4stringslow

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1473011544' post='3126037'] Hertford music festival has a reputation for good music. The promoters will be queueing up to get their bands on. Most of your work is already done and if the audience like you and you get asked back that's really good. [/quote] We don't have a promoter but we've played that music festival for about the last five years. I think we got our foot in the door from playing the 'Sunday Live' gigs at Hertford Corn Exchange (a series of Sunday afternoon gigs during the autumn/winter months). Unpaid gigs with no entrance fee and an audience of about 30-40 out for an afternoon drink before Sunday dinner and an opportunity to play on a decent stage with a good PA and sound guy. 50 minute sets of mostly original songs with a few covers thrown in to keep the audience awake . We also got a support slot for Neville Staple (Specials) through the same route, just because we had a couple of ska-ish songs at the time. Actually, that was a paying gig, in theory, but because we're useless at promotion only a few people said they'd come to see us on the door so we didn't 'sell' enough tickets. Still, we didn't care and had a fun time anyway

If there is any such thing as a Golden Age, I'd say it lies in the future. Anyone who thinks that things can't be improved upon (and not just musically) must have a pretty depressing outlook on life.. This sort of question is akin to those about your favourite song or favourite bass player.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1473006517' post='3125978'] But if you don't network and do the business type things to compete against the other highly financed businesses you just won't get noticed above all the noise. Like it or not you're in competition. Be that financial or just for an audience. [/quote] That's not my experience over the past 10 years or so. We might give a gig a mention on our individual Facebook pages, but most of the time we simply apply to play at some event, like the Hertford Music Festival I mentioned in another thread, or get invited somewhere, very often places we've played previously. Sure, we're not playing to hundreds or thousands but I can only remember one gig where the other bands outnumbered the audience and 50 or 60 people in a small pub is generally enough to create a good atmosphere anyway. Again, I guess it all depends on ambition. We're quite happy with gigging once a month on average and we find that we don't have to actively 'compete' to get those gigs, so we're perfectly happy with everything. I'm sure if we were aiming to 'make it big' or were dependent on gigging income then we'd fail dismally, but we're not. We just enjoy writing and playing songs and feel lucky to be able to do so without having to put in lots of 'collateral effort'. The problem with discussions such as these is that a perfectly valid point for one band situation is touted as a general point for every band, which is clearly ridiculous. There are many different circumstances and therefore many different approaches. What works for one band may not work for another, but that doesn't mean either are wrong. I certainly wouldn't recommend our band's relaxed approach to anyone with serious ambition but I would suggest there is room for all.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1472996593' post='3125853'] The music business has nothing to do with music. [/quote] I suspect you're right, which is why it's all about the music for me and not about the business.

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1472979051' post='3125659'] We have spent hundreds of hours writing, rehearsing to become the band we are, we get radio play and great reviews from the few that bother to come and see us. [/quote] This is a consequence of the asymmetry between musicians and audiences that I've mentioned before. It takes a lot of commitment, time, hard work and money to become even competent never mind really good. It's easy to think that such dedication deserves recognition and even some acclaim, but it doesn't work like that and for most punters it's just another band playing just some other music. Having said that, Roland Rock's comments are interesting. Perhaps it's just that particular venue, though what are they doing that keeps people away?

I doubt it matters what answers you gave, the results are probably just random. They just want your clicks on their pages.

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1472718973' post='3123536'] A while ago there was a thread about ideal cars for bass players. I mentioned that the Ford Ka seemed to have been designed on the basis of being able to get an Ampeg fridge in it. A few people expressed surprise that it was possible to get an Ampeg 8x10, two Acoustic amps, a guitar amp, a couple of basses and assorted other kit in such a small car. So here's the proof! [/quote] Blimey - I've never seen a real Tardis before!

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' timestamp='1472721152' post='3123582'] Joke's on them, I use adblock. [/quote] I don't think click bait sites care if you block ads or not. They sell advertising based on their page hits so get their money regardless. More page hits = more money for them.

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1472569174' post='3122198'] The Epifani one is 5.3 ohms. A 4 ohm minimum head would not be very happy being driven down to 2.7ohms. The magic smoke might well come out of the amp. Someone who is cleverer than me will be along soon who will be able to guess the impedance of the individual speakers and give other impedance options by re-wiring it. [/quote] Three drivers in a 2.7 ohm cab suggests they are all 8 ohm drivers wired in parallel. Not much scope for useful rewiring - unless you want a 12 or 24 ohm cab A 5.3 ohm cab would likely use three 16 ohm drivers in parallel. Handy calculator here: http://www.1728.org/resistrs.htm

Click bait

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1472470080' post='3121301'] It's up to the audience to decide whether it's music. If they think it's music, then you are a musician. [/quote] Ha - I've always thought Rap was not music, now I know why

[quote name='Barking Spiders' timestamp='1472386122' post='3120681'] Am I a musician? As it's not my bread and butter nor my main occupation outside of work then the answer is 'no way'. As I said on a thread of my own I'm a hobbyist, a dabble, a noodler.. [/quote] Of course you're a musician, of sorts. Hobbyist, dabbler or noodler are not activities, they are descriptions of an activity and in this case that activity is music. If I play a song on a guitar I'm being a musician. Admittedly not a professional musician earning my living from doing so, but a musician nevertheless, even if 'only' a hobbyist musician or a dabbling musician or even a not very good musician, but it's still a form of musicianship. Same as playing football in the park on a Sunday morning is still a form of football.

Seem a bit harsh to define someone by their occupation. Still, that's for others to decide really, a bit like the class thing or those other socio-economic groupings such as ABC1, whatever that means.

Or a tractor? http://youtu.be/pDHzK3Xe7Yw

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1472201234' post='3119319'] I've bought a couple of instruments from friends, real friends. You know what? I did not expect a reduction just because we were friends. I expected a fair price, which is what they wanted anyway, and I would not dream of giving them less than that precisely because they're friends. [/quote] But what is a 'fair price'? There is no official price list so it's just what the seller and buyer are happy to agree between them. With two bassists buying a bass it's probably fairly easy to agree a price that both think is fair, but widen the scope of the participants and the item I question and it becomes a lot more subjective. I recall a story about someone who had inherited an shotgun, Holland and Holland I think, the sort of thing that could cost £100k brand new. They were a photography fanatic and had long wanted a top of the range Leica camera, worth a few thousand pounds and knew the shotgun was worth a few bob but that was all. So they advertised for a swap and someone did the deal by buying a brand new Leica. Financially, the shotgun was potentially worth far more than the camera but both parties agreed the deal and both were very happy, so it could be judged that it was a fair deal. And that's the main thing isn't it? If both parties are happy with the deal then all is well.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1472174732' post='3119183'] All bands operate differently. [/quote] Exactly. You're happy with your lot and I'm happy with mine - what else really matters?

You don't determine the value of things, the buyers do. Of course, different buyers will value the same thing differently, but the fact remains that you can choose whatever price tag you want but it's actually worth nothing if it won't sell.

The difference between theatre and music perhaps?

Ah, 16. Tubular Bells was probably the big thing for me back then, but I'd also just discovered Caravan, Barclay James Harvest, Capability Brown and Wishbone Ash. Was also buying a fair bit of reggae vinyl back then, mostly on the wonderful Trojan label, which was something of a fashion anomaly as I had very long hair at the time when reggae was popularly associated with skinheads. Oh those confusing teenage years

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1472123348' post='3118681'] i was a musician when i met my wife, and she knows it comes as part of the deal. [/quote] This nails it for me. Everyone has their own interests and foibles and trying to change or restrict a person seems a recipe for an early parting of the ways to me. Why would anyone want to do such a thing to someone they purport to love?

Agreed. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to justify the price they want to sell something for, just as there is absolutely no reason for anyone to buy if they think the price is too high.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1472158334' post='3119048'] To me even just recording your own album in the basement is performing, once it's being done to entertain someone else be it live or recorded it's a performance and has artistic merit, the worst dross you have ever heard might be a number 1 hit, the fantastic album might never get burnt to a cd. Tricky aint it? [/quote] Yes, it is tricky, but that's because 'musician' encompasses such a wide range of activities, skills, abilities and a correspondingly wide range of opinions. I think I can reasonably claim to be a musician because I can play a few instruments - some adequately, some poorly - have written a few songs and can record, mix and create an album of original songs. But I'm under no illusion that I'm good enough to do these things for a living. I can't read music (well, only painfully slowly) and my understanding of theory is tenuous at best so I'd be laughed out of any 'serious musicians' club. So what does that make me? An average musician? A poor musician? A better musician than the vast majority of people who can't play any instrument? Does it really matter? I am what I am and I play what I play - but the point is I make music and I don't know what the term is for such a person other than 'musician'.

You're right, I never wanted to play music for a living. I wanted to retire early and not have to work at all. It was a life goal for me and I achieved it. So now I can choose to play pub gigs as and when I feel like it and not need to do it to pay the bills. I like having that choice.

I wasn't suggesting taxation is a bad thing, far from it, but it's an indication of how costly it is to run our civilised society and maintain our standards of living, which is probably why government likes to 'hide' the true amount of tax we pay by making the system so complicated that we can't see the wood for the trees!

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1472032775' post='3117786'] No. I used to own a shop. I paid VAT at the going rate on things I bought from any source, provided they're registered for VAT. I then had to charge VAT at the going rate on the whole of the selling price. If this wasn't the case, doing accounts would be a nightmare. You would never be able to do a VAT without doing the full checking of margins on everything. [/quote] Correct. However, while VAT is indeed currently 20%, it is effectively more than that because most people will already have paid income tax and NI on their gross income. Thus in order to pay, say, £50 in VAT you have to earn significantly more than that in the first place. It's quite sobering to calculate all the taxes and duties we end up paying!