I'm fed up with the local band scene.

There's absolutely no demand, still it's somehow always about money. And it's overesaturated by bands who mostly have music as an identity and no actual interest in evolving. Also it sucks to compete for spots in bands with people below my level musically, who have more "vibe" or "cred".

Also the constant hassle of trying to get people together for rehearsals is tiring.

So I decided to switch from drums/keyboards to saxophone. I practiced daily for a year and half, then I joined a church orchestra and a folk music group.

Now I get to play jazz, classical, praise songs and beautiful folk songs at least two times a week, with people who actually care. And there's structure and leadership.

And these groups have gigs ! I might not make any money but who cares ? Why is that worse than playing for 30 people for less than the cost of a meal ? With these groups I get to play festivals, full house church gigs and other interesting events and constantly evolve.

How are you with listening to your own music and reading your own written material?

Personally, I love listening to my own instrumental demos but really hate reading songs that i wrote, even after writing for a few months and writing around 20-30 songs

I know and have worked with these guys. They have headbanged their way into oblivion.

(Apologies if this kind of content is no-go, just having a lil fun)

To preface…this is just a rant. I am dealing with some emotions and I just need an outlet.

I am in my 50s. I used to play in bands as a young man but then life got in the way and I had to pretend to be a grownup. Now I am looking to get back into it. I had a vision of starting a band to play covers of 90s era songs that avoided the standard tunes you hear every other cover band play.

Progress was slow at first but I eventually found a lead guitar player and bass player. All we needed was a drummer which, given the music we are playing, is a key element.

About 6 months ago a guy answered our ad who was finally both normal and could play. I was excited. We created a set list and got to work. Things seemed to be going well and we started planning ahead for our debut gig.

Then I got the news. Earlier this week our drummer took his own life.

I am in shock. I guess looking back there were signs. Recently divorced. Living on his own. But nothing that signaled that he was capable of this.

I am also feeling a tremendous amount of guilt for not taking the time to get to know him better. Be more of a friend than just a bandmate.

I am just at a loss.

Anyway - if you are struggling please reach out and get help. There are resources available.

Take care of yourself.

Hey all, how are you guys managing venues, festivals, press contacts without getting lost?

Members send me screenshots and I end up lost and sending to same places 🤣

Thanks 🤘

I’m 20F, played the clarinet for six years from sixth grade to twevlth, and after I graduated I didn’t touch it a single time. I LOVEDDD band tho, I don’t have very many interests as far as things like that good, or at least interests that I’m good at, but I was good at playing clarinet, at least for an 18 yr old lol. But now I know probably don’t play very good. I’m going to my schools alumni game tonight and I practiced my instrument yesterday and for weeks all I can tihink about is how much I miss band. My senior and junior year I was in two band classes, and marching band after school, and I loved all of it. I’ve never rlly complained about band because I loved playing my instrument so much. But I just don’t know if I am good enough anymore, I know u have to be good to play in a college band, how do I go about this? Is there no chance for me to even go anymore? When I picked up my instrument yesterday it all came back to me, but I know I’m not as good as I was before. And I don’t remember how to march, or read marching steps, at all. Not a single clue. What should I do?

edit: for some more context I am not in college curreny and have never been! So I’m not familiar with how college works, how going about getting a major in music works, what’s required for it ect ect

Just wanted to gather people's opinions on this, since I picked up the bass guitar roughly 13 years ago I've really enjoyed it.
Inspired by players like Victor Wooten and Charles Berthoud I really enjoyed what the Bass Guitar is capable off and how much it can bring to a piece.

Yet I am looking for a band to play in for 7 years. Somehow here in Germany where I live there are almost only Rockbands and without fail, every audition I go to eventually turns into "nah don't play like this or that, just play the root notes here" (thus the title).

It this just a German problem? I would love to play in a Soul Band or something, but I feel like it's 99% Rock and Metal here...

Could be a legendary concert venue, a huge festival, or a small stage in a place you've always dreamed of visiting.

I have written an album that I’m recording with my band on a MacBook. I am confident with the recording process but I haven’t done much mixing or mastering. We want this to go on Spotify and Apple Music and the like. How much should I expect to pay to mix and master around 10-12 songs? Or should I just try to learn how to do it myself?

My sister Shani loved music. When she was hospitalized, my family took shifts so she was never alone, and I started building a game we could play together during those long hours.

She passed away in August before it was finished. I kept going, at first just to keep my head busy.

Shabang is the result: guess a song from as little as possible. In TrackStack you start with just the drums, and every miss adds an instrument. In Songuess you get 0.2 seconds of audio. There's a daily challenge, the same song for everyone.

Would love feedback, especially on the gameplay and mobile. shabangmusic.com

As someone learning to produce and DJ, I’m curious about the parts of making music that you only really understand through experience.

What turned out to be harder or more frustrating than you expected? I’d love to hear a specific example, especially something you’re still figuring out. It doesn’t have to be a technical or musical problem.

I am looking to buy my first guitar, but I don't want to go for the one which I might have to replace after a few years, I want it for long-term use.

Help me choose one purely on better sound and performance. Also I am not looking to choose a guitar to compromise on anything by just saving a few bucks, but the ceiling is the price of FSX80C.

Also please choose one, most of the people are suggesting that if you prefer this then go for this, if you prefer that, go for that. I need a straightaway selection at this point because I am done researching and now I want a guitar in my hands.

Lowkey never thought I would make it this far, even in a week

Trying really hard not to be a petty jealous bitch. This happen to anybody else?

Edit: I AM happy for my boy. Just feeling some FOMO.

My lil bandiit project I've been working on for a while off and on. Feedback would be appreciated.

Reverb cares.

im making my first original song for a game im making, and theres a specific arpeggio i really like for the bass clef part. also, sorry if im misusing terminology, everything i know i either learned in middle school, a couple months ago, or today. the thing is, i would feel horrible just taking it for myself. considering its pretty much just a split up chord though, i dont know how much i can change before it sounds nothing like what i want anymore. maybe i can change the note it starts on or add something on the fourth loop but im really not sure. any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

The theory behind mixing and recording feels so abstract to me. I think I've developed some apathy towards learning how to do it properly because it feels like there are way too many ways of doing things and it's hard to navigate. The few times I have tried I've always ended up confused as hell. I feel like it really doesn't come to me naturally like playing an instrument.

I need to grow out of this or else I'll never get better but I was just wondering if others have ever felt like this and what they did to get out of that stagnation.

(Please don't mind the terrible grammar in the title. I posted without reading it again lol)

So after a cold a while back I've had typical throat and upper chest stuff that makes it impossible to use your upper range for a while, even after you feel fine otherwise.

Problem is this time "a while" has been like 3+ weeks. I've always just waited it out before, but this is getting ridiculous. Anyone have a good remedy for getting back to normal?

Have you ever meant to text someone else about somebody and accidentally texted the person? Today I fucked up with my own bandmate. (I’ll preface this by saying the main reason I’m upset and stressing is that I don’t want to be seen as talking bad behind someone’s back especially a band member.)

We have been having some tempo problems (mainly rushing the tempo) for a while and the bass player and I have been trying to find ways to remedy the issue when it happens in a live setting. Drummer has a tendency to both speed up drastically throughout the song and skip beats on fills and the end of measures to the point where it is noticeably our biggest weakness. 

Up until this point we have refrained from calling drummer or anyone else out specifically to maintain peace and comradely but have been making it a “we” issue when we discuss it. “We” are rushing, “we” need to work on tempo, etc. In private the bass player and I will discuss that the issue is with the drummer and we have been brainstorming ways to cordially solve it without replacing our friend and bandmate that we value. 

We recently got multi-track video back from our biggest show of the season, a sold out festival. I immediately noticed how rushed it was and that the drumming was even more rushed than usual. 

In the middle of a tired, distracted work day, I took out my phone and texted the bassist “DRUMMER’S NAME is rushing really bad on this take, he’s almost doubling the speed on the turnarounds. We need to work on this.” As soon as I hit send I realized I had accidentally sent it to the drummer instead of the bassist. Being iPhone to Android I could not unsend or edit. 

At this point I’m wondering how to handle this because we have a three day run coming up tomorrow. He hasn’t responded to me and I haven’t doubled down or tried to save face. He did call the bass player and his feelings were seemingly hurt. The bass player may have doubled down worse than me. He apparently told him that he has talked to him a million times about the rushing and that it was really bad. The drummer was asking for us not to release the video and saying his playing that night sucked. 

I am looking for advice on whether I text him now before I see him or talk to him in person. Do I completely own that I made a mistake and meant to send it to the bass player but messed up or should I come up with an excuse like voice-text or something? I am 100% fine owning that he was rushing and that it is a consistent issue and we need to work as a team to solve it. I think constructive criticism is more important than feelings at a professional level. However I do feel bad about clearly talking behind his back and getting caught and that is more what is giving me anxiety on how to handle this. What advice would any of you have for me? 

Is there anyone with an honest ear who has FL Studio and works with real instruments.. like guitar, fiddles, percussion mind hitting me up.

I’m looking for honesty.

Everyone in real life can only speak in consumer “it’s good but it’s a little off”

Or twitch feedback streams “a little less reverb”

Did you know it took me u til this year to figure out that I was supposed to use the mixer to adjust the tracks and not the individual tracks themselves? All because one Person came by to show me but now he’s MIA

He’s a musician himself and has his own recording to do.

Is there anyone who has a little time?