Sputnik Music Forums - View Single Post

_Austin_ · 05-23-2007, 04:34 PM

Hey guys, Havent posted in a while, just lurking.

Anyway, i just thought i'd post and let you guys know what im upto and how things are going.

Firstly, and most importantly; I played a gig the other night that went very well. Me and a band im in all played in black trousers and shirts with farmyard animal masks on for a depressingly small audience.

At the start of the night i started off with a band consisting of 5 guitarists. The idea being that we would have 3 guitarists on stage at one time, 2 taking call and reply turns at soloing and one rhythm.

We dragged out a 12-bar stevie ray vaughn feel groove for about 10mins fiddling with dynamics and overall feel of the groove so no-one got bored or started feeling tedious.

Really my only complaint was my self-concience, I didn't play too well on the accord that the kit was set-up in a stereotypical 80's way. Heavily angled toms and high and extremely angled ride. Along-side a lengthily set-up double bass pedal and a hi-hat that rivaled my own height i wasn't the most comfortable. But i asked if i could move a few things and was swiftly told to be quiet and to 'just play drums.' I wouldn't complain to be honest about the way a kit is set-up but its just very restrictive when you're uncomfortable. I'm sure you can sympathise with me as drummers on this point.

Anyway, After we had played the opening slot, a variety of rock cover bands played their share of the evenings music. Prepubescent singing clashing with wailing classic rock tracks accounted for the next 1+1/2 hours.

I Came back from the downstairs bar having left about a half an hour before the scheduled start of our slot (at the end of the line-up) and the kit had been re-arranged perfectly, i was told it had just been moved because one of the guys wouldnt play without him being able to fiddle with the kit before-hand. Hats off to him, i couldn't do that. So i watched the band before us called 'Merge.' Indie rock styles dont normally strike me as anything interesting generally, but these guys were very tight and all a year younger than us, Even though they were all taller.
Anyway, this band were very together and well rehearsed, something our band lacks a bit. So i was a bit nervous of seeming a bit crap.

Anyway, so we got up at the time for our set and fiddled with amp settings and little things, as you do. and started playing the first song, Testify by Rage. Reason being for choosing this song is because the singer can't sing, but can rap quite well so there you have it. Same for the next song which is New skin by incubus. In this particular song there is a DJ solo as a bridge and we don't know any decent DJ's so we used my theremin and volume pedal to get a similar effect. It sounded sick. Then after that song the guitarist sung for us.

Following that we played Clean by incubus; The ocean by led zeppelin and two of our own tracks.

Afterwards we were invited to play battle of the bands at the same venue, and told by a few of the other bands' parents that they really liked our own material.

I was so stoked having not played a set where we were so locked into the groove and really playing at our best. Having not sounded too great in the practice room and been poorly prepared we did really well IMO.

Before this gig i've not really been taken hugely by playing drums as a career, but after playing such an exciting and adrenaline-pumping gig, im now maybe re-thinking my career choice.

Anyway, Other things that have been happening is that i'm slowly but surely saving up for some pre-amps for my home-studio and mic stands and cables. After that I'l be good to go.

I also doubled my RAM for my imac and now its gliding between programs and surprises me as to how fast and smooth macs are.

Anyone fed up with computers letting you down. GET A MAC, anyone with a mac will agree with me.

Anyway, cheers for reading i just felt like sharing this

All the best guys
-Austin

P.S I'l post up the links to the merge myspace if i can find it if you want to hear them.

And il put some gig pictures up when i get them from my mate
Aaaand, i think theres a DVD of us playing so i might get some snippets if anyones interested, i dont know about sound uality though...

05-23-2007, 04:34 PM	#1
_Austin_ asmobilerecording.co.uk Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: West midlands, UK Posts: 1,631	What I've Been Up To... Hey guys, Havent posted in a while, just lurking. Anyway, i just thought i'd post and let you guys know what im upto and how things are going. Firstly, and most importantly; I played a gig the other night that went very well. Me and a band im in all played in black trousers and shirts with farmyard animal masks on for a depressingly small audience. At the start of the night i started off with a band consisting of 5 guitarists. The idea being that we would have 3 guitarists on stage at one time, 2 taking call and reply turns at soloing and one rhythm. We dragged out a 12-bar stevie ray vaughn feel groove for about 10mins fiddling with dynamics and overall feel of the groove so no-one got bored or started feeling tedious. Really my only complaint was my self-concience, I didn't play too well on the accord that the kit was set-up in a stereotypical 80's way. Heavily angled toms and high and extremely angled ride. Along-side a lengthily set-up double bass pedal and a hi-hat that rivaled my own height i wasn't the most comfortable. But i asked if i could move a few things and was swiftly told to be quiet and to 'just play drums.' I wouldn't complain to be honest about the way a kit is set-up but its just very restrictive when you're uncomfortable. I'm sure you can sympathise with me as drummers on this point. Anyway, After we had played the opening slot, a variety of rock cover bands played their share of the evenings music. Prepubescent singing clashing with wailing classic rock tracks accounted for the next 1+1/2 hours. I Came back from the downstairs bar having left about a half an hour before the scheduled start of our slot (at the end of the line-up) and the kit had been re-arranged perfectly, i was told it had just been moved because one of the guys wouldnt play without him being able to fiddle with the kit before-hand. Hats off to him, i couldn't do that. So i watched the band before us called 'Merge.' Indie rock styles dont normally strike me as anything interesting generally, but these guys were very tight and all a year younger than us, Even though they were all taller. Anyway, this band were very together and well rehearsed, something our band lacks a bit. So i was a bit nervous of seeming a bit crap. Anyway, so we got up at the time for our set and fiddled with amp settings and little things, as you do. and started playing the first song, Testify by Rage. Reason being for choosing this song is because the singer can't sing, but can rap quite well so there you have it. Same for the next song which is New skin by incubus. In this particular song there is a DJ solo as a bridge and we don't know any decent DJ's so we used my theremin and volume pedal to get a similar effect. It sounded sick. Then after that song the guitarist sung for us. Following that we played Clean by incubus; The ocean by led zeppelin and two of our own tracks. Afterwards we were invited to play battle of the bands at the same venue, and told by a few of the other bands' parents that they really liked our own material. I was so stoked having not played a set where we were so locked into the groove and really playing at our best. Having not sounded too great in the practice room and been poorly prepared we did really well IMO. Before this gig i've not really been taken hugely by playing drums as a career, but after playing such an exciting and adrenaline-pumping gig, im now maybe re-thinking my career choice. Anyway, Other things that have been happening is that i'm slowly but surely saving up for some pre-amps for my home-studio and mic stands and cables. After that I'l be good to go. I also doubled my RAM for my imac and now its gliding between programs and surprises me as to how fast and smooth macs are. Anyone fed up with computers letting you down. GET A MAC, anyone with a mac will agree with me. Anyway, cheers for reading i just felt like sharing this All the best guys -Austin P.S I'l post up the links to the merge myspace if i can find it if you want to hear them. And il put some gig pictures up when i get them from my mate Aaaand, i think theres a DVD of us playing so i might get some snippets if anyones interested, i dont know about sound uality though...