TimR

[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.

Your best bet is to record the next gig. It may not be as bad as you think. We get a distorted view of what we think it (and what we want it to) sounds like. Listen to the recording and trim out the tunes you're not happy with, put it on a cd and give it to a musical mate for an honest evaluation without telling him what bits you're not happy with.

Sounds like you are playing on a standard pub band who occasionally get offered better gigs. The other guys play them because they come up but wouldn't go out if their way to find gigs like that. You have to recognise it for what it is and not tear yourself up over it. Sure we all sometimes find ourselves in bands that are musically well below our abilities. That's part of being a musician. Stick with it, relax, have fun and play the gigs.

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1335365787' post='1629954'] .... Now the band want to put up each track in its entirety even though we had agreed all the previous stuff!!! [/quote] LOL. You have made the schoolboy error. Just because they didn't repy to your emails and looked at you nodding with open mouths while you explained it does not mean they agreed with you.

Well it gets even better. I talked to them the other night. They were playing a G/C. That could be why my Bb sounds so bad. They tried the Bb/C and one of them said he couldn't hear the change of chord if we played it like that. I said that you would hear it when the singer sang because the guitars are just supposed to support the singer and not always play everything. When we added vocals it all worked fine. I'm suprised that I'm still surprised by guitarists who think they're the only instrument playing

That's as I suspected then. It's not as big a problem as I'm making out really. The inversions are usually fine although in one tune we have an E/G# inversion which sounds pretty bad as one guitarist plays a big open E power chord on it and it tears my ears apart when I play G#. Just sounds completely at odds, I've asked him not to do it and he tries but he's learned it that way now so it's something I'll try to live with. Mainly it's when they do a C to a Bb/C type movement and I think there is something missing. I'll sit on the C but as they've moved down from a C to a Bb the top end movement 'sounds' wrong and awkward.

According to all the adverts I've seen you need to have your own gear, own transport and be experienced. That's band code for own a PA, van and know how to load it on your own at 1am.

I'm struggling a bit and hoping someone can describe this a bit better for me. We play a few tunes where the guitarists won't play the correct chord voicings. In most cases they've downloaded something from ultimate tab or wherever and aren't using their ears and comparing the tab go the original tune. I know that Bb/D is just the first inversion and can explain that to them but any ideas how to get them not to play the bottom Bb on a Bb/C. Is there a better musical term other than Bb with a C bass. Should I just break their fingers everytime they play the wrong chord?

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1333195788' post='1598573'] I find the best thing to play in that is dead simple...let the guitar play the riff and let the bass pump solid quavers on the root. I think it sounds better than doubling the riff. [/quote] Absolutely. That's what fills it out.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1334988862' post='1624350'] ... We then decided to try Iron Maiden's Afraid To Shoot Strangers as a three piece and it really kicked . ... [/quote] It's all in the arrangements. If you can play a tune with acoustic guitar or a piani then everything else is just window dressing and the audience will still recognise the tune.

Without getting too technical. The active preamp provides what is called a buffer between the cable and the pickups. The impedance of the pickups vary with frequency and higher frequencies can be dulled. The preamp provides a constant load to your amplifier. It may sound the same volume but might not sound the same tonally.

We played a club gig where the manager kept telling us to play more rock and roll even though we had the dance floor full. We played a rock and roll tune and half the floor emptied. At the end of the gig we had loads of compliments from people who loved the fact that we hadn't played loads of Rock and Roll like the usual bands did.

Within reason. They're employing you as an entertainment specialist and it's your job to know what will get people up and dancing and having a good time. Whilst they may know their guests there are a lot of people who will ask for tunes that they like to LISTEN to but I know won't fill the dance floor, will be a PIA to learn and never played again. In that situation I'll get them to provide a break playlist and put the tunes on an iPod. There needs to be a good reason other than the person booking us doesn't particularly like that tune for us not to play it.

That's what I mean by pubs being loss leaders. If you're running a band the musicians expect to be paid at a certain level. My friend plays for a Big Band. They get paid the same regardless of gig. They also get travelling expenses if they submit receipts. However the band charges different amounts for each gig. The band leader keeps money back from the good payers to pay the musicians on the bad payers. I tried to implement this with one band because, as I saw it, we needed to do pub gigs to advertise the band but some members of the band wouldn't go out for less than a certain amount and picked and chose which gigs they were 'available' for. It didn't work because they were greedy and wanted their money there and then and wouldn't wait or do the pub gigs ("We're too good to do pubs"), and then complained we weren't getting any good gigs.

Makes you wonder what the point of having a regular band and rehearsals is.

People will dance to whatever you play as long as you play it with confidence and attitude. There are a bunch of standard tunes but you're right the black shirt White tie and Brown Eyed Girl are very cliche. You can't play ALL the party tunes. The secret is learning the latest tunes quickly and get them in the setlist and keeping that up to date on your website. If you play stuff from the Radio 2 playlist people will be more impressed than if you do Come On Elieen for a drunk 50something. You also MUST have a frontman/woman who can read the crowd, knows when to make a humerous remark and knows when not to and just crack on with the set.

Commiserations mate. I like the way you have undone your top button and rolled ip your sleeves in an attempt to look cool.