Very important, in our second set we have three melodies of 4 songs all full length and one of three
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How important is set flow when you see a band?
- Thread starter mancefine
- Start date
"i want a song that ain't got no melody..." that 4th song is just what mr preston was looking for i guess.
I just joined a band that formed in December and has a 1 March debut gig at a very nice venue (connections, I guess). We're busy learning 3 sets of songs, but I'm apparently the only one who has gigged in the past 5 years or so.
I'm trying to get the band to realize it's a performance, not just 6 people playing songs. One guitarist is constantly tuning and swapping guitars. We'll freeze our setlist by 2 February and rehearse 2x weekly as if it were at the gig. Hopefully, that'll solve some problems. (I quit a band that had a setlist but ignored it at gigs.)
I'd like to have a timer (computer?) count down time between song ends and next song starts. I did this in previous bands, but by using the video recording (ie, the next day ).
Has anyone ever done this timing during a rehearsal? How? How did it go?
I'm really trying to prevent Dead Air Syndrome, but I've already heard some remarks like "It'll be a very friend-filled crowd" and "It's our first gig, so we don't have to worry about that."
I'm trying to get the band to realize it's a performance, not just 6 people playing songs. One guitarist is constantly tuning and swapping guitars. We'll freeze our setlist by 2 February and rehearse 2x weekly as if it were at the gig. Hopefully, that'll solve some problems. (I quit a band that had a setlist but ignored it at gigs.)
I'd like to have a timer (computer?) count down time between song ends and next song starts. I did this in previous bands, but by using the video recording (ie, the next day ).
Has anyone ever done this timing during a rehearsal? How? How did it go?
I'm really trying to prevent Dead Air Syndrome, but I've already heard some remarks like "It'll be a very friend-filled crowd" and "It's our first gig, so we don't have to worry about that."
Why not start on the right foot, then? Sheesh. I am a rank amateur and I make sure that we roll from song to song with the shortest time possible. I play guitar and my Telecaster is pretty stable so it doesn't need constant retuning. This is an old thread, but I have tuning pedal. The others can bang away and I can tune quickly without stopping the show.
Of course, I guess I am not the nominal BL of my operation. The band prior, these goofballs had all week to get their ipads loaded in the right order but were flipping around at the last minute.
Current band the only slowdown seems to be the drummer reaching for his drink. I'm gonna ask him to drink in time with the kick drum, LOL.
I record everything and my favorite is when I pull it into Audacity and can't tell where one song ends and the next begins.
You're preaching to the choir, 3L! I'm surprised that didn't come through in my message. I wrote it during a quick break from a hectic workday, so that could be my fault.
It did come through. You seem to get it, your band mates don't. Start out on the right foot, stay on the right foot! Establish a standard from the get-go.
The previous band I was in would never use a set list and had too much dead time between songs (that's why it's my previous band). In the band I'm in now, the drummer is counting in the next song the instant the current song ends and you better be ready.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Every second of dead air seems like 10 to the audience. For a cover band, for the most part, there should be no more than a second or two between songs, and as much as possible, you should have medleys or have the tunes just flow from one to another. Most of us are no where as witty/interesting as they think they are when they "banter".
Agree with this and other parts of your message. Nobody came to hear banter. Or noodling!
At least bandmates can tune silently. Guitarists in previous band surprised the heck out of me when I actually heard them tuning. Took me back to high school days.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
If your instrument needs to be tuned more than once a set, you better find out what's wrong with it.
You ever play with a banjo?
Old riddle: How do you tune a banjo?Evidently no one knows!
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
You ever play with a banjo?
Evidently no one knows!
Yep, been there. But I was talking guitar and bass.
Set flow is important. Most civilians won't notice if you do set flow well, but even the most amateur listener will know when set flow is botched. Dead air is your enemy. Patter can only help overcome to a small degree. Most hobby band just don't get this and any band seeking to "make it" should make this a priority after the basics are sorted.
In a perfect world, the four count should be coming in when the last chord or cymbal hit of the last song is just ringing out.
In a perfect world, the four count should be coming in when the last chord or cymbal hit of the last song is just ringing out.
In a market as competitive as the Austin live music scene I don’t think there’s goong to much room for error or lack of professionalism.
1. Dead air and moronic stage banter are the mark of the amateur, and pretty much the kiss of death for a band as far as any audience or promoter is concerned. I haven’t heard a band I thought worth listening to that didn’t have their set list and progression down cold.
2. Tell your guitarist to grow up and stop behaving like such a bedroom player. People are paying to hear music. Not him tuning his instrument. If he can’t keep his Gibson in tune, he’d better learn how to string it properly, replace the tuners with something more stable, or get a different guitar.
3. Drummer needs to stop being so needy. Tell him just do a four count on sticks and bloody start already.
1. Dead air and moronic stage banter are the mark of the amateur, and pretty much the kiss of death for a band as far as any audience or promoter is concerned. I haven’t heard a band I thought worth listening to that didn’t have their set list and progression down cold.
2. Tell your guitarist to grow up and stop behaving like such a bedroom player. People are paying to hear music. Not him tuning his instrument. If he can’t keep his Gibson in tune, he’d better learn how to string it properly, replace the tuners with something more stable, or get a different guitar.
3. Drummer needs to stop being so needy. Tell him just do a four count on sticks and bloody start already.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Best show I ever saw was George Clinton back In the mid 90s. Not one dead second. The drummer litealy played three and a half hours without a break. End one song, and boom, groove for the next one
I surprised the band at last rehearsal by starting grooves for next song just after we finished one (we generally do one set per rehearsal). Glad that they realized what I was doing and why. It was our best rehearsal (of 8). It didn't hurt that we could hear the vocals clearly for the first time, thanks to new gear and better floor- and in-ear monitor mixes.
Now we've frozen the setlists so we can learn and practice all transitions at home, too.
Gig is gonna be fun!
Now we've frozen the setlists so we can learn and practice all transitions at home, too.
Gig is gonna be fun!
