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What's the best number of people in a band?


Mark L

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I was always fond of the Quartet, my original band was magic...a brother for harmony who played bass and keys, a drummer, my best friend and co -writer of two top ten chart songs in the late sixties...he sang 5th harmony..and did the vocal arrangements...our lead guitarist, a real George Harrison, no ego, never missed a practice...I encouraged him to write...and that he did, I submitted his song to the people that represented us...bingo, a top forty hit!'

Me, a strum Monkey and lead vocalist with a limited vocal range, but my Bandies made me sound good, I wrote my songs to accomadate my range...never thought succcess would be ours...Can you believe we never had an argument regarding,musical tastes, or personality conflicts????

Viet Nam, college, careers, split us up...we still keep in touch and get together for jams(most recently my family reunion) where we sang 'Across the Universe' as a cover,,many thanks to you Forumite who helped me out with the Chord progression.

When I came home after 2 years, I became a Singer songwriter, playing coffee houses and clubs and college gigs.

Enter the Police, an other three man bands...oh {censored}! all hell broke loose...still my format, I finally felt confident enough to handle the guitar work..but I always get the best drummer and bass guys that are available...same unit for the last three years...life is good:)

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It really depends on the style of music you do.

The Beatles could never perform their experimental stuff as a 4 piece. They would have needed 25 people on stage.

 

For most rock, a 4 piece works and its balanced but for most music, at least 5-6 people are needed to create a full sound.

 

Drums

Bass

lead guitar

rhythm guitar

keys

lead vocalist

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As I see more and more live concert footage on channels like Paladia, and even Conan, etc. I see a trend toward supplemental players to flesh out stage arrangements and to do the studio arrangement justice.

 

Green Day with a extra guitarist and keys.

 

Weezer the same.

 

Lots of self contained 4 piece acts hiring road warriors. This says something. It's a heck of lot easier to achieve a communal vibe with less people rather than more. But at the end of the day... you're going to need more.

 

So, it appears to me, keeping the creative core down to a relatively small number has some very district advantages. Each guy has a creative stake in the project as opposed to being a sideman. They're like one of the Beatles!

 

And of course the hired sideman is more than happy to be hired, even if on only a temporary basis.

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The best number of people in a band is... however many people it takes to play the music you want to play.
:idea:

 

Here we see an example of the wisdom which earned Ms. Lee Flier an honourable mention in 'The OJ Song' :thu:

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Well, the practical answers (relating to monetary slpits & musical functionality) have been offered but I'd like to throw in something psychological that relates to bands aiming at a pop audience.

 

Andrew Loog Oldham, the first effective manager of the Rollin' Stones, & who had worked previously for Brian Epstein, decided that more than 4 or 5 faces was confusing to the teen fans.

One of the reasons that he banished Ian Stewart from the stage.

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