onstage FAIL

[DWBass]

If they were all reading music, I'm guessing that was a band with no guitarists.

10 pc horn band. We had a guitarist. He was reading too.

 

[OregonJim]

10 pc horn band. We had a guitarist. He was reading too.

Playboy doesn't count

 

[logdrum]

That looks like a very crowded stage, one with little room for David Lee Roth - style antics.

I would far rather a player get the music right than “look awesome” by showing his face. Having hundreds of clubdate gigs under my belt, where I often had never played with those particular players until that very gig, what do you think was the best option? For us to look awesome? Or for us to get the music right?

Ya see, ‘musicians’ who spend hours every week rehearsing the same eight songs that they’ve learned by ear just don’t really get what it takes to be a versatile professional. They are so focused on image that the music is secondary to them.

Thank Buddha - the majority of the crowd did not chime in the Sight reading vs Playing by Ear? thread.

Back to the OP why is this fail? Did he freeze and not play correctly.

Usually, for effective sight reading standard notation you need a page turner controlled by your feet. Something like https://www.amazon.com/Moukey-Wireless-Turner-Tablets-Rechargeable/dp/B07HQ96MYV - So yeah Pron makes sense.

 

[iammr2]

Whenever I argue with the voice in my head I always lose.

That also happens when I argue with my wife.

 

[MikePlaysBass]

Hell, I saw a Stanley Clarke gig where all the bandmates had charts.

That’s the way the Pros do it. You put a call out for local musicians through the union. They show up the day of the gig for a rehearsal before the show where they mark up the sheet music with any changes and then they read for the gig. Not all artists travel with all the musicians. They pick up horns or other players at the local areas they play at. They do the same thing when a band member gets sick or can’t play and the show must go on. Wedding bands typically have players they can call last minute or go though the union. They have a contract to honor and they have to deliver. That’s way beyond my skill level, but it’s not uncommon at all.
I have played a couple of low key weddings over the years (not in an official wedding band). The pay was good, but between the obligatory songs and their requests for several of their favorite songs, etc…, a lot of the setlist were songs that were new to me and I was only going to play once. I used charts for all of them (on a music stand and not up in my face, though).

 

[dlb1001]

That’s the way the Pros do it. You put a call out for local musicians through the union. They show up the day of the gig for a rehearsal before the show where they mark up the sheet music with any changes and then they read for the gig. Not all artists travel with all the musicians. They pick up horns or other players at the local areas they play at. They do the same thing when a band member gets sick or can’t play and the show must go on. Wedding bands typically have players they can call last minute or go though the union. They have a contract to honor and they have to deliver. That’s way beyond my skill level, but it’s not uncommon at all.
I have played a couple of low key weddings over the years (not in an official wedding band). The pay was good, but between the obligatory songs and their requests for several of their favorite songs, etc…, a lot of the setlist were songs that were new to me and I was only going to play once. I used charts for all of them (on a music stand and not up in my face, though).

Did a low key wedding last year. I thought I had everything memorized but I ended getting lost in the song for the father/daughter dance...I had charts but moved them to side since the band was placed by the entrance, where there was a breeze that kept blowing the charts off the stand.
Didn't help that the BL decided swap the chorus and verse in the last moment...she wasn't a big fan of the song.

 

[dalkowski]

He's playing a gig. I ain't judging.

 

[OregonMike]

Is Ms Lenchantin actually levitating in that second photo?

I'm pretty sure she was.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

He's playing a gig. I ain't judging.

Absolutely, no one knows the situation behind the photo.

Seems amazingly arrogant to post it to poke fun at it for 9 pages now and not knowing that. Not how I would play a gig either, but not my gig.

 

[mexicanyella]

I’m not arrogant, just generally self-amused and going for laughs and acceptance from my perceived peer group.

 

[MikePlaysBass]

Did a low key wedding last year. I thought I had everything memorized but I ended getting lost in the song for the father/daughter dance...I had charts but moved them to side since the band was placed by the entrance, where there was a breeze that kept blowing the charts off the stand.
Didn't help that the BL decided swap the chorus and verse in the last moment...she wasn't a big fan of the song.

You can buy these really long clips for holding music pages from places that sell wind instruments or orchestral supplies either in the store or online. I got mine online from Johnson Strings. Ive only needed them a couple times, but they more than paid for themselves in not making a fool of myself with papers flying in the wind and and being totally lost. They're like very long close pins, but one side is clear. They work better than rubber bands or any other clips I've tried. For single sheets, they also make pushpin type rare earth magnets that will hold up to a few pages very tight against a metal music stand. I usually just use the clear sheet protectors in a thin binder and don't need clips, but there was one outdoor that was even blowing those pages over, so I ordered the sheet music clips after that.
iPads are great for convenience, but paper is easier to read and so much easier to pencil in last minute changes like skipping sections, adding measures, changing a DS or DC directive, or using totally different chords or a modulation for the ending after the Coda. That's the one time when even the best memorization can really mess you up, when the band leader the day of the gig says to change a few chords in measures 17 and 23.

 

[OregonJim]

iPads are great for convenience, but paper is easier to read and so much easier to pencil in last minute changes like skipping sections, adding measures, changing a DS or DC directive, or using totally different chords or a modulation for the ending after the Coda. That's the one time when even the best memorization can really mess you up, when the band leader the day of the gig says to change a few chords in measures 17 and 23.

Plus, you don't have to worry if your paper is charged enough to last through the gig. Or worry about someone stealing your paper. Or having your paper generate RF interference that messes with your signal chain. Or having your paper crash or reboot in the middle of verse 2. Or dropping your paper on a concrete floor and breaking it. Or...

 

[lordradish]

That’s the way the Pros do it. You put a call out for local musicians through the union.

I agree... in this case, though, the 'locals' were Larry Carlton and Billy Cobham... who were also looking at charts.

 

[Robscott]

That also happens when I argue with my wife.

I think you'll find that is the voice in your head

 

[turf3]

I agree... in this case, though, the 'locals' were Larry Carlton and Billy Cobham... who were also looking at charts.

Bunch of amateurs. They should let the Talkbass pundits tell them how to do it. I bet at least one of them was wearing shorts, too.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

You can buy these really long clips for holding music pages from places that sell wind instruments or orchestral supplies either in the store or online. I got mine online from Johnson Strings. Ive only needed them a couple times, but they more than paid for themselves in not making a fool of myself with papers flying in the wind and and being totally lost. They're like very long close pins, but one side is clear. They work better than rubber bands or any other clips I've tried. For single sheets, they also make pushpin type rare earth magnets that will hold up to a few pages very tight against a metal music stand. I usually just use the clear sheet protectors in a thin binder and don't need clips, but there was one outdoor that was even blowing those pages over, so I ordered the sheet music clips after that.
iPads are great for convenience, but paper is easier to read and so much easier to pencil in last minute changes like skipping sections, adding measures, changing a DS or DC directive, or using totally different chords or a modulation for the ending after the Coda. That's the one time when even the best memorization can really mess you up, when the band leader the day of the gig says to change a few chords in measures 17 and 23.

I carry 1600 charts in my iPad and if someone wants a song that I don't have, I can pull it up from online sources. 1600 charts would be what, like 10 Real Books? That wouldn't fit in my gig bag. ForScore lets me put any notes in that I want and I can Air Drop a PDF to someone that may have forgotten a chart. I've been using iPads for 10+ years now and it's so much more convenient than paper. YMMV.

 

[MikePlaysBass]

I carry 1600 charts in my iPad and if someone wants a song that I don't have, I can pull it up from online sources. 1600 charts would be what, like 10 Real Books? That wouldn't fit in my gig bag. ForScore lets me put any notes in that I want and I can Air Drop a PDF to someone that may have forgotten a chart. I've been using iPads for 10+ years now and it's so much more convenient than paper. YMMV.

I also have an iPad with every Realbook and lots of other sheet music on it. I still prefer paper for gigs, though, but do keep the iPad in my gig bag for requests. The band I’m in makes all kinds of changes at rehearsals for intros, endings, whether to change tempos on certain sections, etc… Some of the lead sheets can have cross-outs, arrows to follow, alternate chords. The App I use does allow mark up, but it’s limited in what it can do and the changes can come really fast to try to capture, so paper is much easier and faster for the planned tunes.
I encourage bands to not do requests unless someone drops a $20 in the tip jar or it’s a special occasion or whatever. Two reasons: 1) They don’t always come off that well if everyone doesn’t know them. ( I was in a band with a keyboard player that would take any requests anyone asked for. If we didn’t know it, he’d just tell us to follow along. It often worked, but we also had some epic fails with tunes that changed keys or did unpredictable things)
2) If you tell the requester that you don’t all know it that well, but will definitely add it to your setlist for the next time you play there, you’re doing some smart marketing.

 

[Eilif]

No shoes, baggy pants, ill-fitting polo and RTF (Resting Tablet Face). This poor fellow is a stage disaster.

The last 3.5 years playing off a tablet I always placed it low and looked at it as rarely as possible. I also wore sunglasses so the audience couldn't tell when I was really focused on the tablet, but that's not an option for everyone.

 

[Robscott]

I also have an iPad with every Realbook and lots of other sheet music on it. I still prefer paper for gigs, though, but do keep the iPad in my gig bag for requests. The band I’m in makes all kinds of changes at rehearsals for intros, endings, whether to change tempos on certain sections, etc… Some of the lead sheets can have cross-outs, arrows to follow, alternate chords. The App I use does allow mark up, but it’s limited in what it can do and the changes can come really fast to try to capture, so paper is much easier and faster for the planned tunes.
I encourage bands to not do requests unless someone drops a $20 in the tip jar or it’s a special occasion or whatever. Two reasons: 1) They don’t always come off that well if everyone doesn’t know them. ( I was in a band with a keyboard player that would take any requests anyone asked for. If we didn’t know it, he’d just tell us to follow along. It often worked, but we also had some epic fails with tunes that changed keys or did unpredictable things)
2) If you tell the requester that you don’t all know it that well, but will definitely add it to your setlist for the next time you play there, you’re doing some smart marketing.

Yep, requests can be a real problem. We never do them unless someone asks us to......

 

[Pops OB]

We take requests all the time. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Oh, wait, you said “do” requests... No, that we don’t do.