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How far do you drive for practice?
- Thread starter Rocks
- Start date
We rehearse at my house so I don't drive, but our drummer drives about an hour and meets our guitarist about 40 minutes away. They take turns driving from there.
We do a lot of work beforehand learning new songs individually so that when we meet we are not wasting time trying to learn stuff. All we have to do usually is sort out keys and run through them a couple of times and we are good to gig. Of course there are exceptions that take a bit longer.
I provide
The rehearsal room
The heating
Copious amounts of tea
Beers (one each) if they forget
A drum kit
A guitar amp and cab
A PA
So the guitarist brings his pedal board and guitar and the drummer brings his cymbals, snare, hi-hats, and sticks.
I record the whole event and usually have it edited, mp3ed and emailed to them that night.
Works a treat, but I do quite like the idea of skype, pastvertical can we have more details of how you do it please?
We do a lot of work beforehand learning new songs individually so that when we meet we are not wasting time trying to learn stuff. All we have to do usually is sort out keys and run through them a couple of times and we are good to gig. Of course there are exceptions that take a bit longer.
I provide
The rehearsal room
The heating
Copious amounts of tea
Beers (one each) if they forget
A drum kit
A guitar amp and cab
A PA
So the guitarist brings his pedal board and guitar and the drummer brings his cymbals, snare, hi-hats, and sticks.
I record the whole event and usually have it edited, mp3ed and emailed to them that night.
Works a treat, but I do quite like the idea of skype, pastvertical can we have more details of how you do it please?
I feel very lucky in this respect. I'm playing with four gigging bands at the moment (I'm resigning from one after next week), and none are more than 20 minutes away. The two closest are only 10 minutes away.
Los Angeles to Oxnard - roughly 60 minutes.
A friend's garage (free). We make a day of it - jam, beer, bbq...it's worth it to me. My guitar player and I were in a band in the early 90s and he's a very close friend. Our newish drummer slams and is super-cool too. They both live in the Ventura county area.
My guitar player used to have to make the trek to LaLa Land back in the day, so I'm happy to do it now.
A friend's garage (free). We make a day of it - jam, beer, bbq...it's worth it to me. My guitar player and I were in a band in the early 90s and he's a very close friend. Our newish drummer slams and is super-cool too. They both live in the Ventura county area.
My guitar player used to have to make the trek to LaLa Land back in the day, so I'm happy to do it now.
4hrs. one way,.. spend 3 days in a rock star type house, then back down the highway. but,.. i love playing with these guys! i'm not a member but these are the most advanced musicians i know after searching for years. we all play drums, bass, and guitar so no one has to sit out! we hit every category like we're gonna die... well worth the drive because my son gets to practice with seasoned pros. he really has stepped up his music studies since.
For me, the drive alone is about 10-15 minutes each way. I wish practice was held at my house though (the lead singer also lives here), it would just be a quick run up to the loft, like 30 seconds... Lugging gear between the loft at home to the car takes longer than the actual drive.
When I lived back east over a decade ago, it was like a 35-40 minute drive each way between home in Rockland County, NY to Future Sound rehearsal studios in Fairfield, NJ..., but there was very little gear lugging involved, being that the studio was mostly furnished with gear (I was playing guitar back then and would just bring my guitar, a couple pedals, and my 30-watt combo; I'd just use one of the Marshall cabs at the studio for an extension cab)... Those were fun times...
When I lived back east over a decade ago, it was like a 35-40 minute drive each way between home in Rockland County, NY to Future Sound rehearsal studios in Fairfield, NJ..., but there was very little gear lugging involved, being that the studio was mostly furnished with gear (I was playing guitar back then and would just bring my guitar, a couple pedals, and my 30-watt combo; I'd just use one of the Marshall cabs at the studio for an extension cab)... Those were fun times...
About ten steps from my backdoor to my garage. I have a 3 and 1/2 car garage. We use about a bay and a 1/2. Everything stays there except for guitars and we practice once a week. The farthest guy comes about 13 miles. We used to have a guy that traveled about an hour. The guys help pay for the heat and I cover the electric. Works well.
H
H
We practice at my place so there isn't much of a commute for me. The biggest downside is since we practice here the PA and whatnot is here, which means I get to schlep it to a gig, which sucks horrifically (I'd say the worst is getting back from a late gig and having to load it in, since I won't leave it outside in my truck overnight). Especially if I have to get up in a few hours from when I get back 
The rest of the guys are 10-30 minutes away.
The rest of the guys are 10-30 minutes away.
We used to practice at the drummers house which is all highway (75 mph) and took me about 45 minutes there, 35 minutes home.
We're currently practice at the singer and guitarist's house (married). It's farther mileage wise, plus the speed limit is 55 for the majority of the trip so it takes 60 to 75 minutes to get there and about 50 minutes to get home.
I'm hoping to get back to the drummer's place soon.
We're currently practice at the singer and guitarist's house (married). It's farther mileage wise, plus the speed limit is 55 for the majority of the trip so it takes 60 to 75 minutes to get there and about 50 minutes to get home.
I'm hoping to get back to the drummer's place soon.
butchblack
Life is short. Do good. Find and do what you love.
I'm about 25 miles half an hour away. Our guitarist picks up our harp player so his is 45 min. Half an hour is about my limit unless I was getting involved in something much bigger then I'm used to playing.
Absolutely not. It's your time and money spent on traveling, it's your call. I drove 45 minutes one way for practise with one band, that was far enough. Now, rehearsals are in my living room.
I'll have to search and see if there's a thread out there already, but I'd like to hear people compare notes on this. I've tried Skype, but there is latency. It is marginally useful, for sharing ideas, but live performance is too slow.
I practice at home. But I drive 45 minutes each way to rehearsals. It's been so hard to find a good drummer that I'm (actually "we're" since the missus goes with me) willing to put up with the drive.
-jb
-jb
The longest was about 40 minutes. Now the longest is 25 minutes. Although I usually go from work, which is about 5 minutes. So 5 minutes there, then 25 minutes back home.
