Well, 7/7/07 was a good (lucky) night for us. I think we are starting to get the hang of this. We showed up, loaded in, the drummer set up the drums while we set up the board and monitors along the perimiter. Once the drums were set we put the lights on either side of him and hung our banner in between. The rest of us set up, did a sound check and rocked the place. We had a crowd of (40) people. Security said that this is the biggest crowd he has seen in a month due to the summer fests that are going on. I guess during "fest season" bars see a significant drop in attendance (learn something new everyday). But we rocked the place. Security said that usually the bands only get their crowd going...we had them all the way to the back of the bar doing "air guitar" so they are going to have us back again soon. I think what really got them going is our version of "Johnny B Goode", I play it like Marty McFly in Back to the Future (2 handed tapping etc, people love that !!!) and of course "Freebird!!!" Its funny, people shout for it but no band wants to play it for them ??? I'll play it. We started playing the intro and my wife said someone stated "Didn't you mother tell you not to play Freebird" (I thought that was Stairway...). Anyway, during the intro we had girls dancing and during the solo (which we play a little more rocking than the original) those girls and the guys in the back were playing the "air guitar."
Another thing that was cool is that my mother-in-law said to my wife "I really like Tom's solos." For the signature guitar solos that everyone knows I play close to the record and I don't waiver much. Some solos I make up on the spot and others I wrote myself. But I thought that was a pretty cool compliment. I also impressed our singer's (21) yr old son with my guitar playing on "Johnny B. Goode."
Overall, Pretty cool...
The only problem that we keep on having is that through our sets is that since we are playing a variety of material the instrument mix goes up and down (different amp settings). Sounds fine through the monitors and sometimes I'm blowing myself away in the monitors so I turn down my guitar to compensate. We haven't figured out how to remedy this yet. I know alot of bigger cover bands have a sound guy out front and they push them up during solos and such but we don't have the $$$ for that yet. I want a mix, not volume wars. Any suggestions from anyone who has worked through this would be welcome.
You can check out the pix from this gig and others at bandwildeye.com.
Let me know what you think.
Ambition is the path to success...persistence is the vehicle you arrive in!!!
Volume control is a big problem for everyone but the solution is easy . Guitarists are the biggest offenders because of the many different settings , effects , even guitars that we like to use during the course of the evening . One solution is to get out from in front of your own amplifier and hear the whole band from a different perspective , say, from the audience . Wireless units or a long cord can accomplish this . If you have someone you trust (another musician , a friend with a passion for the same music as you , a family member) you can ask them "How does it sound ?" Once you have a suitable mix , you can gauge for youself how much you need to boost for solos and how much to tone it down for quieter passages . It is a learning process .
I don't know if you mic your instruments or not but if you do , remember this : guitar amps are much more directional than drums or bass amps . Someone standing directly in front of your amp will hear things a lot differently than someone who is off-axis . I almost always will mic my guitar to provide a little more even dispersion of the sound through the front end . In fact , I usually point my amp inward from one side of the stage and I stand closer to the middle out front so that the other players can hear me better . It helps to have a good stage sound because we enjoy it more that way .
If I claim to be a wise man , it surely means that I don't know .
HI Diceman,
Thanks for the response. I think the settings I have in my effects unit are too blame. If I'm playing a song using setting (40) it is louder than setting (81) and I don't know why (yet). There should be a way to have everything at the same volume level but the instruction manual is not very helpful. As far as amps being directional...yes, we found that out last year and worked through that. I was blowing myself away and couldn't hear anything else, except the ringing in my own ears. My amp has an output on the back that we plug straight into the board into the monitors and P.A. Everyone in the band (except for the drums) goes into the board. Now it is a lot better.
Still learning...
Ambition is the path to success...persistence is the vehicle you arrive in!!!
Most of the better effects devices will allow you to adjust the parameters of each effect to allow for personal taste . What type of unit is it ?
If I claim to be a wise man , it surely means that I don't know .
Its a Rocktron Expression unit. I've tried adjusting the settings to the "LOUD" ones but no affect. I might have to do some more research online.
Ambition is the path to success...persistence is the vehicle you arrive in!!!
http://www.rocktron.com The manual is available there . Pay particular attention to the mixer section .
If I claim to be a wise man , it surely means that I don't know .
Tommy Guns
Thanks for the great report, sounds like your band is very entertaining. Getting the crowd dancing and playing air guitar is as good as it gets. 8)
Did you get any pics of the show??
Keep rockin', sounds like you guys are doing good.
Wes
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Thanks Wes. Yes we have pictures from our shows on our website. You can see them all at http://www.bandwildeye.com . I don't know how to post them here.
I also figured out how to adjust all the presets I use now so the volume is equal. Thanks Diceman.
Ambition is the path to success...persistence is the vehicle you arrive in!!!
Another great night Tom! Glad you solved your volume issue. What's that black/white guitar you're using?
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
The black & white guitar is a Charvel I purchased when I was stationed in Germany back in 1989. I just had EMG pickups put in it a couple of months ago and it plays like a dream. Mine was made in Japan and it plays really nice. This is my first "real" guitar and I still love it. The Gibson is nice too, but you never forget your first love. I use it for when I need a warm "accoustic" sound, I use the neck pickup. I also use it when I play the 80's rock too. It is very versitile and I think that is mostly due to the pickups I have.
I highly recommend the EMG's for both the clean and dirty sounds. Really nice pickups.
Ambition is the path to success...persistence is the vehicle you arrive in!!!
