I know this thread has been active for about 10 days, but I haven't read any of the posts or prepared anything to say.
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Just wow! (audition content)
- Thread starter mrcbass
- Start date
I agree. If he's lackadaisical about auditioning imagine how he'll be when his position is solidified in the band. I still would have liked to hear him play but as I said earlier, videos/recordings should be made available prior to the audition.
Virtually everyone has a cell phone and internet access.
There's really no excuse not to upload a demo to YouTube. Unless you have some thing to hide! 
I hear you! I don't think I'll ever again walk into an audition where I haven't heard or seen the band already. The last time I did it they weren't all that.
I was watching a YouTube video of a local band performing the Doobie Brothers "Listen to the Music" and the guitarist was playing a wrong chord in the chorus, a major chord instead of a minor. That to me is a huge red flag and is the sort of thing that drives me nuts. It's a popular and uncomplicated song chord-wise. If they can't tell the difference between major and minor that's going to create a problem for me and if you point out mistakes you may get push-back, ignored, labelled a troublemaker, etc. Best to stay away!
I applaud your suggestion of politeness, but when someone shows up totally unprepared, it's rude and disrespectful to the band, IMHO, and I don't think it's necessary to waste your time indulging them.
Yep. I'm not hand-holding people who don't have enough ear to know that what they're playing is wrong. And I would also just mention that the approach I talked about will work for someone who's seasoned enough to know they can walk into a situation and handle playing familiar material by ear. I don't recommend it to a beginner, of course. The person in the OP wasn't a beginner, though.
*** is this crap...coming to rehearsal unprepared..lolol...my dog ate my homework crowd...
Today my band had rehearsal two weeks ago we decided to add "power of love" HL / News song...we went through it 3 times and its done...because everyone was ready and knew their parts...not a hard song at all mind you but when everyone comes prepared its easy. Why is it so hard to prepare..there's even you tube now with all kinds of vids of people covering songs or teaching them...lol. I wish you could get sheet music like you tube..lol
Today my band had rehearsal two weeks ago we decided to add "power of love" HL / News song...we went through it 3 times and its done...because everyone was ready and knew their parts...not a hard song at all mind you but when everyone comes prepared its easy. Why is it so hard to prepare..there's even you tube now with all kinds of vids of people covering songs or teaching them...lol. I wish you could get sheet music like you tube..lol
Exactly. It's not hard, and doesn't take much time. It just needs band mates engaged enough to take the time to listen to the songs
Good luck, enjoy it - it looks like you have like minded band mates.
This has all the earmarks of a guy who was gonna blow you away. Albeit, he dropped the ball by playing ego games and lost the opportunity when the jig was lobbed back over the net.
A 15 watt amp is/can be plenty loud. He knew that that song was in a C alternate tuning which is true. He was jerking your chain but his ego would have caused problems down the road
A 15 watt amp is/can be plenty loud. He knew that that song was in a C alternate tuning which is true. He was jerking your chain but his ego would have caused problems down the road
Auditions are bizarre sometimes. I once went to one where they auditioned the other guy first and I got to hear him. I remember in the middle of the one song, he trainwrecked it so bad I started howling in the adjacent room- I thought ‘ I’ve got this’ .
I proceeded with my audition. I came prepared, had a great sound, and nailed it. Then, I asked them to call out any song- and nailed all of those too. The guys were loving it but the singer BL wasn’t.
The next day, they texted me and said they went with the other guy.
I believe the reason I didn’t get the gig was my cock-suredness
I proceeded with my audition. I came prepared, had a great sound, and nailed it. Then, I asked them to call out any song- and nailed all of those too. The guys were loving it but the singer BL wasn’t.
The next day, they texted me and said they went with the other guy.
I believe the reason I didn’t get the gig was my cock-suredness
Reminds me of an audition-
The BL talked on the phone and assured/warned me that they are all very serious/competent musicians before the big day; very particular about playing songs Gashole perfect-
He tells me their lead singer is this rough biker looking dude that sings like an angel; something that had to be seen and heard.
So I show up and set up my rig. Thank god I brought ear plugs- the drummer was insanely loud. My rig was cranked and they asked me to go louder; never seen that before.
As they proceeded to pulverize deep classic cuts like Aqualung and other acquired stuff, the angel singer pounds back a case of malt beer til he can’t even speak properly and then I heard it... a drunken angelic timbre...
It’s amazing how delusional some people are. I should have left immediately but stayed like an idiot
I dunno, that sounds like Hollywood fantasy to me.
There’s a lot of mediocrity out there!There is, which is why you don't drive away That One Guy before he has a chance to show you what he can do.I dunno, that sounds like Hollywood fantasy to me.
To me it sounded like the guy might have been seasoned enough that he took a look at their song list, saw the usual fare, said to himself "I can play those songs, no worries," and just never took it so seriously because, after all, there's a lot of mediocrity out there. That in no way means he wouldn't have taken it seriously if he'd decided this was the band he wanted to play with.
His error, if that were the case, was in not coming in with his own list- that was taken from their list- of things he could do without any special tuning, prep, etc. so that he would at least make the impression that he did some preparation. For me, when I walk into an audition like that, I know what my strongest songs are and if I have any qualms about any of the material I walk in with my own "warm up" suggestions so that I can make the best impression possible out of the gate. I do this mainly because so many bands will give you a list and then bring you in and start calling songs that weren't on it. So I've learned to drive the audition process myself rather than letting them do it. Saves us all a lot of angst.
Unfortunately before a note was played they tossed a couple of wrenches at him (and didn't even know that Can't Get Enough was in an alternate tuning to begin with) and he didn't then say, let's start with this one instead. But maybe them not knowing how that song was supposed to be tuned was the Big Red Flag he needed to decide this wasn't going to work for him, either. There are bars that we set for competence, we all set them, and we all know when those bars aren't met.
There really are some people who don't need to over-prepare for the local bar band because they've got a good ear and they've played a lot and they know that they've got this. But they're rare at the local level. And that doesn't mean they won't prepare for your rehearsals if they decide you're the band they want to be in.
Then again, this guy might have just had some sort of dementia going. That's sort of what it sounds like to me.
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You got that rightI dunno, that sounds like Hollywood fantasy to me.
I got a lot of negative feedback when I suggested that a band adhere to some very minimal standards before playing a gig, but I'm going to say the same thing here - You should set some minimal standards FOR YOURSELF before going on auditions.
You should at minimum:
1) Know the songs you will be playing
2) Have reliable, gig-worthy equipment
3) Be able to play your instrument at some minimal level; If someone says the song is in the key of A and you can't find an A on your bass, you're not ready.
If anyone thinks this is setting the bar too high, I've probably auditioned you. hint - you didn't get asked back. This is from personal experience as the audtioner. I've mentioned a couple of times that I'm in a Rockabilly band and when we auditioned bass players we had people show up with instruments that looked (and sounded) like they came from a sears catalogue, didn't know a single tune out of the 10 they were asked to pick 5 from, and couldn't follow a simple blues progression. I'm not saying you have to have a Fodera and play like Geddy Lee, but have some professional pride.
You should at minimum:
1) Know the songs you will be playing
2) Have reliable, gig-worthy equipment
3) Be able to play your instrument at some minimal level; If someone says the song is in the key of A and you can't find an A on your bass, you're not ready.
If anyone thinks this is setting the bar too high, I've probably auditioned you. hint - you didn't get asked back. This is from personal experience as the audtioner. I've mentioned a couple of times that I'm in a Rockabilly band and when we auditioned bass players we had people show up with instruments that looked (and sounded) like they came from a sears catalogue, didn't know a single tune out of the 10 they were asked to pick 5 from, and couldn't follow a simple blues progression. I'm not saying you have to have a Fodera and play like Geddy Lee, but have some professional pride.
Well, I have to admit that, it depends on the audition, but unless I need an specific effect, I tend to take just my bass and my tuner to an audition. As I said, it depends of course (if they asked me a song and I need a chorus, I will also take it with me).
Said that, I have been in a couple of auditions like that. Some years ago, my band was looking for a singer. 4 people came and 3 of them didn't know the just one song we asked them to know. They all "kinda knew the song, but not the lyrics". It was a waste of time obviously. A year later, we had to look for a drummer and one of them didn't even heard the songs in advance. I will never understand this kind of people.
Said that, I have been in a couple of auditions like that. Some years ago, my band was looking for a singer. 4 people came and 3 of them didn't know the just one song we asked them to know. They all "kinda knew the song, but not the lyrics". It was a waste of time obviously. A year later, we had to look for a drummer and one of them didn't even heard the songs in advance. I will never understand this kind of people.
I'll add one more thing to this nice concise breakdown: Show up to an audition as if you're going to a gig.
I check with the contact to see what size amp I need, I generally don't bring a backup to an audition and I personally don't get caught up in over dressing for auditions (I address casually nice for the weather). But besides prepping the songs, I show up at the door gear-wise (bass, amp, bag, mic and stand etc) just as if I was showing up for a gig which demonstrates that I know how to prep for a gig. Aside from people not knowing the songs, I get pretty annoyed when it takes someone 30 minutes to load in and set up, so yeah even this is part of the impression as well.
Agree, it's really important to make sure you have everything you need. The last audition I went to, I was told that there was a bass amp there. I tossed my little Fender combo in the car, anyway. Sure enough, about halfway through the audition process the provided amp stopped functioning. I swapped out the cable, switched to passive mode, and when none of that worked I went out and got my own combo, plugged it in and finished up. I ended up deciding not to play with that band, but at least I was able to made a good impression.
That's one audition I really had to prepare hard for because I didn't know any of the songs already. But I would bring my own gear to any audition, just in case.
Excellent point. I usually cover "how loud do you guys play" before I agree to an audition, but it's a good idea to bring the right size amp.
