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Not a gig report, an audition report.....

#21
When it comes to gig reports, we all live in the shadow of BassCliff, and just do our best.
Sounds like a weird audition. I haven't done many myself, but I've held a few, and would not expect an auditionee to have more than about three songs down. To me the audition is about grooving with the drummer, and a basic understanding of the genre. Songs can be learned.
At least you didn't spend a long time with people it was not destined to work out with.
 
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#22
Even when big bands have people audition, they typically only ask them to learn a handful of songs to test the waters and everything. When Korn was auditioning new drummers, they only asked for them to learn a handful of songs, and not the entire catalog.

When you audition for a play or film or something, you're only given one or two scenes to learn. Not the entire script.
 
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#23
i have to say: just a story about a TB member being 'out there among 'em' is heartening --- no matter the exact outcome, the OP's interests/ambitions notwithstanding....

LuckyScott , thanks for sharing the experience! i'm sure you made the right call, given the circumstances, and i'm sure there will be other, better opportunities for you going forward! best of luck! :thumbsup:
 
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#25
I agree with the no fit - bullet dodged.

But I also agree with the concept that I would have likely tried to work out the songs I didn't know. As previously mentioned, it demonstrates a bit of work ethics (bonus points in other's eyes), but it also helps you to build your personal catalog (bonus points from yourself). Maybe it's just me, but I don't tend to work out songs unless it's for a project or audition, so I use auditions as a chance to beef up my personal catalog.

I'm very happy when I can walk into an audition and tell them to bring on anything from the list they gave me. As long as most are pretty solid, I don't mind having a few might have a "still locking it down" disclaimer, but in general being, able to get through anything on their list is a good showing.
 
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#27
I suppose you could argue that genre figures into it.

If you're auditioning for a jazz group, the leader could call a couple tunes out of the air to see how much vocabulary you have, or at least to test your ability to get through an unfamiliar tune off of a lead sheet (we all take a Real Book to jazz auditions, right?).

In a blues group, a bass player might be expected to be able to hear any reasonable variation against the standard blues form within two or three choruses and then play the tune correctly for the balance.

In a horn funk cover band, there are some standards. If "Play That Funky Music" was not one of the songs assigned for the audition, the leader could reasonably call it anyway to see if you know it.

But, yeah - if the band is an 80s/90s party rock group the book could be just about anything, and 3 to 5 tunes should be enough to establish fit and interest.

A fairly professional group would probably do callbacks on the top 2 players.
 
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#28
CarpeBasso said:
Regardless I would have At least made a run at learning the songs I didn't know. To me it demonstrates a degree of commitment and work ethic (nobody's playing right now anyway) as opposed to a degree of arrogance. What if it had been a dream band situation and you had to admit you didn't trouble yourself to learn all the music, to the disappointment of the others. That's just my thoughts, anyway.
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Disagree. Whenever I auditioned a player (or was being auditioned as player) I knew within three songs plus around 15-20 minutes of conversation whether or not I was interested in pursuing things further. Expecting someone to learn 20 somgs for a first audition is ridiculous unless you’re a tribute band six weeks out from going on tour.

Any time my bands were auditioning we’d first have a brief phone chat to find out what their goals and expectations were - and to let them know what ours were. If it seemed like a good enough match to proceed to an audition we’d then give the person a list of ten or so song selections and tell them to have three or four (their pick) ready to audition with.


Note: I’ve always insisted on talking to a candidate on the phone first prior to an audition. My experience has taught me that people who lack sufficient personal skills to be comfortable with an occasional telephone conversation, and want to do everything by text, tend to have other issues that don’t bode well for someone in the entertainment world. So the first part of my audition is the other party’s willingness to take a phone call.

Every flake I’ve ever met refuses voice and insists on text communications. Maybe some people, or even everyone else here has had a totally different experience with that. And that’s fine by me. But I have to go by my own experiences. So anyone who despises to the point of refusing to ever pick up a phone probably won’t ever be working with me.
 
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#29
And always remember, auditioning is a two-way thing. Not only is the band (or other entity in question) auditioning you, but you are auditioning them.

EDIT: I think the same is true for job interviews and is something we stress to our special-needs Job Skills classes. When the interviewer asks, "Do you have any questions for us?" we teach them the kinds of questions they could ask, because the employer is not just interviewing you; you're also interviewing them.
 
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#33
40Hz said:
Expecting someone to learn 20 somgs for a first audition is ridiculous unless you’re a tribute band six weeks out from going on tour.
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Expecting someone to do so is out of line - that doesn't mean it's not beneficial to know more than the absolute minimum to get by. If I get sent a list with more than 10 songs for an audition, I usually ask which ones they want me to know - I've been in bands that had 3 or 4 songs used for auditions that flushed out the needs for the band. Typically they just say "whatever", but I still ask.

As I mentioned in my previous post, for personal growth, I'll learn as many songs as I can that time permits. As a result, I already have a high percentage of known songs on most audition lists I encounter.
 
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#34
40Hz said:
Disagree. Whenever I auditioned a player (or was being auditioned as player) I knew within three songs plus around 15-20 minutes of conversation whether or not I was interested in pursuing things further. Expecting someone to learn 20 somgs for a first audition is ridiculous unless you’re a tribute band six weeks out from going on tour.

Any time my bands were auditioning we’d first have a brief phone chat to find out what their goals and expectations were - and to let them know what ours were. If it seemed like a good enough match to proceed to an audition we’d then give the person a list of ten or so song selections and tell them to have three or four (their pick) ready to audition with.


Note: I’ve always insisted on talking to a candidate on the phone first prior to an audition. My experience has taught me that people who lack sufficient personal skills to be comfortable with an occasional telephone conversation, and want to do everything by text, tend to have other issues that don’t bode well for someone in entertainment world. So first part of my audition is the other party’s willingness to take a phone call.

Every flake I’ve ever met refuses voice and insists on text communications. Maybe some people, or even everyone else here has had a totally different experience with that. And that’s fine by me. But I have to go by my own experiences. So anyone who despises to the point of refusing to ever pick up a phone probably won’t ever be working with me.
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#36
I don't disagree with anything you're saying, except attempting to learn the 10 songs the O.P. didn't already know. What else is going on right now anyway? That said I agree that discussing before jamming can render all else a moot point if the match just isn't there. But if it is, and it seems great? Myself I'd rather go in prepared, if it was something I felt was really iimportant, for reasons beyond simple proficiency.
 
#37
mrcbass said:
As I mentioned in my previous post, for personal growth, I'll learn as many songs as I can that time permits. As a result, I already have a high percentage of known songs on most audition lists I encounter.
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I will too. But when it comes to an audition, especially a first audition, I don’t want to waste the candidate’s time or my band’s time. So I’m in the “hit me with your best shot and impress us” camp.

I’m sure you’ve got plenty of band experience. Give yourself some credit. Did you not ever know within a half hour tops whether or not: (a) you yourself wanted in - or (b) to seriously consider bringing someone in for a second audition?

I’d guess that would be more than enough time for you to come to a preliminary decision before making your final cuts.
 
#38
CarpeBasso said:
Regardless I would have At least made a run at learning the songs I didn't know. To me it demonstrates a degree of commitment and work ethic (nobody's playing right now anyway) as opposed to a degree of arrogance. What if it had been a dream band situation and you had to admit you didn't trouble yourself to learn all the music, to the disappointment of the others. That's just my thoughts, anyway.
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Ha, to me it demonstrates a willingness to waste a lot of time. People are CONSTANTLY forgetting that auditions are a two way street. Preparing five songs for an audition is pretty standard. Ten songs is out of the way eager and twenty songs is "I'm most likely wasting a whole lot of time here." Because... wait for it... out of every ten auditions I ever did, maybe one of those would be a situation I wanted to get involved with. The rest were all waving red flags of some sort or another, including but not limited to them not knowing the material well, poor quality of musicianship, questionable leadership skills (like this situation) or poor choice of additional material.

So, let me just say this. Anyone who expects you to learn 20 songs for an audition is immediately showing you that he doesn't understand how all this typically works. And really, would it have taken learning 20 songs to figure out that this guy wasn't someone the OP wanted to work with? It sounds like the OP cut his losses appropriately and that also made it easier to spot the flaw in the situation.
 
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#39
Sounds like a professional rehearsal band. ... I remember, long ago, at the beginning, hooking up with an original band. At the time I was going to music college, while playing in a real good society band playing twice a month for great money, a country bar band Wed nights, a blues band with the odd gig and and this original band. ... The band was run by the keyboard player who wrote the songs and rented the rehearsal space. I'm guessing he'd replaced every player in the band at least a few times with never a gig, just another rehearsal. ... I lasted a month at best.
 

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