How was Your rehearsal last morning or night ?

[msb]

I was initially quite shocked to realize I had absolutely no idea that there was such a thing going on. And had been going on for ages. 

[WalMan]

This afternoon I had a session with mates I have known for getting on for 50 years now, were in my first band(s) and the drummer in many more afterwards.

 

Guitar bass and drums got together in a country band playing working men’s clubs with an older bandleader as teenagers and then morphed into a spiky new wave originals band. 
 

Current vox was our ‘manager’/roadie/van driver and instigated the recent get together just before lockdown happened culminating in a support gig for my main band the weekend before the world stopped in 2020, and has got together on and off to make some noise, do a couple of gigs and generally have a laugh blasting through our back catalogue.

 

Haven’t managed to get together for a while, but today was a day for some noise 😁

 

Banged through the ‘set’ and it was all pretty tight despite the gap. All good fun to get together with mates, have a laugh and make a row. We played together enough back in the day and are not yet completely senile so can get through most glitches that occur with a look or a nod that might go through a weird jam to get back on track, but I love it 🥰 A gig may happen though vox remains a weak link.

 

The Wal came out to play, which doesn’t happen often nowadays, through my usual pedalboard [TU3 -> CE20 -> SkarBassOne-> Origin Bass DCX -> MicroThumpinator] and into the studios bass rig. Sounded lovely where I was sat. I have yet to hear recordings taken.

Edited November 1 by WalMan
Spelling and grammar

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Had a great rehearsal on Wednesday evening, the first for a while with everyone present. For a change I took my Faded Pelham Blue Non-Reverse Thunderbird which was a lot of fun to play and sounded good to me through the ABM600, but very different to the JMJ mustangs I usually play.

 

I recorded the session with my Zoom H2n, here's 'Down In The Tube Station at Midnight'

 

 

Edited November 15 by Jean-Luc Pickguard

[Ed_S]

A minor resurrection to pass comment on a rehearsal a couple of evenings ago that I'm still smiling about.

 

An operatic metal band I recently helped out with a slightly out-of-character acoustic covers set asked whether I fancied doing a proper originals gig with them early in the new year while their bassist is still on holiday. They're genuinely nice people and a great band, so of course I said yes and duly received the 5 song / half hour set list - one of them is a 12 minute epic! I checked that I had some latitude to play them 'as myself' rather than trying to mimic their recorded material, which was fine with them, so I spent a few hours committing the songs to memory and then half my lunch hour for the next week just playing through the full set to really make sure I'd got them.

 

Monday night was the first rehearsal and it went really pleasingly smoothly. Turned up to find that the borrowable cab in their space was a perfectly nice old Hartke VX215, plugged in my GK instead of the usual Markbass gear as I thought it'd be more fitting with their sound, and hit a near-perfect run-through of the set. They commented that it was a shame they'd not asked me to learn another particular song, but it just so happened that I'd seen they often used that one as a closer/encore so decided I'd learn it just in case (you know.. turn up to the gig and find out a band couldn't make it so everyone just gets a slightly longer set to cover) so I was able to play it there and then, which went down well.

 

They all seemed really happy with how it had gone, the keyboardist complimented my tone for sitting perfectly in the band, and the drummer who I was meeting for the first time said he'd really enjoyed playing alongside me. All in all, one of those sessions you can walk away from feeling like you've done your job and the bit of extra effort in preparation really paid off. I'm not somebody who does dep gigs normally, but I actually wouldn't mind being their go-to. Anyway, even if it's just a one-off I'm looking forward to another quick run-through closer to the gig, and then showtime.

 

 

For the gear-enthusiasts, simple but effective clean rig with a bit of edge...

Ibanez SR1105B -> [G30 wireless -> TU3 tuner -> Thumpinator -> MXR M87 compressor -> SansAmp BDDI v2] -> GK MB500 -> Hartke VX215

[asingardenof]

Despite yesterday's being truncated due to the keyboardist's Covid, we managed to rattle through a fair few songs, and I think Mr Brightside will be sorted for New Years Eve if the drummist can remember when to stop playing it... We had a quick attempt at Sledghammer, which has good bones but needs some work to get it polished, and then had a discussion over new songs to try. Picking popular songs that aren't obvious is really tricky, but I think next on our list will be Alright by Supergrass, which at least has an interesting bassline.

[Bluewine]

21 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

Despite yesterday's being truncated due to the keyboardist's Covid, we managed to rattle through a fair few songs, and I think Mr Brightside will be sorted for New Years Eve if the drummist can remember when to stop playing it... We had a quick attempt at Sledghammer, which has good bones but needs some work to get it polished, and then had a discussion over new songs to try. Picking popular songs that aren't obvious is really tricky, but I think next on our list will be Alright by Supergrass, which at least has an interesting bassline.

 

Are you using a bass octave for Sledghammer ?

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

On 15/11/2024 at 08:35, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Had a great rehearsal on Wednesday evening, the first for a while with everyone present. For a change I took my Faded Pelham Blue Non-Reverse Thunderbird which was a lot of fun to play and sounded good to me through the ABM600, but very different to the JMJ mustangs I usually play.

 

I recorded the session with my Zoom H2n, here's 'Down In The Tube Station at Midnight'

 

 

 

 

 

I like it. 👍 

 

Daryl

[asingardenof]

10 minutes ago, Bluewine said:

 

Are you using a bass octave for Sledghammer ?

 

Daryl

Octave and chorus

[Bluewine]

Maple Road has been together and gigging since 2007. I've been with them since 2009. I'm the 2nd bass guitarist. 

 

For whatever reason,  we don't rehearse.  I wish we did.

 

I understand this doesn't happen in the " real world" . However, it would be nice to walk away from one rehearsal with something. A new song done, nailed and ready to perform at your next gig. This requires that all band members know this new song before the rehearsal. Does that make any sense?

 

Daryl

[msb]

I’ve been in a number that never rehearsed and always changed up material. Tapes , cds, or links were passed around and you were expected to know the song well enough to instantly transpose it to another key. The level of musicianship was usually high , and most everybody did the homework , first live attempts were generally surprisingly good. Those outfits were also prone to pulling out surprise standards on the fly. And as long as one member had the changes everything would be fine. The role of “music director” would usually be decided before the tune started …

And after years of that I love a good rehearsal. Being able to stop the song and ask just what is going on when you hear a mixup is a luxury.

[asingardenof]

22 hours ago, Bluewine said:

Maple Road has been together and gigging since 2007. I've been with them since 2009. I'm the 2nd bass guitarist. 

 

For whatever reason,  we don't rehearse.  I wish we did.

 

I understand this doesn't happen in the " real world" . However, it would be nice to walk away from one rehearsal with something. A new song done, nailed and ready to perform at your next gig. This requires that all band members know this new song before the rehearsal. Does that make any sense?

 

Daryl

We do rehearse, but getting certain others in the band to do their homework is a lot more trouble than it should be, so it turns more into a figuring it out on the fly session sometimes, which is massively frustrating for those of us who have done our homework.

Edited Tuesday at 16:01 by asingardenof

[Buddster]

Agree with you there. It's sometimes week before others have learnt their parts. It's very frustrating when I take the week to learn the bass part and they havnt even bothered to listen to it. 

Especially frustrating if it's a song they've suggested. 

[msb]

It’s a waste of everybody’s time if someone expects to learn material after arriving at rehearsal. If it’s original material people should still know the changes , or bring charts for alterations. Once you’ve become accustomed to efficient rehearsals it’s a misery to waste time.

Edited Tuesday at 18:45 by msb

[MacDaddy]

Tonight's rehearsal, deciding on wether to play Song 2 in F or F#, took longer than playing the song! 🤣

[neepheid]

13 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

Tonight's rehearsal, deciding on wether to play Song 2 in F or F#, took longer than playing the song! 🤣

 

For F's sake!

[bigthumb]

We tried out a new rehearsal room last night, another local social club as our previous venue wouldn't put the heating on again and believe me it was absolutely freezing. It's pretty obvious that they don't want us there anymore as messages to the manager about it and paying extra were ignored. 

So new venue was a nice little function room with a small stage but there was only a thin partition wall between the hall and the bar. It seemed a bit uncomfortable at first, even playing much quieter we would have obviously been heard by the customers drinking there. Also, the gents toilets were accessed by the side of the stage so we were regularly interrupted. Only the drums were on the stage so chaps off for a pee were walking through the rest of the band to get there. 

I think we'll be using it again as it was a nice little room with a better sound than we had before, plus the heating was on! They seemed pretty decent there and enquired about booking us in the new year. We'll just have to get used to the setup and the fact that our rehearsals are a little more 'public.'

[zbd1960]

Busy day today. I had my organ practice slot in one of the local churches this morning - trying to get my head around some Bach. Then it was the final rehearsal with the new community choir - we're singing some stuff at the weekend. Then I had my organ lesson. 

[Bluewine]

On 16/12/2024 at 11:11, asingardenof said:

Octave and chorus

 

Nice, I'm a chorus guy.  You get a nice sustain and a fuller sound for the band. I never use phase.

 

Daryl

[asingardenof]

9 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Nice, I'm a chorus guy.  You get a nice sustain and a fuller sound for the band. I never use phase.

 

Daryl

I just need the fretless Stingray to complete matching the tone 😅

[paddy109]

We had a great practice last night without our singer. We played through our set in a critical manner and ironed some issues (nothing major) to give the songs more light and shade. What we do at a gig when a bit more pumped up remains to be seen!

My legs are aching today from a few hours of standing mosting in one spot.

[Jo.gwillim]

We've 2 more gigs to go before the band in its current form at least packs up. It's been ten great years, i think about 170 gigs, with time out for Covid. Last night we were so busy trying to nail a chrismas song for the gig tomorrow none of us stopped to realise it's the end of an era. Something else will take its place i know but i shall miss the old gang. We've had 4 big family deaths, cancers, niggles, more laughs on and off stage than i can possibly remeber for all of us it's been the band that has helped us through it all. What a privilege to be part of it.