Pre-production for gigs
- Trevor Mason
- Nov 5, 2014
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 1
If you are in a band and wanting to gig, rehearsing will be a fact. Members of some bands will spend all their time simply rehearsing in the studio. Others who rehearse smartly, will only need a small number of practices. What should you think about when preparing to gig?
Well, when your band enters pre-production for gigs, set up as you would on stage in a line or semi-circle. You need to get used to not facing each other and instead listen to the songs for your change cues. This doesn't mean you can never look at one another, but you need to prepare for performing in a live venue. If you have trouble with this at first, set up in a semi-circle and as you warm up start to move out so you learn to play with your ears. Start rehearsing like you’re playing a show.
Agree on which songs will be in your set and their order. Once you've decided, play through the set even if there are mistakes. Just because the bass player missed a verse doesn't mean other members should grind to a halt. You wouldn't do this on stage and you should keep from doing it during rehearsals. It puts you in the frame of mind every rehearsal is a show and every show is a rehearsal. It calms the nerves and breeds familiarity with your song order.
And relax...
Once you have played your set take 15 minutes to critique it. This doesn't mean start an argument, but talk about how the set flowed, including:
How was the sound set up?
Was the guitar too muddy, the bass too soft?
Were the effects set up so switching between them sounded smooth?
You will get a feel for the set and maybe want to change the order of the songs. That's what rehearsals are about.
Once your critique is complete and you have fixed any technical problems with sounds, volume, patching, do the set again. If the lead vocalist wants to talk to the imaginary crowd in between songs, let him/her do it. You're working on stage presence.
Recording your rehearsals
You might find it helpful to listen to live recordings of your jams and rehearsals. Set up a simple recorder in your practice room and capture the whole rehearsal. You can play along to the recording to practice parts you need to improve, or write new ones.
This could be particularly useful for a singer or lyricist, because he/she can take the recording home and work on it without holding up other band members.
Listening back to a demo as a band is a good way of taking an objective view of which parts do and don't work. Don't worry about the quality of the recording - as long as you can hear all the parts then it will do the job.
Make adjustments based on what you hear. Is the guitarist too busy? Maybe you don’t need to repeat the chorus three times at the end. The list of possible tweaks and adjustments is endless.
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