Please critique my band (positive constructive advice)

koneguitarist

More good points than bad. Danny is right with Drums, hard to tell on Mix due to what we are all listening on.

Guitar and bass sound low but could be down to me listening on IPad, but would prefer that than vocals low or lost in mix. People need to be able to hear the song. 

Do not worry too much what people think, learn to self evaluate much better in long run. 

Had an old singer say to me on a gig once, "taff they think we're brilliant an we need to be doing better gigs etc", and when I said what about the times they said we were shit? And his reply"f***em what do they know"! 

Look at your video together as a band, look where things could improve and work on them. Do not get too disheartened by too many negatives. 

Good luck. 

robinbowes

The best advice I can offer is to just get out there and do some gigs. Do a few songs at a jam night, or open mic or whatever. Don't get too precious about things. As others have already said, you learn more in 10 minutes of a gig than 10 rehearsals. I've honestly heard much worse gigging bands.

R.

PS. Turn the f***** guitar up, man, you're letting the side down.

close2u

@jd0272

Don't know why you can't access video 1

I'm shy to turn up too much as I don't want to be one of them 'noisy, too noisy' guitarists.

@Catthan thanks for all your critique and compliments

@koneguitarist thanks for the sage advice ... ps those are the RCFs

@robinbowes ... I think I need to go stand in front to hear the balance and get my levels tweaked ... it was loud where I was stood

robinbowes

close2u said:

@robinbowes ... I think I need to go stand in front to hear the balance and get my levels tweaked ... it was loud where I was stood

Yes, get a long lead (or wireless unit) and go stand out front - you'll be surprised.

R.

RocknRollDave

robinbowes said:

close2u said:

@robinbowes ... I think I need to go stand in front to hear the balance and get my levels tweaked ... it was loud where I was stood

Yes, get a long lead (or wireless unit) and go stand out front - you'll be surprised.

R.

This.

I have learned the hard way that "it was loud where I was stood" means nothing out front.
It can depend a lot on the room and the set-up but more often than not the sound mix onstage will bear little or no relation to how it sounds out front.

RocknRollDave

close2u said:

You've all been very kind to me so far ... apart from @bigjon lol - who I have heard dances like Travolta!

So either I ain't all that bad, or you're holding out on me.

Don't try to spare my blushes.

It's cool if you critique me. I'm amazed at how easy a ride I've had so far.

Really, playing in a band, especially a one-guitar band, is primarily about holding down the rhythm and keeping it unfussy and tight. You don't need to be Steve Vai or Al Di Mailorder or whoever. A bit of time thinking about your sound so that it sits well with the rest of the band (get the volume right, don't use too much gain etc etc) is worth so much more than a face-melting guitar solo, and a tight band will also be considered more highly than a sloppy one with one guy w*nking all over every song to show off his technique.

Have more faith in yourself!

PolarityMan

Tru dat ^

bobblehat

Not much wrong with that at all.

A couple of small points:

Get the singer to learn the songs not just the lyrics but the melodies.She has a half decent voice in there somewhere but she's needs to know what's coming next.

When picking songs think about what sound you can achieve with just one guitar.Thicken up your tone to cover more guitar or keyboard parts and make sure your bass player is learning all his bass lines and not just strumming along.Really does make a big difference when the bass player is doing his bit.

Having a drummer with occasional timing issues is better than no drummer at all.

Practice at gig volumes! 

Other opinions are available.

Well done for having the balls to post the videos.     

Teetonetal

Echoing quite a few of the threads above, my comments would be:

1) Don't worry too much - basically this is fine and as long as you keep collectively pushing on, it will get better and better. I think you are in the right ball park.

2) You are not (for want of a flea ridden cliche) tight. Work on the timing, get locked in the groove with the drummer and bass player. Try practicing without the singer, get her singing along without the mic so she can pull you up if you don't all the changes right.

3) Ditch the lead sheets / queues - sooner the better. Reading and playing is top, top skill. Much easier to learn the parts and will help with the above

4) Get the drummer to calm down - solid is always better than more and only small tempo variations please....

5) Sound - difficult to tell a camcorder + youtube means not a good representation.

6) No one cares about mistakes unless they are show stoppers - ignore them as best you can.

7) Play with confidence - you and the bass player look a little like you are looking for somewhere to hide... bit of cockiness/arrogance/confidence is a good thing. Overall you all look very self conscious. this will come with time though, especially once you all feel really comfortable with the songs and each others playing.

8) Work on the speed - too fast = sloppy, too slow = dull. Get it right, even if the drummer needs a metronome for the count in.

finally and this is always true in my book, make each practice count. always find someway to get better as a band, not just in terms of the song you are learning but as a unit. Never be afraid to simplify - space is your friend (especially in a 3 piece backing band), once it's down you can build a little if needs be. That aside, get out there, play and enjoy - gigging is a wonderful thing!

close2u

robinbowes said:

Yes, get a .... ( wireless unit) and go stand out front - you'll be surprised.

It's on my GAS list.

close2u

RocknRollDave said:

This.

I have learned the hard way that "it was loud where I was stood" means nothing out front.
It can depend a lot on the room and the set-up but more often than not the sound mix onstage will bear little or no relation to how it sounds out front.

I use an amp stand with my 1x12" combo (Peavey 50w Valveking).

There's a full thread about using amp stands elsewhere.

I had it angled slightly upwards, and slightly across the stage towards the bass & the drums rather than horizontal and directly out to the FOH.

I will experiment with this a little.

close2u

RocknRollDave said:

Really, playing in a band, especially a one-guitar band, is primarily about holding down the rhythm and keeping it unfussy and tight. ... A bit of time thinking about your sound so that it sits well with the rest of the band ... is worth so much more than a face-melting guitar solo, and a tight band will also be considered more highly than a sloppy one with one guy w*nking all over every song to show off his technique.

Have more faith in yourself!

Thanks.

I do consider myself good enough to lay down and hold solid grooves all night long, chugging away on muted power chords, playing pumping 8ths, playing some funky 16th note patterns, playing some accented chips & triads etc.

I know I can play some short solos, taken more or less verbatim from the originals.

No way can I do long stints of that twiddly diddly nonsense so wouldn't even try. And, luckily, by design actually, our songs don't need that.

Still, I think a little self doubt lurks somewhere and it is a real positive vibe to be told I'm doing a good job.

close2u

@bobblehat

The singer again!

Yes, I can only agree. We hadn't really noticed this in the small practice room we have been using ... Hidden by the room acoustics? Not really listening properly to the 'whole band'?

Re: posting the vids ... when it was suggested I wasn't sure, but I am so glad that I did, and am so thankful and appreciative that so many of you have taken time to listen, watch, advise.

@Teetonal

more pertinent comments and wisdom, thank you.

We try again tonight.

I'm not sure how much recording we'll get done as the agenda is to get the pa & mix sound right as a priority. But we are definitely going to do at least another mini dress rehearsal.

Col_Decker

Nothing to add from me that hasn't already been said about the music, you'll be reet.

 

one disturbing thing I did notice though was the lack of pedals in front you! You need more pedals. Even if you don't use them you still need them. ITS THE LAW!

close2u

@Col_Decker

I have a Zoom G3X

it has hundreds of pedals ... you just can't see them" ha ha

Col_Decker

Still only counts as one.

 

 

MORE

nickp

too many intelligent replies for me to add much.  so I'll add something we've learned.

suggest you decide on temp of the songs - even if it is the same tempo as the original (google them).  Then get the iphone app that monitors the tempo that you are playing at.  

The idea is to consistently rehearse the song at the right starting tempo so that you guys become instinctive about the speeds (we all have a tendency to play songs a bit fast live).

It is also instructive to note start and end speeds for songs as again speeding up is something we do unless we are relaxed and playing well

one corollary to the above is to make sure that the drummer is comfortable that this isn't a criticism of him personally - the speeding up and tempo thing is a "whole band" learning experience

so back to the start - the idea is to consistently rehearse songs at the right speeds/and the same speed at each rehearsal - and take the guesswork out of it

HAL9000

As others have already said - timing and tightness. Also, it looks on occasion as if your singer is watching the band (in particular the guitarist) for her cues. So I'd agree with others that the singer needs to be quite a bit more familiar with the pieces. Other than that it looks and sounds pretty good.

HAL9000

Listening again to your band and particularly the singer, I reckon songs like Gladys Knight's Midnight Train to Georgia, or Percy Sledge's When a Man Loves a Woman could suit you very well.

hotpickups

Sounds good and some good constructive comment here. All Id say is I would like to hear more of the bass to drive this song. Maybe the mix was out of your control but thought I'd mention it. Maybe more movement on stage too from band instrumentalists etc. I feel you're having fun though which is the main thing

close2u;520799" said:

Another one: