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Auditioning Singers

N

nboyer941

Jul 22, 2008
528
13
Burnsville, MN
#1
I'm in a band that is auditioning singers. We have probably had 8-12 people come in so far.

At least half of them come in without a mic, stand, or cord. They come with nothing. Some of them even ask us for lyric sheets.

This really gets me. Am I wrong to think I should boot them out the door without even hearing them if they can't even bring a mic?


Each time I'm thinking, "Sure...here, you can spit all over mine...No prob." :rolleyes:
 
#2
Much as I hate it, it seems to be the expected norm (at least around here) that singers don't have to own anything. Things are getting a little better over the last few years though, as stuff comes down in price.

For just an audition, I think it's not too bad for the band to be expected to provide a Mic and stand, but when things get serious it's something that needs to be sorted.

I'd just burn 'em a CD of the songs you do and let them do some homework. For originals, I think it's ok to ask for lyric sheets.

And bring a can of aerosol disinfectant to spray the mic between auditions...
 
#7
Joe Nerve said:
If you want them to bring their own mic, I think you should ask them to bring their own mic. I don't think it's odd for a singer to show up without one.
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+1.

The lyric sheets are another matter. If you're asking them to come in and sing particular pieces from your set list, they should have looked up the lyrics beforehand and come in ready to sing them, memorized and all. Again, that assumes that you did tell them beforehand they'd be singing particular songs.

If they're going to join the band, and there's not already a collectively owned PA with mics, I do think it's reasonable to ask them to put up their part of one, certainly including mics. Everyone else has to pay for their instruments, after all.
 
#8
Not everybody is weird about using someone else's mic. If you expect them to bring their own mic, stand, etc., tell them. If there's certain songs you expect them to sing, tell them. Are you auditioning them for their singing skills, or ability to guess your expectations? There are way too many songs that qualify as "standard covers" to expect someone to know them all. Unless you give them a heads-up on what songs they'll be singing, asking for lyric sheets doesn't seem too odd.

That said, if you give them a list of songs, and gear required, and they don't come prepared, then you have something to bitch about.
 
#9
EricF said:
...if you give them a list of songs, and gear required, and they don't come prepared, then you have something to bitch about.
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/\ This. If you gave them a list of songs that are "standard covers", they should have taken the initiative to find the lyrics.

When we audition singers, we give them a list of the songs we expect them to know for the audition (usually 4 to 6 songs). We also give them the lyrics AND a CD of the songs at least a week before the audition. This removes all excuses - like "My computer isn't working" and "I found several songs with the same title - which one did you want?"

If a singer shows up not knowing one or more of the songs we gave them, the audition's over.

I have an old $29 Optimus (Radio Shack) SM58 lookalike in the bottom of my gear bag. If they show up without a mic, that's the one they get to use.
 
#10
I don't have anything useful to add, I just want to pile on.

About 20 years ago I was in an original band and we lost our singer after our debut gig. His ego was just too huge and fragile, and the guitarist, drummer, and I were being too aggressive, too flashy, and basically too kick-ass of a band for him to front us. I say that with tongue in cheek -- it just seemed like he wanted us to vanish into some mist in the background and we were so jazzed to be playing that he couldn't handle us getting any attention.

So he quit at the end of the show. Incredible jerk.

Anyway, it being 1991 or so, we did what any band of that era would do and put an ad in the paper and little ads in music stores. We got 118 people (by the guitar player's count) who responded to the ad. Of those 118 we got to the audition stage with about 40 of them. One very memorable weekend, we had about 12 of those folks show up in a row as we got the whole thing rolling. The three-ring circus that ensued was astonishing.

Some people showed up with nothing, no ability to sing, no songs memorized, nothing. We were playing originals so we gave them tapes and words and they'd come back with nothing, nothing, and nothing.

I remember distinctly, though, four of the auditions that were PAINFULLY memorable. One girl showed up with a little keyboard and had learned our songs -- we sounded like a proto-grunge band with a lot of progressive rock/jazz influence thrown in. So imagine this thumping driving beat with a girl singing like Pat Benetar. No kidding. She did a great job of technically singing, but her style was cracking us up, and she would motion with her hands and everything. Clearly a case of a lot of effort put into being not quite what we were after.

Another dude came with a microphone stand and sang our stuff (again, pretty good) but he did it in the style of Robert Plant, and I mean he also acted out his whole part. Interesting yes but very derivative and just too hilarious for us to consider going on stage with someone like that.

Another guy came who had a completely original style but brought HIS WHOLE BAND with him, and almost acted like he was auditioning US. We ended that one pretty quick. We jammed with them and then let them get their keyboards and guitars and **** and leave.

Finally, a dude came who didn't know OUR songs but he'd learned some Nirvana covers, so I was introduced to Nirvana and auditioned a singer on "Come as you are" all at once (I seriously hadn't even heard of them until that day).

That was just SOME of the circus show we endured. I don't remember most of the rest, but I do remember my guitarist telling me that he had talked to 118 people who had responded to the ad.

The punchline is, we ended up sharing vocal duties between myself and the guitarist.
 
#11
scottbass said:
When we audition singers, we give them a list of the songs we expect them to know for the audition (usually 4 to 6 songs). We also give them the lyrics AND a CD of the songs at least a week before the audition. This removes all excuses - like "My computer isn't working" and "I found several songs with the same title - which one did you want?"
Click to expand...

Right. Especially with standards, there might be a few different versions that are well known. The more prepared the singer (or any musician) can be be before they come in for the audition, the more chance they'll have to do a great job for you.
 
#12
Why would you just expect a singer to show up with a mic and stand? PA is usually provided at gigs, so why would expect someone to just assume bringing their own?

I would assume you were a professional band that had their own PA if I showed up. If you didn't tell me otherwise up front. I've been in the biz for 30 years, so it's not like I'm a noob.
 
#14
I like to bring my own mic. The smell of someone's else's spit on a mic is gross. But, I've had one person ask me to use their mic instead of mine, because he had the levels all set and was afraid my mic would feed back.

If you tell a singer to bring a mic, a stand, lyrics, etc. and they don't it's the end of the audition. If you don't tell them, don't be surprised if they just bring themselves. Vocalists think differently than instrumentalists - main difference is that vocalist don't think about gear. You'll never hear a singer drool over the newest mic like a bassist will, unless the singer also plays bass.
 
#15
Joe Nerve said:
If you want them to bring their own mic, I think you should ask them to bring their own mic. I don't think it's odd for a singer to show up without one.
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+1

Since that situation was unclear... that could've been the only sticky situation you went through.

For all we know, one of them could've been an organized, fast-learning, hardworking vocal prodigy that is a blast on stage.
 
#16
Hmm, maybe I'm a little off then regarding the mics. We have a pa, and we each have out own mic. Not a lot of extra gear laying around at the practice space. So when someone doesn't have their own mic, they gotta use one of ours and now we're a mic short. The best auditions we have had, were one guy, one gal and they each brought in their own wireless mic setup, they each plugged it into our board, set their own levels and did a proper mic check. That was nice to see.

But cmon'...asking to borrow lyric sheets for songs like man in a box, talk dirty to me, crazy train, sweet child.... wow.

Bringing in your own lyric sheets is one thing, but to ask to borrow ours, when we told you what songs you will be singing? agghhhh!!!

we've had some real winners come out. I wish I could have video taped em' like American idle. We had one guy that had to have been on drugs. He was singing the lyrics to Crazy train to the music of Nothin' but a good time.

someone already said it...everybody thinks they can sing.
 
#17
nboyer941 said:
Am I wrong to think I should boot them out the door without even hearing them if they can't even bring a mic?
Click to expand...

Two sides of the coin on this one.

On one hand, no, your impulse to broom 'em fast is understandable.

An audition is a musician's chance to make a statement and prove to the band that he/she is prepared and professional, in addition to skilled and talented.

If they show up half-baked for the audition, it's safe to assume they will be half-baked for rehearsals, gigs, and everything else.

On the other hand, some really good musicians just haven't had a chance to play with, and learn from, professionals.

When I think about my first band, who were very experienced and took a big chance on a rookie, oh, some of the silly things I did. They trained me, I'm a quick learner, and it was a win-win.
 
#19
From a singer's perspective: if I was auditioning for your band, I would ask for charts to start with (not lyric sheets), full list of your tracks, and a cd (to get your take on cover tunes, and to learn any original stuff). I would also likely have a tune or two ready that I picked out to see what kind of collaborative situation I was potentially walking into. The one thing I would expect to find from any even semi-pro band would be at least a partially acoustic audition (so you can actually hear the voice), and partially an on-mic audition. I would expect a PA set up in your rehearsal room, and a mic ready for me to sing into. If I didn't find this, it would negatively affect my interest.

Now, if I am asked to sit in in a live situation at a bar or restaurant, I bring my own mic and amp (in case there is no PA, or if something goes awry--also, I can use the overdrive channel or effects presets on the amp to do some interesting vocal stuff).

Not trying to be haughty about it, this is just what my experiences have been.
 

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