My gig experience @ Gas Haus

[ShredCow]

I duno, the last time i went there i just control my own volume then whack already

Thats because the soundman balanced the overall mix of your band... I wouldn't know how my guitar sits in the mix unless I walked out to the front of my band to take a listen.

Usually, its just, be loud enough for you to hear youself, then the soundman will handle the PA amplification/mix.

 

[amnesiac]

i agree with shredcow..usually, the sound on stage does not sound perfect or as good as you would want it to be, but it sounds really different from where the audience is standing. I have played in quite a few pubs before, and most of the time, all i can hear on stage are my bass, the drums and the vocalist, and sometimes the guitar here and there, which is, good enough for me to pull off the song. i have not come across a perfect sound on stage yet, unless maybe if they have invested in a super duper good sound system. remember on stage, it's about volume control, don't try to drown each other out..

 

[zel]

learning experience la deh...you think you superstar in singapore ah? shit happens...just learn from it and don't let it put you down...in singapore...want to have gigs...one of the most suitable is gashaus already...plus if you play at the time where got alot of people...it'll be freakin great la...esp. all the moshers....they seriously know how to have fun :twisted:

don't let one bad experience put you down...you don't have many places like gashaus in singapore
and chester...i think i saw you at one of the musicbeat gigs organised by froplay

 

[jimz]

Be grateful that the gig provides equipments. My band has played gig where we need to bring our own drumset and the amps were home practise amps and the monitors well is barely audible. We also have to sell tickets but we enjoy it coz its an experience learn. Look at other countries bands, they have to bring their own equipments and set up to do gigs. They never compliant. We are just being too luxury in Singapore.

 

[GrimBrody]

i was there yesterday for almost every band that played. from the metalcore,screamo,punk bands to the indie,rock,classic rock ones...
the small moshpit looked dangerous but everyone had fun! i had fun watching the bands and moshers have fun.

i thought the sound was gonna be bad but certain bands had a decent sound. some bands had tunings which were way off, some had overkill on the guitars but hey, it's still a learning experience.

i hope the other comments wont put u off performing.

 

[bluepowder]

I once played a show....where we didnt have our own amps...(only had small 10w)...the organisers provided only one amp.... so me and my bands other guitarist plugged in.... :lol: no monitors ,,just the amp behind us....and the bassist connected to another small guitar amp.....twas a hell loada fun...couldnt hear a damn thing.....lolz...

another time,the organiser forgot to arrange for power supply....so we connected two extension cords...and connected 2 50W amps and a bass amp and 2 pedalboards to the same plug point...needless to say....as we switched on more pedals...there was dimming in the volume....and once the whole setup was on....the power died 3 times in between ... :lol: that was fun....we called ourselves technical difficulties that night...

another time....we were on a smooth stage and the bass drum kept moving away from the drummer so for each song one of us went and sat or stood on/in front of the bass drum....

all such memorable experiences....and valuable ones...taught us a lot...

younger inexpeinced bands need to learn how to have fun.... :roll:

 

[rx7]

Well maybe you should try telling the soundman to change the settings or something.. It happened to my band before, everything was too soft and i asked the soundman to make it a little louder and he said he can't because hes afraid that it might be too loud and cause the equipment to spoil or whatever, i think thats quite reasonable because your not the only band playing.. And Roy is a good organiser and its not his fault.. He organises the gig for people with his own money of course he has to sell tickets to people too make the money back. I;m pretty sure its not only the bands telling the tickets but hes also helping out.. I dont think you want to play to an empty crowd right. But i have to agree on the projector thing its quite disrespectful but i don't think roy or other organisers play whatever videos that are on.

 

[playingplay]

yes i admit i enjoy myself at the gig at most time cuz a few of the other bands playing are also friend of my band and me and some band did realli good set(even thought the cracked and unprofessional sound irritates ppl).. u guys even notice a few of us moshing to hardcore and even newbie band(who plays the music we love) even thought well.. they are not really up to that standard... itz all about enthusiam, it all about the support and all of u people who turn up that day(i am really happy u guys did).

but still.. if u guys dont mind re-read my 1st post under "my conculsion" that is the msg i am bringing out...

yar rx7 like i say, the soundman is unreasonable and selfish and he doesnt bother to do his job

 

[theblueark]

I think many of us did. And I think we replied.

Mr Wayne Thunder even nicely wrote a lenghty thread on it:
http://soft.com.sg/2006/modules.php...opic&t=21180&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

You spoke, we listened, we spoke.

 

[spitfire_121]

hw to perform without sound check sia. its a must man. even if its for 5 mins the band needs that time to roughly figure out their settings n stuff. reali cannot blame them if their sound suck.

playingplay i feel for u bro. juz hafta be careful the next time u sign up for gigs.

 

[fallengrace182]

lol conflict a lot sia...btw i was there too..

 

[playingplay]

this is the qoute for thoese thread in the 3rd page, please refer to the 1st post also "all the sounds were pump into the main mixer"

so we cant do s**t. itz his job to help us balance the sound..

 

[cantdrumfornuts]

i think amongst the music industry, it gets hard sometimes to strike a balance between business and passion for music.

i exchanged a few messages with mr. softie last night and he brought across a very true point that we seldom like to acknowledge.

gashaus is one great example when it comes to the Music Business. and it does make us think. how do they pay the rental from selling cheap beer and cheap studio rates. ?=\

anyway, back to the point.. i'm apalled by the gashaus personnel's uneffective ways to organise the bands entrances, exits and the way no assistance was given when signals were exchanged from the band members to the soundman DURING playing.

some of the bands experienced inadequate and obvious balance problems for example, the bass guitar amp of one band had his bass setting's "bass" set to really low and "treble" to really high.

i don't know alot about mixing but as a member of the audience, sometimes when these things occur, it affects the mood and morale of the upcoming bands and therefore causing a bad experience and the aftermath ranting such as from playingplay.

maybe music mania shouldn't change it's location but i think that roy has to seriously talk to the management of gas haus to resolve these problems.

today, in Singapore, we're not talking about being given the rockstar treatment but at the very least, performers should be told what's to be done and be given a few minutes to communicate with the soundman/engineer to make things work.

overall, i'm not too pleased with the gig although the main reasons are that music mania being a mixed genre gig, was overrun by kids that can't show a little support for our fellow local band members and respond accordingly to the frontperson instead of sitting in one large group talking loudly, showing disrepect and making unneccessary comments and shouting across the room when the band's on stage.

i think that local scene kids should rethink their moral values and if they can't appreciate other genres of music, they should not take part or even show up for a gig that they know is going to be playing diverse kinds of music.

ps. no offense. i think the skint bass player should get a smaller bass. i do agree with people that says the the bass is playing you. by the way, we all started out with blink. great set anyway

 

[soundwavesmm]

All the above problems are typical in live sound set ups...bose researched and came up with the L1 System Personalized Amplification System, it makes sound distribution even, such that it's not too loud in front of the stage or too soft at the back, eliminates the need for monitors as the PAS is placed behind the musican. Thus what the musicians hear will be what the audience hears too! Check out bose website http://www.bose.com/gc

 

[soft]

playingplay, good that you are still around. i am sorry i had to delete your other threads last night because of the profanity and disrespectful remarks to fellow SOFTies.

i didnt ban you because i know you want to make known your situation and unhappiness. SOFT will always listen if you are not shouting. :wink:

there are alot of technical stuff regarding sound engineering that i could share with you. from an engineer's and musician's point of view.

regarding your comment that "all the sounds were pump into the main mixer" and "we cant do s**t".

in sound engineering, there's direct sound - sound coming directly from your amp or drums. without going through the Front of House speaker system. if the room is small, like Gas Haus, we try to balance the direct sound to a minimum. meaning try to keep the amp's volume just nice for on stage monitoring and not blasting at the audience.

same thing for the drums. sometime even use a shield to block the direct sound of the drum spilling into the audience.

we do these so that the sound engineer can have good control of the mix via his mixer.

one thing i have witness at alot of gigs is that the musicians are making things difficult by blasting their amps. or drummer beating their drums way too hard.

in this case, the sound engineer really cant do much. he will pull down all channels that are already too loud. there is no mixing, just damage control.

*

Q: when do you know you are playing too loud on stage?

A: when you can't hear what your band mates are saying.

 

[fuzzmusick]

What Mr soft is trying to say is true.. But like some said, at least must have sound check.. 5 minutes is enough.. Just to get the sound right... If you just plug in and play, you probably can't hear yourself.. Maybe drum is too loud or guitar too soft.. 5 min wont do any harm..

 

[theblueark]

Ah great points, everyone has much to learn.

 

[soundwavesmm]

I observed the bands playing at gas haus were too loud too during the soft online store party launch, too much power used for a small room! My ears were ringing at the end of it all!

 

[emg-rocks]

this is the qoute for thoese thread in the 3rd page, please refer to the 1st post also "all the sounds were pump into the main mixer"

so we cant do s**t. itz his job to help us balance the sound..

uh, dude... for gas haus gigs, im pretty sure only the vox, bits of drums and MAYBE the bass are fed into the main PA system (correct me if im wrong tho). thus, basically, levellings are pretty much controlled by the band onstage themselves. its kinda like a jamming studio situation thingy la, juz that u can whack the volume a bit higher in this case thus, the audience are sorta feeding off the stage volume as well.

ps: if you've noticed, the marshall amps arent miked up which is a pretty dead giveaway that it a raw, live sound which you're getting at gas haus. in any case, i believe that gettin a gd sound off a band, is a 2 way relationship between the soundguy and the band itself. but it still pretty much boils down to the band itself to work it and make the best out of every situation (shitty or not)

 

[Cinonyx]

yeah

yeah