vsmith1

The Paul White book is really useful to get you up to speed. I would like to list out some key principles:[list] [*]Vocals are king - they must be clear, and at the right level in the Front Of House (FOH) sound [*]Do not get too loud - however, drums (and drummers) cannot always turn down - but then everything else gets louder to get over the drums [*]Gain structure on mics - when people soundcheck they don't sing as loud as they do in their fav song in set 2 - so make allowances - if gain too strong you will get distortion [*]Positioning of mics, monitors, FOH speakers - bad positioning leads to feedback - but always a compromise in pubs and small venues [*]Get people to learn how to use a mic, coil cables [*]Start with the premise that EQ is flat and make small adjustments if necessary - cutting EQ is better than increasing [*]Try to keep monitors as quiet as possible but vocalists need to hear themselves - but not like when practising at home - good monitor mix gives vocalists confidence leading to better performance [*]Draw a diagram showing all the kit, all the connections - then you have a plan to work towards when setting up; if you change things keep the plan up to date. Use colour-coded leads or dabs of colour on connectors and sockets to help identify what goes where - helps you get the rest of the band to help set up [*]If you play your socks off but the PA (and rest of the sound) sounds rubbish - then the audience will perceive you as rubbish; [*]If you play rubbish but sound is great - they will still think that you are rubbish...but.... [*]If you have great sound and play well then you are the bees knees! [/list]

What sort of file is an .ipb?

I'd ask for a few camera phone photos in the future. I like to go get a recce at a place we haven't played at before. Though the rest of the band just seem to let me worry about it all for them. But good on you for being so flexible, adaptable and clearly resilient.

Just watched the Stones on iPlayer - must say in all honesty - I got bored. Agreed with comments previously that they indulged extended versions that just noodled on and on. Cannot say that KR & RW seemed very engaged, unlike MJ & CW. Darryl did a neat job and was good to hear the bass coming through. Considering in our cover band we do 4 Stones covers - now I really fear the extended version creeping on us. And as our drummer like a jam - must be aware of the danger.

Bah - try keyboard players who turn the transpose knob and insist that they are playing D when you know that it's a E!

My fave Tull track is called "Up the 'Pool". All about Blackpool and as you may or not know Ian Anderson was living in his childhood in Blackpool. When I lived in St Annes, you could walk past a house and see Gold Disks on the wall. I guess his parents retired down to St Annes. The track is great lyrical observation about Blackpool and often holds true today 40 years on.

Jools is always a mixed bag for me. Though I have been [i]challenged[/i] a few times and have followed a few bands up. Thankfully, though I love the nostalgia, it is good to have the mix of old and new. In fact our band do a cover of the cover that Ben L'Oncle Soul do of a White Stripes number - Seven Nation Army. I'll state the obvious and feel that Deap Vally seem to be a rip-off of the White Stripes. I did enjoy John Grant from the week before. I was happily surprised to see QOTSA on there. And we still have the Alice Cooper show on the PVR to revisit.

Sorry - out that day. Would have been good as I've missed him at Kendal everytime.

Yes it does. I have a free copy of a cut down Amplitube Ampeg SVX which gives me a B500 model bass head/cab. I also have Pod Farm with the Bass pack that gives loads of AUs to add into GarageBand. So anything with a AU is available as a plug-in in GarageBand.

I also use old laptop bags. They come with zipped pockets and padding. I have two: one with BH250, footswitch and 4-gang power strip, mains cable, jack cables, XLR cable for DI if necessary; second bag is a little larger and has pedals, Diago power, associated cables. The second bag is a little scruffy but cost me next to nothing from a jumble sale.

Just thought that in my progress that I'd look to a Who bass line and picking up my Bass Tab White Pages book, I came to the following entry which didn't make much sense to me, My Generation - Moderately Fast then with a quarter note tempo of 192 bpm !! That doesn't seem moderately anything - just incredibly fast. So how do those descriptions work? I know that people will say start slowly and work up. I do get a bit lost with that as I cannot hear the tune in my head if I start too slowly. Did Entwhistle use a plectrum? I think that I will have to. Any other advice?

My main band have female vocal lead and female keyboard/BV/harmony. We do a lot of these songs. The Elbow song just is such an anthem and everybody joins in. I'd recommend some Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, and just make sure that the keys are alright. We have some big shifts to match the vocal range.

Promenade in Morecambe are friendly and have MarkBass.

In terms of songs I just don't like that we play then I'd go with Umbrella (Manic Street Preachers cover) and Mr Rock'n'Roll. Songs that are not enjoyable for me to play are Stand By Me and I Can See Clearly Now. However, though there's not much to do I still get goosebumps when playing Chasing Cars - but I think we do it very well. Maybe I'm just even more weird that I think in that many of the songs already mentioned in this thread have been are part of our set list.

On another direction - prevention being better than cure - then some TLC for zips will not go amiss. I have a block of wax which is rubbed to lubricate zips - as most zips break when pulled too hard. Just apply once in a while to both sides of the zip. My Mrs used to use it on her life jack zips when she was on the local RNLI crew and as you can imagine lots of salt, sand and zips are not a good mix.