Author Topic: Mac's Music Project Thread  (Read 1844 times)

0 Members and 5 Guests are viewing this topic.

Chiprocks1

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 25865
  • Tell me a joke...
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #30 on: June 18, 2015, 07:07:27 pm »
Are you guys still a 3 piece and looking for a singer or did you lose a singer recently?
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Mac

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9913
  • Dewey Cheatham & Howe LLP
  • Location: Little Ol Town in the Midwest
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #31 on: June 18, 2015, 08:23:12 pm »
5 piece w female singer looking for a male singer to expand and fill out the sound
Believe in Yourself
Because the rest of us think you're an idiot.

Mac

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9913
  • Dewey Cheatham & Howe LLP
  • Location: Little Ol Town in the Midwest
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #32 on: June 29, 2015, 09:12:15 am »
June 27, 2015 – I had my first gig with a band in 25+ years. I didn’t tell you guys because I have one superstition. I don’t talk about something until I know for sure it will happen or it does happen. I think I’ll jinx it otherwise.

It was simple gig for the band to get its toes wet and work things through. The bass player’s cousin has a fairly large family reunion/golf tournament/BBQ. We have enough material for 1 set of 45-50 minutes. To stretch out the set, 4 of the songs we added at the last minute and never played together. The only  train-wreck happened at the end. The guy who was having the private party really enjoyed us being there. When we finished and said thank you’s, he yells out “Encore. Play some more.”

Oh good gawd. So we fumble around and then play one of the previous songs again. As a band we’ve only been together for a few months and haven’t played other songs confidently.

“Encore… more! Freebird!!!”

All of sudden the keyboard player starts to play Freebird. Then the bass player joins in. I’m looking all around with WTF! My guitarist is looking real nervous. So I did my best impression of knowing how to play this song. I’ve heard it a million times, but never played it. Through help with the keyboardist and bass, we did a decent job of getting through the change ups and performed a 7 minute version of 12 minute song. 

My only nervousness of the gig was the sound of my kit. When we rehearse in the basement, it sounds good. Out in the open on a patio on 3 acres… I was concerned. While the 15” Mackie works well for practice (and weighs a ton), I brought my JBL PRX15, hooked up through the Allen + Heath Mixer. I placed that behind me on a stand, so I can hear me and the band and audience can hear. That all went well. My concern was the right sound level compared to the rest of the band. My kit got the thumbs up. We got there 2 hours early to work out the kinks. Thought we had it, but some folks notice there was an imbalance from the patio and the deck above. Not a big deal. Lesson #1. Another issue we had was a lot of feedback. I let the sound guy and band members figure that out, while I watched and tried to learn… Lesson #2. I had difficult time hearing the singers. The other monitor for me was not turned up. I could barely hear the keyboardist… Lesson #3. All things we need to work out. If I had a go back, I would have stepped away from kit and out where the audience would be to hear the mix and levels to judge for myself. Oh well. I hope to do that next time... Lesson #4. I seriously need to dedicate more time with the PA, mixer and module and work on getting a better sound. While I was satisfied… I think the sound of kit could be better. Lesson #5.

I am sorry there is no video. I tossed that idea out the band a few days ahead of time, but no one has the video equipment yet. I’ve got pics, but they are not very good.

I got one comment about the kit and that was from the guy throwing the party. He just said while looking at my kit… “Drum kits have made some significant changes.” I just smiled.

One of the big take aways from this first gig, besides the ones I mentioned above, actually came from our keyboardist who regular gigs for 25+ years. Most of a gig consists of prepping for the gig. Setting up the equipment… waiting… and breakdown of the equipment. Playing the music, which we all love to do… happens. It’s not work like the set up and breakdown.

So there it is. I feel a success playing an E-kit live.



Believe in Yourself
Because the rest of us think you're an idiot.

Chiprocks1

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 25865
  • Tell me a joke...
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #33 on: June 29, 2015, 09:23:13 am »
Best post all month. Congrats dude!!!!

FREEBIRD!!!!  ;D
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Mac

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9913
  • Dewey Cheatham & Howe LLP
  • Location: Little Ol Town in the Midwest
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #34 on: June 29, 2015, 09:26:34 am »
Quote
FREEBIRD!!!!  ;D

Grrrrrrrrr  >:(
Believe in Yourself
Because the rest of us think you're an idiot.

Chiprocks1

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 25865
  • Tell me a joke...
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #35 on: June 30, 2015, 03:42:13 pm »
Someone at the gig videotaped some, if not all of the show using an iPhone. Hunt them down, shake 'em up and get me some video!!!!  ;)
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Mac

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9913
  • Dewey Cheatham & Howe LLP
  • Location: Little Ol Town in the Midwest
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #36 on: June 30, 2015, 03:49:23 pm »
Honestly no one gave a sh*t about us, except the guy throwing the party and he was very busy drinking.
Believe in Yourself
Because the rest of us think you're an idiot.

Chiprocks1

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 25865
  • Tell me a joke...
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #37 on: November 07, 2015, 07:17:34 pm »
Want......no, I NEED some updates about your band. Everything working out for ya?
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Mac

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9913
  • Dewey Cheatham & Howe LLP
  • Location: Little Ol Town in the Midwest
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #38 on: November 08, 2015, 02:48:07 pm »
Bad day to ask. Yesterday I would have said, yea, chugging along.
Today, I have no idea what happened at rehearsal. 3 new guys showed up. Our two new singers have gone missing. We just dicked around today. Pissed me off. I need to have a talk with our leads. Communication sucks.
Believe in Yourself
Because the rest of us think you're an idiot.

Chiprocks1

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 25865
  • Tell me a joke...
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #39 on: November 08, 2015, 03:07:39 pm »
Man, that sucks. Sorry to hear that. Was hopeful this would be the band that went somewhere for ya.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Mac

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9913
  • Dewey Cheatham & Howe LLP
  • Location: Little Ol Town in the Midwest
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #40 on: November 08, 2015, 03:29:14 pm »
I'm not trying to portray hopeless. I'm still hopeful, but we do need better communication, a schedule and goal.

Simple, right
Believe in Yourself
Because the rest of us think you're an idiot.

Chiprocks1

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 25865
  • Tell me a joke...
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #41 on: November 08, 2015, 03:37:33 pm »
How often are you guys able to perform live for an audience?
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Mac

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9913
  • Dewey Cheatham & Howe LLP
  • Location: Little Ol Town in the Midwest
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #42 on: November 08, 2015, 05:06:29 pm »
The agreement was 2 weekends a month. If something great should pop up, we can do additional work.

But gigs are not even on our discussions. That's frustrating me. I think they are planning for us to have a full 3 gigs worth of material (45-60 songs) and a show type presentation. We know Propably 20... Maybe. We keep f*cking around with song structure and song choices. I proposed a more structured approach. Forgo getting fancy with stretching songs out, transitions, but most importantly, quit trying to get the studio sound. If we get 90% of the song tackled, we would be doing good.

We just need to move quicker on songs. A couple of us have said our concerns about being a basement band.
Believe in Yourself
Because the rest of us think you're an idiot.

Chiprocks1

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 25865
  • Tell me a joke...
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #43 on: November 26, 2015, 11:26:08 am »
Yo Mac, here's something you might want to consider that could get you some extra cash in your pocket. As you know, I currently watch Twitch as I follow a handful of artist and musicians on there. There are a couple of Drummers that I watch as well and they are constantly getting donations just for playing their kits. This might be something that you can benefit from as well beyond the money you are certain to make because you would A) be able to play to audience whenever you want and B) won't have to rely on having a band there to play alongside you. The drummers I watch just drum along to whatever songs they have on their playlist and they sound great. If you can somehow rope your band into playing live through Twitch, even better. I watch a few bands live every Friday and Saturday and they have their own followings and are constantly getting donations. Just something to think about.
Chip's Rockin' Art
Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Mac

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9913
  • Dewey Cheatham & Howe LLP
  • Location: Little Ol Town in the Midwest
    • View Profile
Re: Mac's Music Project Thread
« Reply #44 on: November 27, 2015, 03:28:38 am »
Thanks Chip. I need to check this out.

Internet is slow down here. I can read some sites and post sometimes, but videos are impossible. I'll check into it when I get back

Last practice, our male singer let us know there will be a 3 month absence sometime in 2016. WTF dude.

The previous week, our lead wised up and laid out our goals. Each of the singers learn 15 songs, then we start getting short gigs.

Well this just sucks. I just wrote him with a suggestion of singers on Bandmix are in line with our philosophy. Marcus is a good singer, but his immaturity, not fully learning songs for practice and this 3 month absence is NOT helping the band move forward.

It's a very obvious hint. He runs the show with Kim, but I have to let him know how I feel
Believe in Yourself
Because the rest of us think you're an idiot.

 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
2 Replies
246 Views
Last post August 10, 2011, 12:43:00 pm
by Mac
71 Replies
3462 Views
Last post January 01, 2017, 01:01:54 pm
by Mac
5 Replies
1409 Views
Last post October 04, 2013, 09:51:27 am
by Mac
0 Replies
187 Views
Last post June 26, 2014, 08:21:50 am
by Mac
0 Replies
138 Views
Last post November 28, 2016, 05:06:12 pm
by Mac

Automatic Image Resize Code