Sounding good one minute,bad te next ?

[Billy Murdoch]

Hi all, I have,on occasion set up and tested My steel for tone and volume before starting a set and have had a good sound.When the band start My good sound does not sound so good. This has happened at different venues and very often when returning to a venue where it happened before I have no problems at all, Wish I knew the reason.

Billy

[Kevin Fix]

Acoustics. My sweet settings at home sound a little different at a gig. I will only change my Low settings slightly and maybe slight more reverb. On C6 I change my Low settings to about 1:00 on my NV 112. My E9th settings is always around 4 or 5:00. I stay close to my home settings because I know they are Ok. Sometimes I may get a muddy tone or to bright of a tone. All acoustics for sure. Play 90% outdoors. A real humid day is a pain in the ass for tone.

[Fred Treece]

I was right with you until you said returning to the same venue where you have trouble with your sound, sometimes you have no trouble.This could be a few different things, but Kevin’s answer, “acoustics”, is what it is all about.

Maybe the size of your audience is different. Bodies soak up tone, volume and reverberation.

Amp settings are the easiest thing to blame. You can be adjusting all gig long and still not find “it”. The amp might not be right for this band. Or...

Maybe your amp is facing a slightly different direction from gig to gig. Try to find a good orientation for your amp’s speaker so you can hear the full range of tone coming from the speaker, and be consistent about the way you set up. Don’t point it straight at your head, or straight your feet.

One more thing, how does the rest of the band sound? Are other players inconsistent with their tone and volume? Are the players arranging their gear on the stage the same way? You can’t change other people’s sound, but you can ask them to place their amps differently. If everyone is trying to hog the same frequency range at the same volume, then there will be audio wars.

[Billy Murdoch]

Thanks Fred,
I think You have hit on the cause,We play small(ish) clubs and a lot of the time there is not a big stage.Several times I have had to place My amp directly behind Me with the beam pointing to My head,middle back or My feet.
We do not go thru' the F.O.H and I often feel that our stage sound can be too loud.The singer (on Sat night) said I was too loud and then when We had a "charity" singer our singer went into the audience and came back with the report that I was not loud enough.I do tend to think it is placement and direction of amp.
Thanks again for Your help
Best regards
Billy

[George Kimery]

I have the same problem at the same venue I have played for 6 years, with the same band. Everybody sets up exactly the same way. Sometimes I fight a good sound all night,other times,sound is great. The only two variables I can think of are my ears or something is changing with the electricity. Is this "strange phenomenon" as prevelant in a closed back cabinet?

[Don Kuhn]

My bedroom gig last night really really sucked but Sat night I thought I saounded pretty dang good. It happens everynow and then with me guess it's my audience lol

[Kevin Fix]

I place my amp on a stand that is about 3 feet behind my left ear, but not directly pointing at my ear. My easiest and best way to hear what's going on. I can tweek a low or reverb setting easy also. I am always set up by the lead player so I know when he is playing fill or a lead. Once in a while he will tell me I am a little loud while the rest of the band says they need me to come up. Balancing act for sure.

[Paul Sutherland]

I think the biggest fluctuating variable is the human. Some days I'm tired and run down feeling, and nothing sounds good. Sometimes my ears are fatigued from too much noise before I ever start to play. It's best to not make any drastic decisions when one is in such a state. Just find some peace and quiet, and get some rest.

All the factors mentioned above by others play into the equation, but the human perceiving the sound is the biggest wild card.

[Donny Hinson]

Sounding good one minute,bad the next?

What? You sound...good? For a whole minute?

Mind sharing your secret with those of us who are less fortunate?

[Paddy Long]

Hi Billy
I agree on the acoustics issue ... but sometimes a room can sound a little different, depending on the amount of people in it!
I have on occasion setup and done a sound check in an empty room - say during the afternoon, and thought the place was pretty awful acoustically during the sound check - only to come back in the evening to play the show to a full house and find the place sounds fantastic !! So some rooms react a little differently depending on the size of the crowd !!
And other rooms sound like cr@p no matter what happens hehe....

[Jim Sliff]

Amp placement, direction, volume, room acoustics, wall types/coverings, ceiling height and type, floor type, number of people and where they are located in relation to the speaker, other players/singers, what they are using and how well they know how to make adjustments...

ALL of these are factors. With enough experience you learn what adjustments to make on your equipment and what to suggest to other band members; in some cases you many have the wrong amp for the venue (too much output, so it has to be turned down to the point it can't drive the speaker(s) properly, or too little - where you simply don't have enough headroom.

[Ray Minich]

From my DJ days in the 70's I noticed that on high humidity nights the sound system sounded like crap.

Just a thought.

[Robert Dunlop]

Count me in.

[Dick Wood]

When I saw the title, I just knew y'all were talking about me.