Hi there,

I played a gig last night where normally I would have been set up outside playing to a big patio area where folks dine out, sit and chat and consume lots of Margueritas.

However, last night we had storms passing through so I had to play inside in the bar area. This is still a fairly large room but with a very small triangle stage in the corner. Still not a problem me being a one-man set up, I managed to get far enough away from the L1 one to avoid feedback but.... it seems the whole stage acted like a big sound bass box and it was a struggle to get rid of the massive amount of bass. On the vocal I had to back the bass off on the remote a full quarter turn,( 12 o'clock back to 9 o'clock), and on the guitar channel - no bass at all and it was still pretty boomy.

I realized about half way through that I could have positioned the two B1s down off the stage - it was only about 12" high and I'm sure that would have solved the problem. But, I was wondering if there is some kind of a sonic mat available designed to soak up bass vibrations to stop them vibrating through to the whole stage. The next time I play here I will place them on the concrete floor but I would still prefer them to be near me and also fairly close to the tower if possible.

I'm sure there is something like this available or would just a thick piece of foam do the same job? Thanks in advance for any advice. Gordon.

Hi Gordon,

There was a recent discussion about the Auralex Gramma that seems on topic.

I've used bubble wrap under mic stands to absorb foot noise on hollow stages. Works very well, and
could help buffer a B1 too.

The Auralex pad looks good, and like something you could build yourself with some OSB and cardboard.

Hi there,

Thanks for the info. That Auralex Gramma is exactly what I was thinking of. I may well be buying one of them. After saying that, this is the first gig I've played in a long time where they actually had a stage. If this becomes a regular job then I guess it's worth spending 50 bucks for the Gramma but then it's just one more thing to carry around as well.

Thanks again, Gordon.

Hi Gordon,

I just re-read you post. You are probably right about putting the B1 on the floor to avoid the stage boom.


I carry an extra B1 cable and a
Female:Female Speakon adapter. This gives me both a spare B1 cable and a lot more flexibility with respect to the B1 placement.

Since you mentioned it, I hate carrying extra pieces of this 'n that and would probably at least try Pete's bubble wrap idea. I usually have a heavy duty movers blanket in the car and have used that in a pinch.


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Hi Gordon,

I'm wondering if the corner is the greater culprit.

Were the B1s placed between the walls and facing out into the middle of the room?

If that was the case, next time try stacking them to the side, against one wall and facing parallel, with that wall.

Just a thought.

O

Hi again,

Well, I think it's gonna be the good old bubble wrap that comes out on top. After reading Pete's post I went into the garage and there it was! a box full of old bubble wrap that I had saved. Nothing like saving a bit of money when possible. Thanks again, Gordon.

I was wondering if you walked out into the audience area to see if the boominess went past your stage area.

The reason I ask is that I just did a quick outside gig on the back patio of a bar that had a wood stage, and a rickety fence around the whole thing.

On the stage the bass was somewhat boomy, but when I walked out off the stage area (and had someone play my bass so I could see what it sounded like at the back of the audience area) the boominess was non exsistant...just sounded like a nice balanced bass sound.

So, if I had carved out bass on my stage sound I would have been taking too much bass out of my FOH sound which was, as far as bass, was a little different.

P.S. this system has plenty of bass with 4 bass modules, I don't know what some people think is lacking unless they are looking "boom boom" sub type bass.

Hi Ric,

I did at one point build up an instrumental loop and put my guitar down and go for a quick walk-about and it sounded pretty well balanced. This was after I had taken off a lot of bass based on my stage position so I don't know for sure if all that boomy bass was travelling out to the audience or not previous to that.

It always amazes me how you can walk to the back of a room and then as you move back towards the speaker that the volume stays pretty much even - well, that is compared to a normal amp/speaker set up.

It is the perfect system for me cos like I've said before, when I used to play in restaurants using a smallish Carvin pa I was always asked to play at' moderate' volume levels so it would be comfortable for the people sat on the front tables. However, in my breaks I usually got people from the back who were trying to listen and were interested in the music but found it fading out before it reached them.

Enter the Bose system. I can now play at these comfortable volume levels and still reach every corner of the room and everyone is happy. That is the one main reason for me buying this system in the first place.

The other reasons are just icing on the cake.

All the best, Gordon.