Who else plays in a purely improvising band?

[ShergoldSnickers]

Been playing in an improv band for over 2 years now, initially concentrating on recording, and within the last year on gigs as well.

Good points:

1. Nothing to learn in terms of set lists or numbers
2. No 'rehearsals' as such - yay!
3. Different every time - helps keep the interest. Errr... mostly.
4. The other guys know what they are doing and can make it easier for me!
5. The freedom

Bad points:

1. Everything to learn in terms of listening to others, and when to keep it simple to allow others to fly, and when to drive it forward.
2. Still get nervous before a gig.
3. Over reliance on stock phrases, riffs and runs.
4. Limited musical theory knowledge. Not the impediment I thought it might be though.

To anyone contemplating forming an improv band, it's probably not as scary as you think, but it's best to go with musicians you are totally comfortable with. I'm really lucky in that regard, and there isn't an ego between us. That really helps on so many levels.

Anyone else got any experiences, advice or horrendous/amazing stories?

[mike257]

Probably falls under 'horrendous' - back in my youth I was tapped up by a mate to play bass in a death metal band. An improv death metal band. It was only for one gig, but all their rehearsals clashed with my own rehearsals, and it transpired that I didn't even get to soundcheck with them. I ended up jumping off a train and stepping straight on to stage with a guitarist, TWO drummers and two vocalists who I'd never heard play a note before, and proceeded to embarrass myself comprehensively for the next 35 minutes.

An old band mate of mine kindly stuck a clip up on youtube 'for posterity', still makes me cringe now.

[derrenleepoole]

I've done it in the past, and total improv is a real challenge and not for the faint hearted. I always feel that if you can bore yourself, imagine what the audience is thinking To do this sort of thing you have to be at the top of your game I feel and that is no easy feat. It's all too easy to fall into musical traps and pitfalls without adding anything new. I'm more of a fan of Esbjorn Svensson Trio (RIP) who improvised totally to come up with compositions and ideas, and then moulded them into compositions for live play, then improvising around them ideas (if you get my drift). I'm not a total fan of noise improvisation, even though it has it's place. Another good group who do explore total imrov are The Necks from Australia. I like them because their improvs are quite melodic and have forward momentum.

[XB26354]

I once played in a jazz function band where we had free improvised numbers. We could all play well, read etc and got a lot of corporate and Christmas gigs with some of the more upmarket firms. Even though I think the standard of music we made was pretty high, every improv number bombed without exception (although strangely playing St Thomas straight afterward got a rapturous reception!)
I could probably drop into a totally improvised situation but it doesn't really appeal to me, not because it would be too hard (which is very possible), but because it has limited appeal to an audience, unless it is in between more familiar bits - people just love something they recognise, whatever the genre.

[Raslee]

I had a really good gig at the weekend playing improvised reggae. We played classic repetitive riddims ,which as a reggae bassist i knew,and let horn players and vocals do there own thing-we even had someone on melodica too. We eneded up as an 9 piece with a packed dancefloor by the end of the night and been asked back to play again at what is a bit of an up market cool venue. Crazy as we also got paid the same as my reggae covers band that performs at the same venue... for lots of less effort, no practice, great fun, lots of spontaneity and being reggae the best bits was where you could drop out listen to the others and drink your beer and come back in again. Improvisation is a winning formula loosely based on some ideas and i am a total convert

[ShergoldSnickers]

[quote name='Rasta' post='899989' date='Jul 20 2010, 01:35 PM']I had a really good gig at the weekend playing improvised reggae. We played classic repetitive riddims ,which as a reggae bassist i knew,and let horn players and vocals do there own thing-we even had someone on melodica too. We eneded up as an 9 piece with a packed dancefloor by the end of the night and been asked back to play again at what is a bit of an up market cool venue. Crazy as we also got paid the same as my reggae covers band that performs at the same venue... for lots of less effort, no practice, great fun, lots of spontaneity and being reggae the best bits was where you could drop out listen to the others and drink your beer and come back in again. Improvisation is a winning formula loosely based on some ideas and i am a total convert [/quote]
Completely sold on that one Rasta. You absolutely MUST get a video or recording of your next one. Really, you just HAVE to.

[Doddy]

I've only ever done one purely improvised gig. When I was in my old band,the singer/guitarist,drummer and myself
did a small gig which consisted of the acoustic guitar and upright bass running through loop pedals and lots of crazy ideas.
It was good fun at the time and the smallish crowd seemed to appreciate what we were doing,but it wasn't something that
I'd want to do all the time.We did get a few ideas for some new songs out of it though.
As much as I love improvising,I prefer to have a firm idea,either melodic or chordally,to return to for when things start to
get out of hand,which they invariably do when you are purely improvising.

[xgsjx]

When my band Frigorifico was on the go, some of the songs followed a formula but then everything was improvised, so we knew the chords & how long choruses & verses was supposed to be & played about from there.
The majority of the songs was written from jamming & then we'd just remember roughly what we did. Good fun.

[the_skezz]

[quote name='mike257' post='899913' date='Jul 20 2010, 12:46 PM']An old band mate of mine kindly stuck a clip up on youtube 'for posterity', still makes me cringe now.[/quote]

Link? You've got me wanting to see it now

[molan]

Whenever I hear the terms 'improv', with regards to music, my mind immediately drifts to Spinal Tap's Jazz odyssey

[Bottle]

Not been in an improv band [i]per se[/i], however, the P & W band I'm in at the moment has a lot of scope for spontaneity......which keeps me on my toes .

Sometimes the worship leader will just drop out, and let me, the guitarist and the drummer come up with some fills and drive the rhythm. May only be a couple of basic chords, usually in A-maj/F#m, so I'll let the drummer set the pace and I'll come up with a three- or four-chord progression. Often the keys player will join in. The guitarist might then noodle over the top of this - it's all very in-the-moment - nothing gets decided in our practice sessions - just go with the flow. Best Sunday mornings are when we have no plan of where we're going with the worship.

Ian

[Oscar South]

I play in a Fusion/Noise-Rock improv trio called 'Ghost Ship In a Storm' (didn't find out it was a Jim O'Rourke track until later.. I wanted to be called 'Spectrum' after Billy Cobham but lost the coin toss). The other players are a Jazz/Experimental guitarist and a virtuosic drummer who can play whatever he wants... flawlessly.

Anyway, we did a handful of gigs and got asked back a few times! Reliantly got drunk before each one and had a laugh. One of our sets was taped, I have the video somewhere (on a tape.. surprisingly) but I've only got the audio on my computer. Interestingly, a rapper joined up with us for a number and made up some words about cars, women and money.

Here's the links to the whole set cut up:
[url="http://soundcloud.com/lokimusic/sets/15th-jan_meltin-pot"]http://soundcloud.com/lokimusic/sets/15th-jan_meltin-pot[/url]

One especially fun gig (actually might have been that one) we were drinking free at the venue so we were druuuuuunnnk, we were taken backstage by the promoters later on after our set and interviewed for a documentary they were putting together. When we'd been chatting earlier on I'd been saying how I can do backflips (putting my hands on a persons shoulder either side, mind) and this came up in the interview, resulting in me getting peer pressured to do it on camera ha. Luckily I survived

Edited July 22, 2010 by Oscar South

[Chris2112]

I've done a few things like that, but never for a serious amount of time, and almost purely as a recreational thing, I don't think it's really the kind of thing you can find a paying audience for!

I don't think we were ever incredible, not like the Hellborg/Lane/Sipe trio who could just improvise endlessly and sound consistently amazing. However, you got some good sounds coming out and it could be extremely interesting at times. As long as you've got a good drummer and a solid rhythmic foundation to fall back on, I think you can pull yourself back from ocasionally tenuous harmonic territory...

[mike257]

[quote name='the_skezz' post='900877' date='Jul 21 2010, 12:29 PM']Link? You've got me wanting to see it now [/quote]

As much as it pains me to do so.... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvCoIENZYfk"]it's here[/url].

Even at 18 I should've known better.

[Stylon Pilson]

[quote name='mike257' post='903024' date='Jul 23 2010, 11:51 AM']As much as it pains me to do so.... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvCoIENZYfk"]it's here[/url].

Even at 18 I should've known better.[/quote]

That was like listening to Vogon poetry.

S.P.

[the_skezz]

[quote name='mike257' post='903024' date='Jul 23 2010, 11:51 AM']As much as it pains me to do so.... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvCoIENZYfk"]it's here[/url].

Even at 18 I should've known better.[/quote]

That ain't bad to be fair, it could have been far worse. Heck, my punk band can sound worse than that playing numbers we've rehearsed (the other week we were playing American Jesus, stopped during the first verse because the guitarist and drummer lost time...obviously nothing to do with me )