller amp that I can use... but it in no way is loud enough for normal drums.

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Small Gig advice!

My girlfriend's words: "**** electric drums... I can make the same noises with my mouth!"

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Small Gig advice!

My drummer does have an electric set... but it does take away some vibe. Plus we have to haul out our big P.A. to use that and that thing is HUGE!!! Are there silencers for drums that won't totally kill the sound? I have a smaller amp that I can use... but it in no way is loud enough for normal drums.

I'm not a drum guy... I don't know all the options.... there are silent sticks... silencer pads... he'll probably just gotta try those out All I know is "normal" drums are loud... too loud for small places really.
You could also just do the simple e-drum -> amp setup, right? I mean, I don't know if that's satisfactory for your drummer...

My girlfriend's words: "**** electric drums... I can make the same noises with my mouth!"

Yeah, but you gotta deal with your playing environment. If it wasn't like that, I'd throw the 2x12 I have out of the window and plug into a full stack in my living room.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Small Gig advice!

That's exactly why I got rid of my half stack. I now play with a 30w 1x10 that I either plug into a 2x12 for bigger shows, or mic into the PA...but it's perfect for small gigs like what you described on it's own.

As for the drums...I have never been a fan of electric.

 

[xxxplorer]

Re: Small Gig advice!

My amp sounds pretty dang good turned low... the only problem I had was that the drums were slammin and the sounds all moooshed together.

 

[arbiter]

Re: Small Gig advice!

well, you can't do much with such small places and live drums. a good solution would be a high quality electric drum set OR a generic electric drum set->computer with drum software (say addictive drums)->PA. as for the amps, try facing them backwards towards the crowd (can work with open cabs) or put some tape over the center of the speakers to kill the treble that would otherwise bounce of the walls together with cymbals and rape everyone in the room.