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Re: New Thread - Does the audience care?

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1/24/2000 1:50 PM
Bob	Re: New Thread - Does the audience care? If you don't have a good drummer, then you don't have a good band

1/24/2000 2:47 PM
anon	Right - the drummer and the singer are by far the most important members, when it comes to pleasing an audience, and getting paid. Especially the drummer. A band with a mediocre guitarist and a funky, exciting drummer will sound better than one with a mediocre drummer and a hot guitar soloist. Throw a stick and you'll hit a dozen competent guitarists.

1/24/2000 4:30 PM

As a guitar player, when I play with a bad drummer, it feels as if there's nothing I can do to make myself sound any good. Even though I'm completely sober, it's as if I've downed a six-pack before starting to play. Any licks/lines a play just don't "lay" right on top the rhythm (or lack thereof). I especially hate it when bad drummers think they're cool by inserting all these fancy fills, but don't realize that they're losing the beat each time they do a fill.

There should be an extra hot area of hell reserved for bad drummers.

1/25/2000 2:55 PM
Bob	If YOU drink the six pack, I guarantee he'll sound better or you'll kill him! Bob

1/2/2000 4:32 PM

After reading the other replys, I had some very distant memories jogged. I remember back in grade school prior to my actually being in a band, watching bands play. I distincly remember one night watching a band play two songs that just didn't work because their lead guitar player didn't have a fuzz box. One was Satisfaction, and the other was "Blue's Theme" a guitar instrumental from the Wild Angels movie. That song was all about fuzz, and to this day I remember how bad it sucked when they did them. Other than that they were a pretty decent band. Even now, when I see a band play, like Santana recently, I notice if his tone isn't what I've come to expect. But as a guitar player, I'm sure I'm listening alot closer than most of the audience.

1/2/2000 8:44 PM

You know, I never thought about it from that standpoint before, but here's a shining example: My band traded some gigs with another band from a nearby town, and they covered "Just What I Needed," by the Cars. Maybe you're familiar with it? Well, you know the synth hook in the beginning? "whee-doo-dee, doo-whee-doo-doo-doo-dee?" Well, he used a B3 patch from his Kurzweil and the song just sucked from there on out. Another band that we opened for played Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky," which starts off with drums and keyboard (DX7 I think... I play the part on my trusty Farfisa VIP600.) but these guys used a guitar. Sounded horrible and the audience rally noticed.

Good point about the sound making or breaking the song. I tried to replace my Moog with one of those Micro-synths (guitar pedal) and it's much easier to get a useable sound out of the Moog, plus the Micro-Synth doesn't have true bypass and it really kills the sound of your guitar.

Farrow
http://surf.to/pharaohamps

1/3/2000 7:09 AM

I never said the audience doesn't care, I said they don't necessarily care about the same things musicians do. Yes, the Beatles (to use them again) had a unique sound, and it was great. But what grabbed people at first was a)the beat, b)the look, and c) the sound. Yes, if you play in a cover band and do a version of something the audience knows should sound one way and you make it sound different, they notice. Whether or not you wanted it to sound the same as the record is another matter. And yes, a band needs a recognizable and unique sound to "make it", etc. I'm just saying that the audience has a different set of priorities from the performers. In a club or a bar, women want a beat they can dance to. That's what makes or breaks live bands in those situations, and records of dance music, which includes jazz, polkas, "house" music, ambient dance, etc. And rock and roll, right? The audience members in general are not going to care whether or not you use Fralin pickups or stock, 10" or 12" speakers, or whether the speakers have ceramic or alnico magnets. They usually don't have a very defined sense of what "good" sound is; but you're right, they know what sounds "bad", and they'll let you know.
Hi

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