Live music help

[(InsertNameHere)]

So I have a early 2015 MacBook Air and I am trying to run either Garage Band or MainStage for some live music stuff. When I play a bass on my computer without connecting to the sound system it works just fine but when I do connect there is no bass coming from my computer... The drummer and guitars have plenty of bass coming from them but my computer is the only thing that exhibits this problem. I think the flaw may lie in switching from 3.5mm to 1/4 in. jacks but no one is sure and I can't seem to find anything on the internet... Any help would be appreciated.

[Ahoy Hoy]

2 hours ago, (InsertNameHere) said:

So I have a early 2015 MacBook Air and I am trying to run either Garage Band or MainStage for some live music stuff. When I play a bass on my computer without connecting to the sound system it works just fine but when I do connect there is no bass coming from my computer... The drummer and guitars have plenty of bass coming from them but my computer is the only thing that exhibits this problem. I think the flaw may lie in switching from 3.5mm to 3/8 in. jacks but no one is sure and I can't seem to find anything on the internet... Any help would be appreciated.

You sure the sound guy isnt just turning all of your low frequencies down. Maybe you had a ground loop problem so he was like fuck your 50Hz (or 60Hz depending on that country) and just turning all the lower frequencies off.

How you plugging from the mac book to the sound desk?

[(InsertNameHere)]

7 hours ago, Ahoy Hoy said:

You sure the sound guy isnt just turning all of your low frequencies down. Maybe you had a ground loop problem so he was like fuck your 50Hz (or 60Hz depending on that country) and just turning all the lower frequencies off.

How you plugging from the mac book to the sound desk?

I am sure that we haven't cut any frequencies out. And yes we have the MacBook plugged into the sound desk directly. We have to go through adapter tho (3.5mm to 1/4in)

[(InsertNameHere)]

I have an early 2015 MacBook Air running GarageBand or MainStage 3 for some live music performances. When I try to play through our soundboard, there is no bass.... any suggestions?

[Billy_Mays]

What sound board?

[(InsertNameHere)]

7 minutes ago, Billy_Mays said:

What sound board?

Its a Mackie Mix Series Mix12FX 12-Channel Effects Mixer

 

https://www.amazon.com/Mackie-Mix12FX-12-Channel-Effects-Mixer/dp/B00ND1KHY2

[LittleCarrot]

7 minutes ago, Billy_Mays said:

What sound board?

He probably means mixer board.

 

9 minutes ago, (InsertNameHere) said:

I have an early 2015 MacBook Air running GarageBand or MainStage 3 for some live music performances. When I try to play through our soundboard, there is no bass.... any suggestions?

What do you mean no bass? I imagine your using an aux cable from the mac to the Mixer Board. A photo of the setup would help. What are you using Garage Band for?

 

[Billy_Mays]

Just now, (InsertNameHere) said:

Its a Mackie Mix Series Mix12FX 12-Channel Effects Mixer

 

https://www.amazon.com/Mackie-Mix12FX-12-Channel-Effects-Mixer/dp/B00ND1KHY2

Is the bass off?

[(InsertNameHere)]

Just now, Billy_Mays said:

Is the bass off?

No, we have checked over and over again. We have an electric drums set that also plays and the bass there is just fine.

[Billy_Mays]

Just now, (InsertNameHere) said:

No, we have checked over and over again. We have an electric drums set that also plays and the bass there is just fine.

Ok and take a look at @LittleCarrot said

[(InsertNameHere)]

2 minutes ago, LittleCarrot said:

He probably means mixer board.

 

What do you mean no bass? I imagine your using an aux cable from the mac to the Mixer Board. A photo of the setup would help. What are you using Garage Band for?

 

 

Just now, Billy_Mays said:

Ok and take a look at @LittleCarrot said

I don't have a pic ATM cuz its at my friends house, but I am going from the 3.5mm jack on my MacBook through an adapter that brings the jack up to 1/4 inch and then it goes into the Mixer board...

[SImoHayha]

Just now, (InsertNameHere) said:

 

I don't have a pic ATM cuz its at my friends house, but I am going from the 3.5mm jack on my MacBook through an adapter that brings the jack up to 1/4 inch and then it goes into the Mixer board...

Well if you're using a mixer board make sure all the channels are off except the one where your jack is in. Then start turn up the knobs one by one.

[(InsertNameHere)]

5 minutes ago, Ramamataz said:

Well if you're using a mixer board make sure all the channels are off except the one where your jack is in. Then start turn up the knobs one by one.

Ok, if that turns up no results where should I go from there? We only meet once a week so I'm trying to get as much info as possible... also @LittleCarrot I am using GarageBand because I have a midi keyboard and I like to mess around with synths and stuff, but there are bass guitars on there and we currently do not have a bass player sooo ye

[LittleCarrot]

Just now, (InsertNameHere) said:

Ok, if that turns up no results where should I go from there? We only meet once a week so I'm trying to get as much info as possible... also @LittleCarrot I am using GarageBand because I have a midi keyboard and I like to mess around with synths and stuff, but there are bass guitars on there and we currently do not have a bass player sooo ye

I see. So can you hear everything on the Mac Book as a stand alone? Where do you plug it into the mixer? Do you hear the mac book after its plugged into the mixer?

[LittleCarrot]

Try giving Ableton Live a try. I recommend it over Garage Band. Ableton live is a very good Daw. Garage Band is eeh

[(InsertNameHere)]

1 minute ago, LittleCarrot said:

I see. So can you hear everything on the Mac Book as a stand alone? Where do you plug it into the mixer? Do you hear the mac book after its plugged into the mixer?

 

Just now, LittleCarrot said:

Try giving Ableton Live a try. I recommend it over Garage Band. Ableton live is a very good Daw. Garage Band is eeh

Yes everything works just fine when its not plugged into the mixer. I have a sound system at home and I works just fine there too. We have tried every spot on the board where I can plug it in and no results have.. resulted. I can hear the MacBook when it is plugged into the mixer, but there is no bass, especially when I try to play a bass. I would try Ableton but GarageBand is free...

[LittleCarrot]

Just now, (InsertNameHere) said:

 

Yes everything works just fine when its not plugged into the mixer. I have a sound system at home and I works just fine there too. We have tried every spot on the board where I can plug it in and no results have.. resulted. I can hear the MacBook when it is plugged into the mixer, but there is no bass, especially when I try to play a bass. I would try Ableton but GarageBand is free...

Try plugging it into line 1. I have a spare copy of ableton live lite. If you want I can send it over. Anyways check the audio prefrences inside the mac. Make sure Line out is selected.

[(InsertNameHere)]

21 minutes ago, LittleCarrot said:

Try plugging it into line 1. I have a spare copy of ableton live lite. If you want I can send it over. Anyways check the audio prefrences inside the mac. Make sure Line out is selected.

I'll take you up on the ableton offer. Do I need to check system preferences or look in garageband for line out

[WkdPaul]

1 hour ago, (InsertNameHere) said:

I have an early 2015 MacBook Air running GarageBand or MainStage 3 for some live music performances. When I try to play through our soundboard, there is no bass.... any suggestions?

Threads merged.

 

Making multiple threads about the same topic isn't allowed.

[kasugatei]

On 8/8/2017 at 0:31 AM, (InsertNameHere) said:

Any help would be appreciated

what happens when you connect headphones to your Macbook 3.5mm out?

If it works, your 3.5mm output works so we can ditch any software or Macbook problem and focus on cable/mixer

[(InsertNameHere)]

5 minutes ago, Niksa said:

what happens when you connect headphones to your Macbook 3.5mm out?

If it works, your 3.5mm output works so we can ditch any software or Macbook problem and focus on cable/mixer

Yes if I plug headphones directly into the MacBook it works just fine

[kasugatei]

15 minutes ago, (InsertNameHere) said:

Yes if I plug headphones directly into the MacBook it works just fine

In that case I can see cable or mixer problem. Mac or Garage band are not the source of the issue here. I assume that you've tried changing a channel on mixer? If not, just use another channel on the mixer (one which works for sure). If the problem persists, there is a cable problem.

[kasugatei]

+ there is a one annoying thing about Apple 3.5mm jacks. They don't use standard pinout.

 

 

your cable is for sure using "mic" ring as the grounding so no wonder it doesn't work.

[LittleCarrot]

Send me a pm. Check the system prefrences.

[anothertom]

8 hours ago, Niksa said:

+ there is a one annoying thing about Apple 3.5mm jacks. They don't use standard pinout.

 

your cable is for sure using "mic" ring as the grounding so no wonder it doesn't work.

Well, actually... if they're using a TRS jack, which they should, then it will short the second ring and sleeve connections in the MacBook, so it's not trying to use the mic output as the ground. Either way, what is essentially a ground lift wouldn't affect the signal.

 

@(InsertNameHere) What is likely happening is that your MacBook is seeing something plugged in which doesn't look like a pair of headphones or speakers, so it might be using a strange profile somewhere.

 

You'll need to spend some time with the mixer to works this out, but check all of the audio output settings both OS and program.

 

Secondly, you should try using the same cable with a different device, to see if you've picked up a dodgy cable, and to identify which half of the system has the problem. What would be a better solution than just running a stereo jack would be to use a DI box to convert to signal to a balanced signal. This will protect against interference and noise being picked up between the MacBook and mixer.

 

Thirdly, if none of you know what you're doing, then say so. Find someone irl who does, or I can give you the basics of how you should be setting up the mixer.