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If only I knew then what I know now...

#161
If you're a good player, you can *always* find another band. If you're not a good player, get good. It's nice to know that you're an asset to any band you're in, because it makes it much easier to fire your band when it goes dysfunctional. Life is too short to stress out over music all the time.

If you know exactly how a band should run, what kind of music it should play, etc., you need to start that band. If you join an existing band, you're not in charge. Go with the flow, don't impose your will on the band.
 
#162
1) Just because everyone agrees to something in a meeting doesn't mean they really agree. Follow thru is what counts.
2) beware of the guy who is in 3 other bands, no matter how important he says this band is
3) Even if the band is a democracy, somebody has to take the lead in rehearsals, on stage and in bookings.
 
#164
mambo4 said:
The ones that leap to mind are already mentioned:

Vocals are the priority, and will generally make or break your band's sound. Vocal mistakes are easily perceived by the audience, most instrumental flubs go unheard.

Pay attention to dynamics. After the vocals, this is what most of the audience are following.

Practice your parts alone; rehearse as a whole band. Rehearsal is not for you to figure out your own parts.

Be clear about band/artistic/musical/ goals, make sure everybody is on the same or similar wavelengths.

Be clear about job/family/non-band priorities, make sure everybody is on the same or similar wavelengths.

One new one:
Be very wary of playing in a band with your buddies. Friendships can be destroyed by the challenges of being in a band.
Click to expand...

But I have to say the one key thing I wished I'd known "first time around" would be:

Getting Gigs is just a numbers game which can be stacked in your favour by including (at least some) covers in every set
 
#166
Heres one:

If you usually play a 5 string, and the bass lines you write are using the B string, and your back up bass is a four string. Make sure you know what your bass line is on a four string just incase your 5 string breaks.

People do play with basses that have 5, 6, 7 ect strings and might have a 4 string as a back - up bass. If this is you, figure out your bass line on a four string bass.
 
#169
4. Some people will not change their essential nature. Move on.
If a guy is a selfish, combative bandmate, he's probably that way with other people in his life. If he won't change for people he's known all his life, what makes you think he'll change just because he's in your band? Life's too short and there are too many other musicians out there. Find one that's a decent human being.

Plus 1
 
#170
I find that in my current situation, which is playing in an upcoming band with a few good friends isn't the greatest idea in some ways.

We are all real good friends so when we get together usually we do more hanging out, getting drunk, doing drugs (nothing H-core don't worry!), than actually getting down to business and writing structural compelling songs.

Don't get me wrong, our improv jams rock the house, its just the matter of getting down to business and getting serious about creating a band and music together. We are all on the same generall wavelength in terms of musical interests and where we want to take the band.

I would love some feedback on my post. I can elaborate if needed also.

PS: another good thing ive seen in this thread is practicing your own parts on your own at home. This must be done by every single bass player in a band hands down, if you can play a song in time, without missing a part/section by yourself IMO you will be helping your bandmates out tons. But your EQ practicing at home and preforming with the band will most likely be different, depends on what kind of sound your band has.

GREAT THREAD BTW.
 
#172
damn good info guys ...i agree with 99.9 % of the stuff you all said
someone should write a book of do's and dont's for young people starting bands

I really agree with everyone should know there part and be able to play it by themselves
if everyone can do this , then together it is magic ! practice at home is critical ..
and do avoid anyone on drugs ...it will always cause issues
 
#173
I am glad to find so much useful (and a little overboard) information here and other threads, since I just picked up the bass in September. Actually it was given to me by the guitar player since I refused to try to squeeze my keyboard in a 9x11 bedroom with guitar, amps, pa, drums and few dressers! You can't turn around without knocking something over. When I accidentally hit a cymbal with my bass, the drummer said, "You play the bass, I'll play the drums!" It's funny but we need a bigger space. Also, I have all the gear needed to record, mix and master, so my importance in the band is pretty high. (Glad to know that!) We currently do all original tunes and do not plan to do covers. However, someone here suggested it might help getting gigs.

I've just put together some CDs of our tunes, one without drums for the drummer and one without guitar and one without lead for the guitar player so we can get over that "not practicing" during the week. If you've got the gear this can be a great help. And that way the songs are played the same way every time.

dholowach said:
We are all real good friends so when we get together usually we do more hanging out, getting drunk, doing drugs (nothing H-core don't worry!), than actually getting down to business and writing structural compelling songs.

Don't get me wrong, our improv jams rock the house, its just the matter of getting down to business and getting serious about creating a band and music together. We are all on the same generall wavelength in terms of musical interests and where we want to take the band.
Click to expand...

My comment here would be, Do you record what you play and listen to it when you are sober? I try to record every session we do, with the intention of eventually getting good enough takes to make a professional CD, but also to listen to what needs to be fixed. The other band members will often say, "What a great practice" or "great take", but then when we listen to it, it's like "That's screwed" or "we weren't together there".

Also, I currently tend to have a beer always at my elbow during practice because I can drink quite a lot without noticeable effects, but that is not the case for the guitar player. After one, maybe two drinks, he is showing all the signs of an alcohol/sugar rush and starts playing more enthusiastically but with less technique and shouts more of the lyrics than sings, and then within 30 minutes or so starts playing slower and slower due to the sugar crash. He is finally starting to realize what is happening, since it's affecting the productivity of our practices, and I may even offer not to drink myself for at least the first few hours so we can get some work done. Rather than a "no drinking" rule, adapt it. And as far as drugs, like alcohol, your playing can sound great to you (because what you imagine in your head) but listen to it sober and you might change your jam session habits.

-------
I hope to be a good bass player one day.
 
#177
I one time joined a band and help the formation of it after the guitar player was doing most of the singing and sounded very decent he all of a sudden wanted to try out singers but once a girl came in the picture things took a turn for the worse in my opinion the songs seemed to evolve around "her" and some seemed to have a love direction...well i was not digging that and it showed..... make a long story short i left,then the drummer..... and the guitar player had a relationship with the girl singer who once said her and her female friend made a deal not to get into a relationship ..yeah right...i got to follow them on myspace funny as hell they broke up and so did the band!
 
#178
Mr. Lovejoy said:
I love how there are hundreds of points here covering every aspect of band life, yet people still have the gall to say "have fun :D"
Click to expand...

If you do the opposite of the advice in this thread, how much fun will that be? All the good advice in this thread seems to have been distilled from a few hundred years of cumulative experiences.

Sure, it won't give you more talent but at least you'll be able to recognize when you're in a crappy situation. Whether you stay or not will be your choice and much less the result of some lack of knowledge on your part.

You can learn from others experiences or you can stick your finger in the light socket to find out for yourself. The choice is yours.
 
#180
Stumbo said:
If you do the opposite of the advice in this thread, how much fun will that be? All the good advice in this thread seems to have been distilled from a few hundred years of cumulative experiences.

Sure, it won't give you more talent but at least you'll be able to recognize when you're in a crappy situation. Whether you stay or not will be your choice and much less the result of some lack of knowledge on your part.

You can learn from others experiences or you can stick your finger in the light socket to find out for yourself. The choice is yours.
Click to expand...
My post said nothing about disregarding the information in this thread. Personally I think most of the points provided should be heeded by every musician.

The only thing I posted about was the irony of saying to frantically "dot every I and cross every T or suffer the consequences" then punctuate the statement with "but remember, just have fun!"


I also think it was worth pointing out that people should pay attention to what was pointed out, but I do not appreciate that coming as a reply to my post as if I was somehow saying people should not pay attention to what was posted here. Please don't put words in my mouth just to make a point.
 

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