How to NOT find the new member you're looking for.

[two fingers]

That's just f*ck!ng sad, and explains why live bands only get $100.00 per man. We've pissed in our own beer.

That simply isn't true. If the band members are COMPETENT you don't need a bunch of rehearsals.

 

[two fingers]

It sounds like what you are saying is there’s a ton of bands beneath your level looking for bass players.
This-is in your geographic area. Not like that in mine. I would love to see some ads needing bass players near me but it’s very slim pickings.
I will say this, there’s been zero CL add near me with ready to gig bands needing a fill in bassist. If there was, I would be all over it. The closer you get to a startup band. The more rehearsals you will need regardless of talent. Of course if everyone in the band likes the same 50 songs then 2 or 3 rehearsals should do it.

If you'll read back through my OP you'll see that I didn't mention bass players only. All kinds if bands looking for all kinds of players/singers to fill spots have mini rants about "commitment". Some if the ads looking for bass players specifically around here have "experienced players" and "gigs on the books"....and no rants about weekly rehearsals and commitments. Those are the ads I respond to offering my fill in services.

 

[brianrost]

Pros can show up and play, if you've got a book.

A couple of years ago I was hanging on a tour bus with a friend of mine who plays in a well-known recording/touring band. He introduced me to their new trumpeter who had just flown in, arriving at the venue a few hours before showtime. During the entire show, he sounded like he had been playing with them for years.

I was impressed

 

[FunkHead]

That simply isn't true. If the band members are COMPETENT you don't need a bunch of rehearsals.

That’s the beauty of music. Less competent musicians can put in 10 times the amount of time rehearsing and put on an equally great performance. You just chose not to play with them and there’s nothing wrong with that.

 

[two fingers]

I didn't say that. I was referring to more complicated music. The same could be true for yes or rush or beethoven or anything complicated. It's not limited to just the bands I mention.



Bullsh!t. But my question is, how long was that band together? Bands that have played together for a long time can bust out things very quickly. I've been there. However, when putting something together out of the air, it takes longer.

Reading music helps greatly, but most don't.

So, you're saying that any complicated music is the only music worth listening to? I'm not trying to bust your chops. But you're simply incorrect. Some of the most memorable performances I have ever witnessed were ridiculously talented musicians and singers pouring their hearts into incredibly simple melodies.

The is no correlation between complicated music and music worth listening to.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

Dadgum if you don't know how to flush 'em out, twofer. You got halfa' Talkbass ready to fight over this one.

 

[two fingers]

Dadgum if you don't know how to flush 'em out, twofer. You got halfa' Talkbass ready to fight over this one.

A feather or two may, or may not have, been ruffled.

You have my word that I was not trying to troll, though.

 

[GlennRH]

Guys, let's get real.

On one hand, two fingers, I agree entirely with your OP.

On the other hand, I completely disagree.

I believe that the critical difference lies in the number of musicians who either already make a living as musicians or believe that they could (and have the drive to) make a living as musicians.

We all know of whole bands comprising professional musicians. For a band as a unit to get to that level actually takes months of frequent, dedicated rehearsal.

KISS, for example: The original four guys essentially became full-time rehearsers for months in high rent, high-pressure NYC before they began gigging. Then, beginning as a gigging band was the stage (pun not intended) they had to sustain for additional months before they really got momentum as a pro band. Then, they had to work hard, steadily to sustain the momentum. I know of other examples, but not in the detail available about KISS.

To really make it as a pro band takes much commitment up-front. That involves significant investment and risk before hope of pay-off.

 

[brianrost]

How did we get from putting together a bar band to Kiss busting their butts when they started?

 

[two fingers]

On one hand, two fingers, I agree entirely with your OP.

On the other hand, I completely disagree.

I believe that the critical difference lies in the number of musicians who either already make a living as musicians or believe that they could (and have the drive to) make a living as musicians.

We all know of whole bands comprising professional musicians. For a band as a unit to get to that level actually takes months of frequent, dedicated rehearsal.

KISS, for example: The original four guys essentially became full-time rehearsers for months in high rent, high-pressure NYC before they began gigging. Then, beginning as a gigging band was the stage (pun not intended) they had to sustain for additional months before they really got momentum as a pro band. Then, they had to work hard, steadily to sustain the momentum. I know of other examples, but not in the detail available about KISS.

To really make it as a pro band takes much commitment up-front. That involves significant investment and risk before hope of pay-off.

While I see your point, I don't think bands making it big (becoming famous) is what we're talking about.

 

[CaseyVancouver]

OK, I have a band. I won't commit to another one. But I do enjoy fill in gigs. They challenge me, broaden my network, and are basically fun and interesting. As such, I glance at local CL ads from time to time, sometimes offering my services to bands looking for new members. ("I can't join another band. But if you have a couple of dates you need to play let me know. I may be a good fit to fill in." ... kind of thing.)

Doing so today I noticed a trend.

Lots of bands have ads up looking for a new singer, or bass player, or guitarist, etc. Many seem to have one thing in common. "You must be able to commit to rehearsals once or twice a week." Most of these bands aren't established. They don't have gigs on the books. They "plan to start playing out" "this fall", or "have connections at local venues" and "hope to be gigging soon".

Really? So, you want me to have great gear, have reliable transportation, have talent, AND be ready to rehearse once or twice a week, possibly in a neighboring town (meaning a twenty or thirty minute drive each way), for weeks and months for a band with no gigs?????

Guys, let's get real.

1) Most people just don't have that kind of time to commit. You're weeding out most of your potential new band members/applicants/auditions. There could be a perfect fit for your band reading your ad who could be ready in half a dozen rehearsals or less, but won't reply because all they see is an ad for a LOOOOOONG commitment and no guaranteed outcome.

2) If you NEED that kind of time to bring a show together, (sorry to say it but) you guys just can't play. Again, I'm sorry. But it's true. If you have to do a few dozen rehearsals to get ready to play at a bar, you're not ready to play in public period. Or you have chosen music that is beyond your scope.

Now, this is an entirely different category from those bands that just want "some people to jam with" once a week. Those people have stated the intended goal. Those people are looking for a weekly "card night" only with guitars and whatnot. If that is the stated, intended, goal, by all means, have your band the way you want it.

But if you have plainly stated that this band is NOT just for fun, rather to be a working, gigging band, one or two rehearsals per week for up to several months is utterly ridiculous. It is, quite simply, too much of a gamble to ask of someone.

Try this. Get organized. Make a setlist. Place an ad for the kind of musician you are looking for (talent, gear, the kinds of shows you either already play or want to, travel, frequency, look, vocals or not, etc.). Do NOT.... I repeat, DO NOT go off on some silly diatribe about commitment. It's asinine. Hammer that out later. If you get a response, send out the setlist. Inquire as to how long the person thinks it would take for him/her to get that setlist "gig ready". Go from there. Set up an audition to see if that person is a good fit.

If so, proceed as follows.

Split the list into thirds or fourths. Set up a rehearsal for each section. Then do another one to iron out any notes made during previous rehearsals. If absolutely unavoidable, do one more to run everything. Boom. Go get gigs.

Let the time commitment be done AT HOME. I can sit down for a little while each night, or after brunch on Saturday, or whenever, to get MY HOMEWORK done. We don't need to be in the same room TWENTY TIMES to be gig ready. Nobody needs to load up gear, drive anywhere from a few miles to another town over, load in, rehearse the same songs over and over again, load out, drive home, load in at home, take a few days off, rinse and repeat until Christmas. That's just dumb.

I've brought this up in previous threads. But it was so prevalent just now I thought it deserved its own thread.

As for the poll, I get it that "it depends". But what's your gut on this if we're not talking about a Yes or Rush tribute band.

CL is the worst place ever to get into a band. It was like that 40 years ago and like that today. Amateur time wasters. Just connect with folks you know who can play.

 

[Pings Bass]

I do skip those ads. This wasn't about any kind of band I would be interested in to begin with. It was about tue frequency with which I see those kinds of ads.

Considering that most people building bands on CL are hobbyists, I'm not at all surprised.

As a former semi-pro/current hobbyist, I get it. Especially among the youngins, this is how it works when you're doing something original and trying to make it on a scene.

It makes no sense for a classic rock boomer bar band, but those acts make no sense to me in the first place.

 

[two fingers]

CL is the worst place ever to get into a band. It was like that 40 years ago and like that today. Amateur time wasters. Just connect with folks you know who can play.

There was Craigslist in 1981????

 

[CaseyVancouver]

There was Craigslist in 1981????

Sorry I was thinking of the Buy and Sell. It was very much like CL is today, but in newspaper form.

 

[arbiterusa]

I did an all-original Comedy Central pilot in two rehearsals. That was all that they were going to pay for and so that’s all we got. It was live “in front of a studio audience” so no retakes. We had to have it down cold. No charts allowed either. We got the demos about two weeks before first rehearsal.

You play with the grownups and that’s the most you’re going to get. They’re not paying you union scale to take 10 rehearsals to learn a set.

 

[LBS-bass]

I have also joined bands that were just starting. I had to count every measure and commit everything to memory.

Yep. And I think the point TF is trying to make is that the lion's share of that work can be done in practice on your own. Agree on the version (studio? Some live thing on YouTube?) and then just learn it. You can come in and play it with your band mates just as easily as you can play along with YouTube, assuming they all learned it too.

The problem, which is a big one, is that most bands at the bar level won't have solid, dedicated players who are willing to make the time to do that. So then it's really on you to decide if the end product is worth the extra time you're going to spend rehearsing with those guys. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. But it absolutely can be done, and you can absolutely decide to hold out for situations where it's the norm rather than the exception, if you want to.

 

[gln1955]

I think the thread title misses the mark. The people posting these ads know exactly where they and their band is talent-wise and experience-wise and are posting an ad that is realistic for them. It would be misleading for them to recruit someone with the expectation that they will be ready to hit the stage after 2-3 rehearsals if there is no chance in hell that's gonna happen.

 

[LBS-bass]

I think the thread title misses the mark. The people posting these ads know exactly where they and their band is talent-wise and experience-wise and are posting an ad that is realistic for them. It would be misleading for them to recruit someone with the expectation that they will be ready to hit the stage after 2-3 rehearsals if there is no chance in hell that's gonna happen.

You might have a good point there. And there are plenty of bands that think committing to a weekly thing shows loyalty, or maybe they just want to mess around one night a week for a guitar party, which is fine too.

 

[BlueTalon]

It depends on the individuals. Some guys can go do a full gig with no rehearsal while some can rehearse for a year and never be ready for prime time.

I have lived both of these.

 

[Pings Bass]

A couple of years ago I was hanging on a tour bus with a friend of mine who plays in a well-known recording/touring band. He introduced me to their new trumpeter who had just flown in, arriving at the venue a few hours before showtime. During the entire show, he sounded like he had been playing with them for years.

I was impressed

Yeah, pros gonna pro

I used to work on alto sax and had some gigs like that. I did good enough to get called back, but I've never been comfortable enough sight reading to make a habit of it. Much prefer to get the music in advance and over-practice and/or do at least one sectional or full band rehearsal before a show.