TimR

More about it here. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/kanye-west-files-10-million-lawsuit-against-tour-insurers-w495435

We had something similar when a new landlord took over a regular pub in Hitchin that's been doing music for years. It had closed for a while and was going to be converted to flats. The locals had disappeared to be replaced with a new smaller group. He really wasn't interested in us playing, hadn't bothered to contact us, told us on no uncertain terms that we weren't the type of music he would book, even if he was intending on booking bands again. I don't know if he is still there.

If people witnessed him taking drugs before behaving erratically that's all the evidence they need. Would you expect your holiday insurance to pay up if they wouldn't let you on the flight because you were drunk? The insurance company would also have acress to his medical records. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/kanye-wests-hospital-stay-rappers-troubled-recent-weeks-w453465

The problems I hear with many originals bands is they're trying too hard to be original and many of them don't understand song structure. Playing covers gives you a base to build from and learn. If a lot more originals bands didn't have the "We're an originals band, we don't do covers" attitude, they'd get a lot further. We play a few originals in our cover band, its the way to test them in front of an audience. If you play a two hour set of covers and pop in 8 originals you can play the normal pub circuit and get your songs tested and out there, have fun and get paid. It's easier and more rewarding than trying to sell yourself to a bunch of people only there to see their mates band who disappear once they've finished playing.

It's the weight of the combo. I took the amp out once and it's got a huge toroidal transformer in it. The 15" combo weighs 35kg. My 210pro weighs 25kg and the amp is separate but may weigh 10kg, so may weigh the same combined. It's just easier to throw around like that.

Sorry, but no TE thread is complete without this guy. In case you have no idea he's from this classic thread: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/200307-mystery-bassist-solved/page__fromsearch__1

Maybe the neck was swapped for a Jazz? What a great story.

I picked up a 715 300W combo. I'm pretty sure it was lead lined and probably nuclear powered. It used to demolish door frames and take chunks of plaster off the walls at home. Sounded good but I went for a pair of Warwick cabs and a 500W Pro FET to replace it as it was getting very old and unreliable. Bought 'second hand' for £300 played for 10 years sold 'second hand' for £300. It owed me nothing I must have earned 000s with it. Although it probably cost me 000s in wasted fuel and building repairs.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1501606435' post='3345886'] I'm quite well organised, and worry a lot. I think I'd get into the habit of recharging them all every night before a gig. It just seems a wast of money throwing stuff away, when I can use re-chargeables, but it's not too environmentally friendly. [/quote] The energiser ones come charged and once charged hold their charge, unlike the old ni-cads. All you need to do is charge one up when it comes out of your bass. And remember to take it out of the charger once it's fully charged, it's no good if you've left it at home.

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1501536864' post='3345414'] Unless, heaven forbid, you actually [i]enjoy[/i] the process of trying to replicate the original tones? [/quote] I had one of the early zoom multiFX units the 9000s. Sounded great in headphones or solo at home. As soon as I played it in a band situation it was impossible to for it to sound right. I guess things have moved on technology wise but I don't think my band would appreciate me fiddling around and trying different settings during each song. Life is too short. It depends what your band is about. For a covers band I just don't see the need. If you're a tribute act then it's easy, every song will have the same sound. So if original bands keep the same tone, why don't cover bands? We are a band who cover songs using our own sounds. We sound like us. The Guitarist does change sounds for each song, but he's limited by the guitar he has, the amp and cab he has, and even the make of effects he purchased.

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1501144410' post='3342755'] I think tone is all part of being a musician, be it a good, average or poor one. I think most of us strive to be above average at least, if not much better than that. Not worrying about tone and how the bass contributes (in the case of a cover song, contributed) to the tone and feel of the song to me is accepting approximation which may spoil some listener's experience. Each to their own view but I don't subscribe to the view that the bass sound is not important to a piece - it's actually quite fundamental in my view. Level 42 without a Prophet 5 or something which can emulate it pretty accurately, for me as a fan of their music, would be a washout. As would Mark King playing a Precision, in terms of the affect on the sound of the band. I think it all depends, as a musician, how much you accept approximations. I've played in bands where arrangements of songs have been performed which [b] miss out fundamental hooks (note hooks can be bass hooks), use inaccurate and less effective chord voicings etc etc. [/b] No doubt the band sounded competent but is this good musicianship - depends on your viewpoint but my view is it's not. My view is you need to have a bass which has a range of potential sounds as well as being a reasonably flexible and skilled musician to do cover work well. [/quote] You must get those things right. Copying the sound is completely irrelevant and pointless. I would much rather listen to a band that are playing using different sounds than a band who are trying too hard to copy the sound exactly, missing and sounding plastic. So much so that when I played in a cover band I asked the keyboards player to pick one of the 3 authentic keyboard sounds he had on his keyboard for all the songs; strings, piano, or Hammond, rather than use some poor approximation to copy the original. Our singer was not an impressionist, why should the bass player be? What happens when you cover a song with two guitarists with multiple overlays, or backing brass and strings, multiple vocal overdubs and a backing choir, when you only have one guitarist and one singer?

[quote name='archie_the_cat' timestamp='1501357780' post='3344273'] OK, so that’s the first thing then - it’s fretless and played slap. But I’m assuming that’s not the clean sound, straight out the guitar. How is it processed? [/quote] They recorded it and then it's played backwards. Just the break. You can't really replicate it.

There are at least three examples where the band has done the gig against their better judgement and the result has been as expected. I know at least three band leaders who ask some very detailed questions before agreeing to do weddings. Where is the bar? If there is a large room with a bar adjoing the dance room, then it's a no no. What age group are they playing to? If it's a summer wedding at a hotel with a large seating area outside, can the band set up in a marquee? I've played at a couple of weddings where the band have been playing to a hot sweaty empty room with the doors closed due to noise limitations, while everyone else is outside. These are all things that can be avoided and are part of the musicians armoury and control.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1501353191' post='3344247'] /\ This. You can not always know what audience will turn up, no matter how pro you are. [/quote] That's beside the point. I agree it happens once in a while but there are things you can do to avoid it happening. If it's happening regularly then it's not the audience.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1501272176' post='3343800'] No, its just the wrong audience for the wrong band. Could be the promoters fault. Its getting the right band in the right place, nothing to do with being un professional or poorly prepared. If you are a well rehearsed Prog Rock band or a great modern Jazz outfit it would be difficult to wing it for a funky dance crowd. Or vice versa. Just cos the room empties does not always mean the band is not good at what they do. [/quote] Of course it's the band being unprepared. They haven't done their research. There's so much more to being in a band and playing music. You can't blindly follow the promoter. Ask the questions. Look at the bands the venue usually has in. Ask the venue if you think you'll go down well. A lot of musicians are lazy (as Blue says), they just want to play the music and not get involved in the marketing side. Someone said, either upthread or on another thread, "there's loads of musicians better than Ed Sheerhan, he's just lucky he's got a decent marketing team" or words to that effect. It's not luck, he's working with his team, listening to them and talking to them to decide what works. Anyone who thinks that they can just play good music and be successful isn't living in the real (modern) world.

I think the writing is on the wall when someone says "I only play from sheet", sh could have said "I normally play from sheet but I'll have a go." Shows a bit of interest and leads on, an open answer rather than a closed one.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1501267510' post='3343759'] That could also be down to song choice/genre etc. You could have a great Prog Rock band, but if the audience want to dance rather than listen they could walk. Horses for courses. Not always down to poor musicianship. [/quote] In that case you still have to up your game. You're not doing what the audience want. You have to change something or continue to play to empty rooms. Could be as simple as being more choosy about your venues but it's all part of musicianship and knowing your audience.

Who is going to transcribe all the music for her?

You'll soon find out if the punted notice or not. They'll stop coming to your gigs. They'll walk out before your second set. You'll stop getting bookings. Even a band that plays for free won't get rebooked if they're not entertaining the audience.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1501101367' post='3342584'] The only problem with all this planning and expenditure is.....its the music business, its art. You can have all the gear and all the musicians in place, but if the gig promoters and punters dont buy into it you are sunk. Oh, and 100k in debt. If you have the songs, on demo, and the music business likes them, everything else follows. [/quote] Quite. I'd limit any project to 3 months. If it's not flying by the middle of the second month I'd be looking at an exit strategy.

Funily enough they're talking about Brand X in the other thread. Phil Collins is an awesome drummer, but listen to him playing on any 80s/90s Genesis and you'd be hard pushed to put him in the top 100 drummers, let alone top 10. Listen to some 70s Genisis and then listen to some Brand X and it'll change your mind. 80s/90s Genises - less is more. 70s Genisis - very tasteful licks where required. Brand X - amazing technical playing, very busy, lots of overplaying, a noise unless you love Jazz Fusion. Which is a somewhat acquired taste. Same man.

[quote name='Monkey Steve' timestamp='1501087309' post='3342413'] start from where you want to get to and work backwards: It's not "I've got $100k, how far will it get me?" it's "I want the band to be playing X nights a week at Y sized venues, getting paid $Z, how much investment do I need to get there?" It's going to be the interaction between X, Y and Z that sets a lot of the rest. And to find out realistic numbers you're going to have to do a lot of market research. [/quote] Yes. When you start a project, you have a plan and then work out how much it will cost, whether it's viable and then trim the plan to suit.

'Within' a week...

It would have to be a tribute band. Targeting large clubs. A year would be far too long. I'd expect professional musicians to be up to speed with a two hour set within a week of whole day rehearsals. Financially you'd need enough money to pay for a solid week of rehearsals, rooms and musicians. I'd be expecting to hire a PA in for each gig if required otherwise I'd expect the venue to have PA. Couple of hundred quid for stage clothing. 5th man would be sound engineer. 1st gig would be a promo gig, photographed, videoed and sound recorded. £2k for production of materials (video, website, etc) from the gig.

Even Billy Sheehan and Marcus Miller play quarter note roots in some tunes. .