Same. I find Musescore (free and easy to use) helps charting, which mitigates the problem of my addled brain until the song is internalised (Takes longer than i wish it would).
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Drummer has joined a second band...
- Thread starter dirtychinchilla
- Start date
Same. I find Musescore (free and easy to use) helps charting, which mitigates the problem of my addled brain until the song is internalised (Takes longer than i wish it would).
Just fyi drum parts can't be subject to copy right so drummers can use the same parts in different songs with no problems. E.g the "Pat Boone, Debbie Boone" fill is used in lots of popular songs.
Unless the part is super distinct the drummer could likely play similar grooves in two different bands on the same night at the same venue and the audience likely wouldn't notice, they'd just dig it if it fit the songs.
Thanks for the advice. There are some ideas in there that I hadn't thought of. Of course, we have all the usual social pages etc but I personally hadn't considered actually turning up to the venue! We do have a video of us playing but it's literally from Halloween 2018; we've come very far since then. Everything else is too low quality.
Who doesn't love grunge eh.
Nice to have a supportive post
I'm on the same page as you I think. This definitely doesn't pay my bills and I'd have to do a hell of a lot of gigs for it to be worth me leaving my day job. As you say, it's very interesting but I feel a lot of the comments aren't driven by feelings, it's driven by cash. They'll probably say we're not serious etc, but I don't think that matters.Just downloading it now, thank you.
Awesome. I would have no idea, I don't really understand drums tbh. I've always been much more vocals, then guitar(s) oriented. Thanks for all your responses dude
And today in TB's "the way pros and amateurs see things differently" thread...
i find this board less cutthroat than any of the music, camera or business boards i take part in.
I've got to agree with that... I will say that I find this board honest... probably the main reason I spend too much time on it.
Nicest musicians I've never met in person on this board. And helpful too! But, yeah, everyone's gigs are different.
Agree.
Cutthroat?
Any YouTube Car video comment section, populated by 15 year olds who have yet to even OWN a vehicle,(which is most of them) makes this board look like a style sheet for proper manners.
Reason to have you back? 'Back' being the key word...that would be the turnout you drew. The promoter/owner/staff at the venue you just played quite likely won't even listen to the CD. They don't really care if you're any good or whether you have CDs to offer. If you bring in a full house and good business, they'll want you back. If you're the greatest band ever but only brought in 5 people...nobody but you and those 5 people care.
As far as 'fans', the best thing you can offer is a great show. CDs are nice, but unless you're giving them away, you're probably not going to go through many early on, if ever. Doing a CD is cool and all, but it's not really the key to putting your band on the map or what will put you over the edge. It might help you get a gig, although you're probably going to want it available online for that, in which case it doesn't even need to be a studio recording...but the world won't change much once that CD is done. Maybe your confidence, drive, and effort will and that could make all the difference, but you don't actually need a CD to turn those things up right now.
Let me challenge that perspective just a little...
First, let's replace "work" with "business."
It's not the false dichotomy of "art vs work."
Also - Lots of people make a living playing their own music. A definite minority, to be sure, but it is simply not true that only cover bands pay.
To break out, you "simply" have to have a LOT of REALLY GOOD music.
To clear up a possible misconception - IMO there's nothing wrong with people gathering to make music just for fun. I do it sometimes myself (even as I realize I should be home practicing...) What I find troubling is when those people think they're a band and are waiting for their big break (but hey - they're entitled to their delusions).
So my issue with the original post was NOT that the band isn't gigging, it's that it appeared that the project was making no progress. Everyone in a band is entitled to get SOMETHING out of it. Maybe it's money. Maybe it's the satisfaction of a creative contribution. (And maybe, it's the momentary bliss of a perfectly played song - nothing wrong with that. But if it's always the same song, played the same way, most will find that bliss ephemeral...)
There's nothing wrong with a periodic self-examination. WHY am I doing this? Is what I'm doing getting me closer to or moving me farther from my goals and WHAT ARE THEY?
IMO - in a band, especially one in which the members profess passion - if you're not moving the ball toward the goal, and you have no plan to reach a place where you can make such progress - you may need to re-evaluate your purpose. If you realize you are making no progress, A) you need to address the roadblock and B) you need to realize that anything NOT on the critical path is irrelevant - and in this context - that means band members who do something else with their time.
So true. I love that Pat Boone Debby Boone fill so much. It's in many different genres too. As a bassist who never practices drums, it's pretty much the only fill I can play cleanly on a kit.
I play i n 4 different bands. 3 of them make money. The one band that doesn't is an original band that likes to spend too much time recording than performing.
Lot of material recorded and partially mixed but no gigs. The members in the original band aren't real happy about me having other projects but never have I once not been able to do a gig with them or rehearse. A good bassist (and drummer) always seem to be in demand. The more I play with other musicians my network expands., which leads to more opportunities to further my musical career. If a band is dragging their feet, I'm not one to do that.
Lot of material recorded and partially mixed but no gigs. The members in the original band aren't real happy about me having other projects but never have I once not been able to do a gig with them or rehearse. A good bassist (and drummer) always seem to be in demand. The more I play with other musicians my network expands., which leads to more opportunities to further my musical career. If a band is dragging their feet, I'm not one to do that.
OK, so you guys have played some gigs. Instead of waiting for a perfected EP which will take a long time, you need to be getting someone out there to record your next live show. If you find it hard to get that show, do it yourself. Throw a party and have the band play. Get some decent live video. It doesn't have to be professionally produced, it just has to be good enough to show prospective venues that you are good enough to play there. Toss them up on YouTube, put together a quick email with some links or embed them in a website on Reverbnation or something, and you've got something to show. Takes a couple of days, at most, to get something like that together and, if you're good, it's really all you're going to need to get started.
Best of luck to you all!
i've been a serious fan of several local bands, as in went to see them at every show, brought friends to see them, recommended them to club. i never got a free EP from any of them, and two of them eventually went national with large labels briefly. they played a lot, one at larger outdoor events, not just clubs.
having a couple live shows recorded well might help book shows, but what really books shows is being able to bring paying customers. i don't think an EP will do that.
dirtychinchilla, I'm glad the air-clearing went well. I empathize that you might have found some of the responses a bit jolting (I know that mine had a few unpleasant truisms in it). Happily (and what I like about TB) is you didn't get the usual forum "been there, done that"; "use the search function" and "
here's another one 
" responses for what is a universal story of us singer-songwriter+organized fixer+'I just play drums/bass/guitar' amalgams that want an audience.
I had some great follow-up suggestions, but
did it all so brilliantly before me. But I'll just throw in my semi-nearby experience...
I played originals, just far enough away from Manchester and Liverpool to be inconvenient, in the 90s which is probably analogous to what London is probably like in 2020. Not many venues that regularly have (or pay, much) live bands. Those that do, and have done so for many years, know what brings in punters and are extremely used to - and kindly dismissive of - fresh new bands who reckon they write killer material. In all the gigs I got (why are bassists usually the fixers?), I can only remember one occasion where the owners put our studio-recorded cassette (yes, cassette tape) on the system and said "I like this, let's have a look at when you can have a date." These people were new to the business, loved live bands and dreamed of running a pub renowned for showcasing exciting new talent. I got friendly (easy rather than self-serving, with such like-minded people) for the fairly short time that they pursued this business model. And I took the Monday to Wednesday night, % of bar takings, slot that they offered. Went back soon after and asked them where I could put up posters of our upcoming gig in their rooms and outlooking windows.
The guitarist and I even did fly-posting around the venues, but we got stopped by rozzers who, handily, realized we both looked like a violent crim they had arrested and offered us the option of taking part in an ID parade rather than be fined for fly-posting. We even got £10 each and biscuits, which is more than the venue gave us, but don't take that as a recommendation (anyhoo, you lucky kids have social media and can attach audio clips to your FB page instead of pasting OSB-covered shop windows at midnight, don't know you're born, you have it made, etc etc).
In fairly short time, venues got to know me because I turned up to see bands they'd booked (usually free entry, so only costing me time); then we (guitarist also) got reviewing the local scene. Unlike us, you won't have printing costs. More venues got to know us, other bands got talking to us, because we were writing about them (and also slipping in plenty of info about what our band was doing). Other bands started sharing slots with us, use our PA and we'll use your drums, their crowd started coming to our gigs and vice versa, venues started asking us if we could help promote them and recommend good acts. Basically, we looked determined and willing to make things happen ourselves which, surprisingly, 90% of originals bands don't because - obviously - their talent alone should be enough. And, after all this, if I mentioned my band's name you won't have heard of it. Because that's usually the case. But I've still got my recordings, some old posters and reviews, and good memories. Plus, my 21y.o son thinks that as many as two of the songs he's heard weren't
.
here's another one " responses for what is a universal story of us singer-songwriter+organized fixer+'I just play drums/bass/guitar' amalgams that want an audience.I had some great follow-up suggestions, but
did it all so brilliantly before me. But I'll just throw in my semi-nearby experience...
I played originals, just far enough away from Manchester and Liverpool to be inconvenient, in the 90s which is probably analogous to what London is probably like in 2020. Not many venues that regularly have (or pay, much) live bands. Those that do, and have done so for many years, know what brings in punters and are extremely used to - and kindly dismissive of - fresh new bands who reckon they write killer material. In all the gigs I got (why are bassists usually the fixers?), I can only remember one occasion where the owners put our studio-recorded cassette (yes, cassette tape) on the system and said "I like this, let's have a look at when you can have a date." These people were new to the business, loved live bands and dreamed of running a pub renowned for showcasing exciting new talent. I got friendly (easy rather than self-serving, with such like-minded people) for the fairly short time that they pursued this business model. And I took the Monday to Wednesday night, % of bar takings, slot that they offered. Went back soon after and asked them where I could put up posters of our upcoming gig in their rooms and outlooking windows.
The guitarist and I even did fly-posting around the venues, but we got stopped by rozzers who, handily, realized we both looked like a violent crim they had arrested and offered us the option of taking part in an ID parade rather than be fined for fly-posting. We even got £10 each and biscuits, which is more than the venue gave us, but don't take that as a recommendation (anyhoo, you lucky kids have social media and can attach audio clips to your FB page instead of pasting OSB-covered shop windows at midnight, don't know you're born, you have it made, etc etc).
In fairly short time, venues got to know me because I turned up to see bands they'd booked (usually free entry, so only costing me time); then we (guitarist also) got reviewing the local scene. Unlike us, you won't have printing costs. More venues got to know us, other bands got talking to us, because we were writing about them (and also slipping in plenty of info about what our band was doing). Other bands started sharing slots with us, use our PA and we'll use your drums, their crowd started coming to our gigs and vice versa, venues started asking us if we could help promote them and recommend good acts. Basically, we looked determined and willing to make things happen ourselves which, surprisingly, 90% of originals bands don't because - obviously - their talent alone should be enough. And, after all this, if I mentioned my band's name you won't have heard of it. Because that's usually the case. But I've still got my recordings, some old posters and reviews, and good memories. Plus, my 21y.o son thinks that as many as two of the songs he's heard weren't
.I’m sure that you can plan all of your original gigs around his new schedule, I mean how hard is it to schedule no shows? Pretty easy, I’d say.
Leave him alone to do what he’s doing. If your original project gets moving, gets interesting and gets busy, he may drop the cover band.
In the meantime, get motivated and start playing—jealously is not going to solve anything.
Leave him alone to do what he’s doing. If your original project gets moving, gets interesting and gets busy, he may drop the cover band.
In the meantime, get motivated and start playing—jealously is not going to solve anything.
I really like this board. People here are pretty honest and usually helpful and generally less snarky than at most places. The snark I see is generally in response to snark given, which is fair in my book. And yes, many of us are older and a bit jaded and less likely to tolerate certain things that our experience has taught us are dead ends.
One thing that did come up that's interesting is that there is a big difference in expectations, depending on the type of band (or project
) you are in, and your experience level. And I do think some of it goes back to a romanticized notion of what it's like to be in a band and the kind of commitment it requires. Taking a year to get a press kit together, for me, would be unacceptable, but some people find that's ok. I think it's important to be sure that everyone shares a common goal. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a band being primarily a social function, as long as all the members see it that way.
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Exactly!
And - little-mentioned point: A polished studio-quality EP doesn't really tell a venue owner you can play live.
There's a lot to that. Do you actually have gig-worthy equipment? Do you know how to set a stage and interact with an audience? Do people like your show ? This last one is a point of constant and considerable TB discussion: "Should" the music be enough? Or is "The Show" more important? The pragmatic answer is: The audience will decide. If you can produce a video showing happy people in a club, it will go a long way to convincing the booker to give you a shot.
