no he isn't no one is the decision to form a band came from all of us and we all write.
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Band Member inviting other bass player
- Thread starter chaak
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- band band members bass player metal
Here's a possibility.
Your childhood friend innocently asks someone he knows to rehearsal. He wants an outside set of ears to hear what's going on. The guest happens to be a bass player. He isn't being brought in to do anything bass related but your friend thought maybe you would take it that way so he just let you know the guy plays bass.
Then again, maybe your azz is on the way out!
Try not to punch anyone until you know which way it's going.
Your childhood friend innocently asks someone he knows to rehearsal. He wants an outside set of ears to hear what's going on. The guest happens to be a bass player. He isn't being brought in to do anything bass related but your friend thought maybe you would take it that way so he just let you know the guy plays bass.
Then again, maybe your azz is on the way out!
Try not to punch anyone until you know which way it's going.
When I hear "2nd bassist will be there to assist", what I hear is "we've finally found a sound guy!" 
Which would actually be a very good thing as, in my experience, it is mostly only bassists who care about what a rumbling mess most bands produce in the lower frequency spectrum. Like, no one EVER has the idea of highpassing guitars or keys, apparently. If the sound is muddy, it must be the bass.When I hear "2nd bassist will be there to assist", what I hear is "we've finally found a sound guy!"
Make sure you ask yourself before bringing in another bass player!
You can't spell "bassist" without "assist." Coincidentally, that's all I've got. I guess it's better than showing up and your replacement bassist is there jamming but everyone "forgot" to tell you.
If the bassist is the one playing the bass, then the assist is the one playing the… ?!?
Assist with what? For all I know he's going to assist the guitarist with his ingrown toenails. The fact he's a bassist may be completely inconsequential.
Keep in mind that he's friend is there to "assist" in the guitar player's agenda, not yours. Whether that is nefarious or benign, it doesn't matter. You'll need to see if it reasonably matches your agenda.
My experience is that it's more common for bass players without much skill, theory, and experience to start out in the metal/djent genre. Specially djent where a loud amp, the ability to remember the chord progression (and the root notes of each one) for the intro/chorus/verse/bridge/outro, then play a steady sixteenth beat, and use a voice processor to hide mediocre singing is all that's needed.
So you may not have much to worry about, but I would not let him use your gear. If anything, I would use his, or bring a regular guitar for him.
What the heck, re-reading the 2nd paragraph reminds me of what people said about us punk rockers back in the late 70's/early 80's before it went pop punk.
Bottom line, if you don't like the guitar player's invitation, don't treat it like it's cast in concrete. Tell him and the rest of the band that a discussion is needed before anyone invites a friend to sit in.
I'm interested to hear how this rehearsal goes. I'm also of the mind that it's very odd to invite non-members into a writing session for any sort of assistance. There are four of us in our originals band and sometimes that feels like three too many when we're trying to nail down an arrangement and can't agree. I can't imagine how bringing an outsider into that would make things any better unless that outsider is taking on a producer's role, but this would be something I'd think the entire band would need to agree on in advance. But, as I said, it seems like the guitarist who invited him thinks it's no big deal for him to be there, and maybe that's the case.
Putting myself into the OPs shoes I'm sure I would be unhappy about it. But since the OP couldn't get a decent answer about what the interloper will be "assisting" with, it seems the choices are to continue to ask questions, refuse to participate, or let it be and see what happens. I'm not clear about the band dynamics here, but it seems they have a history of inviting others in so it's possible the guitarist sees this in a similar way to what happens when a drummer sits in. But I think the OP has a right to decide how confrontational he wants to be about this, based on his comfort level with that. If it were me, I'd probably be very confrontational because that's how I roll (and because we practice in my home and no one comes here uninvited), but if I thought there was a good chance that the guitarist was probably just inviting in a jam buddy I'd let it go and see what happens. But I'd be a lot happier if that jam buddy played guitar and not bass.
Putting myself into the OPs shoes I'm sure I would be unhappy about it. But since the OP couldn't get a decent answer about what the interloper will be "assisting" with, it seems the choices are to continue to ask questions, refuse to participate, or let it be and see what happens. I'm not clear about the band dynamics here, but it seems they have a history of inviting others in so it's possible the guitarist sees this in a similar way to what happens when a drummer sits in. But I think the OP has a right to decide how confrontational he wants to be about this, based on his comfort level with that. If it were me, I'd probably be very confrontational because that's how I roll (and because we practice in my home and no one comes here uninvited), but if I thought there was a good chance that the guitarist was probably just inviting in a jam buddy I'd let it go and see what happens. But I'd be a lot happier if that jam buddy played guitar and not bass.
Hey guys I called the guitar player and had a lengthy conversation with him over the issue. Well i did ask who will be coming tonight if all members are in for the writing session and he said yes and that a friend of his will join and that this guy makes artisanal beer and he is bringing some with him and then he told me he happens to be a bass player and if i know him. So i said oh yes you did mention that before and he remembered and apologized for not having told me the whole thing back then cause he was at work and distracted and he had to call me to tell me about something and all he could remember was that a bass player friend will be coming over.
No i am not being replaced we talked about our preparations for this song we are currently working on and we discussed chord changes and what would work for the guitar parts over my synthy ARP bass intro and I asked him if he thought of playing G/C# or an Em13 over that and how would that work with the vocal line and he said that was an interesting thought will try it tonight....
No i am not being replaced we talked about our preparations for this song we are currently working on and we discussed chord changes and what would work for the guitar parts over my synthy ARP bass intro and I asked him if he thought of playing G/C# or an Em13 over that and how would that work with the vocal line and he said that was an interesting thought will try it tonight....
so assisting with beverages I guess someone got it right i remember a comment that said that
This sounds like a big misunderstanding, then. I am glad you spoke with him! Maybe he mentioned that he was a bass player because he thought you might know him and didn't want you to worry about why he was there? But then didn't really explain it? Let us know how it goes. Sounds like good beer will be had by all.
Wouldn't bother me too much if another bass player showed up. That said I never ever let anyone use my gear.
You might also go to Craigslist and find a few guitar players that you could invite. That would make it interesting.
You might also go to Craigslist and find a few guitar players that you could invite. That would make it interesting.
In amateurish circles, this is true, and bass players are frequent offenders as well.
Outside of amateur hour, I do not find this is the case. Guitarists are often good engineers, as are drummers, IME.
My 2 cents on the OP problem here is mixing professional aspirations with less than hobby-level practices. Especially when the slacker-hobbyists insist on pretending to be pros, nothing good comes from that.
Some grey area is common and to be expected, but when you have 1 or 2 people prepared and ready to rock, and 2 or 3 that are there to socialize over a beer, a joint, a few tunes, another joint, and delusions of grandeur - it's fairly well doomed.
