DJ's.. would you play a show without subs?

[esfandyar]

hell no

[lowpass]

That's when you roll out the midrange tunes,

I've played through a system without any subs at all,

that shit makes your ears ring, just gotta pick your tracks better or walk away, simple as that

[hellfire machina]

most superclubs have the system peaking at 100hz...hence a lot of big producers in d&b and now dubstep making their snares peak at 100hz

snres peaking at 100 hz?????

[rob sparx]

Subs in Herbal b4 it closed were a relic from the 70s one of the worst systems I've played on and the usual problems with engineers not wanting to turn the volume up but happy for the DJs to so everything is clipping.

[twist2]

its cool bro, maybe the people up in that rave will feel the high hats and shit.

bass is only a state of mind anyway. 14-16khz is where the real wizards play.

[syhr]

not trying to be rude, but are most of you people really getting offered so many bookings that you can turn them down because the system's not perfect?

some prima donna business going on in 'ere

[darkmatter]

YOU CANT PUT MAN IN ROOM WITH NO SUBWOOFER.

most superclubs have the system peaking at 100hz...hence a lot of big producers in d&b and now dubstep making their snares peak at 100hz

lol what are you on about?

as a promoter i hate people scrimping on soundsystem.

but as a dj i reckon you've got a responsibility to keep the party rolling, as someone said just play more midrangey/vocal tracks and try and convince the promoter to sort it for next time.

it doesn't cost much to hire 4 double 18s and A macrotech 5000 to supplement existing system.

[darkmatter]

Subs in Herbal b4 it closed were a relic from the 70s one of the worst systems I've played on and the usual problems with engineers not wanting to turn the volume up but happy for the DJs to so everything is clipping.

herbal's system used to be pretty decent actually, i've had it sounding good in there. the problems started when they removed one of the subs and changed the positioning to free up space in the middle of the dancefloor. after that the subs had to be ragged too hard to sound good, and they did get caned week in week out.

agree with your comment about the engineers/clipping! i think thats why they ended up replacing the mixer with a formula sound cos that has loads of headroom and doesn't put out such a hot signal when clipping.

[rob sparx]

not trying to be rude, but are most of you people really getting offered so many bookings that you can turn them down because the system's not perfect?

some prima donna business going on in 'ere

Who would get to a rave and then say sorry your soundsystem isn't good enough I'm not going to play! You just get on with it best as u can

[prisoner]

it doesn't cost much to hire 4 double 18s and A macrotech 5000 to supplement existing system.

this.

and GWA is correct there is a rig in mpls that both kani and myself have played on that is upwards of 20k watts. the promoters were offered to use it for a reasonable price but turned it down (so i've heard).

it's not about turning down gigs. it's about accurately representing the music.

and fuck this play more midrange bull shit. that is precisely the problem in all this.

[syhr]

not trying to be rude, but are most of you people really getting offered so many bookings that you can turn them down because the system's not perfect?

some prima donna business going on in 'ere

Who would get to a rave and then say sorry your soundsystem isn't good enough I'm not going to play! You just get on with it best as u can

exactly. with the exception of a few names in this thread i don't see anyone i'd recognise on a flyer let alone with the power to stamp their feet and refuse to play because the rig's no good!

i've seen A-listers in both dubstep and d&b play on some utterly gash systems so if they're prepared to do it i don't really see why jonny forum would fling his toys out the pram.

[darkmatter]

if this is really an issue people should include the sound hire price in their fee lol.

one of the biggest artists i've booked specified 18 x 18" subwoofers on their rider. which is weird because i've never heard of a soundsystem that runs 9 subs a side. we provided 4 and it was more than enough in a 300 capacity basement room.

in the states there aren't many scoop systems but the added sensitivity they offer can really help with keeping system cost down and volume high. unfortunately they're only really good for DNB, dubstep, roots etc. - live bands or other music needs reflex, bandpass or horn loaded sub really.

rhys i think it was more meant to be a general moan about the utterly gash systems which are very common in the states and the promoters who aren't willing to shell out for system. the ravers dont know so much about system, so maybe DJs putting pressure on promoters to do things properly is a good thing.

[spiro]

not trying to be rude, but are most of you people really getting offered so many bookings that you can turn them down because the system's not perfect?

You look at it the wrong way . . .

Im not getting a lot of bookings, but these days i don't see the point of playing unless the sound is representing what people deserve to experience. I have been playing on so many shit systems since the 90's and it isn't a good experience to play on one.
All the wrong people like it and what the people are getting is what they have read in magazines or on here, not an experience of a proper night.
And subs alone wont help, you need subs that sound right, and plenty of them . . . [for dubstep at least]
Any experienced dj have to know what system is there before you say yes.
But off-course, if you are in a club to play, you play, even if it sounds shit.

You have to turn some stuff down to do your own thing. Unless you want to be a organic iTunes box . . .

And bigup the original poster for addressing this issue!
Especially for places without an existing soundsystem culture (like oslo) this is what makes the difference,
cause the clubs don't care and most people don't care, but if it sounds right a few times, everyone starts getting the picture.

[syhr]

if this is really an issue people should include the sound hire price in their fee lol.

one of the biggest artists i've booked specified 18 x 18" subwoofers on their rider. which is weird because i've never heard of a soundsystem that runs 9 subs a side. we provided 4 and it was more than enough in a 300 capacity basement room.

in the states there aren't many scoop systems but the added sensitivity they offer can really help with keeping system cost down and volume high. unfortunately they're only really good for DNB, dubstep, roots etc. - live bands or other music needs reflex, bandpass or horn loaded sub really.

rhys i think it was more meant to be a general moan about the utterly gash systems which are very common in the states and the promoters who aren't willing to shell out for system. the ravers dont know so much about system, so maybe DJs putting pressure on promoters to do things properly is a good thing.

book me Tom, i'll play on anything

[duderonomy]

To the original question, no, I wouldn't turn down a gig because the system was sh*t. With the right EQing and the right tunes, things will still be rocking. A sh*t system would make me think about going back though.

I'm sure there is a 30K watt soundsystem in MN

MN is half the size of your entire country.

When there is sooo much to boast about coming out of 'MN', maybe comparing how big it is isn't such a smart idea, just makes the place look like an even bigger waste of space.

[abZ]

not trying to be rude, but are most of you people really getting offered so many bookings that you can turn them down because the system's not perfect?



some prima donna business going on in 'ere

Who would get to a rave and then say sorry your soundsystem isn't good enough I'm not going to play! You just get on with it best as u can

I actually have done this before tbh. It is different for big names because they get paid good money to have a shit night on the decks. I dont get much so I just say fuck it. It only happened once tho. Now I ask the promoter about the situation and politely turn them down if necessa

[promo]

The key is to be able to hear yourself mix otherwise forget playing at all.

[seckle]

if you're the dj dying to take any booking on any sound system, consider the fact that by doing so, you're not helping anyone out, and in fact making yourself look silly as well. and yes people notice bad sound systems. they notice by ear damage the next day.

if you're playing a party where the promoter cares more about the door fee and icecubes than the system in the venue, he won't be a promoter very long. luckily, most of the bigger names in this scene are very picky about sound systems as they should be, and that's setting a standard of its own.

[strmtrpr]

Definitely a question worth bringing up. Just as someone said, this is mainly a issue for the promoters and the owner of the venue, but like Spiro said, if there's no proper sound system culture in your city then you'll need to address the issue yourself. We actually have a few Sound systems with home built stuff that sounds sick, but in Gothenburg, and the rest of Sweden, it's the venues that don't know shit about sound.

Sure you can change your set and play more of the mid-range stuff, but what's the point of that? No offense, but I don't DJ just to be up on stage, I DJ to open people's eyes to a new sound. I want people to really understand what dubstep is about and like someone said, if you play dubstep out on a shit sound system, people will start liking it for the wrong reasons.

Big up All Out Dubstep for always bringing a proper Funktion One rigg! That has done a lot for the Swedish scene imo.

[iron myke]

it doesn't cost much to hire 4 double 18s and A macrotech 5000 to supplement existing system.

That's the easy part.

The hard part is ensuring that the venue's power is capable of handling that amperage. Nothing worse than clipping circuit breakers.