Do you/your band rehearse with full gigging set-up?

[lurksalot]

I take a full PA , we are always looking to improve our sound and as we are always learning different ways of using the gear , it is just as well as some rooms need a bit of thinking about and it is always better if you know your kit , individuals kit is expected to be up to spec , but we even do a sound check to get into a good habit .
we use a community centre as a room £20 for 4 hours , so cant complain, and as we do Sunday evenings we only rehearse if we have new stuff and never if we have gigged on the fri/sat before hand .

[smaz]

I only ever take one cab, but the rest is as live as its all I have. I've considered getting a small combo for rehearsals.

I think taking smaller gear & playing quieter is much better & more productive than taking stuff to make as much noise as possible, as you're then just fighting to hear each other & focussing more on the sound than the song, the parts & what you're playing.

Once we've worked the majority out, then it's worth doing a full practice in a rehearsal room with all the equipment.

It does my head in when I have to wait for others to set up & tweak their gear for ages....

[Woodinblack]

We rehearse the instruments and amplifiers that we gig, but not the PA. The drummer only brings the basics of his kit out but apart from that it is similar. There is no equipment where we rehearse.

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='gafbass02' timestamp='1426935107' post='2723585']
We rehearse in headphones using a jamhub. The effects boards for guitar and bass are set the same as for live, only with amp sim added, electric drums aren't great, but it's an amazing way to rehearse. Clear stereo environment, personalised mix, level control for each person etc. It means you can hear with total clarity what everyone is doing, no set up or strike time, it all lives set up in the basement, no lugging gear. A total revelation after so many years in grotty studio rooms battling ruined kit and paying for it!!
[/quote]

Interesting - I was considering something like that a year or so ago for a group I was in at the time. I don't need it now for that group, but for other practice in the house it sounds like it could be a plan.

Which one have you got?

[AndyTravis]

On the build up to a show we do full rig PA and Amps/monitors just to check for any bugs etc.

Mostly, we'll rehearse at about half of that (I use one cab etc)

Not that it's a huge setup.

[Ed_S]

We have storage space at the studios we use so the guitarists leave their gigging gear (each has a 2x12 cab and pre/power in a rack case) there, wheel it out for rehearsals and take some/all of it away with them if there's a gig where it'll be needed before the next rehearsal. The drummer leaves his cymbals and stands in storage the same way and uses the shell pack in the room. I'm kinda the odd one out as I use 12" cabs for gigs and leave my 4x10 in storage just for rehearsals, taking along whichever head I feel like playing on the day.

We're not a professional band; we all have decent jobs that pay the bills and our lead singer is an F2 doctor training to be a surgeon so, given that it can be awkward to book gigs and rehearsals around her night shifts and exam periods, when we do get in the room together we want it to sound 'right'. Loaner equipment never did that for us.

[steve-bbb]

most of it

...except the spandex of course

[0175westwood29]

we use the full live rig, just watch the volume, but it helps get levels and sounds a bit better for us as we all use valve heads and effects so using a different set up can change things a lot!

andy

[tauzero]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1426951585' post='2723918']
We are a bar band. In Milwaukee only the few "originals" clubs provide a PA. The only time we see backline is in the summer when we play the larger gigs at fairs and major festivals.
[/quote]

I was responding to the subject of this topic - "Do your band rehearse with full gigging setup?". The rehearsal rooms that we use provide a backline.

Edited March 22, 2015 by tauzero

[Maude]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1427014129' post='2724592']
most of it

...except the spandex of course
[/quote]

What, completely naked then?


We're lucky that we rent a basement permanently between the three bands that we're all in so we leave all the amps drums and PA set up, just bring guitars and pedals and away we go.

[Phil Starr]

Doesn't it depend upon what you are rehearsing?

If we are learning new songs, especially at the initial play through, we will rehearse at lower volumes and in a circle so we can hear each other better and communicate easily.

If we've had a break in gigging and are just refreshing the set we'd use the full stage gear including monitors but not the full PA. Again probably in a circle, but not always.

From time to time, usually if we want to change the PA set up, we'll have a 'technical rehearsal' with the full PA.

[discreet]

Interesting point about rehearsing in a circle. Anyone find it difficult to subsequently play in a line at a gig? Anyone rehearse in a line, or as you would at a gig? Our rooms have one wall as a mirror... I find this a mixed blessing.

[Bradwell]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1427099874' post='2725639']
Interesting point about rehearsing in a circle. Anyone find it difficult to subsequently play in a line at a gig? Anyone rehearse in a line, or as you would at a gig? Our rooms have one wall as a mirror... I find this a mixed blessing.
[/quote]

My band has been changing our rehearsal set up a lot, playing in a circle is great for working on song writing, spent a couple of months practice sessions set up as if we were playing live and got accustomed to it.

We've now moved all the bass/guitar amplification behind the drummer so he can hear what we're playing better without having to set up monitoring for him. A pseudo-live set up that works at lower volumes.

Room acoustics can play absolute havoc as we are in a pub basement with a pillar in the middle of a decent size but awkwardly shaped room. Lower volumes, acoustic padding and experimentation with the set up have yielded much better sounding results over time.

As for gear, we have a room to lock stuff away and keep a fair amount of kit there (guitar cabs, PA etc). Full guitar rigs because the cheap practice amps sound terrible in comparison, bass amp with the smaller 210 cab only, drum kit stays set up in the room, one floor monitor for vocal foldback, full pedalboard for the lead guitarist as it's key to his sound, distortion pedals for bass & rhythm gtr.

[hairychris]

We store our backline at the rehearsal studio so yes, plus singer & I keep our pedalboards there.

Only person who doesn't is the drummer. He uses a house kit plus his own cymbals/snare/kick pedal.

[TimR]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1426933820' post='2723560']
...
for rehearsal, as our viewpoint is we are always rehearsing for gigs, and if we`re writing new material we want to start off hearing it as we want it presented when it`s finished/ready to be unveiled.

...
[/quote]

No.

Whenever I have been involved in writing material it's been done in a quiet environment, maybe no drums and no vocal PA. Guitars and bass amped but low.

That's not really a rehearsal in my book though.

I have several different definitions for musical settings; writing, learning, practicing, running through and rehearsing are all different things.

Edited March 23, 2015 by TimR

[BigRedX]

We try and have at least one rehearsal a month using all our own gear and set up as we would for a gig.

[Thurbs]

I rehearse with as little gear as possible and have been known to stick the guitar in to the PA. I haven't yet managed to rehearse without a guitar, but all suggestions welcomed.

Having said that, I gig with as little gear as possible also..! Depends on the size of the venue etc and again have been known to turn up with a guitar and lead...

[JTUK]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1427099874' post='2725639']
Interesting point about rehearsing in a circle. Anyone find it difficult to subsequently play in a line at a gig? Anyone rehearse in a line, or as you would at a gig? .....................
[/quote]

No.

[tauzero]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1427099874' post='2725639']
Interesting point about rehearsing in a circle. Anyone find it difficult to subsequently play in a line at a gig? Anyone rehearse in a line, or as you would at a gig?
[/quote]

You gig in a line? Dammit, I thought we were supposed to go in a circle.

I don't have any problems going in a line, and, for that matter, I'm side-agnostic so I'm not bothered which side the guitarist and I go. As he's the same, we can decide where to go based on pragmatic reasons, like where it'll be best to put the mixer etc (which he controls, which is nice) and who'd got the headless instrument (that's always me).

[BigRedX]

If you know there's more to playing a gig than just playing the music, then IMO it's really important to practice every so often in way that replicates the gig set up is closely as possible.

I still see a lot of bands at gigs who mentally haven't left the rehearsal room, with the instrumentalists huddled around the drummer for comfort while the singer struggles to project beyond the end of the microphone.

On the other hand I'm not entirely convinced by the value to practicing in a room with a mirror wall. While it's fine for working out if your stage moves really are as cool as you thought, I've found that being able to see your hands in the mirror gives you a false sense of confidence when it comes to being able to play while looking at the audience.

[Count Bassy]

Copied from the other thread:

I can't see the point in always using the Gigging kit (drums or any instrument). It just makes life hard work and wastes valuable rehearsal time while lugging in and out and setting up. Lets face it, although some of us get very fussy about our sound, at the end of the day any bass amp sounds 90% like any other bass amp. After all you're not rehearsing in the room you'll be performing in, and there's no audience to modify affect the sound: It's not going to sound like it will at the performance, so why be precious about the kit you use?

On the drum kit specifically: The drummer is probably the one who has most reason to use his own kit, as he will have the combination and layout that he is used to, but if the he's happy to hire the resident kit (I presume we're not talking much) I would say all chip in, and enjoy the extra rehearsal time and lack of hassle.

If you want a full rehearsal with your full blown kit then do that on an occasional basis (we do, in a village hall), but I wouldn't be bothered every time.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Count Bassy

[Count Bassy]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1427123144' post='2726019']
On the other hand I'm not entirely convinced by the value to practicing in a room with a mirror wall. While it's fine for working out if your stage moves really are as cool as you thought, I've found that being able to see your hands in the mirror gives you a false sense of confidence when it comes to being able to play while looking at the audience.
[/quote]

I imagine that a mirrored wall also sounds terrible.

[M@23]

Hardly ever. My functions band is well set as we gig often and rehearsals are to fine tune small parts or run through new numbers quickly before a gig. My originals band practice to write new parts, and there is full back line supplied. Given that they practice in a huge school and it's a good 5 main walk to the rehearsal room, lugging gear isn't an option. I don't care how bad my sound is at practice, as long as it's audible it will work for what we want. The drummers pretty much use electric kits too so we can keep the levels down.

[bigjohn]

I rehearse with my full rig. Nothing else quite cuts it. Our lead singer / guitar uses his own amp, which he leaves there. Rhythm uses what's at the studio, as does drums, with some of his own cymbals.

We use the PA we usually gig with as the fella who owns the studio usually does our sound.

Not sure it makes any difference at all to be honest. Every room sounds different to me. I do however like using my amp. I find that comforting. Saying that if there was a better amp there, I probably wouldn't bother.

I do think though, if you don't gig that often (as we don't) it's useful to rehearse in an unfamiliar studio before gigs. It's easy to get too familiar if you use the same room all the time.

And yes, we all pay the same regardless of what's been hired or not.

Edited March 23, 2015 by bigjohn

[blue]

I have not read every post.

Unless a band has 2 full blown PAs, one used at rehearsals and one for live gigs, I don't understand how or why (considering weekend gigs) you would pack up and set up and administrate a full PA up multiple times a week?

Blue

The OPs question, we don't rehearse very often, when we do we have a rehearsal PA and small practice amps with no pedals.

Edited March 24, 2015 by blue