I'm putting together a new project and am looking for a bass player(three piece band, the drummer is a guy i've been playing with for years). it occurs to me that i have never had to audition players before (after 15 yrs in this game!), so i was wondering if there's any rules of thumb, advice, tips, etc those of y'all with experience at this could offer. my thinking places attitude and personality over monster chops, but i don't wanna give bass lessons either.
Give the prospect a song list. Have them pick 3 songs they wanna audition.
Let them know you're checking out other players.
Tell your propects the date of the audition in this fashion
"We're holding auditions on ......... We've got a couple of people we want to check out. Would 8 to 9 be good for you?
With a whole hour to work with, the right player should be able to set up, play three tunes and amaze you with his/her attitude and personality while they break down the rig.
Keeps it very business like and you only have to invest an hour in the ones that don't pan out.
If you leave the house, you're just asking for it.
Yup, couldn't have said it better. Moon is right on. :yay
I'd add this--no beer/booze/etc. at the auditions. A lot of bands like to make rehearsals really casual and share some pops while they practice. Nothing wrong with that, but for someone new coming in, it might set a strange tone.
Or, if they're nervous about the audition, they might pound a few too quickly and give you an impression they never intended.
Seen it happen. I'm just sayin' is all. :)
I have never been in a band, so my opinion is practically worthless, but that rarely stops me from expounding upon one...
My gut feeling is that a successful personality mesh is more important than chops. Not that chops are unimportant, but I feel they are less critical than issues like "can I get along with this person?" and "are we all on the same page about what we expect from this band?" If you're looking to play out once a month for fun, and your recruit has MTV ambitions, it may not work out for anyone.
I'll add, ask for some personal refferences and then call them. I learned this the hard way.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
DING! DING! DING!Originally Posted by Offshore Angler
Right you are, Chuck!
You want to know that the person you're going to be depending upon has a history of showing up at gigs, not blowing them off or being really late.....or too stoned or drunk to play.
And if he's not the guy you're looking for, pour some beer in his bass and kick him out the door! Just kidding, but Metallica sure seems proud of that one.
Make sure he has a place to live, too, band members living at the studio=bad ju ju. Jobs are good, too.
And if they can't show up on time for the audition, they gonna be late to the gig too, with one excuse after the other.
Things are more like they are today than they have ever been before.
Really, I had a flat ,Dude. Caught every red light in town.
Got pulled over for speeding......well, no, I don't have proof.....he said he understood and let me go....and then the train crossing held me up for another 20 minutes...203 cars...longest train I ever saw. No I didn't pick three tunes. I figured we could just wing it and play a few of the list.
Whew, I'm a bundle of nerves. You guys don't mind if I burn one before we get started do?
If you leave the house, you're just asking for it.
Or maybe just a few swigs of some of that Jack. You know, just to take the edge off.Whew, I'm a bundle of nerves. You guys don't mind if I burn one before we get started do?
Bonefish, you see what we mean? In my experience with auditions,
I rank being professional as one of the top criteria, followed by personality , followed by skill. Great personality ain't that great if they show up to practice or the gig late or even at all. and skill can be developed with practice. :)
Things are more like they are today than they have ever been before.
I'm not certain I can completely agree with that.
For instance, the drummer I chose for The Paul Michael Trio was a really nice guy, lots of interest in what I proposed and he even had a place for the trio to rehearse....but he wasn't very good past keeping a simple beat...like every time he went to a roll he fell out but I figured he's get better with rehearsal.
Not so. Three/4 months later he was exactly the same...that was three years ago...heard him play recently and he was still the same. 1-2-3-4-jumble, jumble, jumble -3-4-1-2.....very annoying.
This may go under the listing of "Some have it. Some don't"....although, I do agree that practice can't hurt.
Do the usual music thing,but then hang with them a couple of times....maybe go get wings or something and just talk.It's important to know that the "man" fits your band,and not just his music.Don't be in a hurry to add people.
"My flesh and my heart fail...but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
PS. 73:26
MY JAMS--
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...&content=music
I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Brother Fin.
It would probably be OK with my lady, but FenderBender's wife would display her displeasure at being left home
If you leave the house, you're just asking for it.
Not ideal, but I'd still take him over (pick one or more):
no matter how good they are.
- somebody who doesn't have a good sense of time
- somebody who is always late
- somebody who lives in perpetual crisis
- somebody with an overinflated ego
- somebody with with a serious substance abuse problem
- somebody who doesn't "connect" with the other members musically.
- somebody who is an asshole.
Hell, look how far AC/DC got with somebody who isn't "very good past keeping a simple beat."
George Thorogood & The Destroyers got pretty far for an entire band that doesn't have a lot of chops.
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
well, i posted an ad on a local bulliten board that speciffically states "call to set up an audition". so far every reply i've gotten has been along the lines of "dude, i'd like to come and jam with you guys sometime".
NO! You can learn the freakin' material and come in and audition, just like it says in the freakin' ad. sometimes the thing i hate most about being in a band is having to deal with musicians.
Well said, Fish :yay
If you leave the house, you're just asking for it.
Yeah, musicians are idiots for the most part.
Thankfully you've already got your drummer. That's the key element of a rock band right there. Drummer sucks, EVERYTHING sucks.
I agree with all the advice here about personality and professionalism being more critical than monster chops. Monster chops on a bass player can often be annoying too when misapplied. The bottom line is - can the dude groove? Does he support the song? Does he create and maintain a pocket? Or does he want to wank all over the place with his bitchen Geddy Lee riffs?
Personally I'd look for a bass player who stared at the drummer's kit all night and synchronized with him and never played a fill over somebody who felt the need to show off and make the bass the most important thing going on all the time.
s'all goof.
Oyyyy... this is giving me agita just thinking about it. I've been working on a songwriting/band project with a vocalist friend of mine for the last 4 or 5 months and it's time to put the rest of the band together. I'm not looking forward to it because I know what a mess it can be. Years ago, my bass playing buddy and I tried to put something together and had a bunch of drummers come out. A couple of them even joined the band, but were never heard from again!
bonefish, I would say no alcohol at the audition even if you usually just like to have 1 or 2. It's funny because I like to drink a few beers, but I have learned that it can really make a bad impression on certain people. So for the initial gathering, I'd say just leave it out completely. IF they join, they'll have plenty of time to get to know if you're a beer swiller or not. ;) I also agree with taking a professional/solid musician over someone with more chops but maybe a little lacking in some of the other key areas.
The audition process is probably the worst part of getting a band together.
I still, after a year and a half, would love to have another chordal/melodic instrument in Five Finger Discount. However, it's got to be the right person. Rather than wasting my time (and the rest of the band) auditioning people, I still go to open mics, see bands, etc., and listen for people I think would be the right fit. Pretty much that's how I've found most of the people I've played with in the past ten years.
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
That's a good way to go about it, because you get to see them in their actual working environment, with a band they're used to playing with. And in total anonymity.
Thing is, you have to be discreet when approaching them, or the other guys could, understandably, get a little upset. :ahem
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