cheddatom

The Maze in Nottingham again on Friday night. On stage at 00:45 so technically Saturday morning. I was expecting it to be rubbish but there were loads of people and they were all up for it! And the sound was OK too!

When I'm attending gigs, I'll buy CDs if I like the band. When I see people publicising stuff online that I think looks interesting, I'll listen to it, and if I like it I'll buy it online. Normally that means downloading some mp3s for me, often through bandcamp. I guess it's the quickest method to obtain the music in the given situation My band sells loads of CDs at gigs, not so many online

sorry for the multiple posts but I just have to rant a bit A couple of years ago I was playing to support a band and the drummer offered to share his kit with me in advance. I said "OK, yeh, if it'll save time, thanks very much". He said "it'll save loads of time, it takes ages to set my kit up" and I soon found out why. A full rack, 2 rack toms, 2 floor toms, about 10 cymbals, double-kick pedal... As he sound checked I set up my cymbals on my stands thinking I could just fold his rack stuff out of the way. After his sound check, I took my gear towards the stage he said "you won't be needing those mate, just put your cymbals on my rack and don't adjust anything". He was almost a foot shorter than me, and I was forced to play with his exact setup. I did get away with it, and maybe that makes me "adaptable" or whatever, but it was not fun at all

It's worth clarifying what "breakables" means as well. The other night a drummer said to me "I wish I'd known you'd brought your own stands, I would have used them, the shared stands are sh*t". I was shocked that he'd not brought his own, and also assumed he would be able to use mine. Some people say "oh yeh, use my stands, it's no problem, set them how you want" but then the stool is a non-adjustable bar stool and the snare stand can't stay still

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1491908352' post='3276317'] Our drummer always brings his stands when told breakables, sets them all up, ready to go. It`s just one of those things, you have to compromise on some areas if gear-sharing, but good comms with the other bands prior to the events should sort as much of this as possible. [/quote] Good man! ...I was looking at your gig list the other day. I keep thinking we're going to collide at some point as we're playing with similar acts in similar venues but there's nothing yet!

It's fair enough to say "you should be able to play on anything" etc. and that is a valuable skill, but I wonder how many of you would be happy to be forced to play a "house bass" As has been said, fair enough for a jam, not really fair enough if you're supposed to be putting on a professional performance for which you're being paid.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1491904236' post='3276266'] ...As Buddy Ritch told a drummer who tried to adjust Buddies kit "Play is as it lays". Its a good learning experience, not Ideal but it happens, so get used to it. [/quote] Yes, good point, and I don't mind to an extent, but when a hit-hat pedal isn't functional, the rack tom won't stay still despite a generous amount of gaffer tape, and the stool is set for someone a foot shorter than me, it's a bit too much to handle [quote name='mikel' timestamp='1491904236' post='3276266'] Why is this on here though, I feel sure its a Bass forum? [/quote] I thought there might be some people who play drums and/or in bands with drummers. Clearly a silly assumption!

A couple of weeks ago I turned up to a gig and the drummer who was sharing his kit said "leave your gear mate, you can use all mine, it'll save loads of time". I grabbed my kick pedal and snare drum hoping for the best. He had two rack toms, but I only like one. I asked "Do you mind if I take this off?" and he looked a bit pissed off. I felt bad about it, but I just removed it. It gets in the way and puts me right off. He didn't look happy at all. Then I had to go and get my ride cymbal as his was in such an awkward position, and all tangled in with the cables so I couldn't move it. I also grabbed my stool because his was wobbling and falling apart, and my snare stand for the same reason. I figured I'd wasted enough time by now so just tweaked the set up and decided I'd live with it. It wasn't until we started to sound check that I realised his hi-hat stand was broken. I didn't have time to swap it so just had to deal with it which was very frustrating. After we'd played, the drummer got on stage, and I assumed he was going to put everything back the way it was, but NO this guy was LEFT HANDED!!! I could have packed away my entire kit and set up his in the time it took to switch everything around, and I would have had a much more enjoyable gig... my fault, I should have spoken to them in advance. I was really grateful and thanked him for his generosity, and I really do appreciate it, but it's times like these when I wish "kit share" wasn't a thing at all. I'm not sure how much benefit it really brings.

I play drums in a few bands and this winds me up. I get that the idea is to save time. This is mainly for the soundman because his stands and cables will be intertwined with the kit and so swapping the kit is a pain for him. Fair enough! I often let other drummers use my shells and don't mind at all BUT 1 - If you're using my kit, please can you bring your stands with you? Setting up the cymbals in the right place is what takes the time. If you use my stands, you'll be adjusting them for 5 minutes, and then so will I. Let's just keep our cymbals on their stands back-stage, and switch them over when the bands switch over. This will actually save a load of time, which is the whole point of sharing a kit 2 - If you're going to share your kit, please could you make sure it's vaguely in tune? And that the toms don't wobble about everywhere? 3 - If you're sharing your kit, DON'T insist that every drummer uses all of your hardware and that none of it can be adjusted. That's not really sharing. 4 - Can we sort it out in advance please? Maybe you lot could share some of these tips with your drummers?

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1491867515' post='3276063'] ...I don't think driving that far to play to 20 people for an hour is a good way to build a following or good use of the bands time IMO. Blue [/quote] Well, it's an original band, and it seems to be the way it goes. Play in a new town and there are not many there, but you win over the ones who are. The next time you play that town, they all come and bring more people, and so on. To put it in money terms, with an original band, you're selling directly to the audience. It's not about how much they drink, it's about whether they will buy merch and follow you to your next shows. It's a totally different game to yours, which is selling a service directly to the landlord ...but yeh, the pay was allright

I would put it online, streaming for free, hopefully sync it up to some sort of video. When you have a physical CD with artwork, people will buy it at your gigs, but it'll be really difficult to get people to buy a download until you've built up a following

you'll be fine in the studio if there's a half-decent engineer. He can drop you in if you make mistakes and move the odd out of time note.

Club Rock in Carlisle on Saturday. We're from Stoke so this is a long way, about 2 hours 40 to drive with no traffic and no stops. I'd been told we'd be on around 10pm. My girlfriend flew to Spain yesterday so I thought it'd be nice to go to the lakes on Friday, stay over, get to Carlisle for the gig on Saturday, and get home for 1-2AM Sunday morning It turned out the stage time was more like 11pm, and we actually didn't get on until 11:45 ish. They still wanted an hour set, shouting for more at the end. I got home at 4AM knackered. I think there were about 20 people in there at the most. They did seem to enjoy it and some bought CDs etc. It's difficult to know if these gigs are worth doing. I guess this is how you start to build up a fan base in new areas

could be to do with differences in impendece on the ouputs of your basses

Sad news

Imagine a live band in a room. The bassist has a fairly even tone over the frequencies. When he's playing on his own you can clearly hear the finger and fret noise, but then so can he so he plays cleaner. As soon as the cymbals and guitar kick in, you're not going to hear anything in that 2.5Khz and up range coming from the bass rig. That's because these other instruments are louder in this frequency range. Obviously if the bassist wants to be heard in this range, he can use EQ, compression, dirt etc. to cut through up there, but then the loudest parts are going to be the attack of the note, not the finger noise It's the same when you're mixing in the studio. I always have a very different tone in a mix for the bass when it's on its own in a mix. That's why I like to use pedals live, so that I can replicate what I do in the studio

well if you don't get any hum issues it's easily worth it, bigger screen means less eye strain when you're getting into details

It seems to me that if the need for a 4x10 is purely aesthetic, then you should buy the one you like the looks of the most

I used to have a big HD TV running in my studio as the large editing screen. It was really useful, but did seem to interfere with guitars somewhat in terms of hum Since I moved studios I've gone back to my small computer monitors. To be honest the fact that people could see what I was doing to manipulate their performances and "tones" turned out to be a significant hindrance for some sessions IE people wouldn't let me fix their mistakes or replace their crap line-6 combo distortion with one of my amp sims, etc.

The Rigger in Newcastle Under Lyme on Friday night supporting Ferocious Dog. It was sold out, never seen the place so busy, and it was ace The Live Rooms in Chester on Saturday night. A bit of a weird one in aid of charity. Great venue! Hopefully we'll play there again

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1491030458' post='3269912'] They swap bass too, Katzman and Stratton both played a bit during the London gig! [/quote] Really? I've watched so much live footage and never seen this. What did Joe do? Do you know if there's any footage online?

I do it using a BDI21 amp sim straight to the desk and fed out through whatever monitors they have. Depending on the monitors it can be ace or awful. I'm willing to risk it because I don't have a working amp

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1490959588' post='3269393'] In before the locksmith... (well, after actually) [/quote] well, the horse has already bolted...

I like a blend but I use it fairly subtly, and I use it on a whole chain of effects. I'd have thought the big muff clone would get you most of the way there, try turning the output down on your bass?

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1490787626' post='3267951'] Found this the other day, the isolation really highlights how staccato and ghost-notey Joe's style is. [media]http://youtu.be/T9xRuViPdkI[/media] [/quote] Thanks! I'd not heard this. I love the bit at 3:20 so much, I mean the whole thing is amazing but that tiny run once they've gone back to the "chorus" (Is it called "the head" in jazz?) is just outstanding