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Gig to prepare for in 9 days time


markdavid

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On 16/05/2019 at 10:47, subaudio said:

Listen to all the songs constantly, totally immerse yourself in them

This helps a lot. Have the songs on repeat and just listen constantly. You'll be surprised how much will sink in after a couple of days, even if you're not actively listening. Every now and then listen more intently and visualise yourself playing along. 

Of course you'll probably be sick of the songs by the time you gig them :)

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On 16/05/2019 at 11:57, itu said:

Play! Do not analyze any minor issues at the stage. If there was a mistake, did they notice? No, so please continue.

Very much agree - never, ever put on a 'I messed up face' when this happens. Almost guaranteed that the audience didn't notice. After gigs we used to apologise to each other for our mistakes, until we realised that the rest of the band hadn't noticed either!

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Put them in a playlist and listen to them all day every day. At work, on the toilet, at mealtimes and during sex.

If they haven't given you the chords etc for the original tracks, see if they can do so, it will be a big timesaver.

26 songs in 9 days is a challenge, especially if you have to work. I'm a slow learner so if it were me and I wanted to make a good impression, I'd probably book the week off.

Rehearse with headphones with your bass mixed in, not only to let you hear every nuance more easily but to also work out which bass sounds work with the band mix as you go.

Don't get too stuck trying to perfect all the fills etc at first, or you may find yourself at day 8 only having got half way through the list. Learn each song to a very basic level first so you can blag it, then fine tune each one!

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Another thing, although you're probably practicing like mad, don't fry your fingers. You still need to play a gig. I once had to cram for a week for a gig backing a "name" along with my guitarist. I was practising for hours every night and my fingers were getting pretty sore by the time of the gig. I had to give myself the night off beforehand to try to let them recover.

Good luck :)

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13 hours ago, dannybuoy said:

Don't get too stuck trying to perfect all the fills etc at first, or you may find yourself at day 8 only having got half way through the list. Learn each song to a very basic level first so you can blag it, then fine tune each one!

Good tip. Knowledge enough to "wing it a bit" through the whole set is better than nailing 4 songs and not knowing the others 

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7 minutes ago, bazzbass said:

use the situation to your advantage.

 

learn the 8 originals as well as you can.

Deliberately avoid even thinking about the covers.

The audience will only remember that your originals were better than your covers :)

seriously.

you're welcome :)

Alternative strategy. Just learn the key for the originals and make it up as you go along.

How will anyone know that's not what you were meant to play? 🙂

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On 16/05/2019 at 09:11, markdavid said:

Hi all
I have a gig to prepare for in 9 days time with a band I have joined fairly recently and looking for some pointers on how to prepare.
Our singer booked the gig a few days ago, he knew we would have a lot to learn as due to various factors we can only rehearse once a week but the only reason we were able to get the gig is that the band that was booked for that day cancelled so I totally understand why he jumped on the opportunity.

So far we have around 26 songs 8 of which are originals the rest are covers, some of these songs we haven't even played together yet, I would estimate we are confident on probably half of the songs, looking for pointers on how to prepare, any tips for remembering the songs etc, even if we are far from perfect I would like to know that I did a job that was at least competent , thanks

Rehearse as much as possible with the band between now and the gig.

Practice the songs yourself as much as possible between now and the gig. 

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One more question and this time more about sound, I like a defined bass sound and i tend to roll back lows to about the 9 o clock position and boost high mids to around 3 o clock, my bass will be going through my bass combo and not through the pa , there will be keys as well as guitars, drums and vocals so quite a dense mix, I am thinking of wedging something under the amp to tilt it back a little so I can hear my bass more clearly in the mix , I assume this should not make any adverse/undesirable difference to what the audience hears?

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9 hours ago, markdavid said:

One more question and this time more about sound, I like a defined bass sound and i tend to roll back lows to about the 9 o clock position and boost high mids to around 3 o clock, my bass will be going through my bass combo and not through the pa , there will be keys as well as guitars, drums and vocals so quite a dense mix, I am thinking of wedging something under the amp to tilt it back a little so I can hear my bass more clearly in the mix , I assume this should not make any adverse/undesirable difference to what the audience hears?

Yes, that approach works well in my experience :). Cab near the wall (and especially corner) will reinforce lows, which may or may not be ideal depending on room size/shape.

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10 hours ago, markdavid said:

...there will be keys as well as guitars, drums and vocals so quite a dense mix...

Keep out from their space and fill yours. Especially keys may get very close to you, at least by accident. It may be somewhat tight, there in between drs and keys.

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On 22/05/2019 at 04:47, markdavid said:

One more question and this time more about sound, I like a defined bass sound and i tend to roll back lows to about the 9 o clock position and boost high mids to around 3 o clock, my bass will be going through my bass combo and not through the pa , there will be keys as well as guitars, drums and vocals so quite a dense mix, I am thinking of wedging something under the amp to tilt it back a little so I can hear my bass more clearly in the mix , I assume this should not make any adverse/undesirable difference to what the audience hears?

There are so many variables that can have an impact on what the audience hears. From where they are standing or sitting in a room to the difference between what you hear on stage and what is coming out of the house speakers.

It's a tough nut to crack.

Blue

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Agree i was rehearsing at a different venue last week using different amp again and on stage i could hear myself ok with the bass sounding quite boomy on the E string. I have wireless and went out front to find bass was very low in the mix and the string tone was very even across all 4 strings. Using a TC BH500 Combo bass was at 2 o clock, mid and treble 12 o clock. I turned the bass down to 1 o clock and brought the volume up a fair bit and low and behold the tone on stage also sounded afar better and more even. Out front it sounded great. On stage i just thought i sounde too lud and that kinda puts me off a bit. Vocal PA only as it was just a rehearsal.

What i was hearing on stage was completely different out front.

Dave

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9 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

What i was hearing on stage was completely different out front. 

Dave

Lots of possible effects:

High frequencies are more directional, you don't hear as much treble if the speakers are pointing at your legs.

At high volumes bass sounds louder, so close up exaggerates the low frequencies

Then there are acoustic effects that are going to be venue specific  - and change when full of people all absorbing sound (I recall the Albert Hall hgas seats designed to absorb about the same amount of sound when flipped up as when they have someone sat in them).

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On 25/05/2019 at 06:56, markdavid said:

Thank you for the well wishes, hopefully the gig goes well tonight

I hope I'm not being rude but I can't be the only one who is wondering how the gig went...don't keep us in suspense any longer.😧

...oh,maybe it's because the post gig party is still going on and you are also in intense negotiations with agents and others who want to manage your ascension to  stardom...let's hope!😊

Edited by Staggering on
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42 minutes ago, Staggering on said:

I hope I'm not being rude but I can't be the only one who is wondering how the gig went...don't keep us in suspense any longer.😧

...oh,maybe it's because the post gig party is still going on and you are also in intense negotiations with agents and others who want to manage your ascension to  stardom...let's hope!😊

No not being rude at all.

Thankfully we cut the set list to 20 songs

The first half of the gig went well, almost flawless.

The second half was mostly ok but a few bum notes, mostly in the song that I anticipated that there would be (tried to get the singer to axe that song but he won't) , thankfully none of the audience seemed to notice and we received a few compliments afterwards.

All in all I consider it to be a minor success and hopefully we will play tighter on the next gig.

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