RockfordStone

great turn out this month, well done all of you

the guitarist and i are good friends and have been in several bands together over the years. i have been in bands with people that i am not friends with, and bands with people i remain to be friends with....

I wouldn't be going from edinburgh to london, paid or not. Playing a gig in London is only as valuable as the venue you are playing. you can play to 5 people or 5000 people anywhere in the country, the fact that you are playing london doesn't make those 5 people any better than 5 people in edinburgh. I'd tell him to jog on... but i'm a miserable git

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1411563186' post='2560656'] Go for it Rob! [/quote] i'll try and squeeze something in, even if its not for the vote.. it won't be up to my normal slick standard tho

i might try and throw something together this evening... but it won't be very good...

now that i am back in the real world, i am going to try and have a crack at this at the weekend.... wish me luck

sounds like you are making the right decision, you say you are older by 6-8 years and they can't drive... sounds to me like they are at that age when making it is their dream, and you have had that dream seen the light and now want to play for the fun of it like a lot of us have. if you have conflicting views, which you clearly do it just won't work... doing every sh*tty gig won't get places, especially given that said sh*tty gig is often sh*tty because no one is there to see you. bands should be a joy imo, not a hassle, the second it become a hassle its time to go.

if you are saying the amp is fine when she is playing and singing, and it is just the speech that is an issue, then i think you need to look at that ahead of the amp. 5 or 6 inches away from a microphone is a fair distance and is probably the main reason the voice is quiet. As mentioned previously, a headset or lapel mic may do the trick. In terms of feedback, as mentioned by Dad3353, this could be sorted by positioning the mic and amp differently.

i at times find that guitar is more interesting than bass, the thing is music is an art, follow what you feel at the time and it will guide you. as you say, you will always be a bassist, but don't feel bad about trying other things

we are an originals band, we used to practice every week, but now every other as we know the songs inside out after 2 years... we tend to run through the set first, then we jam and or work on songs we are working on already, then sometimes run through the set again or some of the songs in no order in particular to finish. never have more than 3 hours a session now we tend to throw covers in for fun, but we throw those ideas about over facebook etc

may have a crack when i get my honeymoon out of the way

my stance on all gigs is that i am willing to bring my own gear and any other bass player should be able to do the same. i don't like to borrow gear unless totally necessary as i would not want to risk damaging someone elses gear. i will not deal with promoters when it comes to gear or gear shares, they want the easy option and all to often i have shown up and they have expected me to provide the back line... in these cases i have told them in no uncertain terms to go do one. several times we have done shows to be told "the band don't own amps"... then DI them... simple. promoters often bang on about "change over times. man"... i can get my gear up and down in less than 10 minutes, and that includes plugging it in to the board... i'm sure people with a smaller or lighter rig than mine could do it in less... so unless there is a genuine issue at a venue such as space i don't see why there is this constant requirement to share. as i say, i hate borrowing gear as i hate lending it... it winds me up when i go to gigs and other bands can't be bothered to bring their own gear. I paid good money for mine, and if someone breaks it which has happened in the past they don't claim responsibility, they don't have to get it fixed for the next gig etc so in short, tell them to f*** off, say you have an amp and that you are using it, if the other bands don't bring gear then tough

in my last band we used to say "ok we'll sell 25 tickets" or whatever, then show up having sold none and played, we never got turned away. i was approached by a venue recently who wanted us to sell 25 tickets, and then for every ticket after 25 we'd get a pound per ticket.... i politely informed them to shove it thing is, there are lots of bands who will accept these terms.. the sooner bands stop doing it the quicker it won't be a viable scheme. i'll happily play a gig for free, but pay to play shows are a no no for me

i used to play at home for fun, but i do it less and less now... i start doing it but then feel like i should write something haha that said, we do spend a lot of time just jamming in my band, i often feel more of a buzz playing with others

i'll be honest, this isn't just young people, its people of all ages. its not age related its just a blatent disrespect of other peoples property. my bass comes off stage or in its bag when im not playing, i flat out refuse to let anyone near it, let alone play it (and ive been asked). i played one tour where we had one gig with 4 bands and i was the only bassist who had any sort of amp, i was told on the night by the promoter my amp was to be used by the other bands... i informed the promoter that their pa system was capable of DI, and that the other bands would use that. another gig on that tour i walked into the room to see that another band had taken my amp from the side of the stage and set it all up to use.... and was hammering the sh*t out of it.... none of these guys were kids, and none of them had asked the promoter, let alone me if they could use it, just arrogance i've even had guitarists try to plug into it..... i watch my stuff like a hawk now, and don't offer it out to anyone and i am very reluctant to share with people now, id rather carry my own rig around the country than risk breaking someone elses, but i'm nice like that

been trying to get a couple of hours for this, but getting married in less than 3 weeks so i just don't have no time.. hopefully once its done i can start entering monthly again

i used to play saxophone at school because it seemed like a cool/unique thing to do but gave up because i was more into sport a the time. then when i was 18 a friend i worked with was in a band, decided i needed to learn to play again, so dragged me to a music shop and i just went with bass...

i used to gig with a 50 quid squier, 150 quid behringer head and a 100 quid harley benton cab.... the head and the guitar are still around to this day, might also add that altho my gig rig is now fender and ampeg, non of this is new... a lot is said about this gear and that gear, but if your gear runs and does the job the fun is in the playing surely? if the amp has died, rather than buy a new one find a local amp repairer and get him to do it. my ampeg blew on me a couple of years ago cost me 40 quid to get repaired locally

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1406664009' post='2513584'] Being glorious weather means more out and aboutness aswell [/quote] This is much the same for me, ive spent all of my weekends out, and not worrying about music, its holiday season as well so probably another reason why there were so few entries

my first gig was with an originals band so it would have been [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrDf9LywMD0"]THIS[/url] song (not the same gig tho)

it has been quite a low turnout. i tried to give it a go but just didnt get anything from it, but in fairness ive not had much desire to do anything musical over the past month, so just haven't i think given the nature of this we will have good and bad months

shure mics tend to be rugged and do their job well over various instruments. an sm7b would cover a lot of ground, it can be used on all instruments but is widely used on vocals as well, so would be a good versatile addition i havent used one, but would get one if i could afford it

can't get any inspiration this month, just not working

i always feel less than anyone else when it comes to my playing. every time i watch another band i always rate the bassist higher than me... especially if they play through my amp, it just sounds better than me... i've learnt to ignore this part of my mind more now, i'm never short of offers if im looking for a band so i can't be that bad. thing is, none of us will ever be perfect, there will always be areas for us to improve. just keep practicing and keep your chin up

jedward............ i'll get my coat