Are you getting better (musically)?

[tapper mike]

Regarding playing with others.

You are never going to get exactly what you want all the time from others playing with them in "a band". When I was in a band there were quite a number of tunes I did that I didn't like personally. I got over it because a song is only so long and if I gave in here or there I could get back somewhere else. A band isn't a top down organization where the band leader shouts jump and the other band members ask how high. If are the top banana and they come in like worker bees because you are paying them even to rehearse then you might be able to get away with that "My way or the highway" attitude, but more then likely you'll alienate them and they'll take the highway because if they are pro they can and if they aren't they aren't going to deal with the attitude for free.

[debra1rlo]

I don't know, I really like the material we're doing in all the bands I'm in and I feel like I'm getting some leeway to "do things my way." It helps that one of the bands I'm in (duo, actually) is one where I am the leader and chief songwriter. and while I let my bandmate have a bit of leeway for his parts, I do have ultimate veto power when it comes down to it.

Guess I'm in a good place right now musically. My only bitch is not enough time in the day to do everything.

[tapper mike]

You are in a good place and you are mature in your handling of the situation. That's the exception not the rule and it's harder to maintain as a band grows.

[jancivil]

the moment in the movie 'Let it Be' is revealing, where Harrison is all butthurt over McCartney being too specific about what he wants.

[jancivil]

I had a thing with a revolving door of characters where people did it in order to work with me; which doesn't mean I felt free to dictate everything, but I was shot-caller. More typically not that much had to be said to people and the point of their being there has everything to do with their musical personality and what they bring to the table.

OTOH I had a guy refuse to play in a bridge I had to slap together right there in the studio (on someone else's dime). He didn't have anything at all for that section, but what a strong opinion. Tick-tock, motherf**ker.

I'm REAL happy to be the whole band today, thank you TECHNOLOGY. I miss live improvisational exchange but bands and people with parts to play, no.

[tapper mike]

I've never had a problem with producer's being specific over what they want. I like that. I like direct assertive producers who know how to communicate their ideas well. I don't like producers who don't know what they want or can't communicate it effectively. Those are the guys who just shout no at the top of their lungs and blame the rest of the world.

My band used to host a blues jam, every Thursday night. The place would be packed with jammers. There is no stranger experience then playing in front of mostly bikers who are constantly staring at you hands. We provided everything except our guitars and our basses. If a drummer came along he wouldn't even have to carry his own sticks. I've seen players who weren't ready for the stage fall apart miserably then build themselves into fine musicians. I've seen guys play once get scared and run off stage. I've seen bands break up in the middle of a set over "artistic differences." I've also seen some amazing bands. Ones that would have never gotten a gig elsewhere before playing on our stage.

[hibidy]

I've been in more bands than I can possibly name. In Phoenix, it was just how it worked. Being fired and trying to go to that "other" band that you thought was magically going to be better was the norm. I think there were a couple of hundred places back then that hired bands on a regular basis. Touch feely motha-f..kers. Nobody wanted to "work" to get better. Everyone (especially the females) though you HAD to get along 24/7 to be good. Of course that is bullshit and it never worked. Never was I fired and that next guy didn't lose their job in 2 weeks to a month. Never. It was endless.

Of course I never followed my true heart. I thought the name of the game was to get a gig. So I played music I didn't even like to have gigs. Funny though, I loved playing in front of people. Now, I wouldn't even play my slop in cafe here

[rockstar_not]

Being in a band really helps. I play in our church's worship team; electric guitar, bass or keys - whichever is needed most. 4-5 new songs, every 2 weeks. In order not to be 'that guy that hasn't practiced', I do practice quite a bit, and we always have a recorded version of the song that we are shooting for in terms of style, feel, timbre, etc. so part of the practicing is selecting the right pickup and patch selection on my amp/effects, etc. But I'm practicing more now than ever and things are improving. I still need to get setup here at home so practicing is more convenient. It's a bunch of time to get all setup to be able to play along with the YouTube vids.

Don't be as exact in your concerns to matching your equipment to the performance. Start thinking of your current rig as "Your rig" Even if you are covering someone else you still want to sound like you.

Eric Clapton once commented on SRV... When Stevie Ray Vaughan stopped trying to play like Albert King and started playing like SRV that's when he fell in love with SRV's playing.

Mike, to me it's both. The 'sound like the recording' is part of the learning process for me from both a performance standpoint as well as from learning my gear.

My setup is very simple: Epiphone Nighthawk Custom Reissue and a Zoom G5 amp simulator/multi-efx box.

Where there is difficulty is that the Zoom has no aux input, so I have to plug it into the lappy and use it as an interface. That takes quite a bit more time than playing out YouTube from my iPhone into a box, like I used to do with the church's RP500.

I'm not trying to sound like any one player - I'm learning all sorts of techniques and how to chain my effects, how to simplify my playing (yes simplify), etc.

While you might think that sounding like the popular recording isn't important, playing in a worship band has quite a different purpose than playing in a 'normal' band. Our purpose is to get the congregation engaged and singing the songs, by playing something that is familiar to them - not to have 'our own sound', which can be distracting to the congregational singing purpose. If we were doing a concert, then by all means we can work on our own vibe as a key goal. The other thing that is unique about this is that we only play 4-5 new songs each week, maybe repeating one out of the 4 or 5 from week to week. There's not a bunch of time as a volunteer to develop a unique sound, in addition to adding to the songs without being distracting.

[tapper mike]

I've been in more bands than I can possibly name. In Phoenix, it was just how it worked. Being fired and trying to go to that "other" band that you thought was magically going to be better was the norm. I think there were a couple of hundred places back then that hired bands on a regular basis. Touch feely motha-f..kers. Nobody wanted to "work" to get better. Everyone (especially the females) though you HAD to get along 24/7 to be good. Of course that is bullshit and it never worked. Never was I fired and that next guy didn't lose their job in 2 weeks to a month. Never. It was endless.

On the East side of the tri-county. When a new band goes to the east side. Bar Owners don't bother listening to demo's they call regular bands to find out about them. If the regular bands give you a thumbs up You've got the gig. But there is a "Band Syndicate" in play. Bands that have been around awhile support other bands that have been around awhile. If you've got your act together and play regularly there are only so many venues you can play. You become old poop quick. If you are willing to drive an extra hour out of the tri-county you become big poop. Which means more money. It doesn't matter whether you are better or worse then the locals it only matters that you are from the big city and you've got some gigs behind you.
Carry a few back dated metro times calenders with you showing you've played somewhere http://calendar.metrotimes.com/Categories/c431/Music. And you're in.

I can't say for recently as most of my contacts disappeared (actually that's not true, I did) But the next level would be "The Seger Circuit". Heard of the Chitlin Circuit? Back in the 60's Bob Seger built his own circuit. Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, South West Ontario. This is Grown-ups work. You have to be very professional and rather established before you can move into this realm. Good paying gigs, professional mgmt, Lots of travel. You may indeed find yourself driving 8 hours to a gig. I've known bands who stopped gigging cold and rehearsed for 6 months straight to come to the standard the Seger Circuit accepts. Back in the 70's and 80's if you were established on the Seger Circuit... You might just open for Bob Seger. I've known a few who did just that and are still doing okay for themselves on the circuit today.

[tapper mike]

@RS_N
Points well taken.

[jancivil]

I outsourced a couple of things since 2009 when I came back. I got results quite a bit better than if I had provided these elements myself, in one case a fantastic contribution according to my detailed suggestions but he surprised me (even though here is a top virtuoso), by the compositional astuteness of what he did (making his lines, which I would not have thought of, sound like 'the composition' logically). This was someone that simply had to be paid [$100!] or it would be a bad thing for his rep, or so he said, but it was a very worthwhile endeavor which enriched me. It's part of his resume today so he should pay me.

I'm not going anywhere on guitar as a technician, that's for sure. That isn't it, I'm not auditioning for anything and I'm recognized for it anyway. I get more and more essential and less and less busy as a cripple. I definitely grow in every project. It's all I live for so I would have to kill myself if I wasn't growing.

[Dean Aka Nekro]

I think that I am personally and I am satisfied, Although I really would like to be able to spend a lot more time on it than I am able to, Which isn't anything I can change.

However it is not so easy or rather it may well be all well and good saying that to myself but in other people's opinions it may sound as though that is not so much the case.

That said, Here is two fully finished projects/albums which I've done. One is from 2005 and the other is from this year, Neither are any attempt at virtuosity but whatever the tracks need and the altar of the riff is way more important than that of the solo (Even though I really don't struggle in that department).

2005:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rs5rzyfofc5dd ... m_2005.zip

2013:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1fzx8jxno5pj7 ... m_2013.zip

If anyone would take the time to grab them both then listen to them both and honestly say what you think it would be very helpful and very much appreciated, It isn't easy listening but it isn't simple noise, This isn't a ploy for likes or follows anywhere but genuine interest in having a multiple second-opinion rather than believing what my own mind tells me. That I find a really area of curiosity. I would be more than glad to do the same for anyone else and it might be dare I say it...Fun

Thank you in advance and as always my best to everyone

Dean

[hibidy]

I know what I'll be listening to later! Dropbox takes a silly amount of time to DL for some reason here (uploading is impossible)

[Aleatoriac]

2005:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rs5rzyfofc5dd ... m_2005.zip

Dean

Really cool of you to share like that.
I checked this one out (the one from 2005) last night.
This is not my favorite "subgenre" of metal, if there is such a thing. It has all the elements of the genre you'd expect, and nothing unexpected, which is probably the only thing "wrong" with it.

Drums are crisp, snare sounds delicious, kick was triggered? No? The snare just sounds great, I love it. That's a snare sound I occasionally try to go for and fail every time

Loved the guitars. Dry, brutal, heavy. They says what it wants to say. Love the elements of asymmetry, as I call it; when left channel does its own thing, right does its own thing in some sections, but they still work. Then when it's time to groove or "say something massive" they lock together quite well.

Bass is as fundamental as it needs to be and doesn't overwhelm.

The vocals are where things start to bother me - but it's not this album only, it's the entire metal genre. It's like the vocalist picks one sound/pitch to scream at and does it throughout almost the entire album. This is personal preference on my part, as I know it's quite appealing to many listeners. I just can't stand it. Need some variation. However, where appropriate for conveying such emotion, I think it pays off in the songs. And the vocals are well executed and brutal, especially where they lock in emotionally with the songs lyrics.

I have trouble understanding lyrics in this genre when diction falls apart. However there are many excellent moments: "I am inside of YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!" from Track Four. f**k yeah, well done.
Track Five "I don't believe in miracles anymore" again works great.

Keys in the opening track are properly atmospheric and haunting.

I really like the part 1:20-1:38 in Track Two, everything synchs tight.

My favorite from this is Track Eight. I cranked it and hell yeah.

I'll give the 2013 one a listen next.

[Aleatoriac]

Well I've listened to the 2013 one now.
Everything has improved, most notably the guitar performance and sound, and the entire production. A lot more variation in the vox/grunts/screams/growls/roars/lunacy too. So yeah, I think it's safe to say the man has improved!