solo4652

So far, the band PA is for vocals (lead and backing), and keys. The desk was upgraded 6 months ago and is owned by the drummer. Drummer plays acoustic kit, myself and guitarist use our own backline. Rear-facing monitor sits out front. Guitarist (who also does BV's) and drummer have now decided they'd like to use IEM's in order to protect their hearing, and to prevent their tinnutis getting worse. This will need a new desk with more inputs, apparently (I'm clueless about IEM systems), and drummer and guitarist have suggested we all contribute to the cost of a new desk and other associated equipment. I don't feel I need or want to use IEM's. Don't know about lead vocalist or keys player. Questions: Is there any way the existing desk could be adapted? Who then owns the desk and equipment if somebody leaves, or the band folds? Will IEM's help to reduce tinnutis? Could the drummer simply use musician-grade ear plugs? Won't IEM's introduce yet more leads and complexity to what is alreadyy a ton of on-stage eqipment for a 5-piece band?

Yep. Helping out at a Bike Repair Cafe next week.

Update: Decision made - I've told the radio station that it's not for me. For the most part, I enjoyed presenting the shows, and the banter with my co-presenter/mentor. I haven't enjoyed the sound engineering aspects, however. You were expected to choose the songs from the station's stockpile of 68,000 songs. That done, you'd have to listen to each chosen song and "clean" it to check for sound levels and possible clipping, using Audacity. During the show, there would be an almost anal concentration on the clock to ensure you weren't running over or under time, even though the clever desk would make automatic allowances for that. It would have all been worth it if there was anybody listening. But, there wasn't, and I couldn't see any viable plan to engage patients and staff more. Last week I did a show and, as I left, I found myself thinking' "Well, that went pretty well but, really, what was the point of that?" So, I've said Thanks, but no thanks.

Perhaps I should say that the main reason I was interested in Hospital radio was to do some voluntary work with my spare time, for the good of others. I'm not really interested in reaching a global audience with my own show via podcasts or Spotify recordings.

Anybody here have recent experience of hospital radio presenting? I'm struggling with it. I've recently started presenting a weekly show on my local hospital radio. Steve's Funk, soul and Groove show. It's taken quite a while to learn how to operate the desk, upload songs to the system, "clean" (adjust sound levels/clipping) song tracks before playing them and so forth. Yesterday was my third show and my co-presenter/mentor said he'd just received marketing information about listener numbers. Approximately 25 people per show. Which makes me seriously wonder whether all the time and effort is worth it. - Getting out on the wards to gather requests is not encouraged at all. Post Jimmy Saville, hospital managers are very wary of random people wandering around wards. High level of DBS needed. Ward volunteers are too busy to be the radio's outrunners, apparently. - Although requests are welcome, they are invited through the station website/chatbot, social media. I've only ever seen 3 requests come in and they were all from other presenters. - Which makes it seem that the radio station exists primarily for its presenters, rather than for hospital patients and staff. - I asked how easy it was for patients to listen to hospital radio in their beds through the bedside media monitor, "Oooh - we've had problems with the technology. Don't think it's working at the moment, actually" - If you're a patient and you want to listen to some music, you'll use Spotify or YouTube. - Much of the time, I seem to be an audio engineer rather than a presenter. Maybe I'm living in the past by thinking that Hospital Radio is/should be about contacting patients directly and playing their songs for them.

Thank you for your comments. Looks like I'll be putting together a LR profile.

Thanks Rick.

We're in Devon...

My band has decided that I should look into getting us onto the Lemonrock website in order to promote the band and get more gigs. I've had a quick look at the site this morning, and I'm left wondering whether it offers that much more than a well-managed Facebook or Instagram account. I am not well-versed in social media and I may well be missing something important here. What has been other people's experience, please?

Will do. At next rehearsal, I'll ask her how's she's getting on with her bass, and what her playing intentions are. See what she says.

Drummer - her husband - is band leader.

I think that's it, yes.

At this stage, I think she's curious. She's a good trombone player, but a poor keys player. Her husband plays drums, guitar, keys and bass. Being a multi-instrumentalist seems de rigeur in their family. Difficult to tell exactly how serious she is about playing at gigs. I've given her advice about what home-practice combo to buy, and I've offered to do a basic set up on her bass. She asked me for lessons. I declined, saying that she needed to find a professional teacher, not me. I get on well with her, and her husband. Maybe the best approach is to sit back and see what happens. In the nicest possible way, I'll avaoid giving her playing tip. It might just fizzle out. However, if she (and husband) make serious suggestions of her playing bass at gigs, I'll say No at that point. I don't play any other instrument in the band.

I play in a good 5-piece pub covers band. Drummer's wife plays keys - sort of. She has bought a bass and at last night's gig she told me she wanted to play bass "on a few songs" next year. Hmmm....

18 bids already!?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266551132381?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110025%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.COMPOSITELISTINGS%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20220405142716%26meid%3Db5eaa6d8c9734f6a86e7d108d8aa6dba%26pid%3D101506%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D25%26sd%3D314653778131%26itm%3D266551132381%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D3458402%26algv%3DAlgoIndex5SimRanker%26brand%3DBrand&_trksid=p3458402.c101506.m1851

I'm having a pause for thought too. I moved from Manchester to Devon just over a year ago and was lucky enough to join a decent pub covers band pretty much straight away. As usual, I threw loads of time and home practice at the setlist to ensure I wasn't arriving for rehearsals under-prepared, or delaying gigging. The band has struggled to find gigs, mainly due to the (un)availability of a couple of members. For example, I managed to get us 3 gigs in the summer, only to be told that the band was having a "much-needed summer break for family time" for two months. I felt that I wasn't getting the return on the time and committment investments I'd put in. So I decided to put together my own band to run alongside the main band. Perfectly possible for me since I'm full-time retired. I've put bands together before, but I'd forgotten just how hard it is. New band has guitarist, drummer, bassist, rehearsal room, and gig prospects in place. But female singer we had lined up can't seem to get over her sore throat. We're talking to another singer but, already, I'm starting to wish I hadn't bothered. At least I've been able to play the songs I wanted to play and have a lot of input into setlist and band line-up. Nothing new here, of course. I suppose I'm saying that stopping playing is not something I've considered. Changing what I'm playing, and the people around me, has kept me going. So far.

Last in, first out. Not bonding with it. Not getting played. It's just sitting here.

Just stumbled across this. Didn't for one moment think it would work. But....

More (hearsay?) information/suppositions/rumours here. although from "Rolling Stones Data" website, so most probably not especially independent nor impartial. https://rollingstonesdata.com/news/so-what-do-we-know-about-the-stones-new-album-2023/

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/23/the-rolling-stones-sneak-cryptic-teaser-ad-for-new-album-in-local-london-newspaper-hackney-diamonds Is this real or a wind-up?

Just had this from a venue we had approached : "We would love to have you. We would prefer it if you could charge tickets to cover your fees but we can discuss other options if needed. Let me know what you think" Before telling them to Naff Off, we have politely asked what the "other options" are.

This process pretty much works for me to learn a new song for a covers band. Most points already covered in this topic thread. - Firstly, agree with the band which version of the song is being played. This saves a whole load of frustration, irritation and wasted time later on. - Use Audacity to strip the MP3 file off the Youtube video. -Do some ironing and play the song in the background so it starts to work its way into your memory banks. Doesn't have to be ironing. Could be gardening, driving, whatever. - When you've got an overall appreciation of the song tempo, structure, vibe, find a good cover of it on YouTube. Usually plenty to choose from. - Look up tabs on Ultimate guitar, or something similar. Be wary - some tabs are OK, some aren't. Be midful of tabs written for capo use, or non-standard tuning - not always obvious. - I then write my own tab. This is a key part of the learning process for me because it makes me really listen to the song. Also I have my own way of writing tabs. - Play, repeat, tweak tabs. - Go to rehearsal and listen to everybody's excuses to explain why they're not as prepared as I am.

Anybody else covering Levitating? I like the bassline, but the Teletubbies style lyrics make me cringe.

Thanks for your comments, folks. The band seems to be starting to lean a little more towards pop and funk. I think we'll continue to aim for a wide spread of genres. Keeping the string-bending lead guitarist on board may eventually become a bit of a challenge, I reckpn. @asingardenof - Could I please ask which songs you would regard as the "less popular" ones?