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Topic: Does your setup have it's own tonal niche? |
Eric Philippsen
From:
Central Florida USA
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Posted 20 Oct 2010 12:52 pm |
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| Paul Franklin and others have mentioned it and I've always tried for it. I'm talking about getting your own tonal niche in a band. It's that tone space that's all your own where you aren't battling someone else. It's all yours even when you're playing with a lot of other instruments. And you're not always reaching for the volume knob because you're not cutting through. Instead, in a lot of ways, because you're in that niche volume is secondary. Your thoughts? Thanks. |
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Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 20 Oct 2010 2:09 pm
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Eric,it depends on which bass player I'm playing with.For some reason some of the players up here are so thick and loud that it sucks up my lows and low mids,Like a vacuum sucking up pennies from a rug. 
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
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Teddy Ray Bullard II
From:
Pocatello, Idaho
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Posted 21 Oct 2010 10:57 am
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im a rookie steel player but as a recording engineer and long time professional musician, I can tell you that when it comes to something like this, arrangement makes all the difference. when you have a lot of instruments that sit in the same frequency spectrum playing it becomes difficult.. so you have to "carve" spaces for others to fit by arranging appropriately(or if already recorded, make space with EQ , etc)
but it is always better to address it at source. |
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Paul Crawford
From:
Orlando, Fl
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Posted 21 Oct 2010 1:04 pm
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It really depends on the instrumentation. One of the groups I work with will have anywhere from 5 to 8 pieces depending on venue and who's available. The more instruments there, the more I need to find a niche. Put down a fiddle and keyboard with two guitars then the middle is filled up and I'm heading up the neck to find some room. Same group same songs but just me with a lead and rhythm guitar playing the same riff sounds hollow and whiny. With the smaller group I need to move back down into the upper/mid register where the fiddle might live to fill things out. Instead of laying back with light fills, I may be adding a pad behind the lead guitar. Even when we cover other tunes, I may find myself abandoning the steel part in favor of a 2nd guitar or slide guitar part that's more keeping with the original soundscape.
I figure that I'm not there to make my steel sound good, I'm there to make the whole band sound good. I have to do whatever that takes. |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 21 Oct 2010 1:30 pm
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Over 15 years since I worked behind and/or in front of the board in a studio or played live, but I think rolling off highs and lows quite sharply and focus on the instrument's fundamental tone range in most cases will get the distinct tone and contribution of a PSG through in most situations without having to resort to a fight about volume.
A PSG's lows are most often just a waste of amp-wattage on stage and in a complex sound-picture in a studio.
I think many PSG players will be surprised to hear that they often waste 90% or more of an amp's effect on lows/subharmonics that the audience can't really hear and enjoy anyway. In a PSGs fundamental tone range only a few (10-25) Watt is needed to stay leveled with the rest of a pretty loud band, and a 200W amp doesn't have that reserve when its effect is used up on unusable lows. So better leave them out and keep the amp cool and able to push the fundamental tone people can hear through as needed - when needed.
Those ear-piercing highs sounds bad short range and don't get through well long range. In a studio excessive highs only use up bits, creating a harsh sound to no avail. On stage they just mask/destroy the true sound-potential of a PSG, IMO.
So, my set-up is "rounded off and low" for a less complex situation, and "cut off at both ends" for an on-stage situation. The rest comes down to me playing so the PSG sounds like a PSG, and to play the right notes at (all) the right places  |
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Keith Murrow
From:
Wichita, KS
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Posted 22 Oct 2010 6:20 am
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Last edited by Keith Murrow on 30 Mar 2012 2:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 22 Oct 2010 11:42 am
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The modern bass sound, with active pickups and a cabinet with tweeters or horns, is a mistake, in my opinion. Georg Sørtun's comments ring true. I prefer instruments that put out a relatively full spectrum, but only so I can cut it....  Speaker choice matters. |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 22 Oct 2010 3:09 pm
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| Excellent topic, Eric, in my own experience not only is identifying vacant space to work with in the tonal AND in the rythmic "bandwidth" of an arrangement where the rubber really hits the road, various guitars, amps, effects, etc. can fill these various niches more effectively than others. Different rigs bring different textures to the pallet available and sometimes that makes the greatest difference in what sounds great in a given mix. |
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