Joined a new band

[J. Dan]

So I haven’t played in a band for a while.  My last regular band was an original progressive metal band but I also filled in with several pop bands.  So I just joined a band doing a bunch of 80s mini tributes.  We have 2 practices in 2023 before booking 2024.  So our first practice is Nov 29 and I have a lot to learn - no sequencing. 

[KuruPrionz]

Have fun and PROTECT YOUR HEARING!!!!

In general, drums are LOUD and then everything else becomes loud. 

 

I've done my share of damage, I'm now working on a solo act, just guitar and vocals. 

[niacin]

I've done something similar, the mini tributes included Cindy Lauper, Roxette, MJ, Whitesnake, Eurhymics ... thankfully the drummer explained to the band that the latter was machines and he couldn't quite get that sound so I didn't have to go the sequencing track.  Some fun synth work, enjoy.

[stoken6]

5 hours ago, J. Dan said:

no sequencing

As it should be! Good luck with the new project.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[jeffincltnc]

I do an 80's tribute that is all new-wave and synth oriented and do use some sequencing on tunes like "Rio", "Hungry Like The Wolf", "Blue Monday", "Bizarre Love Triangle", "Just Can't Get Enough", "Don't You Want Me Baby", "The Promise", "You Spin Me Round", etc.

 

If it goes with the song properly, I use sequencing to nail the tune.

[Tusker]

1 minute ago, jeffincltnc said:

If it goes with the song properly, I use sequencing to nail the tune.

 

+1

 

Sometimes a tiny sequenced production of a portion of a song can make a huge difference to the setlist. I don't like the risk of tap tempo for cover band gigs but even without tap tempo, sequencing can work well. If the drummer's time is reasonably consistent, you can trigger four bars at the original bpm, then trigger the next four, then the next. Everybody aligns as the sequence runs. No sweat.

[J. Dan]

So I had our first practice tonight and although I was worried about it, they seemed pretty happy with me.  They were impressed with my sound programming mostly.  So we have another practice in 3 weeks and a bit of a change in direction.  Instead of the movie theme songs, we’re adding 2 more mini tributes.   So it will be 6 tributes, 2 per set.  Cindy Lauper, George Michael, Madonna, Billy Idol, Culture Club, and B52’s.  Also there will be dancers and dance routines on stage.  I actually think the dancers will set us apart.

[DJkeys]

On 11/6/2023 at 7:47 AM, Tusker said:

 

+1

 

Sometimes a tiny sequenced production of a portion of a song can make a huge difference to the setlist. I don't like the risk of tap tempo for cover band gigs but even without tap tempo, sequencing can work well. If the drummer's time is reasonably consistent, you can trigger four bars at the original bpm, then trigger the next four, then the next. Everybody aligns as the sequence runs. No sweat.

This technique also works with an arpeggiator as well.  As you mention, the drummer needs to have good meter-

 

-dj

[stoken6]

15 hours ago, J. Dan said:

Also there will be dancers and dance routines on stage.  I actually think the dancers will set us apart.

How much does having dancers eat into the individual earnings per head?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[J. Dan]

On 11/30/2023 at 4:19 PM, stoken6 said:

How much does having dancers eat into the individual earnings per head?

 

Cheers, Mike.

My understanding is that they are basically doing it for free, though we’ve decided that on the higher paying gigs we’ll throw some money at the main dancers.  It’s already a 6 piece so there are a lot of divisions going on, and we’ve decided to take half of the first few gigs to put into video which means I may have to do a few shows for $100-$150/man at first.

[yannis D]

Nice for the gig

If I were you I would not worry too much about the "sounds" as long as they are not too far from the original ones. Nobody really cares but us.. 

Enjoy  

[Synthaholic]

On 11/5/2023 at 9:44 PM, J. Dan said:

So I just joined a band doing a bunch of 80s mini tributes.

The most fun to play, for me. Convince them to do some Thompson Twins and Human League. Have fun!

[Joe Muscara]

Cool, Dan. Please keep us updated and share the videos if you can. It’s always good to see your excellent work.  

[J. Dan]

On 11/30/2023 at 4:19 PM, stoken6 said:

How much does having dancers eat into the individual earnings per head?

 

Cheers, Mike.

My understanding is that they are basically doing it for free, though we’ve decided that on the higher paying gigs we’ll throw some money at the main dancers.  It’s already a 6 piece so there are a lot of divisions going on, and we’ve decided to take half of the first few gigs to put into video which means I may have to do a few shows for $100-$150/man at first.

[J. Dan]

The Cindy Lauper stuff is surprisingly tough!  That and the George Michael Wham era stuff - pretty tough!  Practice got postponed a week so I have time to work on it some more.  So far the first gig is June 29 at a large ballroom with tix $20/head and an expected minimum of 200 sold.

[niacin]

1 hour ago, J. Dan said:

The Cindy Lauper stuff is surprisingly tough!  

I enjoyed some of it but found maybe half the tunes laborious, parts not so fun to play once you get much past True Colours, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun & What's Going On, synth programming to do and multi-part splits and layers to cover the lines, songs like I Drove All Night & All Through the Night & I don't need to play again, hopefully you find it more fun than I did.

[S_Gould]

If you go here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/prorecordingworkshop/  William Wittman (Cindy's bass player & music director) is there almost every day (screen name Weedy Wet). He's very open to inquiries, if you have any.

[nursers]

9 hours ago, S_Gould said:

If you go here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/prorecordingworkshop/  William Wittman (Cindy's bass player & music director) is there almost every day (screen name Weedy Wet). He's very open to inquiries, if you have any.

I had the pleasure of interviewing William and the rest of Cyndi's band circa 2004-5 - there's a reason William has been with Cyndi from the get-go, great guy

[J. Dan]

Most of the sounds are pretty easy to program, it’s just getting all the parts together.  So here are the songs we’re doing and my thoughts so far

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - I did this song before but had a sequence take over when I played the solo, so now I’m trying to do them together with no sequence and finding the timing tough.

All Through the Night - I broke down and used an aroeggiator for the beginning part - no click, but I can re-trigger on the beat and also have tap-tempo.  I let the other parts drop out during the solo so I can use the pitch bend while playing.

The Goonies are Alright -  struggling a little bit with the timing doing the Marimba-like part with the flutes, but I’m getting there.

Time after Time - the easiest of them so far

Change of Heart - also pretty easy

She Bop - the main riff with the harp-like part is a little tough but I mostly have it.  I drop out the other parts to do the whistle solo.

[wd8dky]

On 11/6/2023 at 2:06 AM, stoken6 said:

As it should be! Good luck with the new project.

 

Cheers, Mike.

That's funny, considering many bands from that era used sequencing themselves. 

[J. Dan]

Had our 2nd practice tonight - first time with the new guitar player and at his house.  A little disappointed we didn’t do any of the George Michael since I worked pretty hard on it and brought my sax for “I’m your man”.  I’m coming off of a few days sick with a fever so I had no energy, but everyone seemed happy with me on the Cindy and Madonna stuff.  Besides that we did a couple Billy Idol tunes.  We have two practices scheduled in Feb - besides the Culture Club and B52’s stuff they now want to add some Duran Duran, which I can do but I let the drummer know  that songs like Rio have an arpeggiator and without a click he’ll need to follow iit, to which he said was fine as long as he can hear it.

[stoken6]

Sounds like a cool and fun gig.

2 hours ago, J. Dan said:

brought my sax for “I’m your man”

I guess if you're going to do it: do it right, right?

 

Please tell me "Careless Whisper" is in the set. 

 

Cheers, Mike.

[MartinLeo]

On 11/6/2023 at 3:44 AM, J. Dan said:

So I haven’t played in a band for a while.  My last regular band was an original progressive metal band but I also filled in with several pop bands.  So I just joined a band doing a bunch of 80s mini tributes.  We have 2 practices in 2023 before booking 2024.  So our first practice is Nov 29 and I have a lot to learn - no sequencing. 

I'm in the same boat as you... haven't played live for years and  I've been requested to join a new band (mainly 80's covers), but we don't have any drummer or bass player: just me with keyboards, guitar player and lead vocalist, and two back vocalist. So the tricky part is they want me to play piano/synths, some bass with left hand and of course to trigger the drum parts and some time pre-recorded backing vocals for more complex songs. I've been checking Camelot Pro and Gig Performer. Almost all the live sounds will come from my NS4 and CK61, maybe the BX-3 as a VST. I don't want to overload my MacBook Air M1 with only 8GB of RAM; the program will basically handle changing presets for both keyboards and triggering pre-recorded percussion, bass in some songs and chorus tracks. Any good advice on this?

 

Thanks in advance. 

[J. Dan]

I haven’t gigged with a laptop in a long time so there is a lot out there that I’m not familiar with - others can chime in.   Given you have no drummer or bass player, you’ll have to be using a sequence or tracks and what you use and how you use it will depend on your skill level and what resources you have.  If I had to do that now, I would do it all in my Kronos in song mode.  I don’t think any of your keys have workstation capabilities which brings it to the Mac.  I did a duo in the 90s where we sequences all the bass and drums (and some other parts).   I used Performer (pre-digital performer) to make the sequences, saved them as SMF’s and used a player on an IBM thinkpad to play the SMF’s.  All the sounds still came from my keyboard, at the time a Roland JV-30 utilizing the Roland GS sound set.

[MartinLeo]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes you are right, my synths doesn’t have drums (only stage keyboards) so I must leave that to my laptop… BTW, where you able to convince your new band to play sax for Careless Whispers for the upcoming gig?

I’m still deciding between Gig Performer and Camelot Pro. 
any tip on that?

Regards. 

[J. Dan]

No careless whisper, unfortunately.

 

we had 5 gigs but one fell through, so we have 4 so far.  I’m a little worried about selling out based on ticket prices at $20 ea for one and $35 ea for another, but we have a couple gigs where we are opening for touring tribute acts doing only one set for a guaranteed minimum, so that’s good.  Have 2 practices in the next 2 weeks so we’ll see how things are coming along.