Have you ever had problems covering .... yourself ?

[TheReceder]

Band was recording at a studio, went ahead and did a rough track, and the guitar player hadn't worked a lead out for a section. For the whole CD he had bass parts pretty much charted so I had little room for "artistic expression". We came to the bridge that he hadn't figured out and him being a guitarist... didn't want any bass in his headphones. So I proceeded to play (way over the top) lead bass for the bridge. Never expected to have to play it again, and to the chagrin of the sound engineer.... I never played it the same twice.

Ends out the band loved it... and I had no idea what I did.... I had to sit and pick it apart old school for the CD release party.

 

[Frndmoretti]

I restarted playing with a band I had three years ago. I hadn't been singing that whole time, so I've been having problems singing. I need to practice more.

 

[redwingxix]

I have. Happened last month at rehearsal. We hadn't played this one is a few months and I started playing a different part of the song. First I get The Look, then laughter because everybody finds it hilarious that I botched a song I wrote.

It happens.

 

[Paulabass]

Never had the problem first hand, but I had a Canadian legend blues guitarist sit in with us. We played a smokin' version of Just My Way. He asked- who wrote that? Me- You did Mike.
I had David Henman, of April Wine sit in. I asked if he wanted to do some 'wine tunes. He said he never does, cause the world's worst versions of his own songs always show up on youtube.

 

[Spectrum]

I can't remember the songs my band recorded a year and a half ago sometimes.

Geddy Lee said in an interview that when Rush picked out songs from their back catalogue for a tour setlist they had to spend hours relearning and rehearsing them because they hadn't played them in so long.

It's not aging, it's just that you move on to new things and no longer hear these songs in your head all the time like you did when they were fresh and on the current setlist.

 

[okcrum]

Never had the problem first hand, but I had a Canadian legend blues guitarist sit in with us. We played a smokin' version of Just My Way. He asked- who wrote that? Me- You did Mike.
I had David Henman, of April Wine sit in. I asked if he wanted to do some 'wine tunes. He said he never does, cause the world's worst versions of his own songs always show up on youtube.

That happened to me. I was sitting in the studio listening to an album mixdown, and complemented the engineer (and bassist on some tracks) on how good he sounded. He started laughing, turned around, and said "Dude, that's YOU!".

I've gotten used to it...it's the difference between everyday thinking and, when I'm playing right, not thinking consciously at all.

 

[B-Lo]

I watched a video about this a couple months ago where Jermaine Morgan mentioned he had trouble remembering some of his original tunes from past albums and it took him longer than expected to brush up on them. I guess it happens to the best of us.

 

[Bassamatic]

We record all gigs and I can't even play again what I played last week!

 

[J-Mags]

One time I was listening from another room to a guitar solo I'd recorded years before, and I was thinking it was Jack White. I was saying to myself, "It sounds like the kind of thing I'd play, but the difference is what makes him a star... total authority, no hesitation, pure charisma!" Then the song goes back into the verse, "Hey that's me!"

 

[purpleflyhunter]

@Spectrum

On point.

No sweat to the OP. Fear and worry won’t do you any help to recall those lines. If they’re too hidden away then so be it. Get to work and have an amazing time at the gig. How many more times do we get, anyways?

We’re all rooting for you, got you your back, and want to hear how it goes.

 

[basshack]

I did one CD a long time ago, so long that there was a debate about whether to record it to CD format. Anyway whilst the engineer swears he didn't mess with the speed we all look back at it and wonder how we ever played it that fast, that clean, that well. But we did. We practiced and worked hard to be the best we could. You can get there too but remember you're also supposed to be having fun too. I'm not half as dedicated as I used to be and it shows but that was then and this is now and there are other priorities. Give it your best shot, put some effort in and enjoy getting back into the groove with your old band.

 

[NZBassman]

when I was 20/21 my band went into the studio to record some demos... I'd always played 'live' with drummer / guitarist but when we did the recording the drummer was in studio room with his kit all mic'ed up and me and guitarist were in the control room plugged straight into the desk.
We recorded the 3 songs and the engineer / producer said when we come back next week we'll add the guitar / bass / vocals
During the week he had mixed the drums onto 2 tracks and we had to add our parts on top
it felt completely weird playing along to what was essentially a 'drum backing track' and in one song near the end I made a mistake and played something different... the engineer / producer said it was in the same key and sounded great so he left it in there and recorded the guitar / vocals on top.

I found that cassette tape last week and had a listen to it... I've got no idea what I actually played in the bit I made the 'mistake' in, but it did sound pretty cool!

 

[dbase]

Here I sit, close to despair.
I've been in a band that started out 2007 and disbanded around 2011.
Funk/Soul/Reggae, a six piece with git/voc, bass, drums, keys, sax and trumpet.
The BL (git/vox) came from a strong Jazz background and wrote the outlines of most original songs we performed. I must admit that my creative input was a bit limited back then because I had just rediscovered the bass after a hiatus of a few years and I was the worst musician among that lot. I practiced my lower_back off to keep up with the pace.
So this BL put out the call that a dear friend of his, who has been a loyal fan, is to be wed in a while. He asked, if the band could perform on that wedding. Everyone in the band agreed within an hour or so. The problem is that some of us have moved out of the city, or even the country. So we put together a 12 song setlist with mostly original material and a few covers. He even provided songsheets (chords and lyrics) and audio material (we made 2 CDs back then).
The band agreed to meet for one rehearsal before the gig.
So, with the time approaching, I took my bass, the sheets and the music to get back in.
I've done a reunion before with a band that was 12 years gone and that went really well, muscle memory kicked in after two riffs and I could play the gig on auto pilot.
I expected something like this in this case, too.
But my muscles memoryd'nt. I got past the intro and into the verse, but dropped out at the bridge and could not remember any of the chorus.
The provided songsheets are not much help to an uneducated mind like me.
Ab9b13b might ring a bell for a Jazz guitarist, but sounds like the Type Number of a washing machine to my ears. So I rummaged around in my old cases and gigbags and behold, I found my own 'notations' I did back then to remember my parts.
I swear to any deity of your choice that we did not do drugs while practicing back then, but what I found were not song sheets. Those were the scribblings of a madman!
I switched my favorite of late for the bass I used to play in that band, which made it worse! The familiar feel of the back of the neck, the way I used to hold this particular bass when playing this particular style of music - it all felt so well known, fond memories resurfaced. Memories of what I did and thought and how I felt playing back then - but not a shred of what I played or how!

What I thought to be two evenings of home practice, a rehearsal and a gig turns out to be a note for note grind through completely relearning all our original material prior to rehearsal and gig.

I am in trouble covering the basslines of an album that was recorded 8 years back, bassplayer: Me.

Welcome to my world