Members Lee Flier Posted July 27, 2005 Members Share Posted July 27, 2005 Originally posted by Tonemaster2 Ever notice how stupid most musicians are?? If you have a problem bandmember, get rid of his ass. Your only as good as your weakest member, and don`t tell me that the guys ` a great player. Doesn`t matter how good he is, if he forgot his {censored}ing tools. +100. Especially the "you're only as good as your weakest member" part. People like that WILL drag you down, and sometimes you don't even realize how much they've been dragging you down until they're gone. I put up with a lot more crap from people when I was really young, especially if the person was a friend and/or a good player, but after having people like that get in the way time and time again, you learn (hopefully). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Knottyhed Posted July 27, 2005 Members Share Posted July 27, 2005 Originally posted by Lee Flier +100. Especially the "you're only as good as your weakest member" part. People like that WILL drag you down, and sometimes you don't even realize how much they've been dragging you down until they're gone. I put up with a lot more crap from people when I was really young, especially if the person was a friend and/or a good player, but after having people like that get in the way time and time again, you learn. So what if you've got a band member that's a good friend, is reliable, but just not on the same ability level as the rest of the band? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lee Flier Posted July 27, 2005 Members Share Posted July 27, 2005 Originally posted by Knottyhed So what if you've got a band member that's a good friend, is reliable, but just not on the same ability level as the rest of the band? Yeah that's a tough one. I guess it depends on how much the person is really holding the band back, how big of a role they have in the band, and whether you can turn their weakness into a strength. That is, a lot of times people think the most monster player is the best person for a band, but that may not be the case. A lot of times someone who plays a simpler part that really works with the song, and is a great team player, is really the best person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fastplant Posted July 27, 2005 Members Share Posted July 27, 2005 Originally posted by riffdaddy Our singer feels he should be the only one in the band to sing tunes. That would be fine if we did hour-long shows, but we play for three hours a night when we work. Consequently, his voice is slowly deteriorating. It wasn't that great to begin with. Now he's singing close to a half-step flat by the end of most nights. We finally made the decision (without him) to go ahead and assign a few tunes to different people in the group. What did he do? Double the lead vocal--out of tune. Man, I've dealt with a few singers like this. Not only do they double the vocals out of tune, they raise their volume as high as they can to try and drown you out in fear that the audience will realize you're a better singer than him. Seems to happen quite regularly. It's like their ego is so more important than the job you're being paid to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KillDozer Posted July 27, 2005 Members Share Posted July 27, 2005 I worked with a killer bass player that I eventually wanted to kill. He was a great player, but really clueless about gear and incredibly cheap as well. He'd never change the strings on his bass! They'd get old and cruddy and eventually break. He would either then: 1. Play the rest of the gig with 2-3 strings on his bass (no spare strings of course). A lot of times he'd show up at the next gig with the same 2-3 strings, and no spares. 2. Tie a knot in the broken string and put it back on his bass. Needless to say this didn't do wonders for his intonation, and of course the string would break again in no time. He'd also show up with cords that were alwys shorting out (replacing them was apparently out of the question), effects pedals with dead batteries, missing a strap. . . In addition, he was always late coming back from breaks, never around to help load in/out, and once got in a fight with his girlfriend at a gig and took off in a huff for about an hour and half. He later moved to L.A. and pulled the same {censored} - I think his musical career ended the night his (cheap, no-name) amp caught on fire during a showcase gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riffdaddy Posted July 27, 2005 Members Share Posted July 27, 2005 Originally posted by fastplant Man, I've dealt with a few singers like this. Not only do they double the vocals out of tune, they raise their volume as high as they can to try and drown you out in fear that the audience will realize you're a better singer than him. Seems to happen quite regularly. It's like their ego is so more important than the job you're being paid to do. Yeah, the ego thing has gotten out of control with him. Suddenly all the tunes with guitar solos ended up in the first set. Then he more or less forced the bassist to fire the drummer (the new one is better, but I don't think that really matters). Now he's decided that I need to be in the back of the band next to the drummer because I look "out of place" (read: white). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lee Flier Posted July 27, 2005 Members Share Posted July 27, 2005 I take it this singer is the "leader" of the band and/or is considered the big draw of the band and therefore you can't just can him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChitownTerror Posted July 27, 2005 Members Share Posted July 27, 2005 Awww.... I thought this thread was going to be one of those "How-To" threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JBJ Posted July 28, 2005 Members Share Posted July 28, 2005 drummers tend to be the worst for winding me and the rest of the band. we're slowly catching up with spinal tap on the amount we've been through. sadly none of them have spontaneously combusted:( anyways i'd be here all night talking bout drummers but probably the most out there one: had a gig coming up, had just got rid of our last drummer for hanging out with his girlfriends mum instead of coming to practices. You read it right HER MUM so this guy we know is filling in. turns up to the rehearsals before it so stoned he can't even hit his crash alot of the time.... we decide my bro will drum half the set and with me doing lead and rythmn then he'll finish up drumming. we actually played really well and we were thinking maybe he might just be able to hack it.... as soon as we're off stage he disappears. some guy is cutting round the club later looking for him and we tell him he was with us but we don;t have a clue where he is or who he;s with. turns out this nice gentleman was a fairly infamous drug dealer who didn't have a huge problem killing people he felt deserved it and it turned out the guy drumming for us was next on his hit list. never seen the guy again. our bass player has done some daft stuff but its just kinda stupid, if he ever done anythign serious he knows he;d literally get his ass kicked. we;ll do acoustic breaks in sets and he'll decide he';d rather get another drink in instead of coming back on stage so we have to improv another acoustic set. same thingforgetting cables n {censored}. when he does that he gets a 2 ft lead and sure enough for the forseeable future he'll have a lead with him. as far as the only good as your weakest member part. that's kinda true I mean as far as playing goesm he is our weakest member. not {censored} by any stretch of the imagination but {censored} ups as they are, our drummers are usually mad hot on them and me and my bro are no slouches on the guitars. thing is, we had a bit of a fall out a bout a year ago and i tried out another bassist and guitarist. the bassist was about as good as him and the guitarist could shred till the cows came home, but it just didn't fit or have the groove and feel we get. moral of the story. people doing stupid things isn't necesarilly the end of the world and excellent players arent necesarilly the best for every band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riffdaddy Posted July 28, 2005 Members Share Posted July 28, 2005 Originally posted by Lee Flier I take it this singer is the "leader" of the band and/or is considered the big draw of the band and therefore you can't just can him? No, the bass player is the leader. We're sticking with the guy because we're playing a large festival gig in Springfield next weekend and we didn't want to learn three hours worth of new material. After the gig, however, it's me or him. As much as I like playing with these guys, it isn't worth it if he's around. He spoils gigs for us. As for him being a big draw, he does very well at attracting young white girls who don't realize he's old enough to be their father (he's 47). When we play at clubs with older audiences, he doesn't fare nearly as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lee Flier Posted July 28, 2005 Members Share Posted July 28, 2005 Geez. Well good luck getting rid of him after the festival and hope you can find a real singer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Knottyhed Posted July 28, 2005 Members Share Posted July 28, 2005 Originally posted by Lee Flier Yeah that's a tough one. I guess it depends on how much the person is really holding the band back, how big of a role they have in the band, and whether you can turn their weakness into a strength. That is, a lot of times people think the most monster player is the best person for a band, but that may not be the case. A lot of times someone who plays a simpler part that really works with the song, and is a great team player, is really the best person. I agree that it's not all about technical skill, i'm probably the most technically skilled member of my current band. My last band had a guitarist that was just as good as me, but I couldn't work with the guy. He'd start playing megadeath solo's between every take (you'd literally have to shout at him to stop so you could play the next song) and turn his amp to 11 every rehearsal, you'd tell him to turn down and it'd slowly creap back up - never even got gig ready. The guy could play, but really should never have left his bedroom as he couldn't cooperate with people in a band situation. Fortunately - whilst I can play some ripping solo's - I realise there's a time and a place and it should work with the music, rather than be played so loud it's all you can hear. The problem with my keyboard player is that whilst he's a great team player he's often playing out of time and turning a few of our songs into a mess. We can get away with having him in the band, but if I'm honest we sound better without him. It becomes tricky because he's a good mate, really gets into the band and you're always hoping that he'll get better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ratthedd Posted July 28, 2005 Members Share Posted July 28, 2005 Originally posted by Hardtailed Well the problem is that most soundman feel that the guitar is the only instrument that doesn't need to be heard... Wherever we play, it's always the same {censored}: only thing you can hear through the FOH are drums, bass and vocals. So when people complain to me during the break they cannot hear my guitar, and that I know that if I get the soundman to raise it, he'll bring it down as soon as we start again, I just crank my Marshall higher (like 4 instead of 3!). What am I to do? Get a soundman who knows what he's doing. By any chance, is your guitar amp pointed anywhere in the direction of the soundman? If so turn it away from him--guitar amps tend to be very narrow field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Badside Posted July 28, 2005 Members Share Posted July 28, 2005 Originally posted by ratthedd Get a soundman who knows what he's doing.By any chance, is your guitar amp pointed anywhere in the direction of the soundman? If so turn it away from him--guitar amps tend to be very narrow field. Don't worry, I've figured that one out a while ago! When I set up, I always verify where the board is and try to aim in the opposite direction. I've tried "side-filling" as well. It's also that most PAs are really bad at reproducing mids. What do you expect when the speakers only have a tweeter and a 15"? Our favorite soundman use 12" speakers in the tops and 18" subs instead. There's a reason he's our favorite... I try to boost mids as much as possible on my amp and not use too much low-end. Still, it's like they're all afraid of making the guitar heard. Problem is, we usually have to do with the venue's soundman. We usually play anywhere from 200 to 600kms from home, so we can't afford to pay a guy to follow us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BowerR64 Posted July 29, 2005 Members Share Posted July 29, 2005 Singer didnt bring his microphone and cable then says to the sound guy "you dont have an extra microphone i can use? what kind of sound guy are you?" How hard is it to bring a microphone? He was pissed when he had to drive 15 miles to get it 2 times because the first he forgot the key... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted July 29, 2005 Members Share Posted July 29, 2005 Originally posted by fuzzball Trust me the sound man was not at fault here. Hee Hee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Badside Posted July 29, 2005 Members Share Posted July 29, 2005 Originally posted by BowerR64 Singer didnt bring his microphone and cable then says to the sound guy "you dont have an extra microphone i can use? what kind of sound guy are you?" Well truly, what kind of sound guy doesn't provide microphones?!?! We always bring spares SM57/58 mics, but the only time we use them is when the sound guy wasn't informed that we need 4 vocal mics and two guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riffdaddy Posted July 29, 2005 Members Share Posted July 29, 2005 Originally posted by Lee Flier Geez. Well good luck getting rid of him after the festival and hope you can find a real singer! Here's what I've been thinking of proposing. Our keyboard player sings very well. His brother also plays keyboards and sings very well. I think it would be cool as hell to have an R&B band fronted by two brothers, both with sizeable keyboard rigs. Just have two large boards right next to eachother in the middle of the stage. The bassist can stand on the right and I'll stand on the left. I think that'd be the {censored}. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GOSG Posted July 29, 2005 Members Share Posted July 29, 2005 Originally posted by Hardtailed Don't worry, I've figured that one out a while ago! When I set up, I always verify where the board is and try to aim in the opposite direction. I've tried "side-filling" as well.It's also that most PAs are really bad at reproducing mids. What do you expect when the speakers only have a tweeter and a 15"? Our favorite soundman use 12" speakers in the tops and 18" subs instead. There's a reason he's our favorite... Listen to a set of these and you might change your mind...I didn't believe it until I heard them http://www.nexo-sa.com/asp/catalogue/catalogue.asp?linkid=83 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted July 30, 2005 Members Share Posted July 30, 2005 Originally posted by Hardtailed It's also that most PAs are really bad at reproducing mids. What do you expect when the speakers only have a tweeter and a 15"? Our favorite soundman use 12" speakers in the tops and 18" subs instead. There's a reason he's our favorite... That's the reason I'm using 10"s in my mains...the horn gives me highs and subs give me "thumpin'" bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chad-Chicago Posted July 31, 2005 Members Share Posted July 31, 2005 Originally posted by Knottyhed So what if you've got a band member that's a good friend, is reliable, but just not on the same ability level as the rest of the band? My old man(RIP) told me about this the time I got the boot from my first band. He summed it up like this:"Son, thats why they call it show-BUSINESS not show-FRIENDS. Some times you gotta make tough decisions and sometime you gotta take 'em." In other words, don't take it personal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AunShui Posted July 31, 2005 Members Share Posted July 31, 2005 The 2 bassists in my band are at war for the frontman/lead vocals/lead bass part. One of them, although a very talented bassist, MUST play the lead part for every single song (think of primus only 10 times worse), needs to be the loudest one in the mix, and is a stuck up bastard to boot. As such, my band has unofficially split into 2 groups, with me playing guitar in both groups. It sorta sucks when your best friends are at war and you're in the middle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doctorno Posted August 2, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 2, 2005 Well, practice was last night and our wonder drummer was greeted by a full page add for digital percussion box. He got a little upset and went for a walk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xonetruedesirex Posted August 2, 2005 Members Share Posted August 2, 2005 Originally posted by AunShui The 2 bassists in my band are at war for the frontman/lead vocals/lead bass part. One of them, although a very talented bassist, MUST play the lead part for every single song (think of primus only 10 times worse), needs to be the loudest one in the mix, and is a stuck up bastard to boot. As such, my band has unofficially split into 2 groups, with me playing guitar in both groups. It sorta sucks when your best friends are at war and you're in the middle What purpose does having two bass players serve? Two guitars I understand, but two basses seems a bit much... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Igneroid Posted August 2, 2005 Members Share Posted August 2, 2005 On Dec31/2002 about noon I started feeling a tad peekid and seein as my wife had just gotten over a major flu, I was worried as I had to play a Newyears gig in about 9 hours. I hit the bed and went to sleep, woke at 5 pm and started hurling like Linda Blair in the Exorcist. Then I started with the diarea, I coulda crapped thu the eye of a needle at 40 paces Im sure. I took a drink of water and it took mabey a miniute and the water was squirtin outta my ass. I packed up a barf bucket and some extra clothes(cause I was worried about {censored}ting my pants on stage) and headed off to the gig. THe first two sets went well but Im sweating like a bastard and am scared to drink anything for the afformentioned reason(s). Im shakin like a dog {censored}ting razorbalades when its time to go up for the BIGGASS Newyears thing(3rd set). AS Im bolting on my highdollar strat, the room starts to spin and and within a second I do a faceplant, Strat and all, right into Tony's Ayotte drums. Im out like an old woman, playin paddycake with the stage. Dint {censored} mysef, thank god, but the abulance came yaddayadda, I woke up in the hospital, I was dehydrated and some other {censored} too. On the positive, a freind of mine, Byron Mikkaloff was in the audience(his band ONE TON from Quebec has/had a CD on the pop charts) filled in for me right off. Im still in the same band and the guys still ribb me alot about "passin out lika gurl" With freinds like that, who needs enema's:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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