TimR

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1464681648' post='3061297'] Another bassist from south Wales here, echoing what FuNkShUi has said. Although lately in Cardiff, pubs are now edging toward the trend of NOT paying in cash Instead, they want you to submit an invoice. This usually means one band member who has his own business submitting the invoice, and he ends up paying tax on it. Of course, we all should be paying tax -but that rather reduces the £200 fee between 4 or 5 band members.. And, given certain politicians' history on paying tax - one feels that £200, which was the going rate around 15 years ago seems rather paltry Especially as Cardiff city centre gigs usually mean you have to pay to park too Oddly enough, we seem to get paid more in the Valleys of South Wales, where you also get paid cash, often get a free drink or 2. And I have to say it, but they seem to prefer their live music [/quote] Set the band up as a company. As a micro entity you only have to do a company return (£13) and submit simple accounts every year. It's really very simple.

Valve amps will distort with odd order harmonics which sound pleasant to the human ear. Transistor amps distort with even order harmonics which aren't. You can only therefore compare valve-valve and transistor-transistor amps, And as there's no standard, one amp manufacturer can claim 1000 watts at 10% THD at 1kHz but the amp may not develop any more power than 1000watts. Whilst another manufacturer could claim 500 watts at 1% THD at 1kHz. But the 500watt amp could be louder because it might operate well above 1000 watts. .

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1464439110' post='3059469'] I've just realised I effectively quit another band. They wanted to move to Berlin, and I didn't. [/quote] That's kind of constructive dismissal.

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1464534890' post='3060148'] I do find it a little disturbing that most of you guys seem to regard a covers gig as requiring a slavish, note perfect, feel-perfect version of The Original Record. Really hope I am reading this one wrong. In any case, when I play covers, I try to sort of pay hommage to the original, but never follow anything note for note. In 99 cases out of 100, the guy who did the original recording has never played it twice the same. For me, that is where the fun is on any gig. [/quote] Not so much disturbing as frustrating. I've only ever had one person tell me I was playing a bass line wrong. Another bass player. I depped with an originals band. I learned the bass lines the original bass player wrote. I altered most of them slightly in some way as I didn't like some of the note choices and they weren't what I would have played. After the gig I got lots of comments about 'really nailing' it. It's funny. I've heard loads of players who've copied originals note for note but have missed the feel and I've heard loads of players who captured the feel but the line has been different. I know what I preferred. It's extremely rare that I've heard anyone play the original notes with the original feel.

Whenever I've played in originals band the actual songwriting has varied in the methods employed. Sometimes the guitarist would come up with a riff and we'd jam it and it would morph. From a decent verse we would create a chorus and then assemble it all. Occasionally the guitarist would come up with a fully formed song and we would just add our parts to it. Really a song only consists of a melody line and a form. Everything else is pretty fluid. The melody/riff can be created by one person or it can be an idea that is shaped by everyone. This is something I struggle to get across to a lot of cover band musicians who want everything the same as the original. It puts songs originally played on piano out of reach of guitar bands. Unless you have a creative guitarist with vision.

I was the same for a few years. The one thing I couldn't understand was how a band of relatively inept musicians could get a place leaping about. 1. Have a frontman who welcomes the audience. Forget if he can sing or not. He needs to be larger than life and ooze confidence. 2. Play songs with confidence. Spend longer getting tight and ignore whether the guitarist should be playing with a Fender or a Gibson etc. That is only important to the guitarist and his obsessive mate at the bar at the back of the room. 3. Be polite to everyone and behave like a professional. That's it really. If one of those things are missing you're going to find it hard to get gigs. Everything else is window dressing.

Pete. You've been seriously ill and spent a lot of time in hospital. You will have lost a lot of muscle mass. You can't expect to get up and do a 3 hour gig just like that. Ask to be referred to a physio. Get some weight bearing excersie routines. Good luck and be patient.

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1464178416' post='3057243'] is it an established working band doing 4 hours gigs? if not, it is probably going to fold.... the majority of bands do [/quote] I think so. They play a few Beatles numbers as well which are quite popular with the older generation.

I think 'established' doesn't nessecarily mean the band. If the band leader is well known by promoters and known to be able to put a decent project together then that holds a lot more sway. A group of unknown musicians trying to get a foot in the door is nigh on impossible.

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1464176896' post='3057216'] 20 years later!? [/quote] That was in response to Rockford's question about not being any established bands without start up bands. The reason start up bands have so much trouble is because a lot of the established bands aren't actually full of people who have been there from day one. So you find a band can get the same gigs and play similar music being effectively an 'established band' but actually have only been playing together for a few months in its current line up. The band I started has no members newer than 4 years ago and the newest member joined last week.

Just join the band I started in 1996. There are now no original members.

That's a good move. At one point I was 'in' 4 bands. One never gigged but rehearsed every couple of weeks. One was starting up and the guitarist was ill. We never more than 3 rehearsals. I'm still waiting 4 years later to find out if the band has folded, whether the guitarist is better or if I've been chucked out. One rehearsed weekly but hardly ever gigged. So I found a 4th who were gigging and rehearsing regularly. Then 'left' the others. Ultimately you can't hang around forever in case something might happen. You have to make your own luck.

The more I think about this, the more I can't see any point in having 9v batteries or supplies anymore. With high power 5v sources about 9v is pretty redundant.

Have you got another band lined up ready to join? If not look for another band. In the mean time I'd suggest to them to take a break until the singer is ready. There's no point in half rehearsing a band.

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1464100191' post='3056545'] Still gotta consider how many milliamps it will pump out .. It may not be enough to service the draw of the 9 volter [/quote] The USB specs say it should be able to draw 5A if connected to a charging port.

Yes. That's my major beef. Cases and boxes not put back in the cars when they've been emptied. There's usually not much space as it is. I have three large boxes that the lights come in and I religiously put them back in my car once we've set up.

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1464089186' post='3056422'] Nice idea but 5v to 9v? How many stepper uppers will you need? It will just blow it off the wall won't it ? Now u can probably charge phones from the 9v stepping down but the other way around is just ...entertaining to watch. [/quote] You just need a DC-DC step up. eBay is full of them at c£2.

Very clever idea. You can use one of those powerbank USBs to power your gear instead of messing about with 9v rechargeable batteries and chargers etc. Would be nice if a lot of electronic equipment started to go down the 5v supply route though. Although 5 volt batteries aren't that common. Yet.

Yep. Music is supposed to breathe.

One point is: It's not the drummers job to keep time. It's the musicians' job to be in time with each other. The beat should move slightly, sometimes pushing sometimes holding back otherwise the song doesn't breathe. A lot of musicians, not just drummers, don't seem to get this.

[quote name='troubadour' timestamp='1464001012' post='3055622'] Last gig I had to stand on the stairs . . . [/quote] At the top?

I played with a terrible drummer for years. It was hard work holding them back all the time and trying to provide some kind of groove. One gig I just let them go on one song. We just got faster and faster. Was horrible. The singer had a right go at him at the end of the song. It made no difference and I left. There are tons of band out there playing well. It's very rare to find a perfect drummer, we're all human, but there are plenty of drummers who are not bad.

I worked for a Swedish company. It was all about customer service. Make the customer feel valued and he'll return. We got taken over by a French company, they have a similar ethic but it's not so well implemented.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1463695178' post='3053508'] Aye, you did. But then I didn't state you hadn't done so. I just stated I hadn't seen it. Sorry for having overlooked it. [/quote] I think it's quite an important point really. Once you double up on cabs you get an increase in bottom end, not necessarily loudness per se. But how the cabs actually behave can be quite interesting. I put a 15" with 2x10s and it was quieter than the 15" and the 2x10 individually. I still recommend bin the 4x10 they're heavy and inefficient. Get a 2x10" or a 2x12" and look at postponing.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1463681058' post='3053365'] The point that is being made by those who advise to double up with the same types of cab, though I haven't seen that point outspoken in this thread, is that the impedance is a nominal number and that the "real" impedance differs, a.o. with frequency, so the behaviour of the different drivers in combination can not easily be predicted. An impedance raise in one cab at the same frequency range as an impedance drop in the other cab might cause some of the drivers to travel too near their Max. Here's where you need to use your ears. Normally you should be reasonably in the clear as long as you don't press your drivers hard. Sound quality is another matter. Me, just to be sure to not blow my drivers, I use a 9610, and our drummer likes the notion of being able to pick his nose without anybody seeing it. [/quote] I raised that point yesterday at 4:40pm.