I (drummer) am more of a hobbyist, but I do tend to get very exited to do shows. So much so that I tend to down a few sodas, get extremely hyperactive, and shout about how exited I am to play to people five feet in front of me. I never get drunk though.

I know that a lot of getting gigs in the scene is “the hang”, and I’ve often been told to reel it in by people on the gig, but I have never received any bad feedback on my performance. Maybe there’s a degree of professionalism I’m missing here.

My question is that is behavior like that described above where I’m too “overly happy” possibly affecting my ability to be “a good hang”?

I'm a 22-year-old bassist from Chile, and moving to the city to play jazz was the only way for me to play with real musicians. Since then, I've mostly been playing with my teacher or by myself with a metronome and backing tracks.

Today, I went to a bar to play at a jam session. I was really nervous, but I told myself it was okay and tried to relax.

When it was my turn to play, I said it was my first time, and they were cool about it. I suggested playing “There Will Never Be Another You,” but here's the thing: there was a vocalist, and she wanted to change the key from Eb to Bb. So I thought, “Fuck, I'll give it a try.” I opened iReal Pro, changed the key, and we started playing.

Man, I felt so bad about my playing. I couldn't really feel the band swing, and I think it was partly my fault. I lost track of the bars and the key. I'd never played a standard in a different key before, so I was kind of lost.

After that, the pianist told me to keep practicing. later i stayed listening to other musicians who play way better than me, wondering if I'll get another chance to play a standard I've actually been practicing, there was no, the jam ended, i only play one time.

I know I need to practice playing in different keys now, but for those of you on this subreddit who have experience with jam sessions, is there any other advice I should take with me for next time?

I'm planning to keep going, even though I'm feeling pretty sad and frustrated right now.

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.

Artists are the most entitled people in the world next to your neighbourhood Karen

They think they deserve the bag because they said a couple lyrics and have 0 idea how much goes into a track

First of all, you have the guy that writes the songs, this is a real talent

You have the producer who creates your beats which is whole other talent

You have the engineer and sound mixing guys so your song doesn’t sound like shit

You have the artists that create cover art

And behind all that you have another guy with money funding studio time, music videos, props, parties, venues, everything

Artist themselves contributed maybe 15% to a track

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.

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!

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.

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.

For some context I am a student currently studying music in post-secondary education in Canada. While applying for university, was accepted in a couple political science programs. Because of that, I had to choose between going down a career path into politics, including journalism and even a political career. Which I probably would find to be extremely rewarding. On the other hand, I've wanted to pursue a more exciting/adventurous career in music.. I've always loved music so so so deeply and studied music for over 9 years. I also have perfect hearing, perfect pitch and strong emotional connection to music so music comes naturally to me.

What bothers me now is that the world is going to shit and my music career isn't helping in any direct way. Climate change is quickly getting worse, most politicians are selfish assholes, political corruption is rampant, people are losing hope, the ultra rich are getting richer and taking advantage of regular folks. I know if I was in politics, I would fight tooth and nail for my beliefs and for the people, something I find so rare in politicians these days.

I feel my desire to make the world a better place and my inability to do so bothers me very deeply. I feel selfish for choosing a career for my own self over a career serving the people and fighting back against the broken system. I don't believe I can fix every issue but its better to try right?

What can I still do to make a difference?

Any advice helps

thx

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

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.

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.

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.

In junior high, joining the school concert band was the obvious choice, and by the summer of my second year, I became the vice-president of the club.

Around this time, I was incredibly arrogant. Having been involved in music since elementary school, I was one of the better players in the club. Combine that with a severe case of chuunibyou, and I strutted around treating myself like a musical prodigy.

In reality, I must have been a highly annoying kid, but strangely, I don’t remember being disliked by anyone (though there’s a high chance I just blocked it out). In fact, in a way, I consider this the absolute peak of my popularity. Ultimately, I believe it’s unfounded confidence that makes a person shine — and makes them appear radiant to others. That unique sense of self-worth that comes with middle school delusions of grandeur is a precious thing.

(Chuunibyou: Literally translating to “eighth-grader syndrome,” this is a colloquial Japanese term used to describe early teens who have delusions of grandeur.)

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.

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!!

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

Am i even allowed to call myself a guitar player if I've never had any interest in owning a second guitar or any pedals whatsoever?

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?

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.