Reply To: Live shows and overwhelming bottom end

February 28, 2023 at 9:55 pm #5030
Phil Koenig
Participant

    I too have noticed this.  I attribute it to (lower end) sound companies whose FOH mix engineers do primarily hiphop, EDM, and rap gigs.

    I posted a note about this to an area blues society after noting the kick drum at a blues festival was 20-25 dB louder than everything else in the mix; not something that is appropriate for the Blues genre.  This was measured using a cell phone spectrum analyzer app for Android (from Kewlsoft). This also frequently causes a “one-note bass” issue, where either the room or the sub cabinets ring at a resonant frequency.  Neither the kick nor the bass instruments sounded like actual instruments, but more like a triggered 30 Hz burst.

    To my great surprise and delight, they took my comments to heart, and this years fest was immensely improved in this regard.

    I wish there was a more universal solution…  My personal feeling is there is no reason that each kick drum hit should cause my liver to jump half an inch.