It's a new high-tech world in band management

[two fingers]

Two of the clubs we play will only book shows via Facebook message.

Just now, paid my band using PayPal for the first time.

We share a Google calendar that we all use for blackout dates, shows, rehearsals, etc.

My guitarist and I share charts. He just sent me one. I printed from my phone using my wireless network printer.

My whole lighting rig weighs 30 pounds including stands. I control it wirelessly via a foot controller on stage. It's bright enough to melt your retina and has 7 colors per light. It takes approximately a minute and a half to set up.

My church uses Planning Center online to do all of the above (except pay....which we don't want).

I learn my songs by syncing my Spotify account with the AmazingSlowDowner app, and Bluetooth those songs to my little mixer where I run my bass, songs and vocals into headphones, which are IEM buds with 5 tiny speakers in them.

That same guitar player uses whatever the newest and greatest Line6 modeler is. As much as I hate to admit it, the thing sounds incredible.

Lots of bass players have amazing sounding, stupid loud rigs that weigh fifty pounds total.... or less..... some way less.

Our PA....including subs.....would fit into an average minivan....with room for drums. And its ridiculously clean and loud.

We run sound from an iPad. I'm able to tweak my in-ears mix from my phone. We save an image for every place we play so that all we have to do next time is turn the dang thing on and start playing.

I'm posting this thread for the whole interwebz to see using my thumbs.... and a phone.

When I started this little journey into live music, band organization took place over the phone lines or in person. I actually got a few checks in the mail the Tuesday after gigs. Charts were hand written. Songs were learned from cassettes you had to buy to get a song or (hopefully) somebody in the band had.... and would make you a copy from a double deck. Transposing was on you. Every rig weighed a metric ton. PA weighed even more.

It's a fascinating time to be in music.

 

[PauFerro]

I send the set list via Colornote, a great phone app, and everyone gets a YouTube Playlist of songs to learn. I rarely buy CD's because I can get most of what I need via YouTube.

I still use checks, but deposit them using my phone. No more trips to the bank if I can help it. I can dial in effects to my amplifier via my phone.

 

[DirtDog]

Two of the clubs we play will only book shows via Facebook message.

Just now, paid my band using PayPal for the first time.

We share a Google calendar that we all use for blackout dates, shows, rehearsals, etc.

My guitarist and I share charts. He just sent me one. I printed from my phone using my wireless network printer.

My whole lighting rig weighs 30 pounds including stands. I control it wirelessly via a foot controller on stage. It's bright enough to melt your retina and has 7 colors per light. It takes approximately a minute and a half to set up.

My church uses Planning Center online to do all of the above (except pay....which we don't want).

I learn my songs by syncing my Spotify account with the AmazingSlowDowner app, and Bluetooth those songs to my little mixer where I run my bass, songs and vocals into headphones, which are IEM buds with 5 tiny speakers in them.

That same guitar player uses whatever the newest and greatest Line6 modeler is. As much as I hate to admit it, the thing sounds incredible.

Lots of bass players have amazing sounding, stupid loud rigs that weigh fifty pounds total.... or less..... some way less.

Our PA....including subs.....would fit into an average minivan....with room for drums. And its ridiculously clean and loud.

We run sound from an iPad. I'm able to tweak my in-ears mix from my phone. We save an image for every place we play so that all we have to do next time is turn the dang thing on and start playing.

I'm posting this thread for the whole interwebz to see using my thumbs.... and a phone.

When I started this little journey into live music, band organization took place over the phone lones or in person. I actually got a few checks in the mail the Tuesday after gigs. Charts were hand written. Songs were learned from cassettes you had to buy to get a song or (hopefully) somebody in the band had.... and would make you a copy from a double deck. Transposing was on you. Every rig weighed a metric ton. PA weighed even more.

It's a fascinating time to be in music.

I came from the same place and time as you did - and when I last gigged, it was almost the same experience as yours. In that band, we used Slack to coordinate. I think my drummer (the gig getter) was working the traplines using only social media...maybe email at the least. I had all of our setlist and lyric/chord sheets set up (and shareable) on the iPad using the SetLists app. Drummer would pay us out using a mobile banking app.

Think about all the R&D that went into those improvements over just the last 15-20 years!

 

[dtripoli]

Is this a 21st century thing? If yes, I got a lot of catching up to do.

 

[richntiff]

Isn't it cool???!!!

 

[zjanderson]

What's an amp?

 

[two fingers]

What's an amp?

Yeah I realized after my post that MY version of "high tech" will probably be "adorable" to some people who really are on the cutting edge.

 

[jshinal]

Our current guitarist agrees with me entirely about guitar tones and how to achieve them. Finding another like-minded genius is a miracle. He can get the same sound from a Fender Deluxe and small pedalboard that he gets from his highly tweaked Line6 voices. We are happy heretics.

We share a Box site to share example songs, but we each chart our own stuff. We have a shared Google calendar at last, and a private FB group. We haven't done e-payments yet, but I expect that will come soon.

I cannot believe the trove of musical instruction on YouTube. We only use it for educational purposes, but still it's an amazing resource.

 

[Bullitt5135]

Sadly, too many venue owners are using that same tech to click the button that plays music without having to pay for a band. But that's another thread altogether. I've been trying to get my band to go full digital on the BM side for a while now, but it's still a chore to get people to stay on top of it.

 

[zjanderson]

Yeah I realized after my post that MY version of "high tech" will probably be "adorable" to some people who really are on the cutting edge.

Ha! I wish my band were on the cutting edge of tech. Our PA system is way too massive and entirely analog. Works like a charm though.

 

[Torrente Cro]

There's another side of it...
I started using Facebook and WhatsUp because modern kids (my band mates) don't read emails anymore.
In ex band we used Google group for band discussions but it was too complicated for modern kids, it's too "structured".
Technology gets better, but unfortunately it helps some people get stupider.

 

[mmon77]

That same guitar player uses whatever the newest and greatest Line6 modeler is. As much as I hate to admit it, the thing sounds incredible.

Helix. And you should see if he'll let you run your bass through there sometime. I really like the SVT models, and think they sound great. You can also do the crossed-over dual amp setup, with dirt on only the high end, and then blend it back together in the end. It's got me considering going ampless.

Modern technology is amazing.

 

[two fingers]

Helix. And you should see if he'll let you run your bass through there sometime. I really like the SVT models, and think they sound great. You can also do the crossed-over dual amp setup, with dirt on only the high end, and then blend it back together in the end. It's got me considering going ampless.

Modern technology is amazing.

Yeah he keeps saying I need to borrow it and try it out. I think next time I play in church I will. We're all in-ears anyway.

 

[40Hz]

The advantages are real despite the mixed blessings and flat out negatives that came along for the ride.

But for the most part it's been pretty good for most players. So there's that.

 

[Ghook]

It is amazing huh? I love the tech but you have to embrace it or , for folks my age and up, late 60's, it can scare you to death.

 

[twocargar]

I have a mixer without knobs and sliders that uses an iPad and my bandmates (except for the drummer) hated it--I think because they didn't understand the whole concept. Now the guitarist brings his own mixer and every practice and gig we have to do a full soundcheck because he won't mark the settings with tape or whatever. On my mixer, I had saved images from every venue and our practice space, like OP mentioned. I tried to explain how technology is saving time, but I lost out in the end.

 

[Joshua Pickenpaugh]

Yeah, but I'm still waiting on my hoverboard.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

I got about two years on ya', (starin' down the barrel of 50, myself...) but you've most definitely got a better gig.

I do agree though, most things have certainly changed for the better since when I first started gigging 30-some years ago.

 

[two fingers]

It is amazing huh? I love the tech but you have to embrace it or , for folks my age and up, late 60's, it can scare you to death.

My mother (lower 70s) literally breaks out in a sweat when I try to show her how to use her phone.

 

[Turbo Sparky]

Yep, it's a pretty cool time in music.
Beethoven was deaf, had a metronome that kept going out of time, wrote with real lead and Quill instruments, and I still can't play Fur d'Elise at speed...sheesh.
At our upcoming holiday gig, there will be a REAL DJ spinning vinyl before the gig, between bands, and after.
Slow Downer App is sahweet!