General Music Chat

An interesting pickup band with female keys/lead singer Angelica and drummer Daryien I have worked with before, female bass player Melanie, background vocalist Karen, acoustic guitar (me). All three girls sang and harmonized very well together.

We worked from lead sheets and most of the songs I knew, two I had never even heard before. It was a stretch and I had to woodshed the guitar parts over two days. The first set was a bit loose and then it got good... really good. I love it when music works! You could just feel the whole band relax and groove.

All these players are either college music students or recent grads in their 20s. They had some chops and I was definitely the old dude in the room. Sheesh I really need to record this stuff. I keep a little Zoom H1 in my case but always forget to put it out. Maybe next time!

Looks like you have the heavy lifting covered!

How do you like the Zoom H1?

I got my cam GOT confiscated last night but that's probably for the best. LOL

An interesting pickup band with female keys/lead singer Angelica and drummer Daryien I have worked with before, female bass player Melanie, background vocalist Karen, acoustic guitar (me). All three girls sang and harmonized very well together.

We worked from lead sheets and most of the songs I knew, two I had never even heard before. It was a stretch and I had to woodshed the guitar parts over two days. The first set was a bit loose and then it got good... really good. I love it when music works! You could just feel the whole band relax and groove.

All these players are either college music students or recent grads in their 20s. They had some chops and I was definitely the old dude in the room. Sheesh I really need to record this stuff. I keep a little Zoom H1 in my case but always forget to put it out. Maybe next time!

Why is this a norm ? Especially it seems for amateur players like myself.
Or do we all suffer this malady to various degrees?
And what pray tell can we do to minimize it, other than of course practice practice and more practice.

How do you like the Zoom H1?

As a live recorder or sketchpad it is pretty sweet. It sounds excellent and is butt simple to use. " Turn it on and press the red button." Need a little more guitar in the mix? Move the H1 two feet to the left. Done!

This is the kind of digital recording I understand well.

An interesting pickup band with female keys/lead singer Angelica and drummer Daryien I have worked with before, female bass player Melanie, background vocalist Karen, acoustic guitar (me). All three girls sang and harmonized very well together.

We worked from lead sheets and most of the songs I knew, two I had never even heard before. It was a stretch and I had to woodshed the guitar parts over two days. The first set was a bit loose and then it got good... really good. I love it when music works! You could just feel the whole band relax and groove.

All these players are either college music students or recent grads in their 20s. They had some chops and I was definitely the old dude in the room. Sheesh I really need to record this stuff. I keep a little Zoom H1 in my case but always forget to put it out. Maybe next time!

Why is this a norm ? Especially it seems for amateur players like myself.
Or do we all suffer this malady to various degrees?
And what pray tell can we do to minimize it, other than of course practice practice and more practice.

Well, it doesn't always happen but it happens often enough. Confidence I think and it's just part of the game. When I put together a set list I usually choose songs for the first set that we could play in a New York subway at rush hour. We can play em in our sleep or standing on our heads they are so solid and it makes it easier to adjust to the room and the players. You can't always do that though and this wasn't my gig. With this band we rehearsed only 1.5 hrs together so that meant beginnings, endings, and tricky breaks. We leaned on each other a lot for the first 30 minutes of the show.

I saw Clapton last year and he still suffers the first 4-5 songs. He stands there all stiff and rigid and gradually warms up to the room and audience. By the second hour he is completely relaxed.

An interesting pickup band with female keys/lead singer Angelica and drummer Daryien I have worked with before, female bass player Melanie, background vocalist Karen, acoustic guitar (me). All three girls sang and harmonized very well together.

We worked from lead sheets and most of the songs I knew, two I had never even heard before. It was a stretch and I had to woodshed the guitar parts over two days. The first set was a bit loose and then it got good... really good. I love it when music works! You could just feel the whole band relax and groove.

All these players are either college music students or recent grads in their 20s. They had some chops and I was definitely the old dude in the room. Sheesh I really need to record this stuff. I keep a little Zoom H1 in my case but always forget to put it out. Maybe next time!

Why is this a norm ? Especially it seems for amateur players like myself.
Or do we all suffer this malady to various degrees?
And what pray tell can we do to minimize it, other than of course practice practice and more practice.

Well, it doesn't always happen but it happens often enough. Confidence I think and it's just part of the game. When I put together a set list I usually choose songs for the first set that we could play in a New York subway at rush hour. We can play em in our sleep or standing on our heads they are so solid so it makes it easier to adjust to the room and the players. You can't always do that though. With this band we rehearsed only 1.5 hrs together so that meant beginnings, endings, and tricky breaks. We leaned on each other a lot for the first 30 minutes of the show.

I saw Clapton last year and he still suffers the first 4-5 songs. He stands there all stiff and rigid and gradually warms up to the room and audience. By the second hour he is completely relaxed.

One of the early bands I played in always had their friends hanging around us, drinking, and playing pool.
I don't recall anybody inviting them.
They just showed up.
It was pretty common for them to yell, "YOU SUCK", while we practiced.
Which is probably why I take an adversarial position when we perform.
I never expect anyone to like us, but they do.
It helps eliminate any nervousness or stagefright if you play with anger and say "f*ck those people!"

An interesting pickup band with female keys/lead singer Angelica and drummer Daryien I have worked with before, female bass player Melanie, background vocalist Karen, acoustic guitar (me). All three girls sang and harmonized very well together.

We worked from lead sheets and most of the songs I knew, two I had never even heard before. It was a stretch and I had to woodshed the guitar parts over two days. The first set was a bit loose and then it got good... really good. I love it when music works! You could just feel the whole band relax and groove.

All these players are either college music students or recent grads in their 20s. They had some chops and I was definitely the old dude in the room. Sheesh I really need to record this stuff. I keep a little Zoom H1 in my case but always forget to put it out. Maybe next time!

Why is this a norm ? Especially it seems for amateur players like myself.
Or do we all suffer this malady to various degrees?
And what pray tell can we do to minimize it, other than of course practice practice and more practice.

Well, it doesn't always happen but it happens often enough. Confidence I think and it's just part of the game. When I put together a set list I usually choose songs for the first set that we could play in a New York subway at rush hour. We can play em in our sleep or standing on our heads they are so solid so it makes it easier to adjust to the room and the players. You can't always do that though. With this band we rehearsed only 1.5 hrs together so that meant beginnings, endings, and tricky breaks. We leaned on each other a lot for the first 30 minutes of the show.

I saw Clapton last year and he still suffers the first 4-5 songs. He stands there all stiff and rigid and gradually warms up to the room and audience. By the second hour he is completely relaxed.

I never expect anyone to like us, but they do.
It helps eliminate any nervousness or stagefright if you play with anger and say "f*ck those people!"

That never really works for me Mike. This might come as a shock, but in 1980-83 I was in a band called "The Citizens". We played 1/2 original music and 1/2 covers. We did a lot of punk including The Pistols, The Clash, 999, Black flag etc. and we were pretty adversarial with the audience and each other in our show. The first few still generated nerves as we adjusted to the room.

We developed a pretty loyal fan base and at some point they started showing their appreciation by spitting on stage/on our gear/on us!! Not my idea of a good time. Over time we realized we didn't fit the punk scene and morphed into "The Clash meets King Crimson". Egos and a few hot tempers eventually killed "The Citizens" and we moved on to other things.

SPITTING>???

Oh faq that noise.. lol

HELL NO...

It helps a lot if you have bandmates you totally love and trust. If you have to worry about anyone else while you're on stage it will show. A group of musicians is not necessarily a band, no matter how good they are.

That never really works for me Mike. This might come as a shock, but in 1980-83 I was in a band called "The Citizens". We played 1/2 original music and 1/2 covers. We did a lot of punk including The Pistols, The Clash, 999, Black flag etc. and we were pretty adversarial with the audience and each other in our show. The first few still generated nerves as we adjusted to the room.

We developed a pretty loyal fan base and at some point they started showing their appreciation by spitting on stage/on our gear/on us!! Not my idea of a good time. Over time we realized we didn't fit the punk scene and morphed into "The Clash meets King Crimson". Egos and a few hot tempers eventually killed "The Citizens" and we moved on to other things.

If you had gone GG Allen on them they would have stopped spitting.
Throwing sh*t & piss has that effect on people.
Might be some fights, though.

"The Clash meets King Crimson" sounds kinda like where we are going maybe.

If you had gone GG Allen on them they would have stopped spitting.
Throwing sh*t & piss has that effect on people.
Might be some fights, though.

"The Clash meets King Crimson" sounds kinda like where we are going maybe.

That's f**k up to be doing that crap..

Everything goes back to "the monkeys" and I don't mean the one with Peter Tork. LOL

An interesting pickup band with female keys/lead singer Angelica and drummer Daryien I have worked with before, female bass player Melanie, background vocalist Karen, acoustic guitar (me). All three girls sang and harmonized very well together.

We worked from lead sheets and most of the songs I knew, two I had never even heard before. It was a stretch and I had to woodshed the guitar parts over two days. The first set was a bit loose and then it got good... really good. I love it when music works! You could just feel the whole band relax and groove.

All these players are either college music students or recent grads in their 20s. They had some chops and I was definitely the old dude in the room. Sheesh I really need to record this stuff. I keep a little Zoom H1 in my case but always forget to put it out. Maybe next time!

Why is this a norm ? Especially it seems for amateur players like myself.
Or do we all suffer this malady to various degrees?
And what pray tell can we do to minimize it, other than of course practice practice and more practice.

Well, it doesn't always happen but it happens often enough. Confidence I think and it's just part of the game. When I put together a set list I usually choose songs for the first set that we could play in a New York subway at rush hour. We can play em in our sleep or standing on our heads they are so solid so it makes it easier to adjust to the room and the players. You can't always do that though. With this band we rehearsed only 1.5 hrs together so that meant beginnings, endings, and tricky breaks. We leaned on each other a lot for the first 30 minutes of the show.

I saw Clapton last year and he still suffers the first 4-5 songs. He stands there all stiff and rigid and gradually warms up to the room and audience. By the second hour he is completely relaxed.

One of the early bands I played in always had their friends hanging around us, drinking, and playing pool.
I don't recall anybody inviting them.
They just showed up.
It was pretty common for them to yell, "YOU SUCK", while we practiced.
Which is probably why I take an adversarial position when we perform.
I never expect anyone to like us, but they do.
It helps eliminate any nervousness or stagefright if you play with anger and say "f*ck those people!"

I don't know about "f*ck those people", but I take the stage with the same mind set with which I used to walk into the cage / or step onto the mats as a martial artist.
Unconcerned with success or failure only to be fully present in the moment as the goal.
And I don't know about the stage fright as being the issue ( sure I get nervous some ) as much as it just takes a little time to make those musician to musician "connections" that make the magic fly effortlessly.

It helps a lot if you have bandmates you totally love and trust. If you have to worry about anyone else while you're on stage it will show. A group of musicians is not necessarily a band, no matter how good they are.

I'm pretty sure you know that we ( the band ) are family Jimmy.
I love them and they me . . . it just takes a little time to really get the energy flowing.
Of course feeding of an energetic crowd helps. Yet generally it needs to start with us as we often play for a majority of people who have never heard or seen us.
Our new front man helps a lot, he is really coming into himself on how to walk the walk and talk the talk in front of a crowd.

Unconcerned with success or failure only to be fully present in the moment as the goal.

That's the best summation I've heard thus far.
Be focused and do what you do..otherwise you do the very best you can.

No one can fault you for your best effort, regardless.