My son's band, opinions please

jonnyburgo

This is their first rehearsal with a new singer, I think the bones of something potentially good is there, okay it meanders along a bit and needs a bit of tweaking but I like it, I am biased of course my lads on bass BTW.

Vintage65

It sounds like a first rehearsal. Needs more energy in the rhythm section, and some dynamic variance elsewhere. Maybe they could break the song down into sections and rearrange it. Tell them to keep at it, there's something in there   

jonnyburgo

Vintage65 said:

It sounds like a first rehearsal. Needs more energy in the rhythm section, and some dynamic variance elsewhere. Maybe they could break the song down into sections and rearrange it. Tell them to keep at it, there's something in there   

Yeah,I agree with all that, it was a song the singer brought with him, definitely needs work on dynamics as you said and a bit of variation. Cheers! 

theatreanchor

Not my sort of music, but they seem capable of playing together, and that can only be a good thing!

monquixote

I think as above it's a good song but the rhythm section is doing the early oasis chugging along thing and it could possibly benefit from something a bit lighter and syncopated maybe with side stick  or something in the verses.

mudslide73

I like that. Aside from general rehearsal stuff making it more assured, etc, it's great.They need to arrive at any arrangement changes under their own steam imo - we're a bit old to be telling them what's cool imo.

Funkfingers

monquixote said:

the rhythm section is doing the early oasis chugging along thing 

There are a few points when the drummer is playing a big fill rather than leaving space for the vocals. 

Whilst it is good to see the bassist gyrating (almost) in time to the beat, he could benefit from making his part more interesting to play. Getting away from the obvious root and fifth plonking would make the two-chord section of the song more interesting.

Do any of the original three sing? The new lead vocalist could do with some back-up harmonies to strengthen the overall performance.

Vintage65 said:

It sounds like a first rehearsal. 

I'd be more specific and say that it sounds like a first run through with a pick-up band. Everyone is tentative. 

It is conceivable that the new vocalist might decide not to return for a second session. (Depends on how advanced his Lead Singer Disease is.) Hopefully, all four persevere and things come together.

Wazmeister

mudslide73 said:

I like that. Aside from general rehearsal stuff making it more assured, etc, it's great.They need to arrive at any arrangement changes under their own steam imo - we're a bit old to be telling them what's cool imo.

Spot on.

Its all good and they will learn and find theIr own path.

Rowby1

Actually that’s pretty good for a first run through and a first rehearsal. They all seem to be fairly proficient at what they do and seem to be listening to each other most of the time.

Song idea sounds good, just some arrangement work needed. Things like rhythmical and dynamic variation to verses and chorus. 

Great starting point though.

Kurtis

Fun times!

Chris.B

I can't comment on the technical aspects or band member interaction - I don't have any experience of that. 

What I saw and heard were young people playing instruments and making a good sound, with huge amounts of potential for adding the necessary polish.

What a breath of fresh air compared to the endless songs we hear on the radio with auto-corrected signer and a laptop generated backing track.

Keep it going guys - have fun, work hard and you'll make a great band.

Petepassion

Sounds really good for early days.
as mentioned, listen to the song and work the dynamics(seems to be very much a drummer issue) and harmonies would make a massive improvement.
   I know some musicians shy away from the microphone, but it’s so worth it.
   I was a crap singer(and not much better now) but through nothing more than perseverance i improved massively and ended up singing with bands.
   Great to hear young musicians doing there own stuff too.
  Best of luck to them.

sev112

No extra comments to above for what mine are not worth.
anyway, good luck
best rehearsal rooms over ever seen in decades !

ElectricXII

Not bad at all for a first rehearsal! The basics are there, so they just need to arrange and embellish things once they get more comfortable with each other.

RocknRollDave

I agree with @Funkfingers; backing vocals would really elevate this track. 

If the guys aren’t confident singing, now is a good time to start regularly singing backup and building that confidence.
It doesn’t have to be complex harmonies - some well-placed aahhhhs and oooos would be good.
Even just doubling up some of the lead vocal would help.

In fact, for less confident singers, even just a kind of monotone speak-singing under the main vocal - if that’s all they can manage - can help to bolster the main vocal.

Vintage65

jonnyburgo said:
 It was a song the singer brought with him.

That explains a lot and puts a different slant on things. 

digitalkettle

Wish my first rehearsals were that good  

Sporky

They all seem to be in time and in tune, so better than an awful lot of others. A good foundation.

jonnyburgo

Thanks for the constructive comments guys, the drummer is actually a better guitarist than any of them, drums are his second or third instrument, the room is at Uni, as the drummer is doing music there so free which is nice. He and my lad are both at Leeds (separate Unis) and the guitarist is at Sunderland and the singer is a Stockport lad so rehearsals will be sporadic. It's nice that the lads besides the singer are all school friends since Primary.

Placidcasual79

I think that's pretty good considering its early doors - a few of the comments mention the need for a bit more in the way of dynamics which I think is probably fair - but I am sure they'll get into that - especially if the singer is bringing the song in and it isnt born out of a 'jam' - its bound to take a little longer for the track to develop to the same extent the as song if hes been working on it on his own for a while. 

I'd go big on encouragement - if they feel good about what they are doing they are likely to carry on and if they carry on they'll find their way to more varied/dynamic ways of presenting their songs - remember when you started gigging? working out what goes over well to an audience vs what sounds good on your own in your room practising?..... they have that to come.... 

One of the things I really like is that they're playing in service of the song - rather than 4 individuals - thats pretty promising I think

guitartango

Just remember some of the Beatles first takes were not that good (George Harrisons Rubber Band solo on A Hard Days Night)