playing live.. need suggestions
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 playing live.. need suggestions
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| #1
broken Newbie Posts: 23 |
posted 06-02-2000 12:17 PM
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Hey all, I will be starting to play clubs under my newest band "revelation 9" and wanted some feedback from you. considering i dont have a drummer, or anyone to play the 4 or 5 extra parts in my music, would it be better for me to get a cd done that has all the music without the vocals and guitar and play along with that, or would DAT be a smarter move? (keep in mind this will be at small clubs) also with only 2 guys on stage, what crazy things would you suggest i do to keep the crowds attention? broken ------------------ IP: Logged |
| #2
Andrew Hickey Guru Posts: 337 |
posted 06-02-2000 12:41 PM
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CD would probably be better, just because even the most moronic sound engineer knows what a CD is... What you should *not* do live is what our second guitarist did at our last gig, which is get drunk, fall off stage, unplug other members' amplifiers and storm off shouting 'amateurs'... ------------------ IP: Logged |
| #3
broken Newbie Posts: 23 |
posted 06-02-2000 12:58 PM
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hahah!!
i bet people remember that show forever though. broken ------------------ IP: Logged |
| #4
MAGriff Guru Posts: 274 |
posted 06-02-2000 01:15 PM
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key issue here - something I hammered into my drummer's head - song selection is everything - if you make some really smart choices about cover tunes, and you wow them with your performance, you won't need stage theatrics or stunts... substance, my friend, it's all about substance... L.S.D.'s last show proved it beyond the shadow of a doubt... ------------------ IP: Logged |
| #5
broken Newbie Posts: 23 |
posted 06-02-2000 04:55 PM
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i dont do cover songs... ------------------ IP: Logged |
| #6
DoctorOakroot Guru Posts: 336 |
posted 06-02-2000 05:11 PM
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I've done shows with MIDI backup - it worked OK. But I got complaints from the fans about it lacking vitality... and we were only sequencing the drums; everything else was live. My suggestion is work out arrangements that work live with just the two of you and avoid the snide 'karaoke' comments. If your insist - CD is better than DAT - take a portable CD player with you just in case there's not one in the engineer's rack. A friend of mine whose whole show is sequenced (except for lead vocal and occasional keyboard solos) records his sequenced parts to minidisc and uses a minidisc walkman onstage - works really well for him. Oh, one more thing - playing live to prerecorded tracks is a lot harder than you think it is - the adrenaline gets flowing and you want to play faster - but the CD player has no adrenaline and can't respond to what you want. Practice it onstage (or on a mock stage) in front of some friends first! Good luck. Dr O ------------------ IP: Logged |
| #7
Theo Guru Posts: 210 |
posted 06-02-2000 07:00 PM
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Broken - Another advantage of CD is you can change the song order at will. I would recommend to BYO CD player and 2 direct boxes (for stereo). That way, you can be sure to get your feed into the board and you will have control of the CD player. Break legs! ------------------ IP: Logged |
| #8
deel Guru Posts: 114 |
posted 06-02-2000 07:10 PM
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quote: quote: i'd pay attention to that! seriously..play from the heart first off. you could rent/buy some nice lights and a smoke machine, helps hide the fact that there are only 2 guys. ------------------ IP: Logged |
| #9
dond Newbie Posts: 89 |
posted 06-02-2000 09:46 PM
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Dr oakwood gave you great advice, especially if this is your first live gig! Break your songs down to a duo arrangement. Simplicity is good. Let the audience interact with the "real people" on stage. What kind of gig is it? 4 hours in a club? a showcase? an openning act? a group of friends? Your approach wil be different for all of the above. A common rule for all of them is: NO DEAD AIR!!! Practice in full sets, not individual songs! Make sure something musical is happenning from the time you hit the stage, until you leave it. Learn to tune on the fly, don't break between songs, and, don't stop to listen for more applause. Silence from the stage is the kiss of death for new acts. First off, you look unprofessional, because you can't create a string of music thematically, and, secondly, holes in your show allow hecklers to take over your audience. If you're only doing originals, you damn well better present yourself as a total professional. Even the Beatles did cover tunes in their live shows until 1966. It wasn't because they lacked original material! If you outline the audience you need to reach, I'll try to offer more specific suggestions. ------------------ IP: Logged |
| #10
broken Newbie Posts: 23 |
posted 06-04-2000 07:57 AM
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this is definatley not the first time weve played live before, basically we played around dalls for about 5 years, lost our drummer and just in the last few months really started to get serious again, but before we were a punk band.. this time we have electric stuff, drum samples and the like.. the audience is probably going to be the type of people you would see at a nine inch nails show or at TOOL.  check out some of the music at http://www.mp3.com/revelation9 the real question i think i have is this.. there are multiple guitar parts and bass parts you think it would be ok to have most of that sampled so i could spend more time interacting with the audience when i sing as opposed to being locked infront of the mic with a guitar? ------------------ IP: Logged |
| #11
dond Newbie Posts: 89 |
posted 06-04-2000 08:27 AM
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I still agree with Dr Oakroot. The sample stuff gives you a kareoke image. He's right about the lack of vitality too. Live should be live.... a bunch of canned tracks create nothing but a glorified listening party. The audience would rather see you locked in front of a mic creating real music, then have you personally relate to a CD. You're a muscian! Why be a Disc Jockey? If they want to hear the Cd, sell them one. If they're coming to see you perform live ... give them a great live show! Look upon the lack of additional instruments as a challenge to your arranging skills. Figure out how to get the excitement of those missing parts into your pared down live arrangement. Be creative! ------------------ IP: Logged |
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