Beedster

My old Sport Psych mentor always used to tell this story to athletes who wanted to be pro... There was an old man, who lived in a house. And alongside that house was a basketball court. The local kids would play there each day, and the noise distracted the old man from his reading. He had asked them to be quieter but they laughed at him and made even more noise. So one day, he took out a deckchair and a book, and sat courtside watching the game. "What are you doing old man?" said one of the guys "I'm watching you play" replied the old man "If you want to do that, you have to pay us old man" "OK, how much?" "Five dollars a day" "OK" said the old man, and handed the guy five dollars Every day the old man arrived at the same time and watched the games, having given the same guy five dollars to do so. Then one day, the old man sat down, but didn't give the guy five dollars "Where's our money old man" said the guy "I don"t have any more money" said the old man "Well if you don't have any more money, we aren't going to play for you" said they guy. And they all left, leaving the old man in peace It's amazing how many pro athletes will tell you that was exactly their experience, no doubt true for some musicians as well

We're considering that very idea as present, venue actually suggested it for a series of gigs coming up, makes a lot of sense 👍

I agree, saw a brass band a part of a multi-arts show a while back. WOW, WOW, WOW, I was blown away by the sheer power, the musicality, the professionalism, and at times the humour of the performance. It was in front of a large paying audience at a theatre, but I understand that the members of the band do it for love. I also regularly see bands in pubs on Friday/Saturday night who are poorly rehearsed, often standing staring at a music stand through the set - including singers - and often with poor sound quality (usually simply too loud), and know they're getting paid often a few hundred quid. Go figure? Nice sentiment Douglas 🙏

If I had a pound for every time..... I left a band after the first gig having been dressed down by the lead guitarist who was furious that I had not stuck to the recorded bass-line on Take It Easy by the Eagles. Life's too short

I like it when it's well done (that's not me btw), my dog on the other hand....

A major problem in pro sport, and why I stopped being a pro. Well, that and the crapness

I'm pretty sure you could get very close to the recorded version of those using live keys, good enough for a live audience anyway?

I doubt you're alone @BigRedX

Fixed

I went to see a show my daughter was in and a similar thing happened. It was disappointing because the vocalist in question - a pro - had up to that point given a very good impression that she was in fact singing live, and then following an especially good vocal section, and midway through some dialogue, the same vocal suddenly started up again, only for 2-3 seconds. I'm guessing most people in the audience didn't realise what had just happened, but it was a bit of a surprise for those of us who did

Yes. But this thread has been really helpful in calibrating how my views fit - or not - with those of the wider community. I don't agree with everything posted but it's always good to hear them and take some time to think them through. Thanks folks 🙏

Just to clarify Mart, I'd always prefer to be paid, but for me the money is lower down the list than the enjoyment of playing music I choose to play with good people and to an appreciative audience. That's a good point Lawrie

I was thinking about my analogy with sport and the fact that in many cases, a sport simply wouldn't exist without people doing a lot of important jobs without payment, often on the basis of 'putting back in...' or giving back to...' the sport, and that can be anything from people who stand on a Marathon course to guide the runners to officials at Track & Field or swimming events, and often even coaches. OK, these are mostly at grass roots and amateur level, but that levels accounts for the vast majority of sports participation in the UK and worldwide. The pro sport category is very small by comparison. Perhaps sport and music aren't in any way equivalent in this respect?

Absolutely this ^

Who asked you and why?

I’m looking to bi-amp ahead of some gigs in June, there’s so much info there, I’m going to come back to it on a clear head tomorrow, but in the meantime many thanks for posting @FugaziBomb 👍

Absolutely 👍

Totally down to who’s playing it and how they want it to sound, one of my FLs is ultra low, one you can drive a bus under the 12th fret 👍

Or because they love playing music?

Now I struggle with that (which I hear an awful lot from fellow musos), because to me it reads "to help others take money out of a limited pot of money I take money out of that same limited pot of money..."? I get it and applaud the sentiment, I'm just not convinced

Lovely stuff folks, thank you, and please keep it coming, I'm genuinely interested in what a bunch of people whose views and experience I respect think about this 🙏

Which sounds equivalent to the argument I heard recently against open-mic and jam nights, that we shouldn't take part because they allow venues to make extra money without having to share those profits with the musicians and therefore they threaten the livelihood of musicians

And coy I will remain @BigRedX Until very recently most sports were amateur simply because the Olympics only allowed amateur participation, so many if not most athletes had to make a living outside sport (and in some sport still do), but spectators still paid to watch, and promoters made a lot of money

...which is an interesting point