How To Start Your Own Band

by Kathy Unruh

Every once in awhile a guitar student will express a desire to be in a band someday. If this is your ambition too, then read on. Whether you’re a guitar player or not doesn’t really matter.

If you are a talented singer or musician then the question is, do YOU want to be in a band? In this article you will find some helpful ideas on how to get started in that direction.

One of the first things you will need to do is gain exposure for yourself. This can be as easy as following three simple steps: Read more »

How To Reduce Feedback When You Play

Written by ELMORE MUSIC

If you’ve performed live on stage or even a casual jam with your friends at band practice — one of the most annoying things guitarists have is a thing called FEEDBACK!

If you don’t know what feedback is — it’s that terrible high pitched sound that comes from speakers.

It usually happens when you place your microphone too close to the speaker or play your guitar directly in front of the amplifier. Read more »

Mixing Your Sound On Stage Without A Sound Engineer

Many small club bands or duos don’t have the luxury of having a sound engineer to mix their sound during performances. Most of the time, one of the band members mixes the sound while on stage, while performing.

This can be difficult for several reasons:

• The sound on the stage is very different from the sound throughout the rest of the club.
• The person mixing generally has to stop playing momentarily to adjust the levels.
• Different band members may prefer different mixes; for example the keyboard player may feel that the keyboards need to be higher in the mix.
• The on-stage mixer may have little control over the level of individual instrument amplifiers or drummers.
• In very small venues, or restaurants, the on-stage level may need to be too high (for the band’s comfort and hearing) for the audience, particularly when they are close to the stage.

Read more »

You’re Too Loud! Keeping Your Sanity When Playing Restaurants and Small Clubs

Restaurants and small bars make great venues for duos and small bands to play. For financial as well as practical reasons, these places are too small for larger groups, yet they still want to have live music to attract the crowds.

However, you must always remember that YOU are not the primary purpose of the restaurant or bar. The primary purpose, as for any business, is to make money.

As a performer, you should be able to relate to this, since you need to make money as well. (If you are just doing it for the music, while a great noble and artistic attitude, you’re better off just jamming at home.) Read more »

Mixing Your Stage Sound As You Play By Adjusting Your Playing

While many bands, particularly the larger ones, have a sound engineer, there are performance aspects to the mix that only the band members control.

If you think that you can just play in whatever manner you feel like playing, and the sound engineer’s job is to make everyone sound good in the mix, you’ll fall short of your optimal sound. The mix can’t fix busy keyboards or guitar fills that walk all over the vocals.

While thinking about these things may seem distracting at first, but it becomes second nature after a while. Once you can do this unconsciously, you’ll get into your own part naturally. Read more »