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Trainwreck incoming!
- Thread starter eukatheude
- Start date
Good job. You earned every $ and you got your dues book punched with a trainwreck drummer achievement.
LOL that guy had the touch of a blacksmith, and the rhythm of a loose shutter in the wind.
LOL that guy had the touch of a blacksmith, and the rhythm of a loose shutter in the wind.
He will become a decent drummer once he learns two things (which I tried to tell him more than once):
1- Don't try overplaying or showing off - you will fail
2- Learn to shut up where needed.
By the way, he just sent me a text; a friend of his wants bass lessons from me after seeing me play.
In italy we use to say "two pigeons with one bean".
1- Don't try overplaying or showing off - you will fail
2- Learn to shut up where needed.
By the way, he just sent me a text; a friend of his wants bass lessons from me after seeing me play.
In italy we use to say "two pigeons with one bean".
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Considering what you had to work with, both time and talent, you pulled it off well, and maybe got started teaching. One leads to another.
If you're a session player, your professionalism should be rooted in being a good sideman.
I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but, the drummer was not the worst part of that band. The guitarist was off time, out of tune, and hit many missed notes. The chick singer was off key. Was the drummer great, no, but keeping time is everyone's job. Yes his fills were out of place and sometimes a bit off, but the other musicians time wasn't any better. I'm not knocking the bass specifically, its hard to blame anyone specifically, again time is something that comes from working together.
It comes down to practicing. You don't play out until you are tight. If it takes one practice great, if it takes a year, then that's what it takes. The mistake you made was agreeing to take a job without knowing what you were getting into.
You probably won't like this comment either, but I would be concerned of a music festival hiring bands without some kind of track record or a really good demo or recommendation. In the end, the drummer didn't sound like a train wreck, you got through the gig and had a prospect of a bass student.
If you don't like the drummer then you don't have to play with him, but I think you are being unfair. I didn't watch the whole video, but from what I saw he got through the songs. The guitarist was more of the problem in my opinion. I thought the drummer sounded like he had some hint of talent, he just needs direction. His basic beats were in time, I've actually heard worse drummers at paying bar gigs.
I think you need to find a band, and practice for how ever long it takes to get good. Complaining about the other players will get you nowhere.
It comes down to practicing. You don't play out until you are tight. If it takes one practice great, if it takes a year, then that's what it takes. The mistake you made was agreeing to take a job without knowing what you were getting into.
You probably won't like this comment either, but I would be concerned of a music festival hiring bands without some kind of track record or a really good demo or recommendation. In the end, the drummer didn't sound like a train wreck, you got through the gig and had a prospect of a bass student.
If you don't like the drummer then you don't have to play with him, but I think you are being unfair. I didn't watch the whole video, but from what I saw he got through the songs. The guitarist was more of the problem in my opinion. I thought the drummer sounded like he had some hint of talent, he just needs direction. His basic beats were in time, I've actually heard worse drummers at paying bar gigs.
I think you need to find a band, and practice for how ever long it takes to get good. Complaining about the other players will get you nowhere.
I liked watching you play, You were very animated and FWIW, it made the whole thing sound more fun. I can't really add anything to the music that hasn't already been said.
Well, after the dramatic buildup, that sucked much less than I expected. Don't dwell on it - everything will be OK. You're not going to show up on YouTube as one of those "Worst Band Ever" videos.
That was painful to watch....but def not the worst. I think the issues, bad timing, missed notes etc. which can all be worked on and improved upon, would have been covered up much better if the 2 front people would have showed any signs of life! The guitar player was like a stick figure, and the chic, who I thought had a decent voice when she let loose, didnt do anything more than just stand there! No showmanship from the boring Front persons was my biggest issue, especially for the type of songs played. I get that you guys were thrown together with no real time to get tight, so....not bad considering. Good work.
Thanks everyone for the compliments!
As for my "animated playing"... It helps me keep time and have decent stage presence. However I don't get the chance to see myself on video pretty often, and I have noticed some "moves" were a tad too accentuated. Does it show/seem too much for a pop show? I'm doing all that spontaneously so I'd like an opinion if I need to restrain it a bit.
I think you need to read my post better.
I was a hired gun here. There were certain expectations on what the band was going to sound like, and I'm told those were exceeded. I got paid, everyone's happy and we did not get booed off stage. What was my mistake, again?
BTW, I already have a gigging cover band and a recording project, with absolutely killer players, better than me on all levels:
Old album, old bassist, but you get the idea.
As for my "animated playing"... It helps me keep time and have decent stage presence. However I don't get the chance to see myself on video pretty often, and I have noticed some "moves" were a tad too accentuated. Does it show/seem too much for a pop show? I'm doing all that spontaneously so I'd like an opinion if I need to restrain it a bit.
I think you need to read my post better.
I was a hired gun here. There were certain expectations on what the band was going to sound like, and I'm told those were exceeded. I got paid, everyone's happy and we did not get booed off stage. What was my mistake, again?
BTW, I already have a gigging cover band and a recording project, with absolutely killer players, better than me on all levels:
Old album, old bassist, but you get the idea.
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Thanks everyone for the compliments!
As for my "animated playing"... It helps me keep time and have decent stage presence. However I don't get the chance to see myself on video pretty often, and I have noticed some "moves" were a tad too accentuated. Does it show/seem too much for a pop show? I'm doing all that spontaneously so I'd like an opinion if I need to restrain it a bit.
I think you need to read my post better.
I was a hired gun here. There were certain expectations on what the band was going to sound like, and I'm told those were exceeded. I got paid, everyone's happy and we did not get booed off stage. What was my mistake, again?
BTW, I already have a gigging cover band and a recording project, with absolutely killer players, better than me on all levels:
Old album, old bassist, but you get the idea.
On the stage presence: the shoulder thing sometimes come out too exaggerated sometimes.
Secondly, I must tell you you are a much better bassist than me, but here goes 2cents from professionalism in general:
You should get your act together, you came here first in panic and dissed out a drummer you only played with once and based in second hand information on him being bad.
You accepted the job, you should do your best for it to succeed, being busy is not excuse, part of being a professional is to know how to manage your schedule and when to refuse a job.
One essay session is too little, especially if there are no professionals in the band that never played together. You should have insisted in extending it until you found it acceptable.
You have you own thing, and that is great, as you said they are better musicians than you, do they complain you are bad? Or are they giving you the opportunity to learn and grow? Conversely you where the one to look up to and be understanding and helpful instead of be freaking out.
That was not second hand information, I could tell he was really bad and you saw it too. For the rest of your post, I agree (except on the "much better bassist" part
) on most points. Unfortunately rehearsing further was not an option as it was the only chance to play out, and besides I wouldn't have done it because I would have had to ask a lot more - which the mother wouldn't have agreed to pay.I don't want to come across as whiny or complaining, and that's not what I did at rehearsal or during the show. I tried motivating them and giving them advice, but also keep in mind that I wasn't there presenting myself as "the guy who's paid to make you play well" but just as another regular player. So when the singer was instisting that she had sang the chorus 4 times, while I was holding up my hand (during an open A) to count the times she had sang it and it was indeed 2, I didn't push it further.
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Thanks everyone for the compliments!
As for my "animated playing"... It helps me keep time and have decent stage presence. However I don't get the chance to see myself on video pretty often, and I have noticed some "moves" were a tad too accentuated. Does it show/seem too much for a pop show? I'm doing all that spontaneously so I'd like an opinion if I need to restrain it a bit.
I think you need to read my post better.
I was a hired gun here. There were certain expectations on what the band was going to sound like, and I'm told those were exceeded. I got paid, everyone's happy and we did not get booed off stage. What was my mistake, again?
BTW, I already have a gigging cover band and a recording project, with absolutely killer players, better than me on all levels:
Old album, old bassist, but you get the idea.
I read your post. I am just saying you were really harsh on the drummer, when maybe he wasn't the only bad player on the gig. I still think the guitarist and the chick singer were the weakest links.
I am being hypocritical myself. I have taken gigs where I knew the playing would not meet my standards, whether it was to help out a friend, or just as a way to get on stage. I always tell myself "never again", but a few years go by and I do it again. I am sure we all wish we were in complete control and had our pick of gigs to play, that's what the pro's strive for, but even the top names in the business get cast in roles that aren't suited to them from time to time. You just have to learn to say know, and have the clout to be able to chose your destiny.
I was in no way slamming your bass playing BTW.
Thanks everyone for the compliments!
As for my "animated playing"... It helps me keep time and have decent stage presence. However I don't get the chance to see myself on video pretty often, and I have noticed some "moves" were a tad too accentuated. Does it show/seem too much for a pop show? I'm doing all that spontaneously so I'd like an opinion if I need to restrain it a bit.
I think you need to read my post better.
I was a hired gun here. There were certain expectations on what the band was going to sound like, and I'm told those were exceeded. I got paid, everyone's happy and we did not get booed off stage. What was my mistake, again?
BTW, I already have a gigging cover band and a recording project, with absolutely killer players, better than me on all levels:
Old album, old bassist, but you get the idea.
Reminds me a little bit of Premiata Forneria di Marconi
And yeah, ur Spector looks so cool with those white pickup covers! are they EMGs indeed?
And yes, it sounds like crap, it's embarrassing and all, but they're practically teenagers, teen bands usually sound like this. I gotta applaud that had a great attitude, though a little too serious
. Also, maybe many of us sounded like crap when we were 16, right?
Reminds me a little bit of Premiata Forneria di Marconi
And yeah, ur Spector looks so cool with those white pickup covers! are they EMGs indeed?
And yes, it sounds like crap, it's embarrassing and all, but they're practically teenagers, teen bands usually sound like this. I gotta applaud that had a great attitude, though a little too serious
Yes those are the stock EMG's but I painted them white. You can have more pictures of it when I get back from work - they don't look that good up close.
I also put les paul-style knobs on it.
You don't want to know how crap I sounded when I was 16. Their attitude was good except that of the singer... But you know singers.
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