stewblack

10 hours ago, Obrienp said:

I agree but I don’t want loud, I just want audible. The blues band I play in is too loud; mostly driven by the drummer, who also suffers from tinnitus LoL. I wonder why? I would like a happy medium: audible but not deafening. Anyway, I’ve hijacked the thread. Let’s see how the next gig goes!

Yep. Audible. Is that too much for us to ask? Apparently if you're a singer or keys player then yes it is.

She's one of my favourite bass players. Just so good.

I'm beginning to suspect it isn't supposed to be like that. I shall investigate.

Thank you all 

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

This is only ok if they all played quietly too, which would not appear to be the case. I think I might have told them to stuff their request.

I estimate the bass to have been at a similar volume to one of the rack toms, maybe a bit quieter. It was utterly drowned by the keyboard monitor 

My son in law asked why the sensitivity knob is stiffer to turn than the other two.

I said I don't know but I bet someone does.

Depressing evening yesterday. Virtually empty club and the band insist I play so quietly that I was literally inaudible.

19 minutes ago, JapanAxe said:

I guess we're talking scooping out the mid-range to benefit slappity-poppity shenanigans?

I confess there was much mention of that, but I don't go in for it. I was more interested in the effect it had on the tone. 

I stroke my strings lovingly rather than twanging and bashing them.

Looking for video of my incoming Meridian Funkulator pedal I kept stumbling across this 

It appears to do nothing more than reduce the 800 Hz frequency. I stand to be corrected of course.

So I made one. Cheap graphic with a slider set to control the 800. Pulled it down. Bingo.

And you know what? It makes a big difference.

Wow, that's a whole lot of kit in a very small, pedal board friendly box.

The verbal cues were useful when I could hear them - I'd annotated my scores and chord charts to match them. If I work with the band again I'll be sure to learn the app and get my mix how I want it.

7 hours ago, Muzz said:

I'm not sure I understand the 'extra instrumentation which we had in our ears but the audience didn't hear' thing, tho: what was it?

The click track was punctuated with verbal cues and had keys and such on it as well.

I would happily do it again and if the drummers in my regular bands chose to play to a click it wouldn't bother me. It would spoil some songs which are supposed to gradually speed up but not ruin them so no biggie.

On the night in question the click was virtually buried in my mix so I missed cues which would have been useful, what wasn't useful was the extra instrumentation which we had in our ears but the audience didn't hear - obviously I play as a part of a whole, I play to the music of the band and having instruments which actually weren't there got in the way of that.

The spontaneity missing was the ability to stretch out passages of songs when people were enjoying themselves, everything had to run to the backing track. Also missing were those moments of musical magic which only come from a group of musicians improvising. It's an organic thing. that is what I said and what I meant about robotic. Not that there wasn't any feel. Clearly I never said that.

Anyway it was interesting. Not anything I would implement in my bands, I want those  to be an organic whole, not  separated individuals locked into a predetermined script. Although that has a lot to do with in ear monitors rather than the click track.

Did my wedding dep gig last night. Beautiful location in Wiltshire with views of the rolling hills of somewhere or other outside the open sided marquee.

It was the one with monitoring replaced by earphones and a click track. 

Playing wise I got away with it. 40 odd songs, most of which I didn't know, so happy with that. 

Playing without proper monitoring is never going to be my bag. No one can hear anything anyone says so the band retreat into their shells and don't communicate with one another. The click was buried in the mix so I basically didn't use it. Didn't have time to learn the app so couldn't adjust it myself. 

Still, nice people to work with and they seemed happy with what I did.

The unscripted, unexpected version of Bohemian Rhapsody at the end of the evening is probably best forgotten. Not a song to busk.

And the thread trajectory is complete!

21 hours ago, IanA said:

I love using click track especially live, we also run a guide track as well which prompts for us for the likes of chorus/bridge/build etc

Keeps things nice and tight but was certainly a learning curve initially.

This is what I'll be doing. It's a definite help to a short notice dep.

13 minutes ago, chris_b said:

 

I agree.

 

The natural sway of the tempo doesn't have to be a bad thing, but the OP is about  a click being a negative thing. I don't think that's true.

Sorry I gave that impression. I actually posted positives as well as negatives and merely wanted to start a conversation on the subject.

35 minutes ago, JapanAxe said:

I believe Stew is referring to a band that I have done some gigs with, and in fact I have 3 wedding engagements with them this summer.

 

To answer some of the questions/comments above:

- Yes they have a drummer.

- There is no option of keeping things going without completely abandoning the click.

- The light show is automatically controlled by DMX form the same program that provides the click.

 

Also each player can control their own mix using the Qu-You app on a phone or tablet.

 

Enjoy the gig @stewblack!

Cool, thanks man. I'm absolutely fine working with the click tracks provided as I believe it will be helpful to me depping as I am at short notice. I simply thought it might provide interesting meat for a BC discussion.

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Does the band have a drummer?

No idea

Just now, Smanth said:

There is a tweak/setting in DAWs that can be used to vary timing a bit to sound more natural, I've seen it called "humanize".

S'manth x

Interesting. I don't know if they employ such tactics or not. 

I was referring more to the way a metronome sucks life from individual playing and how the set structures of the songs can't be varied on the fly to suit the audience.

In other words if they're all up dancing you can't just keep the song rolling. You lose the improvised moments of magic that elevate a performance. 

14 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Until the OP comes back with more detail about the band and music they are playing, it's all pointless speculation.

It's a wedding set. With some medleys. Pretty standard fare but just not all stuff I'm familiar with 

A new experience coming up for this old dog at the weekend.

Depping for a band whose entire set is pumped into their brains from a backing track, via earphones.

They use a metronome, some chords, and verbal cues throughout the songs. 

I can imagine certain advantages. The tempo, or speed, of each song is set, not dependent upon the vagaries and mood of a drummer. Less chance of getting lost mid song. 

But I wonder how lifeless and robotic the performance might be, how utterly unresponsive to the audience, how entirely lacking in spontaneity. 

However, it's not something I ever propose to inflict on my regular bands, and if it helps me as a dep not to get lost (I don't know many of the tunes) then it's all to the good.

7 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Wheels fell off a few times for us at the Burlington gig. Some really sloppy endings.

 

Blue

It happens. As long as it doesn't get to you.

I've loved hats since I was knee high to a garden gate and would happily wear a tea cosy if it was the only headgear available.

People with anti hat prejudice project their own character defects onto those sensible enough to wear them.

@Bluewine hat looks well cool. But then you always look cool.

Last night for me was a private party with the Bandeoke band.

Different line up with drummer and guitarist I hadn't met before, lovely setting, lovely people. The wheels only fell off a couple of times but as ever we got through.

Only problem for me was the amp going phut in the soundcheck. I always carry my trusty Elf in the gig bag so it didn't affect the show. 

30 minutes ago, naxos10 said:

It looks like the Harley Benton stewblack mentions will charge and pass power at the same time.

Yep. The older ones I have do this.