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Reacting to mistakes

#65
gmarcus said:
Sure why not? Actually its easier to pass this off on the trumpet than the bass. Trumpet doesn't have the power to derail the whole band. Its more like you are just taking the solo outside for a while...really.
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Trumpet is a pain, get into the upper registers and you can hit nearly any note with any fingering. Its like playing piano with mittens on....

My trumpet teacher used to say, if you make a mistake, play it again, twice as loud, and people will think you meant to play it...

Sometimes I used to take the trumpet, turn it around, look up into the bell and shake it as if there was something stuck in there... :D

Now that I'm a bass player, I sometimes turn around and kick the amp like there's something wrong with it...

I'm sort of a perfectionist, but if people make a random mistake, there's no point getting pissed. Just leads to hard feelings. If someone makes the same mistakes over and over, time for a talk. After the show. Otherwise, just be happy. Dwelling on mistakes is distracting, leading to more mistakes. It also upsets you, and happy musicians make happy music. Spoil the mood, spoil the groove.

Randy
 
#66
I was playing a concert with my band once, and we couldn't hear each other.

It was a big, big stage and we had no monitors. The guitar amp was on the other side of the drum kit, and my bass amp was on the other. I couldn't hear the guitarist at all (I do have a bigger stack : ) ), so I locked in with the singer (LOL WUT?), and the drummer..

So, at the end of the song, we realize we're TOTALLY OFF. The song ends, and every single one of us bursts out laughing.
 
#67
As long as music is performed by humans there will be mistakes. My thinking is "act like you've been somewhere". I have one group I work with that's basically one big fun-loving trainwreck waiting to hapen. It's funny and I guess a little mean to smile when I see someone sub in the band who's never dealt with a stream of consciousness type leader... he doesn't know where he's going so how could we? He usually plays in small settings and his audiences love him. The subs typically freak out until they realize the freedom that they have that other gigs might not provide.

The people who get angry about it are understandable on one level... they probably take pride in trying to do the best they can but glowering AFTER a mistake won't rewind the performance. And it basically comes off as finger-pointing, whichis kindof childish onstage. If others are clearly not up to one's par, get through the gig and decline to work with them in the future.
:cool:
 
#68
I learned a long time ago to just keep going like nothing even happened. Even the best musicians in the world have a clam from time to time. The only thing reacting to it does is to make it worse. If the mistakes are consistant then I make a mental note to bring them up at practice/rehearsal and work them out.

If the mistake is an accident like the drummer breaking/dropping a stick in the middle of a fill or the singer is "doing a Daltry" and his mic goes flying across the bar (happened) then in those cases just smile big and laugh.

But the worst thing anyone can do is to get into an arguement or altercation on stage. Personally this is one of the very few things I absolutely will not tolerate. Fortunately it has only happened twice in all the years I've been playing and in both cases I stepped in immediately got things back on track. Then after the gig I made sure that everyone in the band understood just how unprofessional such behavior is and that if it ever happened again they would be auditioning bass players.
 
#71
JimmyM said:
Do you do it?
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sure.......happens to the best of us.

do you make a face or shake your head every time you make a mistake? do you glare at the other guys when they make a mistake?
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no.....never...play through it. don't give the audience a reason to think something is wrong

if so, stop it right now!
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AGREED! never let on that you slipped up.

i even once saw a world class bass player curse himself loudly when he flubbed a line.
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a guitar player in one of the groups i play in does this. EXTREMELY enoying.


so in that spirit, i thought i'd waste valuable server space opening up a discussion about onstage clams and how we all cope with them without letting onto the audience that a mistake was made. for me, i just ignore it completely unless it's so big i can't ignore it. and then i usually break into a smile or a chuckle. occasionally, though, i've been an offender. and more than anything i do wrong onstage, that's the one thing i hate to do because it just makes people think you don't know what you're doing.
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depending on where it is in the music, i'll either ignore it, or repeat the clam several times over so that it builds tension and sounds intentional and then move on to a resolve.
 
#72
wow, this thread took off! thanks for the replies...interesting that a lot of us have very similar strategies. though i too was disappointed to hear about joan armatrading taking apart everyone in the band and crew onstage ;)
 
#73
JimmyM said:
wow, this thread took off! thanks for the replies...interesting that a lot of us have very similar strategies. though i too was disappointed to hear about joan armatrading taking apart everyone in the band and crew onstage ;)
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i guess the crux of it is you want guys that care enough to be concerned about mistakes,but not to the point of compounding a clam with stuff that makes it more apparent to the crowd..... hissy fits or guitar throwing,bitching out guys on stage,armatrading meltdowns....are just plain bad behavior

i saw her once and the band she had was really top shelf....i can't imagine them hanging around for that sort of abuse
 
#75
more like 30. she's an extremely talented singer/songwriter from england, and she gave pino his first break. if you want to hear a sample of her best stuff, look for "love and affection," "i love it when you call me names," "show some emotion," and "drop the pilot."
 

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