r/musicians Rules

It's a quote from the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. This idea really made me think.

I'm posting this to both musicians and artists. What's your opinion?

So I’ve had this best friend for probably five years now and I joined his band last year. I struggle with substance abuse and mental illness but not to the extent where I would deserve being kicked out and marooned from my entire social life. This guy is also an alcoholic and potentially a narcissist given the way he belittled me, using the band to make me feel small and unworthy. He said it himself, I may be very skilled, but I “don’t get the vibe” (which to me as an autistic person doesn’t make sense) and that since he is good with people that “makes him the best”. Tbh their band sounded way better with me on keys but my “friend” told me “we’ve been playing better since you left” which I guarantee is complete bullcrap, they just couldn’t handle me being in the same room as them and I have no idea why. Discrimination perhaps? That combined with the constant berating and gaslighting and led to me just blocking him and all my other bandmates because I couldn’t handle seeing all of them live their lives like I never existed. Made me realize none of them were my friends and they were just tolerating me for the time being, and they just sided with my narcissistic friend because he knows how to manipulate people to do his bidding. It just sucks because it really shows how you can be the most talented person in the room, but if you lack the “cool factor” and don’t kiss everyone’s ass you’re basically ostracized and have no chance of making it. Idk guys. It really sucks having your life destroyed by a narcissist and watching everyone side with them and move on like nothing happened. If I were any of my band mates, guilt would eat me alive and I would probably leave the band. I really lost respect for all of them when I realized how spineless they were. I know you’ll all assume I’m lying because redditors never believe someone when they say they’re a victim, but this is the truth. And nobody even cares. I end up alone in my room with my guitar and nobody to play music with. All because some jealous and emotionally immature people decided to belittle me. The worst part is they’ll point to my reaction to their poor treatment of me and make me look like the problem. I just know they’re coming up with a bunch of lies to feel better about screwing me over. This is the worst feeling ever, I just wish I could move on. I even quit the drug I was addicted to with the hope of rejoining, but I’ve realized now they’re not good people and I deserve better anyways.

Ive met many talented and honestly great hearted musicians over the years but a thing that always stopped them from any real recognition was either themselves not having confidence to leave the jam sesh or they thought every thing happens on the internet. Know people in person and people will respect that.

i’m adhd as all hell and can’t commit to an identity so i’ve had semi-professional music careers in 5 different genres under 5 different aliases over the last 20 years.

i always end up hitting a point where i start hating my artist name but honestly i think it’s just using it every day and seeing it all the time that makes everything sound stupid.

kind of like when i’m hyper focused on finishing a song for a week straight and by the time i finish it, i hate it until i dont listen to it for a few weeks.

just curious and wanted a vibe check on my sanity so i don’t feel like the only one questioning my entire brand identity all the time.

hello my fellow nerds,

my fiancee and I like to play together in the evenings. I play bass. She did clarinet for years and years as a kid, and owns an EWI now. I am looking for songs that are well suited to just those two parts and are enjoyable to play.

ty!

I'm a 37 year old horn player with a decent freelance career in a medium-size city. I've been transcribing music forever, arranging music for a while, and I'm ok at running a friendly/productive rehearsal. So of course in the last few years I've tried to start a couple projects, before I become TOO OLD.

Both projects are unique to my area in one way or another; one has a pretty broad appeal while the other has a kind of niche but shreddy/impressive appeal. Anyways I'm convinced that both could be successfully delivering value to a venue that would host them.

I've poured a ton of time into arranging, making sheet music, recording demos, rehearsing, editing videos for promotion, emailing venues, etc. to make these projects happen. And after all of that, I just cannot land a gig! Both projects have had a few (3 for one, 6 or 7 for the other) gigs over the last couple years and they've been well received, but poorly attended. All through personal contacts. Literally zero success from emailing/applying to venues (I'm happy to play for the door; I have my own sound gear; I am willing to lose money 😭). I'm a shy guy in person (not on stage), so my list of contacts is pretty short.

Both projects are large (party band size - one is 9 piece, one is 11), so getting a full rehearsal is basically impossible. I can't get regular gigs or good money, so regular rehearsals are not gonna happen. And everyone I know is an adult and busy. I just have to commit to playing arrangements that I wrote without ever having the entire band together to run them before the show. I promise I'm not trying to be a dictator - it's been almost universally very difficult to get anyone else to do creative work outside of practice, which is usually spent cramming for a gig!

You can definitely feel free to tell me how I'm messing up, but I'm here to say that I love playing regularly with a rehearsed ensemble that I feel vital to, and I'm pretty sure that I'm TOO OLD to ever have that again. I'm grieving the passion and comradery of youth, I guess. Does anyone feel this? Sorry for another long downer post in r/musicians...if you're in a good band, stick with it ffs

Like one person/band said or did something so bad it resulted in venues not wanting to book them, other bands not wanting to play with them, etc.

I’m a product design student in Scotland, and I’m doing a survey for my dissertation on how design should respond to a growing digital music market and reintegrating physical media.

if you work in the music industry in any way I would love to hear your thoughts.

https://forms.gle/wbxVVmM2rd9ib4TE7

Thanks so much for reading.

Please tell me. Also give me some pointers i gotta sing and play guitar got a bad sore throat runny nose and coughing. We been advertising the gig for a while so its set. Give me a bone please. 💀

So, basically I used to play violin and cello and have been wanting to learn another instrument for a long time, but one thing is holding me back: my right hand. To make a very long story short, I have severe nerve damage in both my ulnar and carpal nerves and not a lot of grip or feeling in my fingers. I also have trouble moving them individually; it's very twitchy and causes pain if I do it a lot. My thumb has the best feeling and control, but still the issue with pain.

So, I have no idea what instruments I could realistically play enough to be able to practice regularly. Please, give me suggestions!!

Hello everyone.

Me and a couple of friends have been playing in separate cover bands for awhile now and we finally decided to pull the plug and start our own original band.

We've been writing and practicing in the studio and are soon going on the road for some small pub and small festival gigs to test the songs and live show but wanted to be fully wireless.

We're a 4 piece band with a singer, guitar/back vocals, bass/back vocals (me) and drums.

Both myself and the guitar player don't use amps on stage. With her having an amp sim in the floor modeller and me going DI out from my pedalboard.

My question is:

My neighbor recently gifted me an AKG wireless system but it's rack mounted. How can I connect it to my pedalboard while keeping the receiver in a rack by the drums and my pedalboard front stage by the microphone?

Thank you for the help.

I went to school for music for about 5 months. Had to drop out because my living conditions became un-livable. I’ve been out of school a while now. I’m almost 21, and I haven’t returned to college since I dropped out. I really wanted to get a BA so I could be a music teacher, at least for k-12. But I’m so awful with school that I didn’t think I could do it. Not that I find work hard, the understanding isn’t the hard part, it’s more the whole sitting around paying close attention to something you don’t care about. (General Ed.)

For the actual music courses, I do worry. I write songs, I always have. I love the guitar and singing and piano. But my way of playing is mostly intuitive. I have a lot of theory knowledge, yeah, but it’s all conceptual, not practical. I haven’t applied it as I should have. I mostly write based on ‘this sounds good.’
I applied to go back to school soon. Where I’m looking at going, the only community college in the area, is actually quite nice. I have to audition for the applied music class, and I have to enroll in ensemble groups for my instrument. I’m nervous. My old college was a lot more lackadaisical with their students. Applied music was open, and the only requirements were musicianship, theory and logged practice hours in their practice rooms. I know how to read sheet music, but I can’t sight read fast like a concert player does. Honestly I’m all over the place but music has always been the love of my life. I don’t want to give up on a dream because I’m too scared of failing, that’s stupid. My circumstances have always been pretty dire, but I’m in a place where I can comfortably get to and from a college and have somewhere to lay my head.

Anyway, I hope things start looking up. I don’t want to become like the people who gave me life. Wish me luck, peace.

Im thinking about getting this as a guitar. Im a bass player and want to explore guitars. I know little to nothing about the technicalities and what makes a good instrument. I just liked the look of this one but im wondering if this is worth the price or if im better off getting something else for this price with better quality.

I am gonna perform at an open mic next week! I set a date so I can prepare but it should be pretty chill. I’ve been practicing three songs and felt pretty confident abt them but when I brought them to my guitar teacher, who I’ve been going to for two years, I froze up! I’m a dancer so I perform often but for some reason I’m so nervous. Any advice?

-Was in a cover band
-Had a residency gig with them, but we were playing the same songs to the same 12-15 regulars at the same bar
-Left to branch out, play with different people, different music, etc.
-Done a total of 8 gigs this year (last year did 48, 56 the year before that)

I’ll admit, I gotta get out more and network come next year…but it’s still…kind of disheartening.
Anyone else experience this?

I have the credentials, I’ve been working in Ableton and live production for about 6ish years now, and I have connections with people so high up they feature in billboard magazines and I still cannot find a job, I have literally found more movement in my own personal artist project than I have in my career as a playback, I’m not even looking for a playback job I’m looking for a warehouse or Runner job it’s insane that I know like high ranking executives and I still can’t get a job just pulling wire even when I’m over qualified

I'm putting together a showcase for my various solo projects and bands, and wondering if 65 songs is too much for a single night.

25 covers, 40 originals across 4 distinct genres. Range from solo acoustic, punk, hip hop, and electronic.

Subdividing 30-45 minute sets with a curated DJ mix, transitioning one project into the next. I'll change costumes in my "Time Machine" so each "band" looks different.

Planning for a 5 hour night, but the DJ set will give me time flexibility throughout the night.

How helpful is it, really

MasterTour is too expensive and the free alternatives are a bit naff.

So Laminate is something in-between, an easy to use web app (that still works offline) that organises everything you need in a tour and doesn't break the bank.

Organise everything from drives and flights to advancing and guest lists.

Free tier available, plus single tour pricing and a yearly tier if you're on the road a lot.

As long as I got a map and a compass I won't get lost down them rivers, trails and roads. 🗺️ 🧭

To the rivers, trails and roads we go

To the rivers, trails and roads

So fuckin sad man. I told both these of guys for months before they graduated, “ have you met any body cool? Youre going to school on sunset blvd where some people fly out to go to school here”

Both had similar answers, “ no im the talent,people have to come up and talk to me”

That answer obviously took me back but i was like okay they probably know what they’re doing. That was almost 10 years ago already and neither of them works with music. I think one doesnt work at all and the other works at a grocery store. Im not tryna put anyone down but its a harsh reality. Its been 10 years and even though i was the one who barely graduated high school i stayed persistent and helped as many people as i could a long the way and things worked out for the better id say.

My point is you can pay over 100k for classes and a degree but if youre a shut in or someone who thinks the world runs academically, idk man