TimR

Beautiful.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1472802075' post='3124309'] On the flip side. I was watching a solo guitarist/singer in my local last night and talking to his promoter/agent/manager. He manages several originals bands and says they don't really understand the networking and business side of being in a band. He said that he can only promote them so much. With the way social media is, the best promoters are the band. They should be on Facebook and Twitter and pushing their gigs and new material and creating that buzz. His job is to get them into the venues where he has contacts and advise them on how to behave and promote themselves better. He makes money ONLY if the band makes money. That's the key thing. If the band aren't interested in making money and doing their share of the promoting. Then he doesn't make money. The net effect is he puts his energies and time into the bands making the money. Playing to free to small local audiences for fun is great but it's not the way to win friends and influence people. [/quote]

Nowadays it's not really the job of the 'promoter' (despite the name) to promote the band to the fans. Their role has changed due to social media. Why do people watch Strictly or X-Factor? It's because those shows create a massive buzz. You can't open up Facebook or turn on the TV without seeing them mentioned in some form. What are you doing to actually compete against that, how are you developing that buzz among your peers? Are you tweeting photos of rehearsals, song writing sessions, recording sessions. When people comment on your facebook page are you engaging with them and making them think they're missing out if they're not at the gig? The music business has nothing to do with music. It's all about self promotion and that's your job, not the promoter. .

I've seen them several times. Mainly at Donington and Hammersmith Odeon in the 80s. Saw them in 2011 at the O2 but it's just not the same. Live After Death is the album to listen to.

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1472846177' post='3124814'] Interesting to note that Steve plays with a very light touch, which he has described as "Tickling" the strings. With this approach, not as much stamina is required. [/quote] Indeed. Light touch. Loud amp.

By the time you are at the drink drive limit you have already experienced 7dB loss of hearing and it will be most marked in the vocal range making speech difficult to hear. Next time some drunk comes up to you at a gig and says they can't hear the vocals, they probably can't. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2031886/

Flea. That's ok.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1472664882' post='3123093'] I got Guy Pratt - probably because after just three questions I got annoyed with the quiz and left it. [/quote] That's going on the famous quotes thread.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1472598583' post='3122575'] Can one self-identify anyone else ? [/quote] I suppose not. It doesn't really add anything but the sentence didn't seem compete without the qualifying 'ourselves'. Doesn't make it bad grammar though. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-concept

[quote name='Trueno' timestamp='1472586045' post='3122423'] Have you thought about taking a degree in Philosophy? You may ponder such questions as: does something exist if no-one is looking at it. As it happens I do have a degree in Philosophy, but if anyone asks, I don't call myself a Philosopher. [/quote] I'm more of a psychology man myself. My daughter starts A level psychology next week, I'm hoping to steal some of her books. But the whole thread is a philosophical question. A musician is someone who makes music. End of discussion. What is music and are they a musician when they're not actually making music are key to the question I think. And yes. I think it's been proved that things are just a collection of electromagnetic waves. It's only when other electromagnetic waves interfere with them and then activate our visual cortex does anything actually become 'real'. Which is odd because then it's just a collection of electro-chemical impulses.

I find it funny when people are asked what they do on quiz shows. "I'm an unemployed computer programmer". No you're not. You're unemployed. It's funny how we self identify ourselves. An injured runner? No you're not a runner if you can't run, your wardrobe may be full of running clothes and trainers but you're not a runner. But do we all stop being computer programmers, runners, musicians when we are asleep at night? I suppose you only stop being an X when you actively declare you're not going to do it anymore.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1472579083' post='3122328'] Absolutely. IME if it is necessary to be able to read a chord chart, it can be taught, but people who have no idea about image generally never will, and even if they can be persuaded to dress appropriately generally look might uncomfortable in their "stage gear". Sometime it's easier not to bother with these. [/quote] I agree to a certain extent. We had a guitarist who couldn't even look smart in a suit.

As a musician/bass player, I would hope that 'must be able to read chord charts' and 'good musical communication skills' should be pretty much a given. Then it's just a matter of refining the image of the bass player you're looking for. I can't imagine someone with exactly the right image is going to be able to learn the songs ready for an audition if they can't actually play bass. I suppose it really depends on how prescriptive the image is and whether the person writing the advert is being too rigid. Does a metal band actually need players to have long hair? Isn't that a bit 80s? Maybe in an 80s hair metal tribute band it's quite important, otherwise hair is completely irrelevant. Black bass? Possibly, if that's the look, black basses aren't hard to find. Black shoes, trousers, tie and white shirt is a bit predicatable now for function bands. They were wearing that in the early 2000s and it's quite passé really. Shows a lack of imagination AFAIAC. .

I use Goldwave. https://www.goldwave.com I paid (the $15, now $45) to get the additional features. Well worth it. Of course if you want to save to MP3 you have to install the LAME encoder. But that's extremely easy and free.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1472507679' post='3121745'] Wow., I've never read anyone say that about being in a band. I suppose if you just turn up, play, get paid and go home, and you are happy with that, then good luck with it. I can now understand your being replaced comment. [/quote] I'm the same. Tell me what tunes to play. Tell me when the gig is. I'll make suggestions that sometimes get listened to but they're suggestions. I've spent too many years in too many bands where too many people have had too many opinions.

[quote name='zbd1960' timestamp='1472501909' post='3121670'] I don't get this either. Drums are inherently LOUD, neither they nor trumpets, trombones nor saxes need amplifying in small venues.... [/quote] The theory is the drummer (or brass) player can then play at comfortable volumes while the PA projects the sound at ear level rather than the drummer trying to make the sound from the bass drum travel through the front row of the audiences knees. Unfortunately, not a lot of bands understand what the PA is for.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1472415871' post='3120999'] A musician is someone who makes music. The rest is adjectives, one of these being 'a bad musician'. The tools are irrelevant, the skill set irrelevant, the methods irrelevant. The only defining characteristic is the presence of a person and the creation of music. ... [/quote] There we go. I was waiting for someone to say this. If you play music you are a musician. End of story. The real question is what is music? That's really in the ear of the beholder. I don't think you can call yourself a musician. Anyone who owns a musical instrument can make a noise with it. It's up to the audience to decide whether it's music. If they think it's music, then you are a musician. A painter paints, an artist sells his paintings.

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1472249121' post='3119888'] thats ok I think the "camera" was infact a phone and bearing in mind this was recorded 10+ years ago, certainly not hi fi! [/quote] That'll be why it sounds ok on my phone speakers then.

I can hear cymbals perfectly. What are you listening on.

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1472239479' post='3119793'] Nice...but...unless it's just how the camera mike picked things up.... I can just barely hear the vocalist. So, no doubt the bassist can be heard , but the vocals can not. [/quote] The camera is behind the PA speakers.

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1472211761' post='3119470'] In defence of guitarists, I play guitar in lots of bands, and I always take my old 15w Wem Dominator, it never goes above three, and it seems surprisingly loud to me anywhere above 1. I will always turn down when asked, and know just how helpful a horrid ugly tinny sound can be once everything else slots in underneath. Similarly, my bass sounds utterly dreadful solo but sits very nicely in the mix. [/quote] When a guitarist sees the light it's a pretty good moment.

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1472201501' post='3119323'] ...and give the guitarists an excuse to up their volume to compensate...? I don't think any gear change is required. What does need to change... (downwards...) is the volume knob on said gear. [/quote] I think your issue is TWO guitarists. I've been in a similar situation where finding a tone that fits in the mix is practically impossible because both guitarists are using 'Their sound' which is the sound that they like when playing solo in their bedroom/practice space. This leads to volume wars where everyone just tries to turn up in an effort to be heard over everyone else. As mentioned above, it may be an idea to alter the position of their amps so that they're angled at their ears which will reduce the volume. The other thing you will have to do is get them to cut some frequencies for 'Their tone' so that they compromise and have a 'Band tone', which has to be different for each guitar and has to leave a big frequency gap in the lower mids to allow the definition of your bass to be heard. You will also have to compromise as well. Bass is not just bass there are other just as important frequencies. You will need rehearsal time specifically for this excercise. I promise you the time spent doing this will improve your band 200%. .

Just play what your practiced. Everyone is looking at the guitarist and singer anyway. The difference between a pro and and amateur is - the amateur practices until he gets it right. - the pro practices until he can't get it wrong. Although all my pro friends say practice is cheating.

I've never used a backup. I have had a failure that I got round and since then take a backup but 1 failure in 30years? How high profile are the gigs?

European Tour Dates 2017 Sun/Mar-12 Cardiff, UK Cardiff Arena Mon/Mar-13 Birmingham, UK Birmingham Symphony Hall Wed/Mar-15 Brighton, UK Brighton Dome Thu/Mar-16 Bournemouth, UK Bournemouth International Centre Sun/Mar-19 London, UK London Hammersmith Apollo Tue/Mar-21 Nottingham, UK Nottingham Royal Concert Hall Wed/Mar-22 Edinburgh, UK Edinburgh Usher Hall Fri /Mar-24 Glasgow, UK Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Sat/Mar-25 Manchester, UK Manchester Apollo