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punctuality- when to make an issue of it?
- Thread starter OriginalSnub
- Start date
Singers & guitarists are going to be late. That's a law of the universe. The day I stopped letting it get me down was the day I became a happier man.
True.
Bass and drums are time based instruments and having a good sense of time and structure is the most essential part of the craft.
For singers, guitars and other instruments spontaneity and freedom from constraint are most important.
This carries over into the mundanity of when we show up for practice.
Then why does our drummer always show up last? Usually right before we're supposed to take the stage.
Well everyone was on time today. I guess we'll see if they can pull off being on time to the gig this weekend. Though that might be expecting too much. 
Things do happen occasionally to cause people to be late once in a while. However, consistent tardiness reflects unprofessionalism. What if they show up late for gigs? Then you have more troubles. I had a fantastic guitar player many years ago who was never on time for anything and not only called him out on it, I started to tell him practice was 1/2 an hour earlier than it actually was so he would show up on time.
This.
If it had been me, and no one else was there at the appointed time, I'd have left then.
My day job is construction. In the Union carpenter world if you aren't early you are late. Late people get laid off. Once you get the mindset it's hard to deal with tardy people.
That said, I show up to practice on time, fire up my gear, run the drum machine up through the PA and start playing. By the time everybody else is ready to play, usually half an hour later, I'm warmed up and grooving. I pick a song we need to work on and get it going, they can come in anytime. If the PA is still broke down from the last gig I start setting it up.
Tonight, I figure the PA is sitting where it got dumped out of the truck Saturday morning. I plan on getting there 20 minutes early to get a few things up to the studio and run cables. I'll get some help, and we'll get it done.
Practice is from 6-9. Once a week. At 8:55 I say one more song, and at nine I'm on the way out. I'm not bitter about it, just doing what we agreed to. When the idea of an "extra practice" comes up, I tell them that I'm busy, and the extra practice wouldn't be needed if we didn't waste two hours a month at regular practices.
Sure, they could do better, but on the whole it's a minor thing. If I wind myself up about it, I'm not likely to enjoy the evening's work.
I have fired guys who are consistently late, but they usually come with other problems as well.
That said, I show up to practice on time, fire up my gear, run the drum machine up through the PA and start playing. By the time everybody else is ready to play, usually half an hour later, I'm warmed up and grooving. I pick a song we need to work on and get it going, they can come in anytime. If the PA is still broke down from the last gig I start setting it up.
Tonight, I figure the PA is sitting where it got dumped out of the truck Saturday morning. I plan on getting there 20 minutes early to get a few things up to the studio and run cables. I'll get some help, and we'll get it done.
Practice is from 6-9. Once a week. At 8:55 I say one more song, and at nine I'm on the way out. I'm not bitter about it, just doing what we agreed to. When the idea of an "extra practice" comes up, I tell them that I'm busy, and the extra practice wouldn't be needed if we didn't waste two hours a month at regular practices.
Sure, they could do better, but on the whole it's a minor thing. If I wind myself up about it, I'm not likely to enjoy the evening's work.
I have fired guys who are consistently late, but they usually come with other problems as well.
We jam at my place so I am ALWAYS early. There are times when everyone gets there at the same time but we have one guy who literally takes an hour to get set up. He's got a line 6 pod thing and a laptop and a large marshall stack and wants to run it through the send/return and he looks the wiring up on the internet because he can't remember the direction the cables go in. (I got him to tape the ends once so thats better now.) He would bring so much gear that 20 minutes was needed to just load in and he wouldn't play half of it.
Another time, we set the time at 5:30pm and had a singer coming in at 7:00pm so we had time to learn the songs she requested for the audition...... He got confused and showed up at 7 when she got there, He claims ADD. Even between songs we have to cut him off because he'll ramble on about random things all night long if you let him.
Crap happens and I have no expectations at all. I just wanted to get jamming with some people and I'm now doing that. The other guy and I just start jamming regardless of him being ready or not. A few times he kinda indicated that he needed us to be quiet so he could get his setup done but we kinda laughed at him and kept going. He's getting the picture though, he is trying to get organized.
He has taped his cables (and stopped using the cables with the kill switchs that just gave him headaches) and I just expect our jam to be a social event for the first hour.
I can understand that some of you let it bother you and you take exception to it but remember, we are not saving lives here, we play music and it is NOT very serious no matter how seriously you perfer to take yourselves.
I do tend to be on time but would have no desire to be in a band with anyone thinking fines were applicable here. It's not a job, there is no pay involved and you don't control others.
(If it is a job and your late for a gig, then it's a big problem but if your late for rehersal and have your parts down it's not a big deal)
If you don't like how others treat your time, leave. Creating a bad atmosphere over the begin and end of "Play Time" isn't going to fly with a lot of people. For a band to work everyone has to get along. Pick your battles, is this the hill your willing to die on..... If it is, then just leave.. Do you really HAVE to make everyone miserable first? Seems they are all fine with the way things are and it is YOU who is not happy. Do you really expect ALL of them to change to suit YOU? Might it be a little easier to get just YOU to lighten up?
If the jam is at 5 and they are always late. show up at 5:30 or 5:45 and jam right away,
If you already know they are never on time, why is it important to you at all that you be there 30 minutes early knowing full well nobody will be there and you will be sitting around by yourself?
Are they really doing this to you or maybe are you doing it to yourself?
-eSmith.
Another time, we set the time at 5:30pm and had a singer coming in at 7:00pm so we had time to learn the songs she requested for the audition...... He got confused and showed up at 7 when she got there, He claims ADD. Even between songs we have to cut him off because he'll ramble on about random things all night long if you let him.
Crap happens and I have no expectations at all. I just wanted to get jamming with some people and I'm now doing that. The other guy and I just start jamming regardless of him being ready or not. A few times he kinda indicated that he needed us to be quiet so he could get his setup done but we kinda laughed at him and kept going. He's getting the picture though, he is trying to get organized.
He has taped his cables (and stopped using the cables with the kill switchs that just gave him headaches) and I just expect our jam to be a social event for the first hour.
I can understand that some of you let it bother you and you take exception to it but remember, we are not saving lives here, we play music and it is NOT very serious no matter how seriously you perfer to take yourselves.
I do tend to be on time but would have no desire to be in a band with anyone thinking fines were applicable here. It's not a job, there is no pay involved and you don't control others.
(If it is a job and your late for a gig, then it's a big problem but if your late for rehersal and have your parts down it's not a big deal)
If you don't like how others treat your time, leave. Creating a bad atmosphere over the begin and end of "Play Time" isn't going to fly with a lot of people. For a band to work everyone has to get along. Pick your battles, is this the hill your willing to die on..... If it is, then just leave.. Do you really HAVE to make everyone miserable first? Seems they are all fine with the way things are and it is YOU who is not happy. Do you really expect ALL of them to change to suit YOU? Might it be a little easier to get just YOU to lighten up?
If the jam is at 5 and they are always late. show up at 5:30 or 5:45 and jam right away,
If you already know they are never on time, why is it important to you at all that you be there 30 minutes early knowing full well nobody will be there and you will be sitting around by yourself?
Are they really doing this to you or maybe are you doing it to yourself?
-eSmith.
Right on, like I said I don't sweat it. I do show up on time or early because that's where my rig lives most of the time. And I love playing through my rig. It's a good time to try new toys. I can stand back 20 feet and listen to my stuff, and get a feel how that compares to being right on top of it. I can put the ipod through the PA and que up the night's work.
My wife works at home, we have a son who needs to practice piano and do homework. I make do with the headphone set up at home. It's pretty rare that I can let it rip at home, the practice space is secure, so the amp lives there.
Like most folks, we're just plain busy. There is a time slot for the band, and that's what they get. Then I have to move on to other things. I'm careful not to give off the "I'm irritated" vibe. I just thank everybody for working and take off.
It's not worth fighting over, it just is what it is.
My wife works at home, we have a son who needs to practice piano and do homework. I make do with the headphone set up at home. It's pretty rare that I can let it rip at home, the practice space is secure, so the amp lives there.
Like most folks, we're just plain busy. There is a time slot for the band, and that's what they get. Then I have to move on to other things. I'm careful not to give off the "I'm irritated" vibe. I just thank everybody for working and take off.
It's not worth fighting over, it just is what it is.
No doubt.
I get enough stress from life. Getting your panties bunched up over musicians who are behind their time is a waste of energy. There are far too many holier-than-thou comments being made here, methinks. What, none of you have any of your own flaws that other people have to deal with? Come on, guys. Life's too short.
This much I agree with.
Just gotta find a group of guys that take music as seriously as you do if punctuality is an ongoing issue. That's what I did. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.
Of course it is. But you can't save the world & you can't join a new band every two weeks.
It just demonstrates that time (and punctuality) has a cultural element to it. I live in Albuquerque-- "the land of manaña"-- and while everyone doesn't live by the creed, its common enough. Its a cultural thing, as is "Black people time."
That being said, I'm someone who's on time professionally but loose when it comes to social situations. I wonder how the folks in the OP's question perceive their band?
