General Music Chat

I always have introduced the sound man as if he were a member of the band, & made sure he was tipped as well as paid if he did an exceptional job..

I also make sure the audience knows the names of the bartenders & waitresses, & encourage them to tip them, & tip them myself as well, EVERY gig, without fail.

This way at least you always have the help on your side.

good advice craig, never though about that much.

No problem brother.

ALOT of guys don't think about that stuff, till they have been in this awhile, and even then, some of them overlook it.

The sound guy is a god to you. He controls what everyone in that club hears, and therefore what you sound like. NEVER EVER EVER piss off the sound guy. Show him respect well before you go onstage. Don't tell him you are going to give him a shout out, just do that onstage, but DEFINITELY, when setting up, let him know that you guys appreciate what they do.

I made a novice mistake my very first gig, and I NEVER EVER repeated it. I couldn't hear my amp, AFTER the sound check had gone through. And during our first song, I turned it up. Which of course, screwed up what was going through the PA, and probably made me blast through the PA above everything else. The sound guy walks up to me, DURING THE SONG, and says to me "If you need something in the monitors or there is a problem, you tell me, but if you f*ck with the volume on that amp again, I'll turn the whole f*cking sound system off!"

(choke...cough) ... uhh... yes sir!

Never ever make an enemy of the sound man or piss him off. You can point at your guitar, and point at your monitor, and he will know to give you more guitar in the monitor, or if you have to, it is not unprofessional, between songs, to just say "The drummer needs a little more lead vocals in his monitor please.. thank you!"

I always have introduced the sound man as if he were a member of the band, & made sure he was tipped as well as paid if he did an exceptional job..

I also make sure the audience knows the names of the bartenders & waitresses, & encourage them to tip them, & tip them myself as well, EVERY gig, without fail.

This way at least you always have the help on your side.

Absolutely bro. Every gig, every time.

And if you are playing with other bands, give the one before props, and when you are done, tell the crowd to stay tuned for the next band, and name them, and give them props too.

Good character is remembered, by clubs, by fans, by other bands.

When you have the attitude with other bands that "We're in this together" and not "We're gonna wipe the floor with you guys" then you don't burn bridges. One of these bands may throw you an important gig one day. You never know.

Some of our best fans are other bands, and they forward bulletins for us, and give us props to their own fans, and it is because we carry ourselves as their brothers, and not their enemies. I can't even count, seriously, the number of times we have loaned another band a snare stand, drum sticks (believe it or not) or two gigs ago, a guitarist broke a string in another band, and didn't have a back up ready (novice mistake) and they were gonna just play out their set like that, down a guitar, and it was only a 4 member band. We yelled out "Hey brother, you want to borrow a guitar for the rest of the set?" and I had already unpacked it and was holding it, when we asked them that.

Needless to say, they we're like "Hell yeah, thanks... hey what was your band again? Southern Mischief? Hey guys, give it up for Southern Mischief, these guys are high class!"

And besides enjoying being able to help them out, we looked like heroes already, when we went up to play, so the crowd was already that much more receptive to us when we went up there!

Everyone should have there own gear. Drummer, guitar, Bass, keys.
If you're interviewing then your the band. Have a PA. Try to find musicians that can do more than one thing. Have a background singer that can be lead singer if someones sick or quits. If you got 2 guitarists have one that can pass on bass if Bass players out or quits. Some one who can play drums if needed. Guess what someone needs extra equipment to be able to do that. As egotistical as lead singers are don't give them the power over you of being the one with the PA.
Yea they should have a mic just in case the one you have sucks and they don't like it.
And most importantly LIFES NOT FAIR. Never has been never will be.
Seems like you have issues with singers. No problem I can understand that, because of how some are.
Be an instrumental band.
If guitarist, Drummer, and Bass player also sing do they need a Mic and a PA too?
Kramer, your rep. is on the line if you don't show for gigs. Be able to go if someone is sick or flakes out.
I do know a drummer who doesn't have a kit and can't afford to get one. Is trying to get enough extra bread to get one. He drums regulary for 2 bands.
If someone doesn't have equipment cause their a junkie, yea you don't need that baggage. But there are exceptions to every rule.
Just try to keep an open mind.

That's a very interesting topic right there, about the sound engineers n whatnot.

Well, I'm a vocalist n a beginner-ish guitarist (ahem.. very beginner-ish ). I won't say anything bout who's responsible for bringing what, but one thing should always be a main priority: Everyone in a band has to contribute equally with respect to one's abilities (e.g. financial, emotional, physical, etc.). Anything different would be officially unfair. As I always say, however, whatever floats yer boat
Peace.

ps. I agree that some singers get "egotistical," but the same goes for guitarists. Much less is shown by bassists and drummers.
I, for one, found the difference between cocky and confident.. ofcourse after explosive chemical experiments

Sorry Craig, I must have missed that part of your last vox post.
The sound man respect thing sounds like good advice for sure. In retrospect I should have given credit where it was due on our last gig we did without our system. I have considered asking a good friend of mine if he would act as our sound man, get a snake and get the PA out from behind me, let him deal with it. But we have been so busy building our sets (two new songs last night from lyrics Eric wrote in the 70's) and have not been out beating the bush for any venues. Once again I am working another employment angle in an attempt to free up my weekends. That should allow me to be more proactive in search of gigs.

But we have been so busy building our sets (two new songs last night from lyrics Eric wrote in the 70's) and have not been out beating the bush for any venues. Once again I am working another employment angle in an attempt to free up my weekends. That should allow me to be more proactive in search of gigs.

Sounds like you guys are taking this all seriously. That's good to hear brother. Seriousness and sacrifice may not always make everyone in the band happy, but it will get you where you need to be.

Congrats on the hard work. It will pay off!

Amazing as it may sound, we all are at least in the same book if not the exact page Ray and Steve both have started working the Video angle unbeknownst to each other, just worked out as another common interest.
Both of them are computer types. Not me, I'm lucky if I can turn it on.
Last tuesday we added two songs as well, though not originals. I am having a hell of a time keeping up in my new roll of doing the leads.
Thanks for your comments, and encouragement.

kramerguy, YOU purchase a PA. If I went to audition with a band and they had no PA I would turn around and leave. It would seem totally unprofessional to me for a band NOT to have a PA. You don't need a massive PA to rehearse with, a small Peavey powered mixer and a couple of used speakers (I bought used Black Widows many years ago and we still use them) will do quite nicely. I would ask a singer to bring their own mic and mic stand. A pro vocalist should at least have that to bring. I wouldn't expect a vocalist to lug a PA to your rehearsal. Getting back to my original statement, I say YOU buy the PA. I don't like communal ownership where the band owns equipment. If and when the band breaks up there's almost always arguments who owns what, and then you have to pay bandmembers their agreed on share of the equipment. That's a PAIN IN THE ASS. Just go out and purchase a PA ASAP. It will be a good investment and make you look a little more professional to any prospective singer. Good luck.

I am in total agreement with Mr Bob. If it is at all possable you cant go wrong getting YOURSELF a PA. That way you always have one.
Again if it is financially feasable get the best you can get and big enough to do all you need. ( I financed mine, cost me a little more in the long run, but I got more than I needed, just in case I need more someday)
One day I hope to upgrade on my mains and monitors, yea and throw in a powered subwoofer too. ooo and some purdy flashy lights. Sorry I get carried away.

With my last band most of the shows we played had PA's and sound guys at the venues. (And YES, always introduce yourself to the sound guy, buy him/her a drink, thank them in front of the crowd yada yada yada. Lot's of good advice here on dealing with sound men)

I had a small (120watt) PA that I just used at home for practicing and recording and what not. We used this as long as we could for rehearsals and for the room we were in it worked out pretty well.

We were going to audition singers one day and as we were in our space working on some new material the PA went out. It was 9pm on a Friday night. Totally screwed for the 8 people we had coming to audition the next day. Luckily our rehearsal space has a show case room that people can rent with a Kick A$$ sound system in it, complete with engineer. We rented it the next day and the auditions went just fine.

Afterwards we decided that we needed to get a PA for the band. We had a couple of shows coming up that we were going to have to provide PA equipment for anyway, and renting always sucks (which we had done 1 time in the past)

The place we rented from has a plan where you can get darn near anything you want, and just pay it off based on a % of the total cost of the gear you buy. Sweet system really. We went over how much it would cost, who/when/where/why was paying what, yada yada yada.

A couple of months into it we just kind of decided that we should pay it off outright. so I wrote a check for the balance, then bought out what the other members of the band had paid in. I've been through it before when a split happens and people want their money back or the equipment, or what they think they should get of the equipment based on what they paid in, that sorta thing.

Short story made long, each individual is responsible for their own equipment, but if you're going to be auditioning singers, you have to have something for them to sing through. Yeah it would be great if they bring their own mic, but I think the PA is a "band" thing.

With my last band most of the shows we played had PA's and sound guys at the venues. (And YES, always introduce yourself to the sound guy, buy him/her a drink, thank them in front of the crowd yada yada yada. Lot's of good advice here on dealing with sound men)

I had a small (120watt) PA that I just used at home for practicing and recording and what not. We used this as long as we could for rehearsals and for the room we were in it worked out pretty well.

We were going to audition singers one day and as we were in our space working on some new material the PA went out. It was 9pm on a Friday night. Totally screwed for the 8 people we had coming to audition the next day. Luckily our rehearsal space has a show case room that people can rent with a Kick A$$ sound system in it, complete with engineer. We rented it the next day and the auditions went just fine.

Afterwards we decided that we needed to get a PA for the band. We had a couple of shows coming up that we were going to have to provide PA equipment for anyway, and renting always sucks (which we had done 1 time in the past)

The place we rented from has a plan where you can get darn near anything you want, and just pay it off based on a % of the total cost of the gear you buy. Sweet system really. We went over how much it would cost, who/when/where/why was paying what, yada yada yada.

A couple of months into it we just kind of decided that we should pay it off outright. so I wrote a check for the balance, then bought out what the other members of the band had paid in. I've been through it before when a split happens and people want their money back or the equipment, or what they think they should get of the equipment based on what they paid in, that sorta thing.

Short story made long, each individual is responsible for their own equipment, but if you're going to be auditioning singers, you have to have something for them to sing through. Yeah it would be great if they bring their own mic, but I think the PA is a "band" thing.

We have a real good working relationship with the guys in our band.
We also have a very clear understanding of "my stuff" and "your stuff", other than the songs we write together there is no "our stuff" to split. If this were to come to issue. Works for us.

kramerguy, YOU purchase a PA. If I went to audition with a band and they had no PA I would turn around and leave. It would seem totally unprofessional to me for a band NOT to have a PA. You don't need a massive PA to rehearse with, a small Peavey powered mixer and a couple of used speakers (I bought used Black Widows many years ago and we still use them) will do quite nicely. I would ask a singer to bring their own mic and mic stand. A pro vocalist should at least have that to bring. I wouldn't expect a vocalist to lug a PA to your rehearsal. Getting back to my original statement, I say YOU buy the PA. I don't like communal ownership where the band owns equipment. If and when the band breaks up there's almost always arguments who owns what, and then you have to pay bandmembers their agreed on share of the equipment. That's a PAIN IN THE ASS. Just go out and purchase a PA ASAP. It will be a good investment and make you look a little more professional to any prospective singer. Good luck.

Ok, btw: can I borrow $800 or so? I'm flat out right now.

I,m guessin you saw my "financially feasable" discalimer