Is anyone here doing the one man band live thing?

[everdrone]

Re: Is anyone here doing the one man band live thing?

UPDATE ::

I also secured a live singer/guitar player, so this project is just about ready for lift off!

two person band, killer!

I really like this two person band called Royal Blood - singerbassist and drummer:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d696hkmTocQ

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Is anyone here doing the one man band live thing?

Cool, will check it out.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Is anyone here doing the one man band live thing?

Though this is technically not a band. Katy is am amazing singer, but I paying scale for her time. =p

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Is anyone here doing the one man band live thing?

All great advice, thanks -- but it has no bearing on this particular project. This is live progressive rock using backing tracks. It's fairly ambitious and very technical.

I think if you swapped between guitar and keyboard during the set it'd go over more with the intended audience, like Steve Howe did with YES. Seeing one guy just play guitar or even any single instrument along to various sequencing equipment might prove a bit too "oh look, a guitarist with no friends, imagine that" for most audiences.

At the very least you could make it look like you were doing something more than you were by fiddling with knobs and such of on-stage gear that was powered but not actually doing anything. Have your backing tracks running out of the player, with some little bit of extra lead-in for your choreographed motions with the keyboards and such, so it looks like you're constructing the backing track on-the-fly, when really you're just bringing up the faders for each track.

If it's a show they want, it's a show they shall have

 

[Mincer]

Re: Is anyone here doing the one man band live thing?

I think the more you do live, the better. I am always turned off by people with backing tracks. They rarely add to the arrangement.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Is anyone here doing the one man band live thing?

I think the more you do live, the better. I am always turned off by people with backing tracks. They rarely add to the arrangement.

I feel like this warrants a reply, but I am having trouble framing it. I will say that this seems like a sweeping generalization to me, and there's good, bad, and indifferent in every ration of person:machine. There are brilliant solo artists wherein it's one performer, a looper, and a pile of synth gear. And there are countless sh*t bands out there ... good music is good music.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Is anyone here doing the one man band live thing?

I get it. But as a musician that has always either performed the music myself (or used loopers in non verse-chorus-verse way) or put bands together, when I go somewhere with a 1 man band thing, I am always disappointed. I can't help it, this is what I do for a living. But good live music to me means good live musicians. I am not saying it can't be done well. But everything I see is someone playing along with backing tracks. No improvisation between musicians, no music being made, just performed. And I want to see more from my live musicians. This is just my opinion, but I base this on a lifetime interacting with other musicians onstage.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Is anyone here doing the one man band live thing?

This is just my opinion, but I base this on a lifetime interacting with other musicians onstage.

So is mine. Not all music is meant to be improvised. For example, solo classical music; but there are many others as well.

I totally 'get' what you're saying ... it just sounds totally elitist to me. I am doing the best I can with my (meagre) available resources and (very) limited time and you seem bound and determined to interject your (negative) opinion about my doing whatever it takes to get my music "out there" as being inherently flawed because it is not a 'real' band.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Is anyone here doing the one man band live thing?

I am not saying the idea is flawed. But in a classical music situation, you wouldn't have one person playing viola with the rest of a string quartet on tape. There is no one watching that that wouldn't rather hear an actual quartet. These are things every 'one man band' has to think about when booking themselves. Why should someone book you? Because you are cheaper than a whole band (is that what you want the reason to be)? I am absolutely elitist when it comes to real musicians performing together. Personally, I'd pick a band every time, even if the music has little improvisation.