BASS
A TALE OF TWO STORIES | Gary Lunn
# 1 MONITOR GUYS FINISH LAST
I recently had the incredible honor of playing for a huge live event . The people at the top were the most integral . The band was top notch . The speakers at the event were heavenly . The hotels were great . The food was fantastic . The sights to take in were absolutely historic . The monitor mix was … somewhat lame and frustrating .
We have become so spoiled with our selfmixing headphone stations , right ? When we get frustrated by not hearing something properly , what do we do ? We fix it ourselves ! ( Now comes the cynical part ) Well , not on this day ! Welcome back to old-school , 101 !
Please read the following aloud in “ that ” movie announcer guy ’ s voice :
“ One man . One monitor console . One sound check . Five musicians . Three mighty background singers . Ten featured artists . Sixteen songs ! Five hundred + audio level requests ! Utter chaos at every turn . The longest three hours for everyone on the stage ! A surefire , catastrophic , emotional breakdown coming to the monitor mixer guy near you !”
That might be a tad dramatic , but let us pause a moment to thank our God in heaven for Aviom , Allen and Heath , Behringer , and all of the other manufacturers of those lovely little personal headphone mixers that your worship team singers always get frustrated with . Ha !
Now that you ' re rethinking your past frustrations , let me offer my particular formula for setting levels in my own headphone mixer .
First of all , in a stereo capable listening world , panning ( the left-or-right positioning of each individual element in a mix ) is key . Having clarity and perspective between the many different instruments ; the background vocals , the lead vocal , and the click placement , is paramount to finding your place in the music . Listing my panning preferences as they relate to positions on a clock between 8 o ’ clock ( discreet left ) and 4 o ’ clock ( discreet right ), they are : acoustic instruments panned discreetly to 8 o ’ clock and 5 o ' clock , electric guitar panned to 10 o ' clock , the piano panned to 3 o ’ clock , the BGV ’ s panned off-center from 11 o ’ clock to 1 o ’ clock , the aux keys panned ( leaning ) to the right , the click panned to 2 o ' clock , the hi-hat panned to 10 o ' clock , the drum overheads panned hard left and right ( discreet ), the kick and snare both panned at 12 o ' clock ( the snare is set substantially lower in volume than the kick ) and the bass at 12 o ' clock . The kick , the bass , and the click are typically the loudest elements in my mix , but I can always hear the lead vocal .
As you can see , everything has its own place in my personal stereo spectrum . This allows me to be aware of who is rushing , who is dragging , and who ' s right in the zone . I never turn anyone off in my mix , but I do turn some more " drifting " elements down a little . Overall , my desire ( my goal ) is to hear a wonderful , CD-sounding mix , with the bass , kick , hat , and click louder than everything else .
In order for you to accurately follow your worship leader and play well with your band , you have to be able to hear correctly . You can ' t afford to let anything get in the way of that ! If ever you find yourself in a situation where you can ’ t make your own headphone mix , please remember that you have to speak up . It might be a good idea to run your requests through your bandleader first . I know it can be difficult but be patient !
# 2 A BASS GROOVE TIP
When it comes to grooving on the bass , note lengths are very important . Because the bass is actually a series of repetitive subdivisions , it is actually very important to play with every subdivision in mind . For instance , when I am playing a repetitive line and I feel like there needs to be space between the notes ( something I do a lot in verses of songs ), I often count 1 / 16 notes in my head while playing . For example , I choose the last 1 / 16 note of each beat ( 1 / 4 notes ) to create space , I can make a conscious effort to “ lift off ” or mute during that last 1 / 16 of each note . If you could hear what is going on inside my head , it would sound something like , “ one-e-and-UH , two-e-and-UH , threee-and-UH , four-e-and-UH ” with the rests all happening during the “ UH ” part of the beat . If I want to create more space between 1 / 4 notes I would count “ one-AND , two-AND , three-AND , four-AND , muting the note during the “ AND ” part of the beat . Try it and you will see what I am talking about . The key is to always stick with the same plan for the entire section . That way , your playing will sound more consistent , rendering more smiles across the stage .
Always remember to practice and be prepared for every gig . Never stop listening to everyone else in the band so that you will always know how / when to get out of the way ! Be richly blessed !
Gary Lunn Gary is a session player / producer / writer in Nashville , TN . Contact him at garylunn @ me . com for scheduling or any questions . garylunn @ me . com