Are all Thai bass players and sound engineers stupid

[Brer]

After watching a few Thai bands, karaoke, molam accompanied by bands, I just feel that Thai’s whilst they have a love of music could enjoy it a lot more if they turned down the bass.

Quite often the bass is booming, I watched guys on a mixing board doing sound checks and they don’t get up off their backside to check in other areas. 

Sometimes the bass is like a sonic fart you cant smell it but boy you can feel it. They have no ideas when it comes to set up cabinets just get erected dumped by labour that has no idea of sound.

Will they ever realise that music is something that should be enjoyed without the bass been louder then anything else.

[faraday]

.....and breathe....feel better now?

 

Hmmm...yes...molam & the bass!

[samuttodd]

I have never seen as many P.A. systems as in Thailand.   It is because it is hot,  so eveyone has open windows.  Every market night there is a guy with cabinets and horns and he Blasts it forth like so much miasm. 

Noises from the road, from the animals, the kids, the mopeds, the bus...   fortunatley the back yard is a river,   so no traffic there and not much noise.

 

 

When I first came to LOS, i couldn't get used to it.   Hearing the neighbors in the loo,  or babies crying, Roosters crowing, very noisy place Thailand.   

 

Lovely folks.

[Slip]

I thought you were talking about bass guitars at first and couldn't get it at all- the poor old bassists here are always left on the weak amp.  Meanwhile...

 

[wgdanson]

I was a pro bass player for many years, probably too many. But my 72 Fender jazz Bass with Rotosound Swing bass strings, through an Ampeg 400VT head with a Fender Bassman cab containing two JBL KT140s took some beating.

 

But I completely agree with you. Thias just whack up the bass, and hence overload the amp, creating a square wave, which f...s the speakers, and the audiences ears no end.

 

In the Cavern days, Macca used a 15 watt amp! (at first)

 

Remember going to a concert in Stockholm to see Modern Romance, a popular band of the day, and the bass was SOOOO loud the top cabs fell off the bins. Met the sound engineer in the gents at half time and said to him that I thought the bass was 'a bit loud'. He told me that he had been the sound engineer for the Who for many years. I said to him 'That explains everything. Your ears are f''''ed!.

Edited December 23, 2019 by wgdanson

[DaRoadrunner]

They love boom boom.

 

I am sure the Thai have a higher pain threshold than anyone else. This includes turning up the volume to the point of distortion and damage to the speakers (and my ears!).

[RedPill]

Bassists are rare ... every band who's lucky enough to even find a Bass player is so happy about it and let them all know 5555

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by RedPill

[Brer]

There are many bands here where the guitarists don’t make the grade, no I won’t go down that street or I will find myself apologizing to the good bass players.

Keyboard man myself.

I watched a band the other night and the goose was standing in front of his speaker don’t think he had a clue about his sound, now he was loud even his mates in the band were giving him the evil eye but he would have had no idea being in front of his speaker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kwasaki]

3 hours ago, Brer said:

Are all Thai bass players and sound engineers stupid.

Will they ever realise that music is something that should be enjoyed without the bass been louder than anything else.

Wait until you get a funeral for 7 days next door or near you, then you can access it in more detail. ????

[Kwasaki]

3 hours ago, Brer said:

Are all Thai bass players and sound engineers stupid.

Will they ever realise that music is something that should be enjoyed without the bass been louder than anything else.

Wait until you get a funeral for 7 days next door or near you, then you can access it in more detail. ????

[jackdd]

Standard in Thailand, i guess Thais just don't hear it the way we hear it because they heard sound like this all their life.

Same with the general volume. At most parties they turn up the volume so much that the sound is distored, but this doesn't bother anybody.

Edited December 23, 2019 by jackdd

[impulse]

Our company hired a popular (and expensive) Thai seminar company to do a team building session over a few days away from the office.  The facilitator kept getting frustrated because people wouldn't follow his instructions.  What he didn't realize is that most of us couldn't make out what he was asking us to do, over the booming bass from the PA system.

 

So I don't think it's the bass players.  It's the soundmen...

 

[daveAustin]

Know what you mean but, in Thighland, it is not sound they are typically interested in but volume. It's what they're brought up on. If a budding Thai sound engineer were to start at a new job and set the bottom end flat with no coloured bass they would not last long. I've met some with an ear but none willing to buck the trend.

[Curt1591]

Loud?

Haven't you noticed that they even yell into microphones when simply speaking? 
 

[ezzra]

The OP must be new to Thailand not knowing the here the more bass the better until the speaker's membrane can't take it anymore and the rip apart, and to ridicule the thais for not having a delicate ear to the finely tuned bass is like saying why thais not big fans of cheese...

[Brer]

7 hours ago, ezzra said:

The OP must be new to Thailand not knowing the here the more bass the better until the speaker's membrane can't take it anymore and the rip apart, and to ridicule the thais for not having a delicate ear to the finely tuned bass is like saying why thais not big fans of cheese...

Not new to Thailand bud, it was just having to listen for four hours to relentless bass.

A lot of my Thai friends do like cheese, you would not blame Thais for not liking the bland junk they sell in supermarkets here though.

 

 

 

[Don Mega]

nowt wrong with a bit of bass.

 

 

[holy cow cm]

18 hours ago, wgdanson said:

I was a pro bass player for many years, probably too many. But my 72 Fender jazz Bass with Rotosound Swing bass strings, through an Ampeg 400VT head with a Fender Bassman cab containing two JBL KT140s took some beating.

 

But I completely agree with you. Thias just whack up the bass, and hence overload the amp, creating a square wave, which f...s the speakers, and the audiences ears no end.

 

In the Cavern days, Macca used a 15 watt amp! (at first)

 

Remember going to a concert in Stockholm to see Modern Romance, a popular band of the day, and the bass was SOOOO loud the top cabs fell off the bins. Met the sound engineer in the gents at half time and said to him that I thought the bass was 'a bit loud'. He told me that he had been the sound engineer for the Who for many years. I said to him 'That explains everything. Your ears are f''''ed!.

Yes me the same as in freelance gigging for bands and in bands. Fender Power Jazz bass and would use either 4-10s in cabinet or 2 - 15's. I used roto sound strings as well and they ground my frets down to nubs.  Just about to purchase a beautiful new bass and guitar in about a week as a present for myself. 

[holy cow cm]

18 hours ago, Brer said:

giving him the evil eye

Too funny. that is such a universal term for bands and someone out of whack. 

[Matzzon]

Yeah, if we let you decide, they are probably stupid. On the other hand, most people will only see your try to put all in one box as a small and harmless opinion.

[wgdanson]

10 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

Yes me the same as in freelance gigging for bands and in bands. Fender Power Jazz bass and would use either 4-10s in cabinet or 2 - 15's. I used roto sound strings as well and they ground my frets down to nubs.  Just about to purchase a beautiful new bass and guitar in about a week as a present for myself. 

Which one though?

 

 

[Saltire]

My brother in law hires out himself and his sound equipment for the local weddings, funerals etc. He has 2 setups one he calls small, and one he calls big. The big one takes 4 wiry Thai's to lift one cabinet on and off the pickup. It costs double the hire rate for events and most take this option.

 

He is forever having the big ones repaired and I keep telling him to turn down the bass. He agrees but claims its the customers who insist on volume to 'impress' the neighbours. One even threatened to not pay him if he didnt't turn it up full bung!

 

To be honest when he does a local  school outside gig using the small one I can hear it 1Km away. When he uses the big one it sounds like it's in my kitchen.

 

 

[holy cow cm]

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

Which one though?

 

 

This last one was 84 Power Jazz 4 string from Japan with battery.

[Brer]

1 hour ago, Matzzon said:

Yeah, if we let you decide, they are probably stupid. On the other hand, most people will only see your try to put all in one box as a small and harmless opinion.

Oh you write some good lyrics, think I might have a nice riff for that