The Praise and Worship Band Bassists Club part 23

[steve_rolfeca]

Originally Posted by jefff100

Hey all,

I'm considering picking up an older used Ipad to use as a digital notebook to hold and display sheet music. I see that there is an abundance of software available especially for this purpose.

How many of you are doing this?

...Just want to be able to display the music without hassle, preferably with a means to electronically take notes on the score.

We're using OnSong. Most of us are on basic 16Gig iPad 2's.

Does everything you mentioned, and a lot more:

• You can sync song files and set lists on Dropbox, FTP, or various other media.
  Post-it notes for last minute annotations.
  Key changes.
  On-the-fly editing.
  Easy to place chords at an specific syllable in the lyrics.
  Turn your own pages, or sync up so that you see whatever page the WL is on.
  Works with AirTurn and various other pedals.
  Etc.

[HereIGoAgain]

Originally Posted by Basstreble

Hey when you guys play at your church, do you guys play with an head and cab, a combo, just through the mains, or amps+mains? Sorry if this has been asked before but I'm curious what you guys do. Thanks!

Head/cab with XLR out to the mains.

I have used mic'ed combos before, as well as using my head w/o cab and XLR to the mains.

[bassman314]

I use a head and cab. DI out of the preamp on my head to FOH, and I mic the cab for "oomf".

Sounds Grrrrrrrrr-EAT!

We don't use anything technological for our music. I just got a Surface, so I am thinking about seeing if I can scan the music to PDF and use it. It won't work on "real music" songs with repeats, DC's, DS's, Coda's, etc., unless I scan pages multiple times.

hmmm.... That's not a shabby idea...

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by Samsound

Running sound this week, and I am FRUSTRATED! We bought a bunch of the Aviom style IEMs to cut down stage volume. Asst. WL now has IEMs, plus two massive Mackie floor monitors PLUS two Bose towers ALL pointed at his head. The stage volume is INSANE!! Since the Mackies point up and back, the indirect sound is LOUD, MUFFLED vocals. After rehearsal he turned them down, and said he doesn't use them any louder. Ughhh. Best I can do is blast the Bose so he keeps the Mackies low. Pray for us, please...

I'm probably missing something here, but why does he have IEMs and wedges? Or is it IEMs for some people and wedges for others?

[MissingHighs]

Originally Posted by Samsound

Running sound this week, and I am FRUSTRATED! We bought a bunch of the Aviom style IEMs to cut down stage volume. Asst. WL now has IEMs, plus two massive Mackie floor monitors PLUS two Bose towers ALL pointed at his head. The stage volume is INSANE!! Since the Mackies point up and back, the indirect sound is LOUD, MUFFLED vocals. After rehearsal he turned them down, and said he doesn't use them any louder. Ughhh. Best I can do is blast the Bose so he keeps the Mackies low. Pray for us, please...

I'm with SVT on this one; please fill us in why was "what he wanted" not simply increased via his IEMs instead of the monitors ('cos the IEMs are also In Ear Mufflers to anything outside, which will drive the stage volume to insane levels).

[SoVeryTired]

Loving the new bass even more with the new strings. Best B ever. I only ended up using two pickup settings last night - solo P for 3 songs and then P and J in series for blasting the other. I tried pick and P at first but with the fresh strings and the way the band was sounding it was just too cutting, whereas fingerstyle on the series setting is pure punch. So pleased with how the bass has turned out.

[jefff100]

Originally Posted by steve_rolfeca

We're using OnSong. Most of us are on basic 16Gig iPad 2's.

Does everything you mentioned, and a lot more:

• You can sync song files and set lists on Dropbox, FTP, or various other media.
  Post-it notes for last minute annotations.
  Key changes.
  On-the-fly editing.
  Easy to place chords at an specific syllable in the lyrics.
  Turn your own pages, or sync up so that you see whatever page the WL is on.
  Works with AirTurn and various other pedals.
  Etc.

i've been living under a rock

[khutch]

I tried the iPad for a while in practice and it worked quite well, I thought. I did not have a special music ap, I just used the pdfs I get from Planning Center. In a lot of cases I wanted to reformat the music so I used Adobe's pdf to Word converter on line to put them in Word where I could edit them and when all the individual songs were formatted to suit me in Word I would assemble a single Word document of the whole week's songlist and write that off as a pdf to read on the iPad. If you play every week that can be a bit tedious until you have most of your total repertoire formatted as you like it. Whether I work from hard or soft copies I format the music so I never have to turn backwards to follow repeats, etc, only forwards. I don't know how the sheet music iPad aps handle this problem, only that some of them claim to have editing capabilities. You can get foot switches for the iPad that let you turn pages but I never did. My iPad experiment stopped only because my wife got jealous of how much time I was spending with her iPad! Some day she will get a new one and I will have the old one....

So I am presently still using binders. I have one large binder that holds everything and it is at the point where it needs to become two! I have one small binder that holds just a given week's music. I do not carry the big binder around so it is not an inconvenience, even if it becomes two. The small binder has everything I need for a given rehearsal or Sunday, including a pencil, highlighter, and eraser for doing last minute edits and performance notes. Personally I think that system works very well too. The iPad has potentially two advantages. One is that it saves trees. The other is that I found it easier to "flip" pages on the iPad. It just takes a very quick and easy swipe of a finger. There is no problem trying to correctly grab dog-eared pages in a hurry or dealing with pages that don't quite lay flat when you flip them. And the foot switch thing would make that even easier. The disadvantage of the iPad, or rather the unknown about it, is how well those editing functions really work when you want to reformat music, add performance notes, etc.

Oh, there is also the fear factor of the electronic device that you have to consider. Dead batteries are a concern, will you remember to put it on charge Saturday night? Even for people who are diligent about that there is the dreaded reboot. What will you do if your iPad suddenly crashes and reboots?!? I don't carry a paper Bible to church anymore. I use the Olive Tree Bible reader on my Android phone. Once every few weeks it crashes and reboots on me during a sermon or Bible study class. I don't want to scare you or anything.... Hopefully the iPad aps are more stable than that but prudence dictates that you spend several weeks using the ap you choose a lot to make sure of that before you go live with it on Sunday and that you try a different ap if there is a problem with the first one. You might even need two: one that is an excellent editor even if it is prone to crashing that you can use to assemble your weekly songlist and a second that is a bulletproof reader you can use while performing.

Ken

[SoVeryTired]

I'm just glad I have a short songlist and a good memory. Makes life much simpler.

[Llaslo]

Hello All, I'm new here, and it looks like we're going to do a band at church. Just wanted to throw myself into this group and learn from all you guys / gals.

[Jhengsman]

I joined a band which has been running for decades. I have often wondered what it was like for those first pathfinders who introduced a band

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by Jhengsman

I joined a band which has been running for decades. I have often wondered what it was like for those first pathfinders who introduced a band

I'd not really thought about that before. I've always joined a team that had existed for a while. Even if the players were relatively new, the idea of having a band wasn't.

[praisebass]

Originally Posted by Llaslo

Hello All, I'm new here, and it looks like we're going to do a band at church. Just wanted to throw myself into this group and learn from all you guys / gals.

Exciting times!

Unsolicited advice: have the worship team participate in a Bible study or worship arts related study together from the beginning.

[bassman314]

Originally Posted by Llaslo

Hello All, I'm new here, and it looks like we're going to do a band at church. Just wanted to throw myself into this group and learn from all you guys / gals.

If you are part of church that has done the choir + organ thing for the past million years, expect push-back. There will be people who will be angry with this.

Do not take attacks, personally. They will happen. Fundamentally, people are scared of change, and may feel marginalized if they feel the church made the change without consulting them. That is their issue. Do not retaliate in kind. Instead, love them and be sure to reach out to them. Often, the biggest critics can be turned into the biggest supporters with love, grace, and kindness.

When you pick music, start out with songs that your church has been doing for awhile, and arrange them for the band. This will ease the transition. If people hear their favorite songs in a new style, they may be more receptive. You can add the "latest and greatest", once people are actually comfortable with the band.

We started having a band in 2000, occaisionally playing on Sundays and special events. In 2002, we started an evening service that was moved to 9:30 AM in 2003. It has been a long process, but we are at the point where our 9:30 Contemporary service has as many attendees as our 11:00 Traditional service. We have made mistakes and had bumps along the way. Having good people on staff and involved in planning helps, tremendously.

[Versatek6]

Originally Posted by Jhengsman

I joined a band which has been running for decades. I have often wondered what it was like for those first pathfinders who introduced a band

It is exciting, and scary, and frustrating, and fulfilling. And more.

We started up about five years ago when our new MD was hired to specifically add that aspect to our music ministry.

When we had that first rehearsal, I think there were two bass, four guitar, a drummer plus a singer who wanted to drum, and about 10-12 singers. In not too much time, those who couldn't commit weeded themselves out. Today we are at nine vocalists, a guitar/vocal, a guitar/mandolin, a bass/guitar, a bass/drums, a drummer, and the MD/piano/kb/vocal.

Of these, eleven are "plankholders," original members. We have had little turnover or attrition. Note that this is one big group, not teams. We may have to do that eventually, but the MD is loath to upset the team dynamics right now.

The new pastor is wanting more from us, we have been told, and songs with more energy. Looking forward to expanding the program!

[english4bw]

Originally Posted by Samsound

Running sound this week, and I am FRUSTRATED! We bought a bunch of the Aviom style IEMs to cut down stage volume. Asst. WL now has IEMs, plus two massive Mackie floor monitors PLUS two Bose towers ALL pointed at his head. The stage volume is INSANE!! Since the Mackies point up and back, the indirect sound is LOUD, MUFFLED vocals. After rehearsal he turned them down, and said he doesn't use them any louder. Ughhh. Best I can do is blast the Bose so he keeps the Mackies low. Pray for us, please...

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

I'm probably missing something here, but why does he have IEMs and wedges? Or is it IEMs for some people and wedges for others?

Originally Posted by MissingHighs

I'm with SVT on this one; please fill us in why was "what he wanted" not simply increased via his IEMs instead of the monitors ('cos the IEMs are also In Ear Mufflers to anything outside, which will drive the stage volume to insane levels).

IEM's are supposed to REPLACE wedges. And why the heck does he need BOSE speakers pointed at him? I don't get it.

[Samsound]

Originally Posted by english4bw

IEM's are supposed to REPLACE wedges. And why the heck does he need BOSE speakers pointed at him? I don't get it.

That's exactly the problem. The Bose predated our IEMs. Originally he wanted them as a side fill with main mix to put a little energy onstage when we switch to IEM only. Eventually, they turned into front row fill by angling them towards him in the front center. We got the IEMs, ditched the wedges, and he drops the big Mackie monitors in front. So yeah, he's using both IEMs AND two large monitors, which is absolutely bonkers. What's even sillier is that he's feeding those monitors off his personal mix station, so it's exactly the same thing in his ears. I'm gonna have to have a serious chat with him, because it is absolutely ruining the house mix. I usually try to balance the Bose with the Mains, but that wasn't loud enough for him. If I push more to the Bose, he may turn down the Mackies, but then the front 2 rows get blasted.

[SoVeryTired]

But he's just duplicating... I mean it's negating... what he's doing is... but it's missing the point of... AAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!

:banghead:

[FellowBass]

Set list this week:

Lord's Prayer (let your kingdom come) G
Glory To God G
Undone (an original) Bb
From the inside out Bb
Great is thy Faithfulness C

New girl on drums this week. Let's see how this goes!

[Paladin54]

One day the most offending speakers would be gone. When he asks about them then I would tell him they are ruining the house mix which is what its all about and its time to move on.