Helps!?.. I'm screwed.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jouni
  • Start date Start date
J

Jouni

New member
Arggh!....


Our band threw the worst gig in the history of ANY band ever! ...second time in the row..

...We played in a nearby village as the closing act, no soundcheck. I, as the bassplayer can't hear the drums since our "lead guitarist/singer", drunk as fuck, turns his amps to 11, and plays like shit!! .. The other guitarist quit recently, and the replacement can happily start playing a wrong song in the midst of an other..:confused::mad::rolleyes::(:eek:

We just got a young new drummer, which, for a 19-year old, is actually the smartest... Arriving half an hour before the gig, in good shape, and plays very well... ...And I can't hear him.:(

Is there some in-ear monitors and a mic I can throw at the drums??? ..lightweight, fast and efficient??

Soundmen with their monitors seem to be useless in Finland, we got a tour coming shortly, and I need a solution to hear the drummer.:(

...luckily, we played to empty walls, since alcohol run out, and people left the joint before our gig!! :D :D
 
It seems to me like you've got other issues you need to deal with. Spending a bunch of money doesn't really seem like the answer. Tell your guitarist/singer to cool it on the alcohol till after your set and for that matter, tell him to turn his shit down if the alcohol thing doesn't automatically fix that problem. Then you've just got to get your new guitarist a little more up to speed. If you can't hear the drums everything else if WAY too loud.
 
Bomer said:
Tell your guitarist/singer to cool it on the alcohol till after your set and for that matter, tell him to turn his shit down if the alcohol thing doesn't automatically fix that problem.
Click to expand...

Yeh, the basic problem is a bad balance on stage. As a bassist, you should probably stand next to the drums. If you're next to the drums and can't hear them over the guitarist's amp, tell him to turn down! On stage, you should have a balance which is comfortable for everyone, before the monitors are even switched on.
 
Jouni said:
Our band threw the worst gig in the history of ANY band ever!
Click to expand...
That's a bold statement :D -- I'll have you know I've emptied many a venue with unbearable screeching emitting from objects under my control.

But I agree - our biggest problem was "independent thinking" among band members (particularly me) - when that was combined with a rogue or inattentive sound person, it was sheer poo. I tend to think that if the band was more team-like (especially me) we would have done better.
 
Egos aside, you do need to tell that knucklehead to turn it down. It's hard to get a good balance from the sound guys if you guys don't have it on the stage first. Tell your guitarist/singer to rely on his monitors and learn to listen to them instead of his amp. Trust me, it's far better that way. You can all hear each other and play great, and you aren't taking the heads off the audience in the first few rows.
 
Show the "guitar player" the door. Musicians don't do crap like that, it's just rude and shows a lack of respect and unwillingness to be a real band. Let him go solo.
 
Riffmaster said:
Show the "guitar player" the door. Musicians don't do crap like that, it's just rude and shows a lack of respect and unwillingness to be a real band. Let him go solo.
Click to expand...
.... so low we can't hear him?




sorry, dumb pun... :o
 
Jouni said:
The other guitarist quit recently
Click to expand...

It sounds like he's the smartest one of the bunch. Why would you put up with a drunken jackass that plays badly and too loud? He will just drag all of you down and you'll be known as "the bass player in that shitty band".
 
Things definitely need to be straightened out here-and especially the fact a tour is in the future! Living & traveling with this crew, knowing that the performance could go totally to hell at any time, doesn't look to be a hopeful situation.
I'd say it's time for a band meeting, and a lot of screaming and shouting, to get everyone working together on the band's sound-not 5 people playing for themselves and sounding like bloody hell......just my opinion, but its time to throw some Lightning bolts to get their attention!!!:eek:
 
Get new members. If you consider this a professional/semi-professional outing, it's band-first, friends-second. I've kicked out really good friends in favor of more professional, much better musicians, and you know what? If they're really your friends, they'll stay that way and will understand. If not, fuck 'em.

Oh, and in-ear monitors shouldn't be necessary :)
 
steve.h said:
Get new members.

Oh, and in-ear monitors shouldn't be necessary :)
Click to expand...

Agreed. Shit-can the project and start from scratch. Sad but necessary.

And in-ears?? Overkill at best for a small band.
 
Yeah, you're right on the throwing some lightning bolts around..

Can't really kick out the guitarist, since it's kind of "His project" -making all the lyrics and guitar-lines..:rolleyes:

...well, we were playing with another bands gear, not our own, and the soundmen were allover the place turning things..

But this is not the first time the guitars overwhelm the drums and/or I'm positioned too far away from the drums to hear them, positioned right next to a guitar amp, the guitarplayer being farther away.
 
stage set up

I've found that with my band our stage set up should be consistent with our rehearsal set up. Keeping the bass amp in close proximity to the drums assures a tight groove and keeping both guitar amps close together gets a better blend between instruments. If there is too much space, even as little as 10 feet, between the bass and drums the slight delay will screw up your groove and you may not hear the drums as they may be out of phase with your sound. Even on large stages we set up in a tight format so our sound stays consistent. The temptation on large stages is to spread out and that screws up your sound. This can be mitigated by a good stage monitor system but that needs to be shepherded by an excellent sound person.
 
When there is no bass or guitars in the monitors there's really only one thing to be done. My band is just 4 people... guitar, bass drums vocals. What we do is basically put the bass cabinet as close to the drummer as possible. Basically, it will almost be touching him. Then I angle my guitar amplifier and stack it on top of the bass cab's road case and point it right at the drummer's head. Stupid bands and stupider sound men sometimes on a big stage want to set you up like Journey would set up, the bass and guitar players on opposite sides of the stage about a quarter mile apart. Fuck that. Tighten it up, make sure everyone can hear everything and practice that way.

Also, don't be intimidated by sound guys. If I can't hear what I'm playing, or can't hear the bass, or can't hear the vocals, I stand there and complain about it until they fix it. Don't let anyone fuck with your sound.
 
Sounds like another case of too many "performance enhancers."

I'd be finding another band, unless this gig pays good, or you're under contract.
 
Don't ditch the band! If you can work out your difficulties they may be the only friends you'll remember 10 years from now.
 
Jouni said:
Arggh!....


Our band threw the worst gig in the history of ANY band ever! ...second time in the row..

...We played in a nearby village as the closing act, no soundcheck. I, as the bassplayer can't hear the drums since our "lead guitarist/singer", drunk as fuck, turns his amps to 11, and plays like shit!! .. The other guitarist quit recently, and the replacement can happily start playing a wrong song in the midst of an other..:confused::mad::rolleyes::(:eek:

We just got a young new drummer, which, for a 19-year old, is actually the smartest... Arriving half an hour before the gig, in good shape, and plays very well... ...And I can't hear him.:(

Is there some in-ear monitors and a mic I can throw at the drums??? ..lightweight, fast and efficient??

Soundmen with their monitors seem to be useless in Finland, we got a tour coming shortly, and I need a solution to hear the drummer.:(

...luckily, we played to empty walls, since alcohol run out, and people left the joint before our gig!! :D :D
Click to expand...

My advice is to get really tight with the drummer and then go find yourselves another band. A drop-in rhythm section is many a songwiters' wet dream.
 
ggunn said:
My advice is to get really tight with the drummer and then go find yourselves another band. A drop-in rhythm section is many a songwiters' wet dream.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly. Unless this dude's paying LOADS of money, it's time to find someone else to back up.........and let some other bass player deal with a drunk jackass.

i had to set my band straight after our 2nd gig too, and the lead guitarist and bass player both drank more than twice their pay of free beer. no tempo, no feel, amps waaaaay too loud. NOT COOL.

so we had "the talk" and it hasn't been a problem since. of course, we've got a new bass player now too.

life's too short to play bad gigs.

cheers,
wade
 
Excellent advice!!!...and very true. (and I am a guitar player...but face it..we guitarists are a dime a dozen).

Get reviewed by multiple people here:
*******************************




ggunn said:
My advice is to get really tight with the drummer and then go find yourselves another band. A drop-in rhythm section is many a songwiters' wet dream.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top