TimR

Musicians good enough to dep will do a handful of rehearsals before getting bored.

Seems to be the same situation I'm in. Don't these people understand. Write the material. Audition musicians with a timeline to the potential first gig. Get gig ready. Record a demo. Get gigs.

I appear to be doing this regularly. It's 15mins from my home and they're looking for a permanent bass player. The band leader has been through about 50 musicians in the last 3 years looking for the perfect players and refining his 10 tunes. I think he doesn't actually know what he is looking for.

OK. Well the only solution in that case is for him to play to the venue amd you to set the volumes of the other instruments to the venue and not the drums. Messing with microphones and mixing the instruments too high is only making it worse. Ultimately the proper way to mix a band in a small venue is to set the lead vocals to an appropriate level (where there is no feedback amd you're not forcing the punters to stand at the back) and then mix everyone up to that level.

OK. I've missed something. Is the drummer using a floor monitor? Everyone else in ears. Where is the feedback from? Is it the mains because you're having to boost the vocals over the drummer? If so, turn the drummers floor monitor down. If he can't hear it then he'll have to tailor his drum volume to balance that. I suspect this is a mini version of volume wars. Drums loud, turn up monitor, drums play louder, turn up mains to cope. Etc etc. Turn down his floor monitor.

https://service.shure.com/s/article/difference-between-cardioid-and-supercardioid?language=en_US As I say, watch the placement of the monitor. They will have less rear rejection.

If you use a Beta; move the monitor speaker to the side which helps then as well.

I have the 2.4Ghz band ones. Don't think that will make much difference other than I'm hoping most pub WiFi will now be on 5Ghz. 😆 Interestingly the blurb says ideally be 3m away from the nearest WiFi source.

They arrived today. Will try and play with them tomorow. Although decorating the bathroom is higher on MrsR's list of things for me to do. 😆

I love a cowbell. But then I also love the sound an elastic band streched across a shoe makes.

Old soft toothbrush. I keep one in my case of bits and bobs and do it every time I change the strings (once every year or two 😉).

In case it grows legs usually.

Have you tried reducing the Mic gain and increasing the main volume?

I've done the gig booking before. It's a thankless task. I make sure the band leader has my free dates and I reply as soon as asked if I'm free for a gig. I dont pick and chose which gigs I want to do and once I've made a commitment I then don't drop out last minute. I never complain about a gig and always thank the person doing the booking. These are the things that band members didn't consider when I was booking gigs, and what has really put me off booking gigs. Members of bands I play with are still not considering any ofnthe above and not booking the gigs either - so I am not getting involved.

Don't pigeonhole yourself. Don't be picky about song choices or styles. Move on quickly if the band turns out to be a bunch of guys who just want to practice and say they're in a band. I'm busy, I want someone to tell me what songs to learn and when the next gig is. I'll turn up to rehearsals ready to rehearse with the intention to gig as soon as possible.

Was thinking about this last night while watching the SBL episode on IEMs. On their way now... Do I need to buy wireless IEMs as well? 😆

My professional trumpet player freind calls it the amatuer's disease. To make something more exciting, just play it louder and faster.

Mine used to frequently jump 2 octaves when I was 14. Not on purpose though.

Drum sheilds/screens are not just to stop drum bleed into stage mics, they also stop amplifier bleed into drum mics. If you're not using mics, you don't need one.

Sounds good to me. Accept his choice and use another drummer for those gigs.

Tickets found on reselling sites to be cancelled. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9ql7jnepwlo

That was my first thought. VII and vii etc

Start your own band. Write a set list. Set out what musicians you want and what level of commitment you want. How often you rehearse and gig.

That requires a thread of it's own. 😆