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Losing my mojo............

#81
I quit about 3 years ago. I play at church now. Thinking of going back to upright and "legit" playing. Chamber music, maybe the local symphony.

I'd like to play some contemporary jazz but there's no venues or players around here. Very limited in venues and audience that wants to listen to anything other than classic rock/country - not that there's anything wrong with that.
 
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#82
I really agree with many of the sentiments expressed here, but particularly this- "Guitar driven bands are dying."

They really and truly are, the future is not tearing peoples faces off with a blistering guitar solo. Few if any people want to hear it anymore. They want manufactured crap, and most of all I think they want a singer who puts on a show or a dj.

If you are in a band with a too-loud drummer, and a too-loud guitard, (or worse more than one too-loud guitard) it will not end well.
 
#83
obimark said:
I really agree with many of the sentiments expressed here, but particularly this- "Guitar driven bands are dying."

They really and truly are, the future is not tearing peoples faces off with a blistering guitar solo. Few if any people want to hear it anymore. They want manufactured crap, and most of all I think they want a singer who puts on a show or a dj.

If you are in a band with a too-loud drummer, and a too-loud guitard, (or worse more than one too-loud guitard) it will not end well.
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In a way I agree. Tons of hard rock and metal bands still going strong and even pop artists have some guitar, same with country. But it's more integrated as part of the band sound as opposed to a Van Halen where the whole focus was on the guitar. But the emphasis on shredding and solos isn't there anymore. People especially girls want songs they can sing along and dance to.
 
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#84
I just got back from a DJ gig which had a very stressful start but I figured out the source of the crackling and distortion before people started filling the dance floor, and the last five and a half hours went very well. So, bands aren't the only frustrating ones, but still, getting to play all the songs I want and having them sound right removes one of the biggest frustrations I've had with bands. Friday morning I didn't even know Sofia Reyes existed, tonight I got to play her awesome new single with Wisin. A band would have to be really, REALLY good to offer me that. So, you can take up DJing at age 39 and do fine. Armin van Buuren recently posted a link to a Polish lady who took it up at age 60.

The "guitar groups are on the way out" thing is a quote from Decca's rejection letter to the Beatles. It's funny in retrospect - Decca were just a few decades ahead of their time.
 
#86
pklima said:
I just got back from a DJ gig which had a very stressful start but I figured out the source of the crackling and distortion before people started filling the dance floor, and the last five and a half hours went very well. So, bands aren't the only frustrating ones, but still, getting to play all the songs I want and having them sound right removes one of the biggest frustrations I've had with bands. Friday morning I didn't even know Sofia Reyes existed, tonight I got to play her awesome new single with Wisin. A band would have to be really, REALLY good to offer me that. So, you can take up DJing at age 39 and do fine. Armin van Buuren recently posted a link to a Polish lady who took it up at age 60.

The "guitar groups are on the way out" thing is a quote from Decca's rejection letter to the Beatles. It's funny in retrospect - Decca were just a few decades ahead of their time.
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No offense but you didn't "play" anything- you pushed a button and started somebody else's MP3. But I agree, Guitar groups, particularly, LOUD guitar groups are dying fast.
 
#88
Like the OP I'm pretty burned out on the "real music played by real people on real instruments" thing, especially the people part. I'm just dealing with it in a different way. And I'm sure there are singers who are relieved that I'm not trying to talk them into covering "Muevelo".
 
#89
pklima said:
Like the OP I'm pretty burned out on the "real music played by real people on real instruments" thing, especially the people part. I'm just dealing with it in a different way. And I'm sure there are singers who are relieved that I'm not trying to talk them into covering "Muevelo".
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They are EXTREMELY relieved my friend.
Muevelo?
No.
I know I would be irritated by the suggestion.

I fully agree on the dealing with people part, it is a pain in the @$$, but it is what it is.
 
#90
Yea, I'm taking a break as well. Permanently??? Who knows? I'm getting into a DAW and seeing what I can create with that. Last time I did any recording of my own stuff was on a Tascam 4-track cassette deck. So, I'm looking into what I can create with this stuff.

Some people say that the best part of being a musician is the interaction of playing with other musicians. I guess... but, it sure does require a LOT of patience and, as we age, that's ONE thing that goes right out the window. You know, "I don't have to deal with THIS..... I've played THIS song a BILLION times....... What's with THAT guy's attitude???....." The list goes on and on.

Like other relationships, you find yourself back in one after a time and, I guess we're wiser for it, having learned other things from the previous one to be used is the present one but, again, as one ages some get the opinion of; "eh, I like being by myself". Sure, you don't get that interaction but, you don't have to deal with "stuff" either.

I need strings on my main bass and honestly, I can't even get up the desire to get and replace them. It'll come back. I guess.
 
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#91
I was feeling that way when i was 25 years old. decades ago,. Thats why i decided to be a side guy.. And get my own production place together to do other people demos etc... Its way more challenging, and fun.. Always mixes it up. you can pick and choose... Rarely get tired of playing with the same band for too long.... Until they try to rope you in because they dig what you do. Ha..... Downside is keeping up on new stuff and havering a HUGE repertoire of old back catalog going back to the 40s in your head of numerous styles ... Thats hard work... But not digging a swimming pool with a hand shovel
But just ear training and familiarizing with jazz. pop, church stuff traditional and new, RnB, country, rock, Alt , swing. TX swing etc. will get you though anything.. and you get paid!

No one is going to play the tunes exactly the same as the last guy.. At least i hope not.. I prefer they not want me to be that way UNLESS it is a TRIBUTE band..or original artist.. Of which many say do what you want.. but stay in the framework
I like when i have a gig with an artist or player and they say.. Look Do your own thing, just listen t the format and stay to that, but add yourself to the song. They trust you to do the right thing.. and you do.. .
The only thing that makes it suck is when you gig with a band that has a drummer that cant groove... Time is real important for a drummer.. But Time by itself is not groove.. Its a different thing... Many drummers will never get that. There is only a handful that do. and they usually have all the great gigs that people pay money to go see at the local concert joint!

DWBass said:
Anyone just find themselves getting less interested in being in a band anymore? I've been feeling this way for a while now. I quit a band last summer due to a lot of factors but mostly due to playing with musicians well below my skill level. Since I moved to this area in 2001 (SE Virginia/Hampton Roads), I have been an quite a few bands but ultimately I left them because they just never progressed musically and skill wise. Along with some personality conflicts! I have done a few sub gigs and one offs since then. Always leaving unfullfilled! I have now tentatively joined a band but after a couple gettogethers, I'm feeling less than enthused and unmotivated and may end up bailing. Just tired and becoming less interested in learning a crapload of tunes to end up playing with cats who don't play them properly. I'm tired of being THAT guy who always tells them they are playing it wrong or who complains about playing obscure tunes or tunes I know for sure won't go over well with the demographic we are playing to. I'm just tired. It was cool for 40 years but I've had enough!

Ok, RANT over. Anyone else feel the same way?
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#92
In my opinion.. As humans we all make mistakes.. A drummer starting a song 1 bpm too slow could be considered a mistake.. A singer not phrasing properly with other harmonies could be considered a mistake. The only thing that does not make a mistake is a machine preprogrammed..
I see so many bands that play in time but the feel is not right... To me, that is a disaster even though they played every note correctly..
Its no about the notes all the time.. Mistakes are gonna happen. Its how you recover from them that makes a pro a pro...
Ive heard bands where everyone is so preoccupied about not making a mistake that they either make a Mistake or the pocket and flow is non existent.. Music is meant to deliver sound pitch and meter and convey a mood or message of some sort.. Could you imagine an old Peter Gabriel record or Stevie ray Vaughn or Hendrix record that is Protooled to death and fixed and tweaked to death? They wouldn't be the classics that they are today if it were.. .. SRV rushed and was so on top of a beat at times he sped up the whole band from the beginning tempo..
Peter gabriel.. although much more polish still has feel and human.. and mistakes if you listen..
Mistakes are made.. and can be acceptable if not teh same spot all the time. . But INCOMPETENCE has No excuse and needs to be deleted.


craig.p said:
Yeah. Me. I've been doing this for more than 40 years, and I'd say 95% of the bands I've been in during the past twenty years were mediocre at best, with "whatev" attitudes and sloppiness and lack of commitment to the work and/or even to be at gigs that were known about weeks ago. But I knew if I stuck it out, kept looking, kept practicing every day at home, kept adding songs to my portfolio, that something would come around sooner or later, where people were actually serious about their work. Well, it did -- a band in which mistakes aren't tolerated, even at rehearsals. (You mean you actually get fired for making X number of mistakes per unit time? Yep.) And all the players are great in terms of raw technical ability. Just played my first gig with them yesterday. Place went wild. I was totally stoked to be on stage with these pros.

Patience and persistence, that's my advice. And above all, don't compromise when deciding whether or not to join a band, because the best way never to find the band that's right for you is to keep joining the ones that are almost right for you.
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#93
SVT, I think all they're trying to do is put up a first line of defense against the inrush of CL effluent they'd otherwise have had to put up with. Basically it's the same set of requirements any studio rat wannabe would face. Nothing really extreme, in other words, just a big step up out of the low end of ordinary that we all have to deal with on a constant basis but would prefer to avoid.

I too have seen the bands you refer to in your second paragraph. I too think it's regrettable. However, the guys I'm with play with as much feel as I've ever heard (they're both PRS shredders), they're totally locked into the click, and they don't make mistakes. They just don't. I've been around, played with lots of A-listers over the years. What can I say, other than if true pros make mistakes, then these guys have stolen the title but I guess the cops haven't shown up yet.
 
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#95
i know.. I was called to do a gig this past week..They called me .. I know them through a friend of mine... I was a SUB.. sadly the guitar player made one clunker after another. on cover material that he has been playing with them for 5 years . Place was packed..
weird thing was I was the Sub and it was the drummer and I that kept the songs from falling apart.... I know their songs better than they did... At times im glad my hair is longer so i can hang my head in shame. I thought it was going to be fun... turned out to be work! HA

They called me yesterday and asked me if i wanted to join.. I declined nicely.. Good thing was, the local music paper was their shooting photos with one of the hot rock photographers in the state.. So at least i got some real good action shots that if i were to pay him would cost me a fortune .. The guy isn't cheap to hire... HA . so it wasn't a total loss.


craig.p said:
SVT, I think all they're trying to do is put up a first line of defense against the inrush of CL effluent they'd otherwise have had to put up with. Basically it's the same set of requirements any studio rat wannabe would face. Nothing really extreme, in other words, just a big step up out of the low end of ordinary that we all have to deal with on a constant basis but would prefer to avoid.

I too have seen the bands you refer to in your second paragraph. I too think it's regrettable. However, the guys I'm with play with as much feel as I've ever heard (they're both PRS shredders), they're totally locked into the click, and they don't make mistakes. They just don't. I've been around, played with lots of A-listers over the years. What can I say, other than if true pros make mistakes, then these guys have stolen the title but I guess the cops haven't shown up yet.
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#96
svtb15 said:
i know.. I was called to do a gig this past week..They called me .. I know them through a friend of mine... I was a SUB.. sadly the guitar player made one clunker after another. on cover material that he has been playing with them for 5 years . Place was packed..
weird thing was I was the Sub and it was the drummer and I that kept the songs from falling apart.... I know their songs better than they did... At times im glad my hair is longer so i can hang my head in shame. I thought it was going to be fun... turned out to be work! HA

They called me yesterday and asked me if i wanted to join.. I declined nicely.. Good thing was, the local music paper was their shooting photos with one of the hot rock photographers in the state.. So at least i got some real good action shots that if i were to pay him would cost me a fortune .. The guy isn't cheap to hire... HA . so it wasn't a total loss.
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Lol, congratulations on the free promo. Man, wish I could fall into something sweet like that. Last band I was in did pro photos a couple months ago but they've been waiting in the can for a web site to be coded up, but I quit a few weeks ago so I guess I'm not getting any freebies out of that deal.

Your story kinda blows up a theory I had, though. I thought (back to the thread) losing one's mojo was heavily influenced by the region you're working in. Up here in NH it's pretty much a desert. Tough to find anyone who doesn't have at least one negative thing going on. However, I'd have thought in Austin and NYC there'd be hot/capable players all over the place, like you couldn't avoid tripping over them, and the mediocre ones would be in the darker corners out of everyone else's way. Guess I was wrong.
 
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#97
Same story everywhere, I guess. But as suggested by others, don't give up bass. I'd instead suggest shelving it for a while and picking up a new instrument like drums. Or guitar. That's what I did when I got sick of being unable to find competent musicians and it gave me a whole new direction on my own music, composition, locking in, etc. It's a lot more fun to be able to play multiple instruments too, especially now that getting into professional recording at home has become affordable.

At any rate, you haven't given up on music, just the musicians around you. I guarantee that after a few months of solitude, you'll feel refreshed and ready to play out again. Could use the time trying to form a band with professionals, just get in touch and toss a few ideas about. Don't atrophy!
 
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#98
I feel ya. I got burned out back in '86 after 20 years with bands and decided to take a break for awhile. That was 28 years ago and the last time I played with a band. I'd just had enough. I still play my basses and a little guitar, but strictly for my own gratification.
 
#100
Yeah there are plenty of jam sessions but mostly are rock or blues which I'm not particularly into. I've been to a few and really don't like the waiting game. You get there early, sign up thinking you'll be on early and get to go home early...next thing you know it's 10pm by the time you get to play and your whole evening is shot.

I am getting calls to sub which I will do every now and then. I'm not going to quit playing but I will not be playing with any sub par musicians any longer. I've had enough of it! Was at rehearsal last night in prep for 2 gigs I have to fullfill and it was just horrible. Keyboard players have no frikkin' clue. Still don't know the material and the gigs are Thursday and Friday. SMDH! Drummer/BL is still rearranging songs without even playing them properly. I just could not lock in with him. He has no clue how to work with a bassist. Just doing his own damn thing. Plays songs way too fast! I have to keep reminding him of that! Glad I'm just doing these 2 gigs. He'd get sick of me for sure for riding his @$$ all the time!
 
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