AndyBob09

[quote name='dand666' timestamp='1418253829' post='2628608'] I actually need to get a Visa sorted asap as I'm due to be flying out for a cruise contract in Jan. I've been told i need to call the embassy in London and get it arranged asap! About £100 I think. [/quote] What's your ship? I was out this year on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and hope to be away again very soon. I just need to sort it out with my agent. It's £100 for the C1/D visa needed for a ship, yes. Royal Caribbean reimbursed my visa cost though ($160) when I was onboard. But yeah, to the OP, the only way you'd get away with your tour on a tourist visa would be to not take any gear with you and just say you're travelling with friends when you get to customs. But f*** that.

Excellent! This was my girlfriend's claim to fame a few years ago haha! http://youtu.be/ZiAB-doL26U

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1418001389' post='2625945'] OK, I get the picture. I'm a complete prick for knowing exactly what I wanted, knowing it's within the EB's capability of manufacturing it, being prepared to pay a substantial amount of money for the "privilege" and having the hump with the condescending reply. I apologise to anyone who was offended by that. [/quote] Get the parts and do it yourself? It would take time to source it all but it'd be a lot cheaper in the long run?

... Looks like I'll be going for a Mono then

Are they worth the moolah? What's the benefits of them? Any drawbacks? Are they sturdy? No music shops near me stock them, so I need some advice here. Are there any better alternatives? Right now I have a Protection Racket 7151 rigid bag but it's took bulky for me. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

John Mayer - Any Given Thursday

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1414719325' post='2592714'] Yeah, the whole cruise thing would work for me. I think I waited too long for a lot of this stuff .However at this stage of my life I can get up and go anywhere. Blue [/quote] If you can read, you can get an orchestra job no problem man.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1414704771' post='2592571'] Off Topic but interesting. [b] 3 Reasons To Do A Cruise Ship Gig (For Musicians) [/b] [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sGQA4S80iE"]https://www.youtube....h?v=2sGQA4S80iE[/url] [b] 3 Reasons NOT To Do A Cruise Ship Gig (For Musicians) [/b] [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikD3RSteUa0"]https://www.youtube....h?v=ikD3RSteUa0[/url] Me, I could take off in a second for a cruise gig. Like many I'm not networked for this type of opportunity and don't have a clue on how to get networked. It's what happens to local bar band guys. You can get stuck in a rut. blue [/quote] This guy on Youtube tickles me a little. The 3 reasons to do a cruise gig are spot on. The three negatives are also correct but I honestly wouldn't class them all as "negatives". For me, working for a large corporation actually works really well. For me, it fills me with purpose and the hierarchical system of it is great. The teamwork aspect is great. You can't eat TOO healthily on a ship but there's fairly healthy options. The drinking every night aspect - For me, it's great. It was so sociable. You can take nights off of drinking obviously but you'll always be certain to see friendly faces in the bar. The cramped quarters things, you just get used to unfortunately. On my last ship, musicians had their own rooms though. The had around 8' x 3' of floor space and a murphy bed that folder to the wall. It was a small room but it was your own small room.

... And we really didn't get on well. It sounded not bad thanks to it's preamp but that's where my praise for it got lost! I really didn't like the way it balanced. To me, the head and neck felt dreadfully light. The tension in the strings just didn't feel right to me. Maybe it was the gauge of strings or something, but just didn't feel "right". I was only really happy when playing the G string. Does anyone else feel the same way? I was expecting a LOT more from the instrument based on how much they cost. My basses are Musicman SR5, Sandberg TM5 and an old Japanese Fender P. They all just feel much sturdier than the Sadowsky, and all cost significantly less!

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1414614961' post='2591467'] When you say you want to have a "[i]couple of local gigs under your belt". [/i]I was thinking bar/club gigs. Is that what your looking for, if yes that could be tough because the band is not a bar/club band. And my question is, if you guys play weddings and you have played orchestra gigs on cruises, why do you want to go backwards in the gig food chain? A lot of us bar band guys would love to get cruise work but most can't. It's not a good match. I'm thinking you might want to contact some of the Supper Clubs that book the more jazzy lounge sound. Blue [/quote] I've done the wedding band gig for the last 5 years but it's not my own gig. Someone else runs the band and what not and I want more control. I've done the cruise orchestra gig and absolutely love it and will head back out as a cruise orchestra bass player, but alas I have a girlfriend of 5 years, who's the vocalist in our lounge band, and my compromise of wanting to go out again on my own on the seas was that we set up a lounge band and take that out and I can take contracts around of orchestra and lounge band. And the gig food chain? I'm giving up a £20k a year job in a wedding band for ships. Money doesn't drive me. Happiness does and to be at sea playing in the orchestra for 7 months at a time is a great drive. The music's (usually) great, it's usually a challenge and the social aspect of ships is great. I'm done with weddings for the time being. Well, the band I was in at least. I've loved my time and experience at sea and that's why I'm heading back out. But to bring money back in to the equation, lounge bands are paid more than orchestra musicians, whilst lounge band musicians get more privileges than orchestra musicians.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1414602251' post='2591223'] No offense again, but I have to ask. Are you fairly new to the business? I would say your horribly misled, This business is not solely about musical merit. Your selling a whole package which includes image, That is why I suggested the ladies try to look more like entertainers than school teachers. [/quote] No offense taken. We are new to this side of the business. We all play in different wedding bands but none of us have ever managed anything before. I've played orchestra gigs on cruise ships, but never taken out a band to play in lounges but I do know what's out there and I do know that we're better than most that are out there in lounges. We're not a "showband" or "party band". We're looking for a more jazzy lounge than a lounge than a party band would play in. And yes, I'll have to agree on you about "look"and that the girls could look a bit more like entertainers rather than school teachers.

[quote name='alibabu' timestamp='1414567697' post='2590651'] Hi! It is obvious that you guys know what you are doing. The song list is varied with a good mix of old goodies and new stuff, the piano player doubling as as a sax player works well, and at least most of the time, you sound tight and well rehearsed. One major issue though, is that I would try to improve the audio on the video. It sounds like it is a single mic (maybe stereo) recording, with auto gain (or really high limiting/compression going on), which is ok for recording speech, but a real pain to listen to for music recordings. Preferrably, I would like to hear a multitrack recording, but a decent stereo recording can also be achieved with a couple of good mics and a digital recorder. But no auto gain please:-) [/quote] Thanks for the kind words. Yes, the video is shot with only the mic from the camera as the input. The video was shot with the view of sending it to agents and believe it or not, they wanted it to be as live as possible, and not a too polished product. This is kinda what they were after, I believe.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1414555147' post='2590622'] it wouldn't hurt to have the ladies kick up the wardrobe a couple of notches. No offense, but to me they look like teachers not entertainers. [/quote] Is it just me that finds that offensive? I'd like to sell a band on musical merit, not tits and teeth ... Or am I horribly misled? [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1414567850' post='2590653'] I don't think you are ready for cruises, tbh, on the 'evidence of your show reel' [/quote] Can I ask what about our show reel you think shows that we're not ready? I think our video shows a varied music selection and a polished product. Obviously I've just told you that the band was just formed, but otherwise, I'd say there'd be no telling? We're all pro's on the gigging circuit with experience in this field. [quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1414581467' post='2590867'] You could try bar/restaurant type places like pizza express? These guys: [url="http://www.thelivingroom.co.uk/location/glasgow"]http://www.thelivingroom.co.uk/[/url] Hired a load of jazzy & acoustic acts when they opened in Bristol. There's a branch in Glasgow, so it could be worth paying them a visit. Or this could be ideally suited to your needs: [url="http://www.swingltd.co.uk/"]http://www.swingltd.co.uk/[/url] [/quote] Thanks for these! I'll look in to them. There's a couple more akin to Swing ltd in Glasgow that I only remembered about when I saw this. Cheers! And the PA situation, because we're looking to head on cruise ships rather than be a band on land, I'm not overly interested in investing in one just for a few months, sadly. I do get that it would help immensely to have one though!

So, I just set up a band that I hope to take on cruise ships within the next 8-10 weeks. I'd be more than appreciative if people could crit us and our promo video. We're going down the route of easy listening and jazz and want to sell a classy, high end product. Whilst doing this, we want to stay away from ever being compared to a "party band". Do we do this well? Any feedback (good and bad!) would be more than appreciated. Cheers! http://youtu.be/DjhZFX5MmKE

I've just set up a band that I hope to take on cruise ships in the new year (have just applied to a host of agents), however, before we head off to the open seas, I'd love to get a few local gigs under our belt. Apart from the regular pub thing, where would you suggest? I'd love to get in with a few low key corporate gigs. We'd be looking more for background lounge kind of stuff, but unfortunately do not have our own PA. I just have no idea of where to start looking for gigs though. It'd kinda need to be paid too, unfortunately (£200+), For reference, here's our promo video: http://youtu.be/DjhZFX5MmKE Any suggestions would be well received. Cheers!