TimR

In the about section you use 'they' and 'we'. You can also alter "around the m25, <list of counties> " to "London and the South East but are willing to travel further." and like WOT - keep it simple ditch the about page and stick the info on the front page. You should have a link to Twitter and Facebook on the front page.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1467367219' post='3083108'] About 30 years back, In my early 20,s, I got fired from my first band ... I was told the band had folded, but discovered they had regrouped with the singers mate on bass. [/quote] A drummer of a band I was in did this to the singer. Without much discussion from the rest of us. It's a rubbish way of doing things and makes everyone look ridiculous. Call someone or go see them and tell them they're out, give real reasons and move on. Otherwise you're not doing anyone any favours.

[quote name='Machines' timestamp='1467210128' post='3081959'] I have just qualified. Joined a band and had 3 rehearsals for a mix of covers and originals - all of us roughly equally skilled but I have possibly the most gigging experience as well as diversity in music. Everyone agreed a 3-4 week break due to holidays etc, I messaged the group to ask when we were reconvening and was told pretty much "we're changing the band with one guitarist now playing bass instead of you, sorry bye" I just hope he's better at bass than he is guitar. [/quote] I wouldn't all that being fired. I'd say you didn't complete your probation. Would be nice if you were told why and to your face. Even if it was just because you 'didn't fit the band dynamic'

You learn to recognise the difference between a drummer and someone who owns a drum kit. Although one drum kit owner I played with bout a two seater sports car and put a large sub in the boot making it impossible to transport his kit anywhere.

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1466873040' post='3079508'] My point is it is down to what you have agreed. If the other side screws up I'd still make every effort to go ahead. I can't imagine you would have taken such a booking in the first place. [/quote] My view is still that the booking was inappropriate for a full band. The two guitarists performed an presumably the bar and audience enjoyed it. Job done.

I think the important thing is that entertainment was provided. If the whole band had walked it definitely wouldn't have looked good. My take is they received what they were after. If drums we're going to be too loud add bass and you'd have problems that would have made you wished you'd walked anyway. Absolutley nothing wrong with doing an acoustic gig to promote your songs. I don't think you should be too worried about it. You made the best of a bad job.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1466290231' post='3074776'] Understood, If a agent can book 2k gigs, that makes perfect sense, but an agent for bar/pub gigs? Blue [/quote] Quite. In the UK some clubs will only book through an agent but bar/pub gigs at the lower level are done band to landlord. The instance I'm quoting is an agent who approached us last minute for a private party. The O/P is talking about a promoter. Traditionally these are very shady characters full of promises and lacking in delivery. There are good ones though.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1465935451' post='3072309'] Ass hat ? Bum beret ? Maybe..... [/quote] Hemorrhoids. Bum berries. .

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1466281117' post='3074697'] @ TimR Are you a union rep? [/quote] No. And I try to avoid agents that approach me (now!)

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1466274735' post='3074623'] How is not getting paid not your problem? Blue [/quote] It's not my responsibility to chase non payment from a client. It's my responsibility to receive payment and pass the agent their %age of the fee. The agreement is between the band and the agent, and the agent and the client. Not directly between the band and the client. .

The big problem with handing over responsibility for this type of thing is its out if your hands and sometimes if you turn up and everything is wrong you have to make a descision. I think you made the right descision. Suitable entertainment was provided. I once did an Irish party for an agent. We wern't an Irish band and it got really quite scary at points with large drunken Irishmen demanding you play that song that goes diddly oi! You know the one. In the end we packed up early and they refused to pay us. That's the agent's problem as far as I'm concerned. Not good.

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1466252313' post='3074425'] Well that's another thing - weeding out the sh*tty gigs by making phone calls and asking questions i.e. making sure they are expecting you a few days before the gig, checking "suppied" equipment has been provided and is suitable, etc. [/quote] Unfortunately, the guy who was in charge of this aspect (call him a promoter if you like) didn't...

I think you've got a problem there with your experience with age vs their eagerness of youth. You may need to steer them a bit and 'sense check' the gigs they're getting offered beforehand for them. It's very easy to take everything and anything in desperation for exposure.

It depends what the songs are. The whole cover band thing fascinates me. You're playing a song originally written by another artist. Unless your singer is doing impressions of the original artist, you're going to sound completely different from the original anyway. You may get some narrow minded audience members being picky about what artists they'll listen to, but I doubt it. .

I'm still fighting with the software. My PC doesn't like it. I'm going to try some different software.

Every single Beatles tune. And actually quite a lot of the songs we play that I liked before we played them but can't bear to listen to. Maybe because I've heard us play then so many times. But that's not really what you asked. I suspect what happens is you're creating the music you're hearing it from a different position and you're also able to put some spin on the bits you don't particularly like. Depending on who is playing it; Mustang Sally can be a hell on earth boring drag-fest, or it can be a lively bouncing great tune. .

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1465827490' post='3071314'] ... Personally, I find the apostrophe more shocking than anything else, but there you go... [/quote] Quite. Seems very common though...

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1465811081' post='3071087'] A few developments... We contacted the band in question and very politely suggested they consider changing their name on the basis that we're the more established band, we had the name before they formed etc... We then received a very terse response which basically amounted to a verbal middle finger. We were willing to take a deep breath, move on and leave it be. Then one of us got a phone call over the weekend from one of their fathers apologising for his daughters bands immaturity and rude response! Hilarious. [/quote] That is brilliant. You should always remember that there are an awful lot of kids on the web posing as adults. Maybe adults should go on a course to learn the opposite of the lessons our kids are taught about adults posing as kids.

Try http://www.bandmix.co.uk It's pretty good.

The (English) Beat were known as The English Beat in the US and The Beat in Europe. While The (US) Beat where known as The Paul Collins Beat in Europe and The Beat in the US. Even though The English Beat were established before The Paul Collins Beat. An interesting solution. Maybe add another word in front of yours as well to eliminate the confusion?

Lost Prophets with elements of Muse. Nice.

Yes when I joined my most recent band I made the conscious descision to not play any part in suggesting or avoiding playing anything. So far I have only thrown my toys out of the pram once, when the guys spent half an hour discussing what tunes to play. Every song the singer suggested was turned down by the guitarist and drummer and every song the drummer or guitarist suggested was turned down by the singer. An absolute waste of my time. Tell me what to play - I'll play it. Let the audience decide.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1465429438' post='3068236'] Hmm... that IS a terrible song, though. [/quote] This is the primary reason that cover bands' setlists are so bland and why we all complain everyone is playing the same tunes. Finding a group of musicians who can pick good tunes that the audience like is very very hard. I'm not afraid to try anything but I usually say if a tune hasn't gone down well after three outings it's time to bin it. I guess the big problem is band members who refuse to even try suggestions. It's only a bunch of notes and a few words. Learn them, play them a few times - keep/bin as required. It's not rocket science, people are too narrow minded. .

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1465217530' post='3066175'] That doesn't really tell us anything about transmission frequency balance, or more importantly, how something is mixed for transmission whether it's music or drama or docs... Bear in mind that the mixing for transmission, as opposed to the sound in the studio, is done in a (mostly!) soundproofed room with (relatively!) full-range monitors. So frequency extremes aren't going to feature very much on a 2" speaker on your telly - unless the mix has been compressed in a frequency-dependent way. And the audio in the mixing room will be full-range and not (digitally) - compressed. So it may sound perfect to them - after all they want max quality - but after being MPEG encoded then compressed to between 128 and 320kbps (depending on what else is going on in the transmission multiplex), who knows what the balance is going to be like! [/quote] Isn't the broadcast mix done outside the venue in a trailer and completely different from the PA and monitor mix? I agree it doesn't tell us much but if you start to mix in bass and drums you elevate the level of the mix quite a bit and they mention not wanting an overly compressed sound for TV in the article. Which is different to what they do for radio and CD.

I think the problem with listening to music on the TV is it is always going to be a compromise. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/internet/entries/c99c3fd4-708b-3632-8c33-13abe97ec557