I was going to give you all the whole story that I'm currently facing but I was getting bored just writing it and figured it be even less fun to read so.... I've come, well actually I think the whole band has come to the conclusion that we have to let someone go. It's a shame because he's such a great player but in the bigger picture he is really holding us up. I'm really not looking forward to most likely ending at least my friendship with him and possibly the other guys will too, but I just don't think its going to be a happy departure, or even an understood departure. Well, I am really soaking in this tub of guilt and uneasiness so I guess I'm just looking to hear some similar stories and how things played out for those of us that have gone through this before. Like I said, its a shame. 5 years together, but he's holding us up, I can't wait any longer on him.
Sorry for such a downer of a thread.
Tough deal man.
I'm curious if he is such a "great" player, how is he holding you up? In what respect is he holding the band back? What instrument?
Have you all spoken with him about the issues? He's unwilling to comply? Or can't?
I am petty inexperienced when it comes to bands, but I do know with any group or team effort an open line of communication is crucial. You gotta be able to be real with eachother.
Think about all the time you have invested with this dude. Is it gunna benefit the band that much to ditch him, and is he that easily replaceable.
I think these are some of the questions you and your bandmates need to work through. And if the time comes to drop the axe, at least be able to thoughtfully and respectfully express your ideas to him so he understands. His feeling may be hurt but if you all are respectfully he will get over it.
Relationships are tough. Don't wreck a friendship over music, imho.
My two cents.
Hey Picture,...whelp he's our drummer. He's more of a "pro" than I am (meaning he does this more for a living than I do), but he and I originally started this band after another band that both of us were in broke up. I was always under the impression that this band would take off to at least close to making a living standards mostly because he was at the time one the few people I knew who were playing full time. I guess I just figured he was gonna be willing to put in the time. Although he does have a beautiful studio that he works out of, we never get to do anything in it...not even practice very much. I am the youngest in the band 33, the drummer's 38, bass is 47, and keys are 53. They are all great players, to be honest I wonder how I ended up with them. Now even though we started this band together its always been considered that its my band, although I don't want it to be just "my" band, I much rather it be "our" band. It's taking me a long time to find these guys that play well together but more importantly get along together really well. Back to the real issue, our drummer who does this full time has to split his time between a few different bands to fill his schedule. One band in particular is much bigger and busier than we are and he basically left us all summer long to tour with this band. No problem, I totally understand and don't mind holding your spot for when you get back. Well...we've basically come up with a plan and direction as to where we wanna go with this band while he's been gone. Great! I'm feeling like I've finally broken the "my" band label and now I play in a band with three other guys who are all working towards the same goals. Drummer comes back from tour and we have a nice band meeting with him and let him know what we're thinking, he's totally on board. Great! Lets get to work! Our goals would include playing out from once a week to twice a week, getting further from where we currently play, and practice once a week, every week, and record new demo/presskit/etc. I'm rambling (sorry), to make a long story shorter we all schedule practice from week to week around what works for our drummer. Our drummer has a nasty habit of waiting until the day of practice and something seems to without fail, come up every time. I think we all feel as though we've been patient and understanding of his situation, and obligations and what have yous, but we can't wait any longer. Don't get me wrong, I want the guy in the band, but I don't wanna play the same songs for the rest of my life though. I know he's aware of the situation and it doesn't seem to phase him much. The pace we're moving at is just too slow. These guys are seriously good players, we should be able to pound out 3-5 new covers a week without a problem, not 1-3 new covers a month and be playing them like shit the first two times at shows because we don't practice. I hate to lose a friend outta this too, but he's a pretty stubborn, head strong guy that is not gonna take this well, and see that he is holding us up. Sorry for such a long read. I really appreciate your thoughts though.
I agree with PON about the communication. The best thing to do would be to lay the cards out on the table and discuss it as a complete group. The hardest part about this is going to be doing it without making him feel ganged up on. If you are all friends like you say you are then a civil conversation shouldn't be out of reach. Good luck man.
The drummer should understand that he hasn't committed to your band solely like the rest of you have. You can't expect much of him when he spreads himself thin. He still has the other band once you let him go. Maybe this is a chance for him to shit or get off the pot. Anyway proceed with care as well. Best wishes man.
About a year ago I experienced the same situation and had to remove someone from my band. He was the weakest link in the chain, and it was bound to happen. Long story short he ended up robbing my house and stole my guitar, which I did get back.. :) However we are just high school kids and things get blown put of proportion at our age and maturity level. Thought I would share my experience, and I wish you best of luck. And keep your doors locked too.
First of all, thanks guys for taking a moment to put some thought into my problem. I think there is no question that we've had good communication between every band member including the drummer. Right now we are gonna let the bass player have a quiet, non-confrontational sit down with him and make sure he understands where all of our heads are with this situation. This isn't a group of high school buddies that grew up together playing music, this is four adults that wouldn't even know each other if we didn't share the same interests in music, preforming and making a few bucks too. I don't think the up coming talk between our drummer and bass player are going to suddenly fix everything, but I guess we need to let it run its course and let our drummer come to his own conclusion that this is not working for the band and hopefully do the right thing within a reasonable amount of time. Anyway, thanks again for the comments and I'll keep ya posted as to what goes down.
On the up side, we do have a lot of drummers looking to get involved with our band. So if the sh*t does hit the fan, we won't be canceling any shows.
I'd find a new drummer first. Good drummers are a dime in a dozen which is why your guy prolly is able to play in 3 bands.
I hear you though it can be really frustrating when different members have different levels of commitment to practice.
I had to let a drummer go who was holding us back as well, and it's not fun. It never is, he didn't talk to me for 4 years or so but we have recently had a reconciliation. My point is, you need to do what is right for your music, no matter the stakes. Holding onto hope that someday this will all change isn't a great position to be in, but I would hold out hope that everything will turn out for the best. All the advice you have received before this post is also very good, honesty is always the best policy and hopefully will be respected and appreciated by the drummer.
Good luck.
I'm going to take the contrary approach here and side with your drummer. To quote AI - "Practice? We're talkin' bout Practice?"
Pros don't get together to practice cover tunes, and they don't play covers like shit because they didn't all practice together. You all need to learn your individual part and know and trust each other well enough to put it together on stage. Just book the gigs you want to book, and have the other drummers fill in as needed.
Hey Rusty, while I appreciate your input I just couldn't disagree more. In a perfect world maybe everyone just learns their individual parts of songs and ya get together and nail it the first time through every time, but it just doesn't work that way. Especially in the jam band world of a zillion different recordings and versions of the same song, "oh, thats not at all like the version I was listening too." The last thing I'd wanna do on here is pick a fight but, its foolish to think that a band of any sort, cover or original doesn't have to practice. Not to mention,...its just a reasonable request.
Its all in an effort to make the band better anyhow, is that wrong?
Quote from: phishlips on October 27, 2010, 07:02:38 PM
Hey Rusty, while I appreciate your input I just couldn't disagree more. In a perfect world maybe everyone just learns their individual parts of songs and ya get together and nail it the first time through every time, but it just doesn't work that way. Especially in the jam band world of a zillion different recordings and versions of the same song, "oh, thats not at all like the version I was listening too." The last thing I'd wanna do on here is pick a fight but, its foolish to think that a band of any sort, cover or original doesn't have to practice. Not to mention,...its just a reasonable request.
Its all in an effort to make the band better anyhow, is that wrong?
Well, in Rusty's defense, I can vouch for the fact that not only is it possible, it happens quite regularly. If you don't believe it, it's only because you haven't experienced it. It's a different mind-set completely, yes, but very possible if that's where you want to be. I can vouch for it because Rusty and I actually put together a side project, having only practiced twice with the 4 band members, and once with 3 band members (even though that one wasn't even a practice, more like a discussion of parts of the songs) and we pulled off a very successful Phish cover project last summer.
I think what he's saying is when you consider yourself a professional musician, it's more of how you carry yourself (i.e. rather than assimilating "professional" with "full-time") - you can come ready to play and expect other too as well. Rusty was a professional musician = he (and the rest of us) came to practice knowing our parts, ready to go, so when we would start playing there really wasn't much in the way of us doing what we were supposed to do.
Now, obviously this works much more easily in a cover band than an original project. In fact I'd find it impossible to do in an original project...how would the other players even know what to play?
;D Yeah, man... and we didn't shy away from the tough tunes, either. I'd love to see how we'd sound with a few gigs under our belt. I was really bummed that we didn't get to do it this summer.
You don't realize it's possible until you do it. I'm not anything special as a musician, but I was lucky to find myself thrown into a full-time band at age 22 - these guys really did make their living at it, and so did I for a while - and we would have at most a practice or two upon lineup changes. I've had a disdain for excessive band practices ever since.
This is a JGB side project a friend and I threw together with two practices, and this is our 2nd gig. http://www.archive.org/details/DLG2010-10-16.Beatniks.Worcester (Ben - this is Keir. He shreds! You are my favorite two guys to play with outside of Fennario, of course.)
My regular band is a GD tribute that last practiced in March or so. Can't even remember when we practiced before that. Our drummer's been in Australia for 3 months, finally coming home this weekend, and I can't wait! Toby's like one of my limbs on stage... we practially share a brain. We've played 3-4 great gigs a month without him and have yet to practice with any of the various fill-in drummers we've used. http://www.archive.org/details/Fennario
In all three cases we do discuss things via facebook and e-mail - which era of the song to learn, chord changes that we missed at the last show, etc. Fennario will often have a quick discussion about changes or transitions during soundcheck if we're debuting a tune or really stumbled on one last time.
My point is that it absolutely can be done, and it's done all the time, even by regular joe-schmoe musician like me. Everybody just has to show up ready with a capital R. I expect everyone to nail at least 90% of a tune the first time.
Ok fellas, because I feel as though I'm being made out to be quite "green," here's my response. I've been playing in working bands for the last 12 years or so, I plenty familiar with getting on stage not knowing what we're gonna be playing and not even knowing the other musicians on the stage. I think anyone who's been playing out for any length of time has been in these types of situations, no big deal. And wonderful music has been made in these situations, no doubt. Great!
My frustration with this situation that has mostly been resolved since my original post I'm happy to report is this. Over the last 5 years that this band has been together we've gone through a few bass players and finally seem to have found "the guy." Wonderful! And over these last 5 years we've had maybe, and I do mean maybe 5 practices. Now, my feeling is this, I've finally got all the members working well together and happy, now lets get to work. This band is my baby, and my baby hasn't grown the way I'd hoped it would. We are all very competent players, we just need to work out our "show" a bit more to get to the next level of success. I'm trying to get the band to be working more and to do that we need to adjust a few things like our setlist, our sound system, and our overall show. We are located in Northern NJ. Now to be a steady working band around here you need to wrap your brain around playing places like NYC, Jersey Shore, ski resorts in the Pocono's, some college towns within driving distance and anywhere else they're willing to pay. Sure, up here in Northern NJ where we're locals they love us playing Bathtub Gin, and One More Saturday Nite, and all kinds of other jammy stuff we on this board all love to play. We do great round here. However, people in NYC and round the Jersey Shore couldn't give a shit less about a band like Phish or the Dead, unless its Phish or the Dead themselves. It just doesn't go over as well in places like that. Chicks can't dance as easily to it, whatever the reason, it just doesn't work. So we need to adjust our set a little, not "selling out," but playing more groovy motown and things that make any generation dance. These are the places where you can get weeknight gigs and not be praying that all your friends are gonna show up or the club owner is gonna be pissed and not have ya back, no places like NYC have a crowd that'll go out on weeknights and you don't have to personally invite each one of em. Or continue to play the same stuff once to twice a week and be the hometown hero band. Getting back to my band, we need to put some work into just what we're doing and where we'd like to go. In other words, practice and band meetings. Don't get me wrong, we still can have fun at these practices and meetings. Smoke one, drink one, tell some jokes, whatever, but let's come away with something accomplished at the end of the night. Maybe after a year of solid weekly practices we won't have too anymore, fine. Until then though, we need to do some work and everyone needs to be on board or it just doesn't happen.
I'm tired of constantly playing shows that are limited to songs that we've played too many times and 3 out of 4 people worked out the "new" song that we all talked about but we're not gonna play it tonight because the 4th member didn't work it out and doesn't feel totally comfortable with it. I understand what your saying about a band doesn't need to practice to make good or even great music, I'm well aware and have been part of it many times.
Now checking out your show on archive, sounds great. Assuming that it was recorded on something small and convenient to record a show with to get an idea of what it sounded like, something always gets lost in translation and I'm sure live it was a riping night of great tunes, most of which I also know off the top of my head and could've played right along with you fellas, great. To be honest though, the vocals are all over the place on most songs, a lot of the songs get off to a slow start and kinda wander...all of which could be fixed with a few practices. I'm not saying I'm a great or even good singer, its hard. But I'd rather practice and get as close to great as possible for my range. And be honest on this one, this show is within 10 miles of where you live, at a bar that you hangout at and you know over 50% of the people there that night....be honest. Not that there's anything thats wrong with that, thats where I'm at most of the time and I'm looking to get away from. Sure your friends all tell you that it was a phenomenal night of music, but strangers are a little less forgiving and they don't care that you didn't practice at all and look what you pulled off. To them it probably sounded like a decent band that needs to practice a little more and would be great.
There are NO great nationally touring bands out there that don't practice at all and never have.
I realize I'm coming off as a dick here and I apologize for that but I'm just trying to sum up what track I'm on and where I'd like to be going. Usually nothing great just happens with no effort involved, and right now my band needs to put some work in to get something great out of it. Call it "practice" or "work" or whatever you'd like, but its going to require 4 committed guys all working for the same goal, and thats what I'm talking about.
Discuss...
Hmmm....well, minus that 4th paragraph, I hear ya totally and was sorta on that same track you're on/trying to get on and I think I lost the path somewhere along the way. I'd like to write more but I gotta head to bed...up too late as is....heading out @ 8:30 tomorrow morning to drive to Boston > fly to AC for Halloween. After tonight's show, I can't wait. They smoked it tonight, I streamed the show (up until right....now) and they tore....it....up. Loved the Zep teases/jams throughout the night. Wonder what the album will be??? We shall see, we shall see....
Hey Walker, please don't take too much offense by what I'm saying. Listening to your stuff its obvious that you guys play really well and have spent lots of time with your instruments. Song selections were great as well. What I was thinking while hearing it was that it sounds exactly like my band, the whole thing. The room, the crowd, the songs, pretty much everything. I guess listening to it I heard a lot of the same little things that I hear my band do and don't do that frustrate me. Things that are easily fixed if they're just recognized and then dissected, but if its always gig, gig, gig and never practice we end up playing something not quite how it "should be" over and over. I apologize if my posts are coming off as rants, I really am not trying to give the text "attitude" or sound mean spirited or defensive. Practice to me just seems soo important. Even with having to get through the summer with a lot of drummers subbing in, its been a great year for the band and I'm just trying to keep that ball rolling. Like I mentioned though, we did have a talk with our drummer and it seems to have gotten him more on track with what we're looking to do and he wants to be part of it. This past week we started recording a new demo/sampler for our press kit. When we get it done I'll give ya a link to check it out and give me some feedback on it. I'd really appreciate your opinions.
Hope you guys all had fun last night in AC.
Glad to hear that you gave your drummer the opportunity to step up and meet you needs, or meet you in the middle at least.
I agree on the whole practice thing.
Oh no offense taken, I completely get what you're saying. I want to respond further but just got home and am beat...
Weekly practices for a year? :o I'm sorry but I just had to quit your band.
If members are showing up without having learned the material that you agreed to learn, that's a lack of professionalism - There is no quicker way to get yourself fired as a pro than to show up unprepared and waste everybody's time. Even if you have the luxury of a rehearsal, it should sound at least 95% right on the very first run-through.
I believe it was probably my side band that you were referring to above with the uneven vocals and unfocused moments, not Walkers? I tend to agree with your assessment - it's just a group I helped throw together to get some experience for a very green friend of mine and to get my GF used to playing in the jam-band scene a little, as well as for me to learn a little bit about John Kahn. I didn't have to beg any friends to come out, just let some of Fennario's fans know what we were up to and it was a successful enough gig that we were asked back.
My regular band is the one that last practiced in March. On Saturday we debuted Help/Slip/Franklin - this is literally the first time we'd run through it together, we didn't even have our usual soundcheck talk-through since it was a multi-band event and we were the headliners.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/j50ei3thk7mz13e/Help-Slip.mp3
http://www.mediafire.com/file/3ss31dqvcq9ba88/Franklin.mp3
I'll have to mention the drummers' hiccup between Slipknot and Franklins before we play it again... but I can't be too hard on them considering the two drummers had never worked together before (or maybe once, a couple of years ago - not sure), and Toby hadn't touched a pair of drumsticks in 3 months.
I told Toby and I'll echo it here, I think it was an extrememly well played rendition all things considered. Especially for not even rehearsing it once! I would've had the same reaction had you practiced it once or twice, but for just getting up there and letting it fly, I commend you guys - a job well done, indeed!
Psyched you guys finally got the wherewithall to hit that suite too - I've been in Toby's ear about it since I came down and saw you guys play at that hookah lounge. Way to go!
Poor Toby... he's been in Mike's ear about it since the day we formed the band... then two years later I send one e-mail and just like that, we learned it. :D
Of course I made a compelling case - 1. it's a harder song on bass than drums, and 2. I learned it pretty successfully when I filled in with kind of a mediocre Dead band up in NH, and it turned out to be less hard than I thought. - Again with no rehearsal at all, except for the drummer who I'd met once before, I first met these guys the day of the gig.
Edit: Better link: http://www.mediafire.com/?n94q5z39vo4y4
Rusty, your cracking me up man. We're gonna just have to agree to disagree on practicing, and thats cool. I'd be perfectly happy with practicing once a week for the rest of my life, that to me is a current, working, tight, productive, committed group. Thats just me though, your recordings sound great and what your doing obviously works for ya.
I have no doubt that at the beginning of October our boy Trey told the rest of the band, "oh hey guys we're gonna cover Little Feats Waiting for Columbus album, its 27 songs, just give it a listen too and learn your parts, see ya in AC!" Just like all the other albums they've covered....just messin with ya Rusty! ;D
According to Trey in 2004 interviews (like Charlie Rose) the downfall of Phish was when they stopped practicing.
Well, they sure didn't practice Little Feat once a week for a year! And if you believe the new Phish bio, they first had the idea to cover DSOTM about 90 minutes before showtime.
Sure, Phish's practice routine in the early years was legendary and it absolutely helped them - but they also had no day jobs, no wives, no kids, and all lived within a block or two of the practice space.
I'm not saying that band practice doesn't improve things if it's done right. But I've been in too many bands where you get the whole band together and someone hasn't spent a minute on their part, hasn't even listened to the song, wants it played over the PA for them, and then you all have to sit there while they learn their part. I've even been that guy myself sometimes in the past, but in a strong band that should never happen - you're just wasting everybody's time and causing the other members to lose focus.
The trouble with weekly practices is that you're almost gauranteeing that members won't be prepared for them - it takes a solid few hours of individual practice to properly learn new tunes, and it's nearly impossible for a working adult to devote two nights a week to a band plus whatever gigs are on the schedule.
I'm not going to agree to disagree on this because I've been in too many bands that practiced once a week for 6 months or even a year and still sucked. Now I'm in one that practices twice a year but each member is a accountable for their individual preparation and we're pretty damn good, and we also have the widest, most challenging playlist of any band I've ever been in.
Aahhhh Russ, we could argue this till we die. I like practice, you do not. Sorry you've had such lousy experience with practice as a full band. Someone coming to practice not prepared is a waste of other people's time, but usually you throw him the chords and off you go. I just prefer not to do that at a show when possible.
We're not arguing. We'd be arguing if you were making valid points. ;D
"throw him the chords and off you go"? Now I've not only quit your band but I've fired one of your members, too. What's his/her excuse for not coming prepared?
I actuallly enjoy practice if everybody shows up prepared and ready to work. If it's going to be just hangout time instead, then I want beers, a grill, and a football game, not to stand around with instruments and watch people learn songs.
We're not arguing. We'd be arguing if you were making valid points. ;D
...nice. arrogant know-it-all,.... Christ!!!!
I would like to thank everyone though for chiming in on my issue that has been resolved for the most part I'm happy to say. Like I mentioned earlier, we are finishing up a new demo/sampler that I will post soon, I think 2011 will be even better than 2010 for us.
Cheers.
I'll chime in... because this thread rules.
Rusty/Phishlips....yeah, you guys have to agree to disagree. i think practice is super important for anything. even if you are playing the same cover song over and over again, you'll always come up with things with other people....and to me nothing is better then a little extra note or lick that evolves into something crazy. this forum is about phish....listen to phish in 1990 listen to phish in 2010...how many now "standard" things evovled out of spontaneous on-stage moments? Unless you have a touring schedule like phish, the only way you will have a chance to evolve together is to practice together. However, i also agree with Rusty that each member of the band has to do their part on their own...no question.
I once again agree with Rusty in saying that no normal person has the time to devote 3-4 days a week to a band. And that is where the "agree to disagree" part comes in. Unless you are a band like Phish, who has no lives outside the band, no wives, no children (I'm talking about super early phish here), you have to make a compromise on how your band is set up. It is in that compromise that you two are disagreeing IMO. Phishlips, you think practicing together, even if it means teaching someone who didn't have a chance to get their part down on the fly, is the best method. Rusty you think learning the song is paramount. BOTH ARE VALID POINTS!
If you are askign me...i'm on the "practice as much as possible" side of things.
And PON...i think it's you who needs to chill a little, dude. this is a good thread. a guy had a problem with his band, and came on to a music forum, posted in the appropriate sub-forum and asked advice. and then from that post, a pretty interesting debate began on something almost anyone in a band can relate to....how does that "suck all around"? and not only that....YOU were the first person to respond to this thread. if you don't like a thread, don't read/post in it. that's the beauty of open forum discussion.
For the record: This -> ;D meant that I was joking around, or at least intending it that way.
And I do like to exaggerate a point in a good debate... what's the fun in pulling your punches on the internet? Until somebody gets upset, of course.. then it's punch-pulling time. No offense intended.
Mabye you are right Patrick. I deleted my post. I just think it's lame that this has gone to name calling. I'll just stay out of it.
It's all good. You both love to play and you both have a strategy for quality results. We all develop our preferences from our experiences.
I practice alone hard so that I'm not the lame duck during band practice. But only at band practice will we polish all those critical moments and cues that make performances spectacular and impressive.
So both of you dorks are correct ok! Go drink a beer already and stick your hand in your pants and chill-ax.
I've been entertained:)
Quote from: Happyorange27 on November 08, 2010, 09:27:25 PM
I've been entertained:)
That makes 2 of us =)
Good thread, I'm glad everyone has chimed in, it's made for some good reading if nothing else. And, for the record, both of you have valid points.
Quote from: Rusty the Scoob on November 08, 2010, 10:34:25 AM
If it's going to be just hangout time instead, then I want beers, a grill, and a football game, not to stand around with instruments and watch people learn songs.
Ah! And Rusty, this is something you most likely do every week. Sounds to me like you enjoy PRACTICING at being an awesome Patriots fan every Sunday. I like your style.
But seriously, guys, there are VALID points on each side. And unfortunately, just like it seems on every other thread on this site, people seem to take stuff a little too seriously, feel threatened, and then the name calling comes out. What good is a forum like this when people can't screw around with each other a little? Is sarcasm not allowed? I thought Rusty's "we're not arguing" bit was pretty funny, because it obviously wasn't serious. Honestly, this is a Phish-based forum, based on a community (Phish) of stellar, laid-back, funny and most importantly,
intelligent people. Everyone brings great knowledge of the music and gear...but let's have some fun and levity, huh?
Back to the music...I happen to side with Rusty from my own experience in playing in a professional band. Practicing weekly was borderline impossible (we gigged 1-2 times a week), so we had songs to learn, songs to write, and when we got together, we were prepared with our parts, and practice was beneficial. That's just being professional--or at least it shows the devotion to furthering the band's vibe. Granted, sometimes you all get together and no one had the time, so you practice jamming--and which we can thank Phish's legendary practicing schemes for. I have never been good at practicing on my own. If I need to learn a tune, I'll throw it on, figure it out, done. But then practicing scales or modes or whatever? Never. However, the band was more of an improv-based jamband (Phish, Dead, Zappa, and originals), so our gigs were just as equally practice as they were performances....once the lights go down and you're on the stage, you're not relying on the Lydian mode, you're relying on your ears and the other guys in the band. That's when I (or you) really stretch out and learn new stuff, on the fly.
And Phishlips, glad things worked out with talking to the drummer--just like any relationship, communication is paramount. But shit, why is it always the drummers that are the wingnuts?? (sarcasm) (sort of ;D)
....alright, alright,.......sorry for the name calling.
I hear you guys that a once a week practice is a lot to ask, it is. However, these guys are a bit older and have the time without running out on family responsibilities or other things like that. And, they're into it.
Rusty, maybe you and I should met and settle this "debate" on a stage sometime, huh??? (thats not a angry challenge, thats a friendly, lets have some fun jammin invite). ;D
And for the record, I actually like practicing - any time I get to jam w/ others is a good day - I think we'd all agree on that. However, to Rusty's point, I don't need to practice once a week either (but I sure do get better as a player when I do....sometimes....sometimes it's good to take breaks too because if you practice too much it can sometimes get monotonous.) I think he's right on the fact that you should expect your bandmates to show up prepared & ready to go. But again, to phishlips point, my band usually does practice once a week...a.) we add songs at a pretty good clip, so we need to in some cases, and b.) we all like getting out of the house to have our "me" time with the rest of the guys. As we all know it's a great place and a great excuse to "blow off some steam" as one guy we all know once (in)famously put it.
Quote from: phishlips on November 09, 2010, 12:11:25 PM
....alright, alright,.......sorry for the name calling.
I hear you guys that a once a week practice is a lot to ask, it is. However, these guys are a bit older and have the time without running out on family responsibilities or other things like that. And, they're into it.
Rusty, maybe you and I should met and settle this "debate" on a stage sometime, huh??? (thats not a angry challenge, thats a friendly, lets have some fun jammin invite). ;D
No worries, I certainly deserved the name-calling. I like to push the boundaries too far sometimes in music and in life.
I'll jam with you anytime, Phishlips! Hell, I'll even have a band practice with you if you like! ;D
Whelp...got a new drummer! We have a few dates to finish out with the other guy but thats that. The old drummer decided he is going back out on the road with his bigger band (which I can't blame him at all) and understands that he needs to be replaced for good. Sooooo, the new guy we got we've all known for a few years and totally smokes. We're really excited to see where this goes now, we've been writing all winter and ready to actually play them with a drummer and let them evolve on their own now. Played a gig last night that was just like an awakening!
Quote from: phishlips on April 01, 2011, 02:23:11 PM
Whelp...got a new drummer! We have a few dates to finish out with the other guy but thats that. The old drummer decided he is going back out on the road with his bigger band (which I can't blame him at all) and understands that he needs to be replaced for good. Sooooo, the new guy we got we've all known for a few years and totally smokes. We're really excited to see where this goes now, we've been writing all winter and ready to actually play them with a drummer and let them evolve on their own now. Played a gig last night that was just like an awakening!
That's great. Sounds like a positive change. With the new drummer, what will you be using for settings on your RMC3? (I know, that has nothing to do with anything but I'm really curious what people are using for settings and I noticed you use a RMC3)
Yes, a great change for the band. Really good energy going on right now. Too bad we still have a few dates with the other guy left to honor. Last nights gig was smoking right from the start. This guy is a real jazzer but comfortable with everything it seems. Funny enough, he actually taught the other guy we've been using years ago. I think we now have four people on the same musical and mental page.
RMC3, to be honest I'm not in love with this setting but here it is. low and mid at 12, sweep at 7, volume at full. fine tune 12/3 and 4,5, &6 dips on. The biggest problem I have with this pedal is a volume lost I get or maybe not loss but with it on it doesn't really cut through the mix like I need it too. I contacted Geoff and he sent me a new on/off switch but it didn't really make too big a difference. Kinda frustrated with it, and completely over paid for it (thats what I get though for letting the girlfriend bid on it while I was at work...). Anyway, I've been watching your thread hoping for some good ideas too. So to sum it up, I'm still fooling around with it too.
If you can locate the first resistor, probably a 68k, you can lower it to 56k or near that. This allows for more volume when wah is on. I'm referencing the crybaby circuit so if this is not present on a Teese, sorry. Just trying to help.