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Northampton Jam Session - Sunday 3rd December - 1 to 5pm

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Just on the second room comments. Some points to remember:

    1. Room 1 is managed. At quad and to an extent at Northampton I managed the room. This means setting running order, getting people set up and actually in the room at the right time. 
    2. For all the above suggestions to work, Room 2 would need to be managed too. 
    3. I can't manage room 2 if I'm managing room 1. That means someone else has to do it. It's quite a bit of work and will impact on their day and how much they can participate at the Jam. 

    Organising each Jam is a pleasure, but it is a lot of work. Moreover, it's a lot of work on the day itself. 

    Having a more structured room 2 or room 3 means someone stepping up to the plate and doing the running. Without that, room 2 will always just be an anything goes room. 
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  • spark240spark240 Frets: 2073
    Well I won't be at the Northern Jam....but the next one I cant attend ImHappy to manage a room, PA whatever...


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  • mrkbmrkb Frets: 6637
    I did try to get some collaboration going in the second room. I’d created and printed off copies of the lyrics and chord structure for all the informal songs, but no-one seemed interested in learning them in preparation for playing them later. They were all still in the folders at the end, and they had taken me 2 hours to put together, so I won’t try to do that again.

    I set up the jam in the third room at Leicester as I wanted to play drums on the day, so I took the initiative, got the owner to allocate us another room, and invited people in to play. And I’ll do the same at the Northern one. But my attitude is that you need to put some effort in to get the most out of these sorts of events, nobody knows what you want from the day apart from you, so you need to help it happen.

    I hadn’t realised how much effort goes into setting a small jam session up, but I do now, and I don’t think a single person could or should organise a second room, but the others can make it happen with a bit of discussion before the day or during the event.


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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    mrkb said:
    I did try to get some collaboration going in the second room. I’d created and printed off copies of the lyrics and chord structure for all the informal songs, but no-one seemed interested in learning them in preparation for playing them later. They were all still in the folders at the end, and they had taken me 2 hours to put together, so I won’t try to do that again.

    I set up the jam in the third room at Leicester as I wanted to play drums on the day, so I took the initiative, got the owner to allocate us another room, and invited people in to play. And I’ll do the same at the Northern one. But my attitude is that you need to put some effort in to get the most out of these sorts of events, nobody knows what you want from the day apart from you, so you need to help it happen.

    I hadn’t realised how much effort goes into setting a small jam session up, but I do now, and I don’t think a single person could or should organise a second room, but the others can make it happen with a bit of discussion before the day or during the event.


    Lots of work isn't it? And it still only works if people put some effort in on the day. 

    I may sound like I'm being harsh, but for a second room to work, anyone who wants to get something out of it has to be prepared to step up on the day and do a bit of organising. And I say that only because for the organiser room 1 will take up 100% of your time.
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  • mrkbmrkb Frets: 6637
    Sure is, and I spent 30+ hours and a bit of cash finding, downloading/buying and learning all the drum parts as I wanted to make sure there was a full band for people to play along with. I failed with a few as there were a few backing tracks, but I tried!

    I’ll help with running a less formal jam room at t’Northern jam (as I think you’ve got 3 rooms booked), if there’s enough interest from the others. But it will be about wanting to play music with others in a more relaxed setting rather than teaching stuff (as YouTube is much better at that than I am)
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    I added up the organising hours for Quad, without any time for learning bass parts - I reckon it was about 20 hours.

    On the day, it was pretty much full time for room 1, so another 7 hours or so.

    I think a structured room 2/3 is a great idea - I just don't want anyone to go into it not knowing how much effort is required..
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  • mrkbmrkb Frets: 6637
    I didn’t say I’d organised a structured one, just another room to play in with a list of 5-10 songs that people can come along prepared to play - that playing could be as simple as a just power chord on the first beat, or a full solo. It’s more about getting some experience of playing at a level your comfortable with, trying a different instrument, sing badly, making mistakes, have a laugh learning to play live. That’s the stuff you can’t do at home, whereas learning songs is much easier at home as the learning resources are superb nowadays.
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345
    Organising each Jam is a pleasure, but it is a lot of work. Moreover, it's a lot of work on the day itself. 

    Having a more structured room 2 or room 3 means someone stepping up to the plate and doing the running. Without that, room 2 will always just be an anything goes room. 
    I can appreciate this being *very* true.

    It's a delicate balance.  For the thing to work well, there has to be organisation and preparation, and also a commitment to being organised and prepared.  

    It needs discussing in the Huddersfield thread really, but there are perhaps a couple of options to tweak things ...
    1. Room1 is for playing - it's worked well for both sessions so far.  Perhaps we split the playlist into a couple of sections.
      Section1 is for those who feel reasonably comfortable preparing beforehand, so they can arrive, plug-in and play.  
      Section2 follows.  It's for those who'd prefer a bit of tuition and run-through in room2 first, before plugging-in and playing.  Maybe there's then a Section3 for more plug-in and players, or maybe a grand finale where more people can get involved in something reasonably straightforward (Roadhouse Blues?) before we finish with Comfortably (of course).
      How much time gets allocation to Section1, Section2, (maybe a Section3) and finale probably depends on the mix of people attending and their assessment of what they need/want from the day.
    2. Room2 gets used for learning/practising while the first songlist is happening, and then for demos/etc whilst the second songlist is happening.  
      That still needs organising, otherwise it becomes a noodle-fest, with specific timings allocated for learning specific songs (and time-boxing that), for each demo, etc.  
    That means organising for both rooms and co-ordinating the timings across both rooms (and/or allowing plenty of contingency time for different rooms to catch up and re-synch, which would be wasted time).


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  • aord43aord43 Frets: 287
    I think three rooms is ideal, subject to having people managing two of them. This is because you always want a "home base" where people put their stuff, eat bananas and check gear etc. Then there's the informal/practice room, plus the main room.
    Northampton had few enough people for two rooms to be ok, although even then, as has been pointed out, it was noisy at times and organised practice didn't take off. 
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    aord43 said:
    I think three rooms is ideal, subject to having people managing two of them. This is because you always want a "home base" where people put their stuff, eat bananas and check gear etc. Then there's the informal/practice room, plus the main room.
    Northampton had few enough people for two rooms to be ok, although even then, as has been pointed out, it was noisy at times and organised practice didn't take off. 
    You won't find me in room 2 - I'm allergic to bananas!!
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    @TTony - yes it needs discussions for huddersfield. However, I'm reluctant to change the formula for room 1 because it's hard enough for everyone to agree on a songlist and organise enough vocalists etc!

    Similarly for room 1 we ask a lot of a few people to provide a "house band" and it needs to be fair on them too - they need to at least enjoy some of it (!) 

    I have found room 1 at Leicester and Northampton to be good. As we do more we will learn more - and I'm sure there is scope for some teaching in there. 

    Being intrinsically involved in room 1 really does make it hard for me to have any impact on room 2,3,4 etc..
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  • mrkbmrkb Frets: 6637
    Interesting ideas @TTony, but if your trying to learn a song on the day then I personally think it’s a bit late. I see jams as great ways of learning how to play with other people, rather than learn songs quickly before you try it live - Id be more nervous if I tried to wing it at full song speed in front of people on a song I barely knew.

    what do others want to achieve at a jam session?
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    mrkb said:
    Interesting ideas @TTony, but if your trying to learn a song on the day then I personally think it’s a bit late. I see jams as great ways of learning how to play with other people, rather than learn songs quickly before you try it live - Id be more nervous if I tried to wing it at full song speed in front of people on a song I barely knew.

    what do others want to achieve at a jam session?
    I don't think you can use room 1 to learn/teach a song - wouldn't be fair on the house band
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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12645
    aord43 said:
    I think three rooms is ideal, subject to having people managing two of them. This is because you always want a "home base" where people put their stuff, eat bananas and check gear etc. Then there's the informal/practice room, plus the main room.
    Northampton had few enough people for two rooms to be ok, although even then, as has been pointed out, it was noisy at times and organised practice didn't take off. 
    You won't find me in room 2 - I'm allergic to bananas!!
    You’re kidding?
    i thought I was the only person in planet earth with that allergy!!! I can’t drink Coca Cola (or other brands of the same stuff) either....

    Sorry.... as you were.
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • LuttiSLuttiS Frets: 2243
    impmann said:
    aord43 said:
    I think three rooms is ideal, subject to having people managing two of them. This is because you always want a "home base" where people put their stuff, eat bananas and check gear etc. Then there's the informal/practice room, plus the main room.
    Northampton had few enough people for two rooms to be ok, although even then, as has been pointed out, it was noisy at times and organised practice didn't take off. 
    You won't find me in room 2 - I'm allergic to bananas!!
    You’re kidding?
    i thought I was the only person in planet earth with that allergy!!! I can’t drink Coca Cola (or other brands of the same stuff) either....

    Sorry.... as you were.
    No.. not as you were.. this needs discussing. Bananas!? 

    The things you learn.. 
    :)
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345
    mrkb said:
    Interesting ideas @TTony, but if your trying to learn a song on the day then I personally think it’s a bit late. I see jams as great ways of learning how to play with other people, rather than learn songs quickly before you try it live - Id be more nervous if I tried to wing it at full song speed in front of people on a song I barely knew.

    what do others want to achieve at a jam session?
    I don't think you can use room 1 to learn/teach a song - wouldn't be fair on the house band
    I wasn't suggesting that rm1 be used for learning / teaching.

    When these sessions were originally suggested, a large part of the purpose was to help those who were less comfortable or experienced at playing with a band, in a more public setting.  

    There is a good mix of attendees, from those with lots of experience, through to those with none.  So that everybody gets some enjoyment out of the day's playing, my suggestion was to split rm1 into a couple of sessions, one for the experienced, one for the inexperienced.

    While the experienced are playing, the inexperienced are practising (*not* learning from scratch) in rm2 - even if thats just practising playing with others, or refining a riff, or whatever.  That's so they can build a little confidence *before* joining the full band.  Makes it more satisfying for everyone.

    But rm2 has to be organised and run as effectively as rm1 was in Leics & Northampton - to allow practice time for all who want it.

    Agreed, rm2 needs a different organiser to rm1, because one person can't be in two places.
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  • slackerslacker Frets: 2216
    edited December 2017
    I can only comment on Leicester and on ròm 1 only. It was run really well @Bridgehouse. The comment 're room 2 for practise is spot on imho as I went in cold on guitar.

    Also although I was the jointhouse band bassist I still found it hard going so if possible in future get a rota of two especially for drums.

    Talking of which at Northampton you dont have a drummer. With advance notice I might be able to get one.

    Finally some of my comments here have been unanswered so I'm feeling unloved. Please type in drama queen.

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  • mrkbmrkb Frets: 6637
    slacker said:

    Talking of which at Northampton you dont have a drummer. With advance notice I might be able to get one.

    Hey, I’d like to think I did OK on the drums! Flounces off muttering...........
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  • slackerslacker Frets: 2216
    mrkb said:
    slacker said:

    Talking of which at Northampton you dont have a drummer. With advance notice I might be able to get one.

    Hey, I’d like to think I did OK on the drums! Flounces off muttering...........
    I wasn't there so I can only assume fro the pictures that you were awesome. Even so a break would help you play more guitar.
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  • aord43aord43 Frets: 287
    slacker said:
    mrkb said:
    slacker said:

    Talking of which at Northampton you dont have a drummer. With advance notice I might be able to get one.

    Hey, I’d like to think I did OK on the drums! Flounces off muttering...........
    I wasn't there so I can only assume fro the pictures that you were awesome. Even so a break would help you play more guitar.
    In defence of @mrkb I can vouch for his awesome drumming :) 

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