How was your open mic or jam night last night?

[knirirr]

Monday's rehearsal involved going through some vigorous pieces on double bass, ready for a gig a week on Monday.

This resulted in some blisters, so I thought I'd take it easy at tonight's (mostly gypsy jazz) jam and play electric. My other half suggested I try her very short (23.5"?) scale 5-string, which was an interesting experience.

I could manage it well enough when I knew the changes, but trying to read charts and find the right notes on a tiny instrument with an extra string was a challenge. I think I got away with it, but only just.

 

[tauzero]

Tuesday night at the Cavern, finished up playing with three others - female vox, female guitar, and male drummer. Sum total of their ages was 23 years younger than me. It was great fun. They are all really good - from a bassist's POV, the drummer and I have clicked from the start and like each other's playing. There were a couple of bands on - one was a duo, guitar/vox and drums, deafeningly loud (I carry earplugs and they went straight in), the other a three-piece who are regulars there with a drummer who only knows BANG BANG BANG - earplugs back in. There were four or five guitar/vox artistes, and in the absence of Mrs Zero, I was one of them.

 

 

Rather a contrast to Wednesday night, which was quite a low turnout - normally it's a full list with everyone getting two songs, tonight it was three songs apiece. Managed to get Mrs Zero out so the audience weren't subjected to my voice.

[Geek99]

Was Asked to play bass behind two acoustic guitarists tonight. They fist-bumped me (afterwards) so it probably wasn’t terrible (thanks god for lending some talent) 

was aiming for a dark jazz bass sound but sounded disconcertingly toppy through PA - more playing around needed 

sire v7 5 in passive, mostly front pup middle in tone control 

Edited yesterday at 07:06 by Geek99

[Geek99]

On 21/05/2025 at 22:06, knirirr said:

Monday's rehearsal involved going through some vigorous pieces on double bass, ready for a gig a week on Monday.

This resulted in some blisters, so I thought I'd take it easy at tonight's (mostly gypsy jazz) jam and play electric. My other half suggested I try her very short (23.5"?) scale 5-string, which was an interesting experience.

I could manage it well enough when I knew the changes, but trying to read charts and find the right notes on a tiny instrument with an extra string was a challenge. I think I got away with it, but only just.

 

You can tell her that I think that looks really cute. Lady I know would love one of those 

[Acebassmusic]

On 06/02/2025 at 00:21, Acebassmusic said:

 

I think excessive volume is a common problem for many jams (and gigs). For a number of years I used to be in the house band for the local blues jam. I kept saying the volume is causing people leave. People would be sat with their fingers in their ears and then leave, it was that obvious. We had a really good sound guy who would (as requested) mic everything up......and then mute it at the desk as the stage volume was so high he couldnt do anything with it! He had a superb Nexo / Allen & Heath system at his fingertips that he could only use as a vocal PA I eventually tired of it and passed the batton to others.

 

Stood in for the new house bass player at the jam tonight. Same old, same old......the organiser (audio engineer) came outside to chat mentioned that he'd asked the current band to turn down as it was at 110db.......my request to the band would have been "turn down or f**k off"! For some strange reason people were leaving the pub 

[tauzero]

Somewhat busy for a part of the evening - about two minutes before getting up to accompany one guy, someone else (sax player) decides he wants to do Baker Street when it's his turn, so I'm just starting to jot the chords down when I'm on, then it's me and Mrs Zero, then I'm accompanying a harmonica player with two guitarists and two never-ending 12-bars (12-bores, I accidentally christened them), then it's the sax player plus Mrs Zero on vocals and female guitarist on, er, guitar after I scribble down the last four chords (sax player was playing the right notes in the right order but completely the wrong length), then I accompany the lady guitarist for her set, then a former bandmate who has just come back from a holiday in Japan did a slot so I accompany him too. Evening gets finished off by the perpetrators of the 12-bores, with the guitarist that I first accompanied taking on bass. Just for a change I didn't accompany Young Blind George as he was doing Midnight Rambler - I don't know it and unlike everything else he does, it's not easily busked to.

[Rosie C]

Our renaissance-folk-rock duo went to a local open-mic on Monday - the first we've done for a couple of years. We did a medieval tune on recorder and bongos, then a Blackmore's Night song with octave-mandolin accompaniment. It was well received. Of the other acts my highlights were an American over on holiday doing some folk, a lady playing John Playford tunes on a melodeon type instrument, and a couple of younger singer-songwriter guitarists.

Edited 19 hours ago by Rosie C