That bass guitar guy who plays bass in a Big Band Part 5: It's rehearsal 6. Do We Sound Better?
This day is a triple-header of tasks for me and a doubleheader for Music. Does that even make sense? I have three major things to do and two of them involve Music. The first musical deed will be performing with steel parade. The second musical deed will be Big Band rehearsal.
I'm not really gonna mention the first thing, but it got me up early and I found this weird sign while driving:
Do you see anything strange or different about that sign? I do.
😃 Why is the nurse shaving off her beard!? 🤣
We arrive early (on time) and setup before we make our way to the hospital cafeteria. I don't take as many pictures as I used to. Maybe the broadcasting has made me lazy... not sure, but my heads not there anymore. Battery live has a lot to do with it. Anyway, these are images from the lunch table.
Yes, the steel drum is upside down. @steelparade sets it on the stand last as we walk in to perform. I have almost 10 years worth of these images. Maybe some day I'll.... blah blah blah blah... all these images and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...
FREE Steel Drum Broadcast:
Click the link below to see me and the guys from @steelparade entertaining doctors on lunch break.
We had to perform at a very low volume. We do this all the time. Most bands can't do it. We fire drums that get too loud. We subsided our client's fears all the time.
Most bands play too loud. I know this for a fact. We see the damage that years worth of loud musicianship has done to the perception of our trade.
Musicians Tip:
Ask yourself if you're performing a service for the person that hired you and the people attending their event. Are you serving the client or your ego? Can people talk to each other when they want to?
What's the vibe?I was once in a band (trio) where the guitarist played too loud after a few songs worth of confidence. After seeing people's annoyance and never getting called back, I started turning him down myself. When his back was turned, I would sneak over (while playing bass) and turn down his master knob. It got old and the drummer and I eventually quit.
Is this a concert or a coffee shop?It's never a volume competition. Don't feed into it. Guitar players are known for playing to loud. They want to feel the bass from their instruments. Stick to your own frequency rage and it will all sound balanced.
Does the audience want to dance or talk while they eat and drink?Obviously there are exceptions but the general public wants to hear a balanced musical performance. If they are drunk, you can probably get loud. We get loud at or one bar gig, at concerts, and when pretentious students look grumpy at school.
Rehearsal 6:
Traffic and Parking:
I don't have much to say about traffic, but here's another picture of my parking receipt that I said I would stop taking.
Here's the new parking receipt image that I said would replace the one above. Reflection images are fun.
Bass Amp:
This is the amp we currently use. I wouldn't mind owning one, just not this one. It's kinda broken and the school makes it incredibly difficult to repair things.
The irony is this amp has the potential to cost them a lot of money in repairs if it's connected to a theater PA system. The amp make a loud low pop sound when we take our cables out.
Big Band Broadcasts:
Percussion is fun: https://www.pscp.tv/w/b2mkCjFtTUtQdldZa3lnRUd8MVBsSlF5Yk5wbWRKRcPxauA17AN7Iy1BELIu7a5i4utZ8m0_XtzvTqMIig34?t=2s
Not the best view, but music to hear: https://www.pscp.tv/w/b2mkpjFtTUtQdldZa3lnRUd8MXJteFBRb1l5WmJLTp2yjTIbvyyQj1TNuATfE-_FJNpH7T8gsMJNuhFxsNel?t=3s
Not the title I wanted. I wanted "zuck" and auto correct gave me "suck". Sounds worse than I realized: https://www.pscp.tv/w/b2mlJTFtTUtQdldZa3lnRUd8MWVhS2JPYW5kWWVHWPO_A7KkyjiNhgHrDZdIWC2Ltw5WNpQn5lCw3xw9PCyE?t=4s
Need more Caravan practice: https://www.pscp.tv/w/b2mlQzFtTUtQdldZa3lnRUd8MU1ueG5ORGxWd0x4TybtUhL8CXlhYZAZSHAW3Bv_28-jpRFQapDZ1KajGY9z?t=3s
It's hard to type in Periscope. It's not good to be distracted. I wish I could afford a person to help with this logistical crap.
Pay To Play:
Last time I calculated the cost of this big band to be $74.30. That included a donut and coffee price. I was hungry and that was the best food I could come up with in short notice. No donut and no coffee this time though. No parking ticket either. If I add in the usual $6 for gas and parking my new total is $80.30.
Stay tuned! It get worse. Bad unnecessary cost are in my future. (I know this because I'm far behind with this series.)
🤢
First Concert:
Our first concert is coming soon. It will be for Santa Ana's College's College Fair. We will try to impress visiting students with our music. Like advertising, except we won't get paid for our time and it's in the middle of the day. If a big band member has a day job, they are screwed. They will be paying to play.
Concert May 17th 2019
May 7th will be or last public performance of the semester.
It will also be my last unpaid performance of the semester.
NEXT:
"Big Band Part 6, Rehearsal 7 for a concert that will cost me $86.30!?!"
Previous posts in this series:
1. "2019 Big Band Series Warning from Steemseph" https://steempeak.com/music/@steemseph/caution-2019-big-band-series-from-steemseph-coming-soon or https://steemit.com/music/@steemseph/caution-2019-big-band-series-from-steemseph-coming-soon
2. "Big Band Rehearsals 1 and 2 February 2019 Part 1" https://steemit.com/steempeak/@steemseph/big-band-rehearsals-1-and-2-february-2019-part-1
3. "That guy who plays Monday night Big Band bass. Part 2 Rehearsal 3 scrambled and ticketed" https://steemit.com/music/@steemseph/that-guy-who-plays-monday-night-big-band-bass-part-2-rehearsal-3-scrambled-and-ticketed
4. "That guy who plays Big Band bass gives an update. Part 3: Rehearsal 4 is neat and parking tickets suck." https://steempeak.com/@steemseph/that-guy-who-plays-big-band-bass-gives-an-update-part-3-rehearsal-4-is-neat-and-parking-tickets-suck
5. "Big band Part 4: Rehearsal 5 Fancy Gear goes boink and a percussion lesson." https://steemit.com/steempeak/@steemseph/big-band-part-4-rehearsal-5-fancy-gear-goes-boink-and-a-percussion-lesson
Proper curation requires discouraging abuse. Flagging abusive content on Steem platform is the best way to protect our investment.
Nobody is entitled to be here.
Nobody is entitled to ruin a good thing for rest of us.
Nobody has the right to rap the rewards pool.
Upvote these posts to help reward the users who have given their time to protect Steem platforms.
"FlagTrail - Improved User Control and Performance by @reazuliqbal: https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@reazuliqbal/flagtrail-improved-user-control-and-performance
"Illustration: Steem Flag Rewards update" by @overkillcoin: https://steemit.com/art/@overkillcoin/illustration-steem-flag-rewards-update
"All aboard the @flagtrail" by @abh12345: https://steemit.com/cleansteem/@abh12345/all-aboard-the-flagtrail
🐙 THANK YOU for reading, leaving a comment, and upvoting my posts! 🐟
This post has been created with Busy.org. It may also appear on Wordpress, but rest assured, my links come back to us here at Steem.
More free music on BandCamp: https://tetrahedroseph.bandcamp.com/music
#SoCalSteemit is building and supporting the Steemit community of Southern California. If you are from SoCal and are into creating quality content here on Steemit, we'd love for you to follow us @SoCalSteemit and join our group on Discord
That was quite a read. I will have to listen to those concerts when I wake up.
Glad your not listening before you sleep. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for any musical nightmares.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Hey there,
I really like the article. For many reasons. Already because it's full of "images" of the reality of playing music, being a musician. And yes. You have to pay to play. This happens frequently, eventually.
Very interesting this journey within the big band. And it's good jazz.
Thank you.
Subscribed. I will follow your adventures. haha ha. ;0))
Hi! I appreciate your comment a lot... “reality of playing music, being a musician” are phrases I now want to incorporate into my titles. It’s what I was going for, yet never seemed to fully express in my long titles.
I’m not a believer in paying to play. I’ll pay for an education, but performing music is a service worth paying for. As you know, musicians, song writers, instrumentalists and singers etc spend a lot of time crafting their skills. The service they render deserve compensation just as much as the plumbers, window installers, mechanics, accountants and game testers serving us and their various industries. Not saying it’s all, or I’m all worth top dollar, but we get what we pay for.
The music industry has been undercut by musicians, promoters, and venues for many years... way before our parents came along. I think it’s as old as the racism at the core of Cannabis’ prohibition.
It’s a cyclical mess perpetuated by musicians who suck and don’t think they suck as much as musicians who don’t suck and think they do suck. 😳 It’s probably perpetrated by the belief that we are born with talent also. Sounds harsh, but honest questions and compassionately exposing our vulnerabilities creates growth. Lots of tangent potential there, sorry. 😬 Technology has played a big part too. Anyone can and saturation diminishes demand. Maybe it’s also perpetuated by the fact that some musicians make it look painless and fun. That’s pro!
I should stop.
I should probably join the musicians union... I’ve heard bad stories though.
I should have told you to skip to the bottom of this reply 😬
I feel dpoll inspiration approach.
Nice to meet you @solarphasing. I followed you too. Are you in Bandcamp? I’ll take a look ASAP.
🙏
Posted using Partiko iOS
Cool!!