Members richardmac Posted January 1, 2011 Members Share Posted January 1, 2011 What about playing solo, with a guitar, a mic, and a computer?Can it look bad?Cheers To me, it depends. Mostly on who you ask. But really, you should do what you want and not worry about what a bunch of musicians think. Because musicians have different opinions that the general public on some issues, and in my experience this is one of them. It's better to play live music with a band, IMHO. But that's not always practical or in some cases possible. The big issue about playing solo is the use of backing tracks, whether they're coming off a computer or an iPod. The style of music matters a lot - for electronic music a laptop is expected. If you play covers in small bars or restaurants, it's extremely commonplace. If you play metal, you're going to look like a dork playing with a backing track. In my opinion, I should say. So to me, I'd look at the style of music I'm playing, the venues I'm playing at, and how a normal general audience would react to backing tracks or the lack thereof. Because what the audience thinks matters 100% and what we here in this forum think is irrelevant. I play a mix of original music and covers, and I play small gigs - the places I play, backing tracks are sort of normal. I don't use them on every song - maybe about half. I also gig with a keyboard, an acoustic guitar, and a strat. What I try to do is vary my act to keep the sets interesting - one guy playing just an acoustic gets very old, with or without backing tracks. It's a pain to lug the extra gear around but if I'm going to do a gig, I want it to be the best I can do, whether it's for $30 or $300, whether I'm playing in front of 1 person or 100 people. The only feedback from non-musicians that I've gotten is that I should use backing tracks MORE. Three more points to make: 1. The instruments on the backing track matter a lot. Backing tracks to me sound best when there's the fewest instruments on them - most of my tracks are just drums and bass. The more instruments in the backing track, the more it sounds like you're playing along with a CD. 2. The arrangement is very important. You don't have to have backing tracks that sound exactly like the CD - sometimes it's nice to do your own take on a song. As long as it stays true to the essence of the song, people will normally be fine with it. Avoid adding unnecessary keyboards, strings, etc. The closer to CD you get, the closer to karaoke you get. If you're singing and playing guitar, and there's drums and bass in the background, it's very easy for people to focus on you singing and playing. Add in some background vocals and strings and other keys, and it gets very distracting.3. The PA matters a HUGE amount, ESPECIALLY the low end. And the thing that will make you sound like you're playing along with a home stereo more than anything else is lack of low end. This does not matter if you are not using backing tracks. But if you are, then you need the kick to sound deep, low, and relatively loud to create some energy. Unfortunately a lot of solo musicians use speakers on poles, and the low end can really suffer. The best thing you can do is get a small sub to put on the ground. I use the EV SB122. It is less than 35 pounds, it sounds killer for it's size, and you only need one to do the job for small gigs. It's also pricey, but worth it. If you can't do that, you're better off sticking one of the speakers on the ground to get some decent low end. I'm writing a novel here - sorry about that. One last thought - it is better to go out and play solo and use backing tracks than to sit in your living room and do nothing. Nothing will make you a better musician than performing, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members uitar9 Posted January 2, 2011 Members Share Posted January 2, 2011 Man, if you can hold an audience it doesn't matter how you do it. Richard is spot on regarding musicians; we are all purists. It has to be a certain way-your audience on the other hand doesn't give a damn, as long as they feel entertained. What about playing solo, with a guitar, a mic, and a computer?Can it look bad?Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ciperlone Posted January 2, 2011 Members Share Posted January 2, 2011 TRUE! And playing music is not about art, but about enterteinment. I'm working in a solo album, to be released this year, and I want to make some gigs, but I don't have money to pay to musicians. So the only option is to play with a backing track, tell the audience I'm searching for band members, and entertain them the best way that I can. SOMETHING is always better then NOTHING. But, at the same time, I don't want to look cheap. I don't want the LISTENING of the songs to be influenced by a low end performance. I was thinking something funny, like a doll playing toy drums, or a big teddy bear in the keyboards... People like to see activity in the stage, and a lonely guy karaoking with a computer seems a bad idea... I advise the distributions of flyers with free songs (in concerts, or werever you're walking by), to get noticed. There are a lot of people that use the internet for the same things, over and over, and if you have something to offer, I think they will peek. Good luck with your music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted January 2, 2011 Members Share Posted January 2, 2011 Use of tracks depends on the gig for me. I should say from the get go that I'm biased against them, so take what I say with a grain. If I'm in an intimate venue like a small club or lounge, restaurant, or coffee house I expect to see an acoustic act. I'm not expecting lush arrangements, or a full band, and frankly, would be disappointed if I did. When I listen to acoustic music, I like to see and hear an artist strip a song down to it's most basic elements, just six strings and a voice, and see what he can do with it. For me, having no backing tracks forces me to be creative with arrangements. I like to pick songs you wouldn't think of doing with a solo guitar and see if I can pull them off- stuff like "Don't Stand So Close To Me" by the Police, "Under My Thumb" by the Stones, "Sara Smile" by Hall & Oates, and so on. I have seen solo guys using tracks, and honestly, few guys I've seen use them effectively, IMO. They almost always end up trying to sound like a whole band and look like they're playing along with a record, and some of them spend as much time fiddling with their laptop and gear as they do playing. A couple of guys I've seen use loopers for a few songs, and that looks interesting to me and something I want to explore this year, but the guys I like the best use them sparingly, 2-3 times a set to make it stand out. Having said all that, I saw Todd Rundgren twice at the Palace in LA in the 80s; once he was solo with nothing but a guitar, piano, and a Mac computer he used for backing tracks, and another time with 10 singers doing the a capella thing. He didn't look stupid using tracks, and sounded great, but then again, he's Todd Rundgren, so pretty much anything he does is beyond cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted January 2, 2011 Members Share Posted January 2, 2011 Here's Piil Keaggy getting badass with a loop station. [video=youtube;T89MVl2NcPg] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted January 2, 2011 Members Share Posted January 2, 2011 Phil's a badass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members uitar9 Posted January 4, 2011 Members Share Posted January 4, 2011 Howdy folks, is it just me or is it every social site I use now been spammed by this crap. Hey ,I'm the newbie.I Just have viewed "www.airport85.co.uk",an excellent website.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted January 4, 2011 Members Share Posted January 4, 2011 Howdy folks, is it just me or is it every social site I use now been spammed by this crap. No, it's not you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted January 4, 2011 Moderators Share Posted January 4, 2011 please don't feed teh spambots... ... I keep hoping we will be able to shut these creeps out of here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Poker99 Posted January 5, 2011 Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 If you want to have fans who care and will be willing to buy your next album, you have to show them that you care about them. This must be new... Cause when I was a teenager/young adult and buying lots of music, I could careless about what the band did for me except blow me away with great music. That must be kids today that feel they deserve attention before they like something or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ciperlone Posted January 9, 2011 Members Share Posted January 9, 2011 This must be new... Cause when I was a teenager/young adult and buying lots of music, I could careless about what the band did for me except blow me away with great music. That must be kids today that feel they deserve attention before they like something or not. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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