Pit Band gig

[MrUsefulAlien]

Thanks Duke, it's in July and I'm thinking to start practicing now. We are basically in a studio next to the stage, it's a pity because getting a feel for the atmosphere would've been fun.
The MD is a close friend, he's not really excited as we're playing with a click, so he says it's basically opening a book and playing, not much room for creativity or interpretation.
I don't share his lament! This is the biggest gig of my life so far!

I'll likely use my GB shuttle 6.0 into a Berg HT112.
It's 100% into FOH, so I might use my Lakland Decade, or just rotate basses and see after a few shows which sounds best. I have 22 chances!

 

[theduke1]

Thanks Duke, it's in July and I'm thinking to start practicing now. We are basically in a studio next to the stage, it's a pity because getting a feel for the atmosphere would've been fun.
The MD is a close friend, he's not really excited as we're playing with a click, so he says it's basically opening a book and playing, not much room for creativity or interpretation.
I don't share his lament! This is the biggest gig of my life so far!

I'll likely use my GB shuttle 6.0 into a Berg HT112.
It's 100% into FOH, so I might use my Lakland Decade, or just rotate basses and see after a few shows which sounds best. I have 22 chances!

WOW
I only have 6 lol, but I play theses two the most!
Duke

 

[BrotherMister]

27265911[/URL], member: 195040"]Revisiting this zombie thread, I have 20-22 shows in a pretty massive production of Mamma Mia this summer.
Any tips?

I managed to find a copy of a version of the book on libgen, but can't find the right mp3 to match it. I'll practice to that anyway, can't be well that different from the version I'll see when practices start in June.

The setup is a bit disappointing, 6-7,000 seat outdoor theater, but we musicians aren't one stage. It will be a room in a building overlooking the stage with monitors and a TV monitor.

Also looking for tips on gear, I was thinking to use either my US Pbass wearing 760fl and Nordy pups, or a MIM P special with 760fl, MFD and Dimarzio model J pups, or a Lakland DJ4 with either flats or rounds if I have to. Maybe even a 5er Lakland with Labella flats too. For the fretless part/parts I'll use one of the two ones I have if needed.

Pics for reference
Venue, primary basses, FL basses.

Link Removed Link Removed Link Removed Link Removed

Being in a separate room from the stage is common place now as well. Some theatre pits are tiny so the band is shipped elsewhere. To be honest it doesn’t feel any different in a room than it does under the stage, you don’t see the production or the audience so you don’t really gain much unless you are on stage. But that comes with it’s own problems such as what do you do during all the lengthy dialogue scenes?

Bass wise, keep it as reduced as possible. Mamma Mia (as far as I can remember) you only need a 4 string bass and a fretless but you can’t go wrong with a 5 either. Just find the bass that you can do the job with and stick with it.

Playing with clicks is common place and to be honest a score like Mamma Mia you can’t really stretch out too much anyway since all of those lines and fills are practically hardwired into the song now it detracts massively when you deviate from them. A bit like We Will Rock You, you just can’t really mess around with those lines.

Don’t over think the gear or anything, just play the ink and make it feel great!

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

Being in a separate room from the stage is common place now as well. Some theatre pits are tiny so the band is shipped elsewhere. To be honest it doesn’t feel any different in a room than it does under the stage, you don’t see the production or the audience so you don’t really gain much unless you are on stage. But that comes with it’s own problems such as what do you do during all the lengthy dialogue scenes?

Bass wise, keep it as reduced as possible. Mamma Mia (as far as I can remember) you only need a 4 string bass and a fretless but you can’t go wrong with a 5 either. Just find the bass that you can do the job with and stick with it.

Playing with clicks is common place and to be honest a score like Mamma Mia you can’t really stretch out too much anyway since all of those lines and fills are practically hardwired into the song now it detracts massively when you deviate from them. A bit like We Will Rock You, you just can’t really mess around with those lines.

Don’t over think the gear or anything, just play the ink and make it feel great!

I love TalkBass for exactly these kind of comments. Been a member since I was a boy in 2011. Thank you, I'll follow your advice!

 

[Febs]

Also looking for tips on gear, I was thinking to use either my US Pbass wearing 760fl and Nordy pups, or a MIM P special with 760fl, MFD and Dimarzio model J pups, or a Lakland DJ4 with either flats or rounds if I have to. Maybe even a 5er Lakland with Labella flats too. For the fretless part/parts I'll use one of the two ones I have if needed.

Bass wise, keep it as reduced as possible. Mamma Mia (as far as I can remember) you only need a 4 string bass and a fretless but you can’t go wrong with a 5 either. Just find the bass that you can do the job with and stick with it.

The Name of the Game calls for fretless and chorus, but IMO, it's not really crucial to use a fretless.

Most of the show can be played on 4-string, except: (1) #18 Knowing Me, Knowing You has several passages on the B string; (2) #19 Our Last Summer has several low C#s; and (3) #21A Scene Change has a number of low Ds.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

The Name of the Game calls for fretless and chorus, but IMO, it's not really crucial to use a fretless.

Most of the show can be played on 4-string, except: (1) #18 Knowing Me, Knowing You has several passages on the B string; (2) #19 Our Last Summer has several low C#s; and (3) #21A Scene Change has a number of low Ds.

Thanks, I'm seriously considering not using a fretless, a local legend (Willi Langer) mentioned I can also skip the use of a chorus, I have a nice Walrus Audio Julia, so I'll use it for my own fun, but will dump it if it's too complicated in rehearsals.

These songs need a low B, but I can easily transpose up:
#9 Lay All Your Love
#14 Under Attack
#16 SOS
#18 Knowing Me Knowing You
#19 Our Last Summer
#21a Scene change

 

[IamGroot]

I havent done any shows in a decade.

Do they still use paper, or is teleprompt or what. I made my own copies and scriblled all over them. No one ever said boo. If you are handling paper, you definitely need to memorize where you flip pages.

If I were going to do a show, I would memorize it as much as possible, because your mind is going to drift. It gets really boring after the first 3 or 4 shows.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

I havent done any shows in a decade.

Do they still use paper, or is teleprompt or what. I made my own copies and scriblled all over them. No one ever said boo. If you are handling paper, you definitely need to memorize where you flip pages.

If I were going to do a show, I would memorize it as much as possible, because your mind is going to drift. It gets really boring after the first 3 or 4 shows.

Thank you for the tips, I'm pretty sure it's paper, but I have a PDF version on my iPad with a digital page turner.

 

[Febs]

I havent done any shows in a decade.

Do they still use paper, or is teleprompt or what. I made my own copies and scriblled all over them. No one ever said boo. If you are handling paper, you definitely need to memorize where you flip pages.

If I were going to do a show, I would memorize it as much as possible, because your mind is going to drift. It gets really boring after the first 3 or 4 shows.

Licensing houses still uniformly provide hard copies of the books, but PDFs for most shows are readily available if you know where to look, and it's very common for musicians to be reading from tablets in the pit. I'll frequently read from a tablet if I'm the only person playing my book for a given production, but if I have subs coming in, it's usually easier to have a hard copy on the stand for them.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

Licensing houses still uniformly provide hard copies of the books, but PDFs for most shows are readily available if you know where to look, and it's very common for musicians to be reading from tablets in the pit. I'll frequently read from a tablet if I'm the only person playing my book for a given production, but if I have subs coming in, it's usually easier to have a hard copy on the stand for them.

I use my iPad Pro 12.9 with a page turning pedal for the big bands I play in, and most other gigs, as ForScore has largely superceded iReal Pro for me.
I can annotate and do edits on the tablet and my Mac, it all syncs, it's just terrific. I'm only missing having a second page sometimes, but I think two iPads is silly overkill.
I don't miss paper or binders, living in a city, it's much easier to just grab my iPad with 1000's of scores and also sending and receiving sheets via Airdrop is a game changer.

I stumbled across the book you mention and it's a big help. I'm prepping 3-4 months in advance. Slight overkill, but it's the first production of this scale for me, even though I've toured and done hundreds of gigs and festivals. This is different!
Even if the official book we get in May is slightly different, I'll have the show ingrained and be able to relax and play with more feel if I get the sense of the flow of things now already.

 

[Bob_Ross]

if I have subs coming in, it's usually easier to have a hard copy on the stand for them.

You are a gentleman and a scholar, and your subs thank you.