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Finally starting my OWN project

#81
Crap. Gig cancelled and rebooked for a couple weeks from now.

Our singer wrecked his car yesterday.
Venue has a private party until 7, and we can't load-in or soundcheck until then.
The show starts at 8, so there is basically no time to play.
Next performance is in a couple of weeks, so the producer said "not cancelled, rescheduled"

I just wish this would have happened 6 hours of woodshedding ago. My wife made fun of me for working the same songs over and over and over and over...
 
#82
Hi,

It will all be worth it some day. Getting started takes effort and persistence. Collecting the right gear can take years. So can finding the right personnel. And once you find the right musicians, they tend to change once in a while. Keep up the hard work and have fun. I am enjoying your journey. Thanks for sharing it with us.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
#83
So, another rehearsal has come and gone. This one was almost 3 hours long, although we did run every song on the set list.

Vocalist isn't getting better anymore. He "warmed up" by HUMMING melodies. They were out of tune. We asked some questions about his practice routine. "Oh, I just sing while I'm doing my thing"? (assuming he means humming) Not gonna get it done. This guy is just Mr. Pitchy-pitchy-badnote and I'm not seeing that improving after the first burst of getting everything together. With that practice routine, I can't imagine why. :bored:

I offered coaching again and he turned me down again. Here's how that went (close to word-for-word).

Me: Is there anything I can do to help with the vocals? That practice we had a couple of weeks ago seemed to help.

Wanted to say: Look, man, your #$@^ needs work. It's time to put in the time.

Singer: Do you think I need coaching or lessons or whatever?

M: Yeah, maybe a little. I mean, we can all stand to practice.

WTS: #$@^ yeah you do. There are only 12 tones in all of western music and you can't sing ANY of them on pitch twice in a row. You need interval practice in a secret music prison where they hit with a stick you every time you miss a major third and you're belted clockwork orange style to a metronome and a tuner.

S: Well, I can just pick it up.

M: I like to be prepared. Either Tim (fiddle) or I can come work with you this week if you want? My wife is a great vocal coach and she can come to the next rehearsal too. We can break off, she can work with you, we can get the instrumentals together, and hook back up an hour later to run the list.

WTS: Bull#$@^, bull#$@^, bull#$@^, dude. You're not talented enough to pick up a pizza. You should be already ready already with the vocals. You should lose the lyric sheets too; how long does it #$@^ing take to learn TEN songs? Also, pitchy doesn't get better if you're humming a little tune at the grocery store or whatever. Just put your unjustified ego in your pocket, accept our help, and learn how to do this.

S: You worry too much; it'll be fine.

WTS: @#%#$^@$^@#$%!@#$%@#%^#$%%&*(&*&#$%@#$%#$^#%^&!&)

Practicing again tonight. Medium-high hopes, at least instrumentally.
 
#84
I went for a beer with the fiddler after. He's just as worried about the singer as I am. We talked about him getting vocals together for a song or two under the guise of "giving the singer's voice a break" (ha). There are a couple of new musical directions he wants to work in as well (Gypsy, Blues, Bop and Post-Bop Jazz). He's getting to be a personal friend too, which is nice, since I'm already pals with the piano player.

I'm (not surprisingly) seeing the predictions about the singer (from earlier in the thread) come true. I'm not going to jump without a good reason, but the wheels may come off this one pretty soon. I'll be sad if a lack of musicianship and refusal to get better kills off this really enthusiastic and plugged-in guy.

Maybe we can add some vocals from somewhere else (fiddler, pianist, my wife, his wife, one of the jam session ladies, maybe a homeless guy or two) to hide the fact that the singer just isn't very good. Some instrumental solo-fests? A one-song sit-in with a trumpet?
 
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#86
So, not great tonight. Not surprising at all.

My wife managed to capture a few seconds of video from the same song. This will be like a neat before and after.

After this after, I invited the instrumentalists to get together outside the studio and maybe just not mention it to Mr. Mediocre.

Need opinions. Do you guys think that the vocalist is getting better?

EDIT: This is his best song. *sigh*
 
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#93
David Jayne said:
Could be your singer just isn't into the music. What song is that? I'm not hearing jazz.
Click to expand...

I'm also not hearing jazz. :( Song is Sway, more bossa-y than jazzy.

When I look at the videos back to back, I find it to be depressing. It's been a month; you think he would have improved at least a little bit.

The instrumentalists all have it together. The last one almost sounded good from an instrumental perspective. We're getting together on Sunday, withOUT the singer.
 
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#94
After watcing the brief recording....my hopefully constructive thoughts.
You: I see you playing electric bass, do you have an upright? Would fit much better in the band. I couldn't hear you in the recording so i can't comment on your playing.
Piano/violin: They seem like they can play their instruments well, but how much actual jazz experience do they have? They seem to play very straight and it sounds more like a classical rendition. Noticed no sense of swing or jazz feel. If a drummer were there that might have changed things...
Singer: Tone of voice and intonation sounded iffy...and seems like he didn't know the song.
Overall, take the band down to it's simplest form and then slowly add in the solo elements(singing/violin). Make sure the core rhythm section can stand on it's own two feet, bass/piano/drums. The violin player in essence is a soloist and should probably be sitting out unless playing the lead melody or taking a solo, generally. Your probably going to have to reform the band minus the singer.
 
#95
sean_on_bass said:
Piano/violin: They seem like they can play their instruments well, but how much actual jazz experience do they have? They seem to play very straight and it sounds more like a classical rendition. Noticed no sense of swing or jazz feel.
Click to expand...
Yes. There's no lack of jazzy piano for reference. Violin's intonation was fine but he needs to go listen to Stéphane Grappelli for a while.
Singer: Tone of voice and intonation sounded iffy...and seems like he didn't know the song.
Click to expand...
No sense of confidence or commitment. Nothing breeds confidence like success - but nothing breeds success like dedication and hard work. Talent doesn't hurt, but there are plenty of mediocre singers who can sell the song.

So you know what we think - what does the singer think about that performance? Does he _still_ think it's fine?
I know he wants it to work, and we know why you want it to work, but if he thinks it's spot-on and as good as it gets, it could get rocky.
 
#98
sean_on_bass said:
After watcing the brief recording....my hopefully constructive thoughts.
You: I see you playing electric bass, do you have an upright? Would fit much better in the band. I couldn't hear you in the recording so i can't comment on your playing.
Click to expand...
Upright got stolen a couple years ago and I just recently started again with cheap gear from CL. :( No $ for additional gear was the reason I started looking in the first place.

I agree with the comment though. Was just listening to some vocal-piano-DB Diana Krall and I miss that instrumentation a little (same as my working band from the early 2000's). I also have mad respect for her bass player (christian mcbride iirc). He is both the epitome of less-is-more and my new jazz hero.

Piano/violin: They seem like they can play their instruments well, but how much actual jazz experience do they have? They seem to play very straight and it sounds more like a classical rendition. Noticed no sense of swing or jazz feel.
Click to expand...
I'm getting them away from the singer to see how that works. The piano player has lots of jazz, as do I, but the fiddler has limited experience, and the singer has, well, none. Propping this dude up can't be doing good things for anyone's sound.

Singer: Tone of voice and intonation sounded iffy...and seems like he didn't know the song... Your probably going to have to reform the band minus the singer.
Click to expand...
He's had 6 weeks to learn it. It's his best song. He thinks he has it nailed. I would be ashamed if that was *my* best song and I really DO have it nailed. I'm probably going to have to reform the band minus the singer.

ArtechnikA said:
There's no lack of jazzy piano for reference. Violin's intonation was fine but he needs to go listen to Stéphane Grappelli for a while.
Click to expand...
Good idea! I like gypsy jazz! Will pass that along.

No sense of confidence or commitment. Nothing breeds confidence like success - but nothing breeds success like dedication and hard work. Talent doesn't hurt, but there are plenty of mediocre singers who can sell the song. So you know what we think - what does the singer think about that performance? Does he _still_ think it's fine? I know he wants it to work, and we know why you want it to work, but if he thinks it's spot-on and as good as it gets, it could get rocky.
Click to expand...
He's not working very hard, or if he is, he's not getting !@#$ for results. He wanted to book the opener from earlier in the thread last weekend. I'm glad he didn't; it would have been a straight-up disaster. Rocky wouldn't have even begun to cover it.

He thinks he has this song nailed (ha). He is allergic to feedback (haha). He thinks we can do a set in 8 days (hahahaha without him, maybe). He knows that he needs something, but he thinks he needs work, when he really needs WORK.

FatBoutedGirls said:
You mentioned the fiddler could sing, any possibility of him doing all the lead vocals? That would be my first choice, keep this to as few pieces as possible, then add soloists when you have a tight setlist. You could keep looking for a vocalist in the meantime but this keeps the project moving forward.
Click to expand...
Maybe he'll do vocals. Also, the piano player can sing, as can my wife, and I know a handful of horn players, so I don't think there'll be a lack of melodic folks of whatever description.

I also agree about the start-small thing. Working on instrumentals on Sunday. If it goes well, we might do the same idea with a different vocalist or maybe a soloist or two. If the singer gets better, we can cross him over to something that we already have. If not (likely), we'll find someone that already knows how to sing.

David Jayne said:
I was going to say it sounds like some sort of European folk song. It's not feeling good. But it did actually sound decent.
Click to expand...
Good building material (vox excepted) for sure. I'm excited to see what we come up with when we don't have to hold the musical bag for that guy.

F# major makes everything sound like European Folk. :)
 
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