Anything that other band members do that wind you up

[Rich]

[quote name='dabootsy' post='184350' date='Apr 24 2008, 10:35 AM']In the band i am in the guitarist always tries to tell me how to play a basssline (i have only been playing for 25 years) which tends to do my head in as i do not tell him how to play things on his guitar. Is it because they follow the myth that a bass player is someone who wants to play a guitar but is not good enough which of course is a load of bo####s

any views or am i being over sensitive[/quote]
Over sensitive? Over lenient more like.
Point out to him in a calm fashion that you have been playing for some considerable time and are perfectly capable of working out your own basslines thank you very much.
Remind him politely that you never tell him how to play his bits and that perhaps he should reciprocate.
In a serene and composed manner, inform him that if he does it again you will be only too pleased to introduce his Stratocaster to his rectal cavity.

[silverfoxnik]

[quote name='dabootsy' post='184350' date='Apr 24 2008, 10:35 AM']In the band i am in the guitarist always tries to tell me how to play a basssline (i have only been playing for 25 years) which tends to do my head in as i do not tell him how to play things on his guitar. Is it because they follow the myth that a bass player is someone who wants to play a guitar but is not good enough which of course is a load of bo####s

any views or am i being over sensitive[/quote]
I always get wound up when any of the other band members notice and point out my mistakes!! Because I never ever point out theirs...

[johnnylager]

Anything that other band members do that wind you up?

Breathe. It's a bad day.

[queenofthedepths]

[quote name='johnnylager' post='184549' date='Apr 24 2008, 02:54 PM']Anything that other band members do that wind you up?

Breathe. It's a bad day.[/quote]
Why can't they have their bad day some other time?!

[mcgraham]

To be honest it's more what other people's band members do that wind me up. Usually general arrogance or popstar/rockstar/<<insert-genre>>star attitude.

If we're talking musically, there's a few things that irk me or cause me step out and take control in some capacity:

(i) it's ALWAYS got to be drummers that lose time (or create time! it's amazing how drummers can violate the laws of physics);

(ii) band leaders that don't really know what they want, i.e. they have or pretend to have an idea but simply do not bother to learn the skills necessary to convey it to the band, thereby accomplishing nothing and wasting time; and

(iii) when people make excuses for something that is clearly their fault, but that's more a general thing. Take responsibility for your actions and what you are expected to do/be capable of doing.

Mark

P.S. I'd rather have a guitarist that is anal about tuning then one (I know many!) who insist their guitar is fine. I had one guy whom I said 'you're out of tune', and he looked down at his guitar and went 'hmm, you sure? it was fine when I tuned it this morning'.... thinking that the acts of putting it in a case, travelling for an hour or so in cold weather and then proceeding to strum for 45-60 minutes in a sound check would not change the tuning even fractionally.

[bassninja]

A certain guitarist to whom I am related (grammar) turning up with a different guitar/pedal board layout/amp configuration for every gig, and then complaining that he can't get used to his sound.

Using three different overdrive pedals [i]and[/i] channel switching for 'light drive, mid-light drive, rhythm, crunch and lead' when they all sound the same.

To be fair, though I can be equally annoying in some ways...I'd imagine... probably...kind of, sometimes.

But not as often as my bandmates, who are all cloth eared egotists who don't appreciate the lengths I've gone to to [i]understand[/i] music, or the sheer depth of emotion I pour into every single note. I mean, I know scales and everything...And although I might [i]choose[/i] to look cool and aloof at every gig, I never get the girls, [i]and[/i] I load the van single-handed while they drink absinthe from the shoes of the stunning, inconceivably tall Swedish women's hockey team, who just happen to be in town for that night only while the audience gather round and laugh at me.

Insecure, moi?

[Merton]

[quote name='tauzero' post='184454' date='Apr 24 2008, 12:28 PM']Covers band - it's the singer who does that. But it's not just that, in two and a half years of playing exactly the same f***ing set in exactly the same f***ing order at every f***ing gig, he still hasn't learnt either the words or the arrangements, so we have to be alert to every occasion he might suddenly decide that there should be an extra chorus or one less verse or the vocals should come back in seven bars before the end of the solo (or three bars afterwards). Oh yes, and asking for requests, which we won't be able to play because we don't know them. And asking for guest singers, who will want to sing songs which we don't know in a random key very badly. And just not stopping rabbiting on between songs, when the guitarist is giving him the chord for him to start singing again and again.[/quote]
Are you sure you're not playing in my covers band??!!! Our male singer still has to have the words on a music stand, 6 years after we started the sodding band. I know we're constantly adding new songs, but for the love of god, having the words for Alright Now is unforgiveable!!

Last month he complained to our sound guy that he'd not put any lighting onto the stage and he couldn't see his lyrics. So he went and pinched a house uplighter thing from the hotel lounge and stuck it next to the music stand. Yeah, that looks good....

[Clarky]

[quote name='Merton' post='184655' date='Apr 24 2008, 04:51 PM']Are you sure you're not playing in my covers band??!!! Our male singer still has to have the words on a music stand, 6 years after we started the sodding band. I know we're constantly adding new songs, but for the love of god, having the words for Alright Now is unforgiveable!!

Last month he complained to our sound guy that he'd not put any lighting onto the stage and he couldn't see his lyrics. So he went and pinched a house uplighter thing from the hotel lounge and stuck it next to the music stand. Yeah, that looks good....

[/quote]
Turning up at allotted time for soundcheck (which I do without exception) then waiting an hour or more for the band scheduled to s/c before you who then fart around with pedals, don't apologise etc ... and then ending up with a rushed s/c or none at all.

[kevbass]

Well, heres my experience of certain annoyances from past bands.

1- Band leader would adjust the volume on my amp whilst in mid song, up and down up and down. This was a definate no no
2- Same Band leader would ask I play pre written bass lines instead of letting me put my own personal input into things, or, if I did, would tell me to do something else (I get the feeling they do this because they know a bass line can make or break a song, but tough sh*t Im the bassist)
3- The guitarist who will w*** the fretboard when we are trying to discuss arrangements and we cant hear ourselves think as a result.

I dont play with any of these guys anymore.

[bumnote]

[quote name='chris_b' post='184444' date='Apr 24 2008, 12:17 PM']I think this is a great way to end numbers, if your drummer is good enought to do it well.. The one thing I hate is a wimpey ending or one that just fizzels out and don't EVER do a fade out ending if I'm on the gig!!!!![/quote]

While it is OK occasinally it is really lazy and unprofessional. You work hard to write/learn a song and you cant be arsed to work out a proper ending. You also loose the effect of a really great song because the audience have probably finished clapping by the time everyone has finshed w..... away.

[BassBomber414]

All this politics and bitchin' in bands...........

Just like Hollyoaks , but with way uglier people.

Edited April 24, 2008 by BassBomber414

[markytbass]

[quote]In a covers band and the drummer insists on playing every song exactly as it is recorded[/quote]

Not so much every song but will pull me up for my little improvisations saying "the bass doesn't do that". Only in the very next song which has a fairly basic drum beat (All Right Now) he starts doubling the beat throughout the verse.

Other band's? hmm
What winds me up about them is when we turn up to practice at say 8 o'clock, and their drummer has all his kit spread out across the floor. Then proceeds to inspect each piece of kit before putting it away, eating into out practice time (once half an hour). Now there are 2 things that can happen in these instances,
1. We help him out with his kit, this involves moving it out into the corridor so he can spend alll the time he wants.
2. We just carry on, set up and start playing.

[budget bassist]

When band members play their instrument over you speaking, PARTICULARLY when they do it on purpose and PARTICULARLY when it's the drummer because 99% of the time you can't turn them off. Sometimes i think thoughts about an electronic drum kit or even better, a drum machine because they don't go out of time

Edited April 24, 2008 by budget bassist

[Carl]

[quote name='dabootsy' post='184350' date='Apr 24 2008, 10:35 AM']In the band i am in the guitarist always tries to tell me how to play a basssline (i have only been playing for 25 years) which tends to do my head in as i do not tell him how to play things on his guitar. Is it because they follow the myth that a bass player is someone who wants to play a guitar but is not good enough which of course is a load of bo####s

any views or am i being over sensitive[/quote]
I personally think that playing bass is harder because of the strings hurt your fingers more, or is it just cause i`m a noob. but at the end of the day without bass there would hardly be any music only crappy music.Bassists are more important then guitarists.

[WalMan]

Where to start!!
[list]
[*]Being the band battery fairy
[*]Apparently being the only person who can write in the band when being paid & filling in the paperwork at gigs [url="http://planetsmilies.net"][/url]
[*]Suggesting songs & getting a big fat NO only to find them suggested 6 months down the line by someone else and immediately accepted as being the best thing since sliced bread [url="http://planetsmilies.net"][/url]
[*]Listening to moans about the PA when I've turned up early and been watched while I struggle my gear in [url="http://planetsmilies.net"][/url]
[*]In a discussion last night for a new intro suggesting an option. "Don't think that'll work" Only to have the exact same thing suggested 1/2 hour later [url="http://planetsmilies.net"][/url]
[*]And
[*]And
[*]And
[/list]
Not looking good is it. My blood pressure is obviously getting up

[trent900]

1. Drummers who give a different bass drum rhythym every verse, even, god forbid, every [i]bar[/i], for no readily apparent reason except maybe that they suck.

2. Everybody in bands who isn't a singer or a bassist. For me it's turn up, plonk amp down, plug in, go. For everybody else it's 4 hours of cabling, one two one two, setting up 412 different clean channels. Drummers maybe excepted because it does honestly take some time to build a kit. Especially when I'm making a cup of tea instead of getting stuck in...

None of this winds me up much, though. I've found a simple solution to being told how to play bass: the silent stare. Works like a charm!

[stingrayfan]

The drummer in my last band who turned every other gig down.....then moaned when we split the band up as he wanted to get out and gig more. I ask you.

[s_u_y_*]

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='184411' date='Apr 24 2008, 11:40 AM']I think he has a knob fixation.[/quote]


I'm quite happy about my band arrangement. The only problem I had was the guitarist likes his guitar loud, and often then not his speak would be pointing right at me. Now I've got earplugs, and I've made the guitarist more savvy on speaker placement in a room.

I guess things could be worse.

[P-T-P]

God where to start... lol

[b]Irritants[/b]

Guitarist who brings two of exactly the same (not particularly light) amp to every gig and runs both in tandem (i.e. same settings on both, both in use at all times). Utterly pointless beyond ultra-extreme redundancy (get a POD for f***s sake, or use the singer's amp, if needs be, it's just one gig). Oh yeah, and then he's a bugger for skiving loading and someone else will end up carrying them.

Singer who hasn't learned words properly to half the songs we do I've recently realised (verses repeated all over the place).

Guitarist who can't always be arsed to check his set-up is on quietly and/or starts pulling leads out because something's not working without turning amp off or lowering volume at least.

Singer, who has hands free nearly all evening and need only step a couple of metres to get to the mixing desk and is therefore person in best position to make any changes, complaing that his in ear mix - which only he can hear remember - isn't how he wants it!

[b]Constant Annoyances[/b]

Pick a couple of tunes to learn, make a rehearsal date. Learn all bass parts, get lyrics (e-mail to singer), prepare chord sheet as a guide, maybe get the tabs and check they're correct (e-mail to guitarist). Listen to songs so many times you know them inside out. Turn up to rehearse. Singer needs to download lyrics of the internet again and is only vaguely familiar with the melody of the song. Guitarist has never heard the song before, "Have you got a copy with you?" Proceeds to play along with it 15 seconds into the intro trying to work out chords. Inevitably gets chords right but not quite. Disputes chord sheet already prepared as doesn't fit with melody singer is singing in places.

Defeated.

[b]Murderous Rage Enducing[/b]

Me: I want to check your mic
Them: One, t... bit more upper mid

or worse

Me: I want to check your mic
Them: One, t... it sounds sh*t

Anyone suddenly deciding to care about something (usually PA related) after having taken no interest in it's use whatsoever for the previous 50 gigs and then barking instructions at me (or sometimes even making polite suggestions can be enough if the suggestion is particularly stupid). This is frequently compunded by them then asking me "Which is the 'x' knob/fader/button."

[b]Warm Fuzzy Feelings[/b]

For our drummer who is always a pleasure to play with; will have learned his parts when time comes for him to join rehearsals (he won't come to the chord haggling sessions anymore, don't blame him either); always does more than his share of loading and setting up and nearly always gets the drinks in as he's usually set-up first.

[kevbass]

[quote name='Carl' post='184837' date='Apr 24 2008, 08:56 PM']I personally think that playing bass is harder because of the strings hurt your fingers more, or is it just cause i`m a noob. but at the end of the day without bass there would hardly be any music only crappy music.Bassists are more important then guitarists.[/quote]

I wouldnt say bass was harder to play, I wouldnt say it was easier either. And Guitar strings can really get your fingers sore, its like cheese wire! And in a band context, everybody has their part to play and everyone is as equally important ( even if bassists are that little bit cooler than the rest, but shhhhh)

[s_u_y_*]

[quote name='kevbass' post='185003' date='Apr 25 2008, 03:06 AM']And Guitar strings can really get your fingers sore, its like cheese wire! And in a band context, everybody has their part to play and everyone is as equally important ( even if bassists are that little bit cooler than the rest, but shhhhh) [/quote]

Amen... and amen!

[gafbass02]

[quote name='kevbass' post='185003' date='Apr 25 2008, 03:06 AM']I wouldnt say bass was harder to play, I wouldnt say it was easier either. And Guitar strings can really get your fingers sore, its like cheese wire! And in a band context, everybody has their part to play and everyone is as equally important ( even if bassists are that little bit cooler than the rest, but shhhhh) [/quote]


I have a stock answer to this issue, i always say:
Bass is easier to learn, but harder to play well!

[Golchen]

[quote name='gafbass02' post='185035' date='Apr 25 2008, 08:02 AM']I have a stock answer to this issue, i always say:
Bass is easier to learn, but harder to play well![/quote]


Hah! that is totally right on!

Great thread - really entertaining read. Sadly I have never played any instrument live so I can only wish I had the chance for some of these irritations. Can't blame anyone but myself on that though!

[dabootsy]

This is turning out to be a very entertaining thread as i can understand everyones complaint especially the tuning and playing while talking which really drive me mad.
Another one for me is that when our guitarist tries to explain something like an accent at the end of a chorus he seems to have to play through whole song on his own , i think he just likes to hear himself play

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Golchen' post='185062' date='Apr 25 2008, 09:04 AM']Hah! that is totally right on!

Great thread - really entertaining read. Sadly I have never played any instrument live so I can only wish I had the chance for some of these irritations. Can't blame anyone but myself on that though![/quote]

well go and find folk to play with! do it!