the best practice layout for a 5 piece rock band


the_meridian
New Member
Joined: 08/20/03
Posts: 5
the_meridian
New Member
Joined: 08/20/03
Posts: 5
08/20/2003 3:06 am
New guy here.

my band has been together for 3 years, and I know we practice much louder than necessary, and I think it has to do with the way all of our instruments are arranged. It would sound good if we were on stage being miced, but in our cement floor garage- we have to crank our amps loudly to compete with the drums and to hear eachother.

We're a five piece rock band, with two guitars (lead and rhythym), bass, a drummer, and a frontman. Myself and the other guitarist have 4x12 slanted cabinets powered by heads, and our bassist has a 6x10 cab powered by a head.Our drummer has a 6 piece set with cymbals galore and our singer comes out of one PA speaker for the band to hear, and a monitor for himself.

Currently we're setup in a line really, with lead guitar on the far end, drums, bass cab, rhythym guitar, and the singers PA speaker behind it all. We all stand with our backs to our own cabinets.

What I'm wondering, is if theres some way to arrange our cabinets- drum set, so we can all hear eachother perfectly without cranking our amps to 11 (they really do go to 11!).
I'm thinking the "stage" setup is cool for gigs, but not for practicing.

anyway- I know this topic may seem weird, but before I go moving everything around, I want to know if you guys have any suggestions.

This is what its like now:

VOCAL SPEAKER
-----X-------

Lead Guitar | Drums | Bass | Rhythym |
-----X-------------X----------X-----------X

Singer's Monitor
-----X

All suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance!

# 1
Pantallica1
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Joined: 12/14/00
Posts: 1,322
Pantallica1
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Joined: 12/14/00
Posts: 1,322
08/20/2003 3:56 am
It sounds as if you guys need a compressor.

What happens when you play in a band is that people try to make it loud enough to hear themselves.

A bass guitar is a very dynamic instrument, and often times, in my own personal experience, I notice that bass players turn up until they can hear their low E through everyone else. This is a bad idea because then the rest of their strings are so loud and ear piercing that it can kill ya.

It's the same with a lead guitar, you want to be able to break through so you can hear what you're playing during your solo, so now you're drowning out the rythm player who is know turning up so he can hear himself over your loud ass solo.

It's all about comprimising. When I rocked out with just me and the drummer, my old Peavey 5150 halfstack only need Volume 4 to be WAY louder than him. So it sounds like everyone is trying to break through each other.

What a compressor will do for you and the rest of your band is make your sound level.What I mean by level is that it will make the low strings and high strings the same volume. It's a must have I think for bands.

Have your band mates look into a compressor and keep rocking!!
Sometimes I hit notes only dogs can hear.
# 2
the_meridian
New Member
Joined: 08/20/03
Posts: 5
the_meridian
New Member
Joined: 08/20/03
Posts: 5
08/20/2003 4:56 am
Well, the bassist has a compressor for his entire rig. What we usually do is get the rhythym guitar and bass balanced very well with the drums, and adjust the lead guitar and vocals to those three. however, im lead guitarist- and I'm on the opposite side of the room from the other guitarist, and we both have difficulty hearing eachother. the bassist can't hear me, and i think im took loud cuz im right infront of my amp.

still puzzled I guess.
# 3
Tele Master
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Joined: 08/02/02
Posts: 1,329
Tele Master
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Joined: 08/02/02
Posts: 1,329
08/21/2003 7:53 pm
Try having your singer up front. Bass, rythm, lead guitars behind the singer, with drums behind the guitars. Have one guitar and bass cab on one side facing towards the singer. The other cab on the opposite side, facing the singer. The monitor behind everyone. Thats how our band sets up.(minus one guitar)
Electric Guitars are the inspiration for cries of "Turn that damn thing down"-Gibson website
# 4

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