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By Alwyn J Walker
1.
Practice Practice Practice
2. Band Equipment
3. Finances & Contracts
4. Transport
5. Promoting your Band
In
2011 the music industry is a difficult enough place to make money
as a musician or band but yet so many who strive to "make it" fall
short on the really obvious aspects of band life.
1.
Practice Practice Practice:
How often
do you practice?
Most bands practice once a week. Then again, most bands are amateurs
and never get further than the odd gig in their local pub. If you want
to stand a better chance than most to turn your band into a career, practice
as often as possible. Simple. The reason for this is that if you only
ever rehearse once a week, by the time you meet again, you have to RE-LEARN
everything. Rehearsing every couple of days means you BUILD on that knowledge
and you make progress much faster.
Make it count
Some bands spend more time in the practice room sitting around smoking
than they do playing or writing. The way for a band to really make
progress is to work on the weaker aspects of the band. It's no good
hoping that the problems will solve themselves in time, in fact usually
bad habits just get worse if they're not tackled. If the backing vocals
have only ever been a theory, concentrate on them until they are tight,
strong and in tune. If the drummer and bassist never seem to know where
they are in the songs, try running through the songs with ONLY drums
and bass. It may take some guts to be the first to point out someone
else's shortcomings, but if band members can't take criticism from
each other, it's never going to be much of a band.
Recording yourselves
This can be crucial in tackling all sorts of problems. If the drummer
is attempting fills that he can't play, he'll not be able to deny it
being a problem when you can all hear it in the recording. Listening
back will also give you a better understanding about where you speed
up or slow down unintentionally in the songs. Recording the basic parts
of the songs can help a lot for planning the arrangements for proper
recording such as extra guitar parts, backing vocals, percussion or
keyboard parts if any extra parts are required. These recordings are
very useful to producers when you first walk into the studio. Apart
from giving the producer a better understanding of the songs, it can
actually save you studio time (your money). Some producers (including
myself) pretty much INSIST on hearing demos of all the songs before
quoting for producing an album, as it demonstrates commitment, shows
the producer what the band's strengths and weaknesses are, teaches
the producer the songs AND the process itself will have ironed out
a lot of issues in the band before hitting the studio.
 
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Hearing each other:
Correctly positioning your amps in rehearsal is crucial. Having them full
blast beside your feet will mean that you'll hear as much guitar sound bouncing
around the room as you will directly from the amp. Try putting the amps at
head height and turned towards whoever can't hear them. You may want to invest
in a decent vocal mic to reduce feedback. You can't go wrong with a Shure
SM58 or a dynamic mic by Sennheiser around €150. Of course, before you
throw money at the problem, experiment with different layouts in the room
to find the one that gives you the least feedback. Don't forget that hanging
duvets and carpets on the walls can help to reduce feedback. And no, don't
bother trying egg boxes, they're too thin.
Click-tracks: (metronomes)
If your songs mainly have a consistent tempo from start to finish, try practicing
with a click. Drum manufacturers make metronomes for drummers (you can also
use a drum machine or a laptop). If the songs get recorded to a click in
the studio, the recording, editing & mixing can be a faster process and
your band will probably sound tighter. Even if you don't want to record with
a click, rehearsing with it is still a good idea to teach everyone to stick
to the right tempo.
2. Band Equipment:
It's really quite obvious. You wouldn't jump out of a
plane unless you knew you could rely on your parachute, so why get on stage
without knowing you can rely on your instruments and amps? The studio is
more forgiving, but any time that is spent on fixing & setting up your
equipment is recording or studio time wasted.
One general principle is that as soon as you notice something loose on your
gear, get the screwdrivers out and make sure EVERY screw on all your instruments
and amps are tight. It's the reason why I rarely have to replace, fix or throw
out any equipment.
Guitars & Basses:
Get hard cases for them, and put big stickers on them too. Better still, stencil
the band name on them.
If you don't change your strings, your guitar will sound lifeless. That bright
sparkly sound you get from your guitar when you change the strings is the way
your guitar is MEANT to sound all the time.
Make sure that your guitars and basses are set up properly. Learn to adjust
the height and length of the strings, this will need done if you've never done
it or if you have changed the gauge of strings that you use.
If the action is wrong due to a curved neck (or a flat neck) you'll have to
adjust the truss rod. look it up!
To set the intonation (length of each string) use your tuner to compare the
12th fret with the open string or the harmonic of the 12th fret. If the 12th
fret is SHARPER than the open string or harmonic, adjust the screw at the end
of the bridge so the section of the string that vibrates is made LONGER. If
the 12th fret is FLAT compared to the open string, you need to SHORTEN the
string length.
If the knobs are wobbly on your guitar, fix them before they get any worse.
Check the side of the knob to see if there's a tiny screw or allen bolt to
loosen. If not, just pull the knob straight off (like on a strat for example).
You'll see a hexagonal ring that you should tighten. Try to not let the stem
of the pot turn, as it could strip wires inside.
If the output jack is dodgy (it's not an INPUT jack, it's an OUTPUT jack!!),
tighten the hexagonal ring around it. Try to not let the stem of the jack output
turn, as it could strip wires inside.
 
Amps & pedals:
If you gig a lot, consider getting a pedal board and flight cases for them.
(check out diago pedal boards)
If you know what settings best suit you, be smart and write them down on a
strip of white electrical insulating tape below, above (or ACROSS) each button
or knob. This means that when someone uses your amp at a gig, you can very
quickly reset your amp to your own settings. If you amp is digitally controlled,
save all the settings for each channel. You can even save the settings to patches
in 2 different banks in case you overwrite a patch by mistake.
For your FX pedals, "which should i use? power supply or battery?" DUH.
BOTH. That way, if the power supply is unplugged or burns out during the gig,
just unplug the DC inlet and the battery will kick in.
Cables:
Cheap cables are unreliable and noisy. Use them at your own risk. Professional
bands use road trunks to carry their cables. Usually, a little silver suitcase
is all you need. If you're organized, you'll lose fewer cables at gigs. Consider
marking all your cables with colored tape or cable ties so other bands are
less likely to take your cables "by mistake" after a gig. (here
at Westland Studios we use yellow/clear cable ties at either end, so please
use another color).
Drums:
Get cases for them. What's the point in buying an expensive kit if you can't
afford to protect it? Also, if you gig a lot, consider getting a mat and
marking out where each foot of each stand or drum should be. You can use
duck tape or a marker. This will speed up your setup time, and is handy for
when you get a drum tech!
Change the skins more often than once every 2 years! For kick, look into Evans
patches for where the beater hits the skin. The white or clear patches add
more of a click to the sound than the black ones. Both will significantly extend
the life of your bass drum skin.
Learn to tune your kit. If you do, you'll already have
an advantage over most other drummers. Make sure they are new skins, trying
to learn drum tuning with old skins is like trying to chat up a girl with
your mouth full. Start by tightening each lug with your fingers, until they
are all as tight as you can get them. When they are all "finger-tight" you
will probably notice ripples in the skin. If you don't, press the skin in
the centre and/or tilt the drum towards a light so you can see a light reflecting
off it.
Use a drum key to tighten the lugs on either side of the ripples
to get rid of them. Try not to tighten any of the lugs much more than the others.
Once you've got rid of the ripples, place the drum on your knee or on a pillow
to dampen the skin on the other side. Now hit the skin beside each lug in turn
to see which lugs need tightened to match them with the lugs that produce the
highest pitch. Usually you'll find that two or four opposing lugs need tightened.
This requires a certain degree of musicality. When you have them all sounding
the same, the drum should sound quite deep and even. If you want it tuned higher,
remember to tighten the lugs evenly. Start with quarter turns of the drum key,
moving around the drum by tightening each opposite pair of lugs before turning
to the next opposite pair. (If you number the lugs clockwise, the lugs of a
six-lug drum would be tightened in this order: 1-4-2-5-3-6.)
If it really isn't working, any decent studio engineer should be able to tune
your kit before you start recording.
Don't forget to adjust you bass drum pedal. If the spring is too loose, you
may not be able to play doubles fast enough. If the beater is set too short,
you'll not be able to kick hard enough to get a decent hit.
Vocals:
Your singer's voice is an instrument. Try to stay away from dairy products
before gigs or recording sessions and if you smoke, give up. Regular exercise,
good diet and regular practicing will all help your endurance and strength.
It may not seem "rock n' roll" but it is professional. Have your
lyrics typed out TWICE. This is useful in the studio, both for you to have
beside you as you sing, but also for your producer to help him to help you.
3. Finances & Contracts:
Band Finances
The trick here is to treat the band as a business. To do that, you might want
to think about starting a bank account which all of you pay into regularly
(maybe by direct debit). This account should be used for band expenses such
as studio time, merchandise, posters and even instruments and amps. The idea
is that eventually you won't need to pay into it, but just take money out!
This all depends on trust of course, but if you can't trust each other at
all, you're probably not going to go far anyway.
Band contracts
Most bands are close friends, but even married couples can draw up pre-nuptial
agreements. As an example, the Smiths allegedly spent more time in court
than in the studio. When money comes rolling in, things can change unless
you've all agreed on who is entitled to what. A simple contract as to the
split of royalties within the band can save a lot of time, money and tears
in the long term. It may even save the band from splitting due to disagreements.
4. Transport:
A band with no transport is at a serious disadvantage. A second-hand
van or minibus can be bought for the price of a small car. The fewer vehicles
that are necessary to transport the band and equipment, the better due to many
venues' stage entrances being down small alleyways. Trailers are also bad news
for this reason, and turning can be a real problem not to mention the issue
of having to lock it to a railing during the gig.
When packing the van, make sure the equipment is secure and the band are safe.
In an accident, a flying marshall stack could easily kill.
5. Promoting your band:
You could be the best band in the world, but if no-one
knows about you, no-one will know to buy your CDs & merchandise or come
to your gigs. Back to the day-job.
Some pop acts have made it big with no musical talent worth mentioning, but
they have a marketing team with a big budget that can get their name out there
and associated with established names in the music industry.
Be creative. It doesn't really matter how you get your name out there, as
long as you do.
Online
Setting up a proper web site can be expensive and time-consuming but there
is no excuse for a band to not at least set up a social networking site.
It may seem ridiculous, but even the choice of an email address can affect
how others treat you, get a proper official-looking email address, even if
it's just a Gmail for the band name.
Merchandise
These days most pop & rock acts make as much (if not more) money on their
merchandise as they do on their music. This may sound depressing, but if the
income from merchandise is what allows someone to pursue their dream career
as a recording & gigging artist, they maybe that person shouldn't complain.
I often see bands playing on stage without their band name written on a banner
up behind them or anything written across the bass drum skin or stickers on
their guitars. The worst ones don't even introduce themselves over the mic.
(and even when they do, half the time all you can hear is a mumble.)
If this article makes sense and you think it could be useful
to your band, email it to your band members, PRINT IT OUT, and take it to your
rehearsal room to go though it together. Written by Alwyn
Walker
Westland Studios, Dublin, Ireland
westlandstudios@gmail.com
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