General Music Chat

I had an audition from hell last night. I just wanted to comment on it and see what other people are going through. I am quite sure it isn't a new experience for any of you.

So I speak to this cat through email. He says he isn't sure but they may play on Sunday. (2 weeks ago) On Friday, I get an email, saying sorry for the short notice, but we want you in to audition on Sunday at 6pm. (3 days)

I say ok and am going over their set list and it is a horror story. (I am a baritone) They wanted me to be ready for set 1 and that was ok, as long as they would do 2 I wanted to do, namely "Bridge of Sighs" and "When the Levee Breaks". That is until I started to prepare for this. I knew right off that AC/DC, VH, Judas Priest was not going to be easy. SO I get directions off of map quest and it was notoriously wrong. (map quest sucks) I get there at 6:30, (I was like 30 minutes late) and the other guitarist and drummer are not even there yet. So finally they show up and I see where we are to play. Now the guy I spoke to said there is tons of room, in reality all 5 of us are crammed in this tiny room. I was no further than 3ft away from anyone at any time. I did my usual exercises to relax my vocal cords, inserted my -30db plugs and we started.

I was tense and my voice tightened up, I have to admit it wasn't good from the beginning. The exception may have been "Sunshine". I know I didn't like anything till we got to a comfort zone, namely "gimme 3 steps" and even then the chorus went awry on the last line. The result was anything with a - was a fail and anything with a + was a pass.

set 1:

Living After Midnight -
Sunshine of your love +
Hard to handle -
Panama -
Hells Bells -
Gimme 3 Steps +
Pride+Joy +
Locomotive breath +
Too Rolling Stoned +

So the deal was if I was to do this is 3 days, I wanted to include my 2 picks. Result was we did neither. Instead, they asked me to do their set 2 cold. I am a sporting guy, I said sure, weakly. What is in set 2? lol

The result was 0= omit, - fail, + pass

Set 2

just want to make love- Thin Lizzy 0
roll on down the - BTO? 0
jealous again 0
white room +
day of the eagle - improvisational, not original version +
voodoo child ++
cat scratch fever +
wind cries Mary ++
sharp dressed man +
big balls -
dirty deeds -

At the very end, I asked about my 2 songs I wanted to do. The one guitarist was already stowing his gear. The guy I had spoken to originally was very nice and we played half of "When the levee breaks" and it was a +. "Bridge of Sighs" was a little off time, but sounded good on my end. They were unprepared for both of those songs, I specified. "Bridge of Sighs" is an easy tune to play and the guitarist that seemed a bit out of sorts had no idea that I had asked to do those 2.

At the very end, I asked if they needed help cleaning up. The were congenial and yet refused. Last thing I heard they were going to get food and no one said squanto to me, except "we'll let you know".

It lasted from 6:30 to damn near 10pm.

In retrospect, I don't know what I expected. I have some material I do over and over, that's my main area of expertise. They weren't interested in that at all, not even the same genre except for the few tunes from their set list.

I still am unsure why the one guitarist was so upset, other than he was the regular vocalist and may have had issues as I think he didn't think they needed another vocalist.

What did I learn? I was reinforced that my main focus is comprised of the stuff I really appreciate. When you list your style of music on the genre area, you are really defining more than you know and in a pretty realistic and focused manner.

I enjoyed trying new materials/styles, but one has to be realistic in what ones' voice can handle at any given time. I.E> if you do Bocelli, heavy metal won't be in your spectrum.

Oh and if you are auditioning someone, try to reduce the stress as much as possible. No one that is stressed is going to give you what you want.

A final word would be that of if you agree to do a couple of tunes that you don't normally do, DO be prepared in such a way that you appear to be professional in your endeavors. The guy that is auditioning for you, you know he spent the time getting ready, so should you.

Ok, so blast away. I am in the crash position, all belts are on and shields are on full. Engines are at 1/3 impulse power and rising.

All auditions suck. Usually the auditioners don't give a rat's ass about your comfort zone or preparing for your material. They most likely have seen a lot of people already and you're just another face. I personally think there is no need for an audition to last over 45 minutes. And you should never try to do any material that you aren't well-prepared to do. That said, the tunes this band does are very generic and played-out. I doubt if you're missing out much.

Thanks Jimmy, they stressed me something fierce. (they) Didn't do the material I asked for and even omitted material I have done since the dawn of time.

In short, I did what they wanted and took sh*t for being the possible replacement vocalist from a sour dude that ? wasn't even notified that i was coming?.

Yeah, a friend makes a good point, he states that band members should make sure to keep all communication lines open at all times, so people are always in the know and there are no surprises.

Auditions - the bane of every musician's existence. I've been on both ends and it's not fun at all, but unfortunately necessary. When I have to go into them, I go in as loose as possible, with an attitude of "I could take this or leave this". You'd be amazed at what a stress reliever that is. Stress is just a KILLER when it comes to performing on the spot.

I gotta agree with jimmydanger about the band's material, too. Yeeesh I don't think your life will tailspin out of control if you don't join that band. Now if you were auditioning your part in a percussive rendition of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, yeah, I could understand the stress level...but my lord, Judas Priest and AC/DC?

I always try to put the people who come over to audition at ease; we talk about music a bit before doing anything.
When there's pressure, it's easy for someone to make mistakes. I tell them I expect mistakes - no problem. And - when I tell them that, I mean it . . .
I've had quite a few who didn't make the grade - and, it's hard as hell for me to tell them.
But - it's only right that I do tell them . . .
. . . . so I let them know that I'm looking for someone with more experience, or a slightly different 'feel' to their music.
I think that's better than leaving hanging for weeks, waiting for a phone call . . .

But - it's only right that I do tell them . . .
. . . . so I let them know that I'm looking for someone with more experience, or a slightly different 'feel' to their music.
I think that's better than leaving hanging for weeks, waiting for a phone call . . .

I'm happy to hear that you have that attitude. It's the responsible and correct thing to do, and I wish more musicians had it.

Yikes! That doesn't sound too fun Captain.

Nah, it's all good though. Not like I am designed to do AC/DC anyways. I really had a big shot of that stuck in my snit and my voice cracked like it was wafer thin.

I expect it was both funny and embarrassing at the same time.

I always try to look at the most positive side of any situation, as they practiced hard to do as well as they did. And I have quite the imagination, as you may well tell, but I knew early on this wasn't going to be a match.

Soon as they snuffed my material and the 2 tunes I selected to cover, AS IF I LIKED COVERS IN THE FIRST PLACE, I knew this was a gang bang and I was in the middle. lol

The funny thing is, I don't think they are even planning on notifying me even though the contact is through email. I wonder what they are thinking? To not say "no" even through email is cowardly, period. MAN UP, PEOPLE. No situation is ever perfect and everyone will respect you for being honest even if it isn't easy.

Here's one for you captain.

I get contacted by a very promising band. They are very good and I very much want to play with them. So the first date doesn't work because I am selling my house so we reschedule. Trying to be prepared I take my Marshall in to have it looked over and put in tip top shape. I take in on Monday and tell them I need it by Friday. I get a call Thursday and there is no way it will be ready, and....... it's torn apart. So I ask do you have anything I can rent? They say sure we have a 50 watt Randall, combo. I'm like 50 watts hmmm....weak but it should suffice. So I grab my rental amp the night before and get home at 9pm. I live in the middle of no where so it's an hour to everything and there is not much selection. I spend an hour getting used to it that night and the next night head to the audition.

Ok, so I am already a little on edge just because of the audition and even more so because I am not playing on my rig. So we start playing and I am playing the tunes but I feel like I am driving the wrong the car. I am hitting the wrong pedals for this amp to go from clean to crunch so I have like wicked Reverb where I should have crunch, or crunch where I should clean, just a mess. I am trying not to appear flustered but I am getting pissed at this point. Forget playing solos on anything lower then the G string because it is mud. Allow me to also add or there tunes are in Drop D tuning which I have never played in my life till this point (that's sacralidge man). So we finish and I expect them to tell me to pack my stuff and make for the door. What was really cool is that they gave me credit for coming down and auditioning without my gear and they understood the position I was in and told me not to worry about it. They said well your pretty much our guy but we need to hear you on your rig, can you make it next Saturday? I was like wow. How bad did the other guys suck they auditioned, because I was a basket case.

I actually played better on my acoustic that night and they asked if I was more adept as an acoustic player. I said, well no, but at least my acoustic plays and acts like what I am used to.

Right on, that's how an audition should go.

No point in people getting weird, either they liked you or they didn't and people all over have different things going on. Not necessarily bad, just different.

That shows that those guys you played with had pro attitude to be sure.

You over-estimate them. They knew the material, but had no recording whatsoever.

(yeah I was shocked, but I downplayed it)