TimR

%ages gets fiddly. I got fed up with hiring gear, reserving it, picking it up on gig day, taking it back next day, worrying whether itcwould work etc. I bought a PA. I hire it to the band. If it fails I fix it or replace bits. I add parts as time goes on. I charge the band £50 everytime. This is mainly justified by the extra time I spend loading, unloading, fixing bits, storage etc. After 10 years I now have a PA that should have paid for itself several times over but I suspect hasn't due to the bits I've added and replaced. Not including my free time I've spent fixing and ordering new cables etc. The one thing everyone forgets when buying a PA is all the bits. Sure, packages with mixer amp, speakers and stands look cheap but that's just basic starters....

It depends on what you mean by learn. Most bands I've ever played with have had chord charts to rehearse with even if they've insisted you play gigs without them. So a full knowledge of the tunes with charts to follow isn't exactly learning them but is 'knowing' them.

That's assuming that it was the bass guitar that was causing the 'bass' that was too loud. Ideally at every gig you should have someone wander round the audience to listen to the sound from different places. It's obviously not always possible.

Just illustrating the scale. If I'm doing a gig and my wife is out, I can drop my kids round at a friend's. Life is a huge compromise. If people are unwilling to compromise they shouldn't get married and they certainly shouldn't have kids.

That's not a skill. If you are a registered childminder there are all sorts of provisions you have to make. This depends on age of child and what type of care you are providing. For pre-schoolers this is everything from a basic teaching program to locks and catches etc That's not what is required here. Basic CRB for someone being employed but a family friend doesn't need to provide anything.

We're not talking about a crèche though. We're talking about someone to sit with an 8 and a 10 year old for a couple of hours every now and again. At a time in the evening when both kids should be asleep in bed. No specialist skills needed.

See. You should always lie. Or at least only tell part truths. If you say yes you can play everything on their setlist just omit the bit about having to learn it first. I suspect the other guy said nothing and just turned up to the audition having learned everything on their setlist. I depped for an originals band who only wanted me to learn 12 tunes. I practiced them for hours in the first week until I could play them. I didn't tell them how much I had practiced.

It's always tricky when wives/girlfriends get involved. Essentially you were on to a loser when she decided that the best way to support his confidence and depression issues was to join the band and bring the kids to gigs. What exactly was she thinking. I wouldn't bother talking to her about it. He's the one who needs to insist on proper child care while you are at gigs. Any children in the entertainment industry need proper supervision. It's going to go down well when you're in the middle of a BBC session and one of the kids calls up on the mobile and Mum has to go out to the van, or just as you hit the big time The Sun on Sunday snap pics of them alone on the van.

I think it's more due to how relatively inexpensive gear is now. My first amp and bass were second/third hand or borrowed. Now you can pretty much get a bass for a few Saturday's work in Sainsbury's or 6 or 7 pub gig's pay. Keeping new stuff looking new is ok up to a point but if you're gigging regularly it soon starts to wear. I think there is just a lot mire new stuff around. Brian May made his guitar from bits.

[quote name='Johngh' timestamp='1336931164' post='1652901'] .... To be honest, a band I was once in cancelled a gig because the drummers dog was about to give birth. [/quote] Probably a wise decision if it was going to halve your audience.

You have possibly made my day. This band has real potential to provide material for an epic thread. You HAVE to join if asked. I can't wait to hear about the demo. I don't want to actually hear the demo, the story of its recording wil do.

I like the £8 pencil analogy. I've done that at work, everybody uses bic biros and wooden pencils. I bought a pen and pencil set (less than £8 though!) everyone knows they're mine and doesn't pick them up and walk off with them. People actually ask to use them rather than just walking up to my desk and walking off with the nearest bic. Anyway.... I'm not overly careful. I just generally look after stuff, don't throw it onto the stage, into the car or garage, drop it downstairs or smash it into doorways. I've had people help carry gear who don't seem to appreciate, not how much it costs but, how much work goes into finding and buying equipment. My bass is obsolete I'm dreading having to eventually try to find a replacement. At the other end of the scale our drummer packs his gear away wearing cotton gloves. The acidity of the sweat on your fingers attacks the cymbals. Apparently.

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1336723757' post='1649897'] .... It turned out that it was only the second time that the band in its current line up had played together. .... [/quote] So the gig on Friday was the first? Did you go to watch? You should definitely join if offered, just for comedy value. Tthis thread could become epic....

How odd. I played with a drummer who couldn't play in 3/4 and anything in 3/4 morphed into 4/4 but I'm struggling to see how Honky Tonk Woman fits into 3/4. Jumping Jack Flash maybe....

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1335945783' post='1638290'] ... They have a gig this Friday - I'm going to watch them. The keys player is covering the bass parts, apparently. Audition is next Thursday. .... [/quote] I would have offered to dep for them on a no strings attached view. Pop round the keys house and run through all the tunes. Any you're not confident you play roots from the charts and she fills. It's a win-win.

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1335953788' post='1638446'] ... I just think we've had some examples, in this thread, of people overengineering the process. [/quote] Indeed. Some people have far too much time on their hands and spend it doing their hobby. Time they wouldn't spend if they were doing it proffesionally and paying for the time.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1335952433' post='1638423'] No website..? No Facebook..? No MySpace..? [/quote] Surprisingly you don't actually NEED all that stuff. A website gives you a platform to show people, who you don't know, what you do. But if most of your work is repeat business and referrals it's all a bit pointless.

I've done very few auditions. My most memorable was when I turned up to do a reading gig and was the only player of 3 who could read. Played 2 tunes from sight (quite badly IMO) and got the gig. My kids have done professional auditions where they are asked to prepare a piece of their own choice and are given a piece to play when they arrive. I've been asked to just come along to a jam and select tunes from a chord chart to play. I think some semi-pro bands have ideas far above their station about what they actually do and some of them are very misguided about how good they are and what they sound like. Auditions take many forms.

Exactly. Which is why it's pretty pointles to prepare 7 tunes for the first audition before you've even met the band. 2 at most and preferably ones that the bass player can play well. I auditioned to dep for a bass player friend. I didn't even meet the band, I went to the guitarist's house and jammed through about 4 tunes before he just said that he'd already found someone and just thought he'd give me a try. Once I auditioned a singer. He was very good but kept telling us we weren't playing tunes in the original keys. Even so you can tell whether someone can sing and you're just playing in the wrong key for them or whether they're just making excuses. We asked him to join and he proptly started telling us about all the fist fights he'd been in. Ideal for a wedding band but not so good for corporate functions.

Especially group emails. People often write odd things in emails to appear in a certain way to their peers. You can easily get caught up in band politics before you've even met them.

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1335629138' post='1633999'] Further emails between me and them have produced a compromise. They've given me a list of six songs and asked me to choose four from it. Two I know, so that means I'll need to learn two new ones. It's not a good start between us, is it... [/quote] No. Emails? You shouldn't be discussing this sort of thing over emails. It never works. The keyboard player could have read your email and taken it completely out if context to what you had intended.

Seems odd to me unless the songs they have chosen are bass heavy or bass led tunes. Doesn't bode well if neither of you are being flexible. I would have gone back and said that you would learn one of their tunes and have a look at the others. Either you can play bass or you can't. If they can't tell whether you can or can't from the first tune you play then you probably want to avoid them.

They noticed when I bought an additional 2x10" and stacked it on top of my first one. Even commented that it sounded really good but not any louder. - That'll be because I bought it to be clearer not louder and turned the volume down to suit then. But then I don't really take a lot if notice which guitars they're playing and only really notice effects if they're 'in your face'. I'm not sure you're supposed to notice subtle differences like a slight difference in tone.

I'm not suggesting playing recordings to your band. They'll only listen to how good their solos are and complain how low they are in the mix. You need a proper objective person who can listen unbiased and tell you whether you are being OTT or not. Then once they've given their opinion you're in a better position to either work on those bits or forget about it. There are more ways to skin a cat. I find that just making one remark about one tune them letting them go away to think about it usually does the trick with my band. Often one of them will dig out the original and sort out what they're playing. Helps if it's done over a phone call rather than at the end if a gig.

That's the way I do it. Although trying to get a drummer to play quietly is something we've all struggled with. SM57 are more unidirectional. Usual source of feedback is a blank wall behind the singer. All is ok until singer steps sideways. Another is low ceiling. Training your singer where (not?) to point the mic is the best thing.