mingsta

[quote name='taunton-hobbit' timestamp='1491829278' post='3275673'] Just a point, 'once the live music is over' is when the band will be thinking about going home, not morphing into a cheap non-disco......someone's not thought this through? [/quote] From my experience, if the band is supplying the PA for a wedding, they'd leave it in situ until the night is over, rather than tearing things down while the party is still in progress. Depending on how much wait time is involved, this would be factored in to the price. The MP3 thing is one of the more common requests that my own band gets and we've always obliged. Anyways, most weddings run late and by the time the band's finished, there's normally about 60 minutes left before the end of the night. That gives us a nice bit of chillout time to catch up on a days worth of Whataspp messages, pick up drunken brides maids, have a quiet cry in the toilets, clear the puke from the kick drum etc before the drudgery of taking down the PA commences. Ming

I'd roll with it. If you can weather the initial storm, it might turn out to be a good band with good gigs. Its probably too early to know if the not-getting-your-point-across thing is a cause for concern. Ask that they fix the tracks for recording so that you can prioritise learning and rehearsing them over the next few weeks.

Hi Guys, I've got a friend getting married on 3rd September in Gloucestershire at a country house. He's looking for a wedding/function band to play a lively ~2 hours of pop/rock/soul crowd pleasers to get the party jumping after the dinner. His budget is £800 and he would ideally like a band with female lead vocals, or even better female and male. Other than that, I would say the typical wedding requirements apply, ie experienced and reliable band with a track record for playing such evenings, able to load in/out and soundcheck efficiently, own gear including PA, PAT/PLI certs and facility to play some MP3's through the band PA once the live music is over. If you know of anyone or think your band could do a job for him, I'd be grateful if you could PM me or link to the band on this thread. For those of you in Gloucestershire, I would be interested to get your thoughts on the going rate for the area. Thanks all! Ming

If you're just putting the vocals and a bit of guitar through, you could pick up some decent powered 12 inch speakers and a mixer for that money. Then you could add subs in the future to become a full band PA. Check out the Yamaha DXR12 or RCF equivalent. I picked up a pair of DXR15s a couple of years back for £850 + Allen and Heath mixer for £200 and the whole band goes through that no problem for pub gigs and small to medium parties and weddings. We're not a loud rock band though, more pop and soul/Funk type stuff.

Overture 1928 by Dream Theatre. I learnt it fot my friends prog metal side project. There were more notes to learn in that one song than about ten of the regular verse-chorus-verse type songs in my pop covers band. I never really nailed some of the insanely fast runs that myung does. Anyway, certainly made me appreciate the technicality of the peops who play this genre of music. I also find that I have trouble really committing to really learning a song well unless I know that it's going to be gigged.

It seems like rather odd, controlling behavior to me. Part of it depends on how well you know each other and what the relationships are like. I'm now good friends with my band and we'd think nothing of saying stuff like "you need to smile more", "your fashion is whack", "ditch the music stand" etc...most of that directed at the drummer...but that's because we've built up the relationship where we can say that without coming across as dicks, most of it's tongue in cheek with a hint of truth. I'd never dream of asking another bandmate to use a different instrument in a more formal, less familiar context. Unless it's part of the deal that the band has to look very period specific then there needs to be a certain respect for the individuality of members, particularly if its not something that affects your ability to perform/deliver the goods. As people have commented, I doubt many would notice the Yamaha, while it might be a fair cop if the bass was bright pink and shaped like penis (long scale).

I agree about the E-drums, it opens up a lot of possibilities for rehearsal and performing. If your band already has a mixing desk, you could just buy a four way headphone amp and run from the desk in to that. Cheaper than a jam hub unless you really need individual mixes.

Fantastic. Brought back many happy memories just listening to those lines. I took up bass when I was 15 but the reason I carried on past the first year was this album.

I've got no idea if it's any good, but this one looks the biz. Some sound clips on the site. Not cheap at current exchange rate though. https://www.serekbasses.com/midwestern

Good advice from the others. You sound like a sensible chap and I feel for ya. No way should you have to suffer hearing damage due to someone else's stupidity. Get rid of the wedges and the guys who 'have no space' can either step up or get used to playing without monitors. Why shoukd it be your problem? I agree with the previous post that the more you do for others, the more they will take. Time to think about your own needs. The guys in my band are very sensible regarding volume, but I always carry a spare set of Earplugs in the gig bag just in case of unforseen scenarios. I was at a loud rock gig down the local a few weeks ago and there was a lot of testosterone on and off stage and I was thinking that I'd probably be sneered at if I was gigging there with Earplugs, but if it comes to my hearing vs getting heckled by the punters, no contest.

We learned True by Spandau Ballet for a first dance in June and did our first bit of canned music. For the sax solo our drummer kicked in a drum pattern on his edrums, played the sax solo live, then switched back to drums. Our singer wasnt keen at first, but the alternatives were too complicated and we felt it was a part of the song that we couldn't cut out. Apart from that, we don't use backing tracks, but I don't have a problem with it at all. I saw a 4 piece band play at Sandown racecourse in April. They played a lot of current chart stuff and filled out a few bits with some synth pad etc. It didn't take anything away from the band imo. I'd draw the line at anything that would be in the foreground of the music, but a bit of subtle synth/keys type filler is something we'd consider doing. Our guitarist can cover a lot of ground but as a four piece, there's a lot of songs that we would love to do but can't as they'd be missing a key part. I'd love to have a keyboard player to give us more options but I think we'd need to step up in terms of number of well paid gigs to justify it.

Yeah, it always brings a chuckle when you read of the £2-5m liability that you now have cover for. With the level of OCD in the band, I doubt our lot could do £10 of damage even if we wanted to! But it's a moot point, as half the wedding venues we've played want it, along with PAT test certificates. If you're gigging pubs, then it's probably diwn to your opinion on the risk vs cost whether to get cover or not. But if you do weddings and functions more than a couple of times a year then might as well get the cover for the £69 it costs.

Hi Jean, I hope you don't mind me piggybacking on your thread. I'm round the corner from you in Merton Park and am also after a bass tutor to learn bass/music theory, so pls PM me too if you operate in this area. Jean, I'll let you know if I find anyone in my search. *** Feb 2017 Update - found a local tutor who does SW19 , so now sorted. Thanks to those who got in touch ***

It's that time of year where my band looks to shake up the set list a bit. We do quite a wide range of styles and are always looking a for a few more contemporary pieces. Do any of you have any reasonably upbeat/danceable songs that have worked well for you and are doable with a four piece band with no keys? Here's a few on the shortlist, mainly rock/indie but we are open to any style that'll work with bass/guit/edrums Foals - mountain at my gates Tame Impala - the less I know the better Blossoms - charlmagne Thanks for your recommendations!

Back in the early days of my current band I used to step out with a four and a five string, but this was down to my lack of proficiency with the five string, which I only used for the songs that needed it. Ive somehow managed to end up as the owner /custodian of the band PA since then and the less I have to lug or worry about getting stolen the better. So it's just the for string and a pitch shift pedal nowadays. The four guitars on a rack thing is pretty common round here and definitely a guitarist thing. I guess it's understandable if you've spent hundreds of hours trying to perfect that hendrix/page/etc tone that you'd want the right guitar on stage. However our guitard makes do with a les paul and just a handful of pedals, plugging straight in to the PA and I kind of dig his minimalist approach.

Good stuff. I'll get myself a copy. Is there a chapter dedicated to music stands?

Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in!!! Our band all goes through a pair of Yamaha DXR15s which is fine for most of the pubs and bar/party gigs that we do, but this looks like it'd really hit the spot for the bigger gigs where we there's no in house pa. 24kg is by far the lightest I've seen in my not-particularly-thorough search for a lightweight but good quality sub. Very interested to hear people's first impressions.

I never bring a backup bass or amp. Life's too short to worry about these things and I've got enough gear (PA, desk, monitors) to lug as it is!!! I have never had a bass fail on me, though I carry spare batteries, tools and strings in case. If I ever find myself in a disaster scenario, I will hold down the bottom end by singing a scat with my rich, baritone voice.

Another one for the GK MB200 option. I went that way with my BF Midget Gen3. It has all the features that I needed in a very small package and sounds good to my ears...somewhere in between the Genz streamliner and shuttle heads I have, which is not a bad place to be. The only thing I miss, which is relevant if you want to DI from the head + use as a personal monitor, is that there is no seperate preamp and master volume. That was a great feature of the Genz heads as you could keep your Di volume constant for the desk and adjust the stage volume on the fly.

Great album. When I first heard it, I was rather underwhelmed, but its a grower for sure.

Is this for practicing against? I use sweet midi for iPad, then get the midi tracks I need off the net. well worth checking out.

Haha, funnily enough I've got a streamliner 600 that I've never been close to pushing hard through a Genz 212t nx2, yet the irrational part of me wished I had paid the extra £100 for the 900 watt version. Back to the subject of lightweight gigging amps, the magellan 800 would be a good one if it's an evolution of previous Genz heads. Heard lots of good things about the tecamp/eich heads too. Ive just picked up a gallien kruegger mb200 which has a good tone in a tiny package if a little light on front panel options, so I'd imagine the mb500 and fusion models would be worth checking out.

Thanks for the info. Mine turned up today in the post. It's tiny. A quick A/B with my two Genz Benz heads and it sounds closer to the streamliner than the shuttle 6.2, which is good, as that is what I was after. The aux in on mine has a lot of hum, but it could be my cable, so I'll have a fiddle tomorrow. Pretty pleased for the 2nd hand price I paid for it. I'll be selling my pjb cub shortly as I think the midget + mb200 is closer to my needs for a lightweight combo.

Well done mate for reporting. This marions responded to a wanted post that I put up yesterday, but fortunately I was already sorted. Just shows that you can't let your guard down even on basschat as there's alwaysthe chance of scammers from outside the community.

Thanks guys, for the price and size, it sounds like a winner. Good to hear that its not a million miles away from the streamliner as that sounds great with the midget. I've just nabbed one off ebay and will Velcro it to the cab once I have it, to make a modular mini combo.