ON BASS
STEVE COOK
Options. The idea of being able to adapt,
change, or just have a different path is
a comforting notion, and one that is so
very important in the never-ending search
for great tone. As live players, we search
for the best possible tone on stage every
night, but are we giving the people out
front the best tone possible? What do you
do if the tone you like onstage isn’t the
best-sounding tone in the house system?
What if your ears aren’t hearing the same
thing the audience is? How are we supposed to sound good when we’re not out
front listening? There is a solution—a happy
medium if you will—to getting both a great
tone out front and in your ears. It’s about
having options.
Live and Let DI
So where to start? First, look at your signal
chain. The ideal setup to keep everyone
happy is this: your bass plugged into a preamp (which serves as your DI), which is then
plugged into your amp. Put a mic on your
cabinet as well (more options). Run the DI and
mic to FOH, and poof! Instant flexibility. This
simple setup allows the engineer to dial in
your tone, and you can shape your amp sound
independently as needed.
I am on monitor wedges, not in-ears, so my
situation is constantly changing. We play different sized rooms every night. The sounds I
get from my wedges are the same as what’s
going to FOH. I make small adjustments on
my amp, depending on the surroundings, and
get a nice blend of tone onstage to maintain
my comfort level. If you’re on in-ears, then
your tone stays the same night after night, so
kudos to you for eliminating that problem.
preamp is even better. This goes one step further than the bass-to-DI theory, and it allows
the signal that is being heard by the audience
to be the absolute best it can be. Blending
this signal with the mic’d cabinet can bring
about some wonderful results. The key to this
is working with whoever is running the show
out front and dialing it in. If you don’t have a
regular engineer working with you, then set
the preamp with someone you trust at FOH
once, making tiny adjustments as needed from
gig to gig. Different engineers will have different ears, but good tone is good tone, no matter who you are.
Bass players generally get neglected by
sound engineers at shows. Keeping it
simple is important, but too often they run
your bass directly into a stock DI, let you
do your thing on stage, and be done with
it. Do you ever wonder why this is? It’s
simple: what sounds good to us onstage
may not be the best solution for the overall
mix, so the front of house (FOH) engineer
gives himself an “out,” a way to shape your
sound independently of your adjustments.
The bass tone coming directly from your
fingers to the PA should sound great, but
that isn’t always the case. This means we
need to explore other, dare I say, options.
Now we go back to the components of the
signal chain. Many modern amps and combos
have an XLR out, so why invest in a separate
DI? I’m glad you asked. There is the pre/post
EQ feature on most amps, giving you the
option (there’s that word again) for sending
your signal before your tone-shaping modifications hit. This is a simple and great feature,
but to me it’s only half the battle. Personally,
I think a separate preamp that’s dialed in for
FOH and then set in stone is the best alternative. Warming up your signal with a tube
We were out with a major artist last year,
and while awaiting our sound check, I sat
and watched the bass player run through his
pedalboard, making slight adjustments over
and over. It seemed unnecessary and a bit pretentious at the time, and because it was getting late in the day, the crew was getting a little tired of the whole thing. The FOH engineer
said to me, “It doesn’t even matter what he
does, because what he’s fixing doesn’t even
go to the PA.” The whole thing made perfect
sense to me. He was getting his tone set in his
ears, because the separate signal to the PA
was set. The tone you’re comfortable with in
your ears may be polar opposite of what the
band needs. Let the preamp take care of that
for you, and dial in however you want.
I was told a long time ago something very
simple and important about a live show. Let
the PA do the work for which it was intended.
This means we turn up as loud as we need
for our tone, and let the mains and monitors
do their work. Your rig is not there to fill the
room with bass. Your rig is for you. Your tone
is for you. You need to maintain a certain
comfort level while playing, and having great
tone makes that happen. If you’re spending
the whole set adjusting knobs, then your
mind is not on the music. Get dialed in and
ready for the magic, and keep those options
open. See you on the road!
Steve Cook
Steve has performed and recorded with a diverse range
of artists, from Edwin McCain to Randy Brecker to Course
of Nature. Steve is also an alumnus of Woodstock ‘ 99,
performing with his band King Konga. His current projects
include extensive touring and video production with Bucky
Covington (Lyric Street) and writing a popular weekly tour
journal on his website: shinybass.com.
