Tips on Rejuvinating Your Band Sonically and Spiritually

Tips on Rejuvinating Your Band Sonically and Spiritually

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Tips on Rejuvinating Your Band Sonically and Spiritually By Mark Valentino

It’s no surprise that in order for a band to be successful on any level, all members need to contribute time and effort. I formed my own band and in the 6 years of the band’s existence, I can honestly say that I have done the lion’s share of work. It’s a common thread that exists in many bands; there is the one person who does everything while the bandmates just show up for rehearsal and the gigs and don’t do anything to help the band along. I was that guy for years until I decided I’d had enough.

There are many components involved in making a band successful. Aside from the obvious (practicing your instrument, songwriting, gigs and rehearsing), you also have promoting, websites, e-mail lists, flyers and booking gigs. It’s all this behind-the-scenes work that can make or break a band. Whether it is because of my own tenacity or my bandmate’s lack of participation, I have been performing all of the above-mentioned tasks myself. There is no doubt that I do it because there is a small part of control freak in me. In order to delegate tasks to other band members, you may have to resort to what I did last year. I was updating our website when I had noticed that we had only played 6 gigs the entire year. I also noticed we had only written 1 new song for the year as well. I decided that 20010 was gonna be the year that ALL members of my band would have to contribute in order for us to achieve any sort of success.

Towards the end of December, I called a band meeting after a rehearsal. I pretty much laid all my cards on the table and told the band how unhappy I was with 2009 and that some changes would be in order. I told my bandmates that if changes weren’t made, that I would be replacing band members with some new blood. I made it very clear that I take the band very seriously and that if anyone wasn’t going to roll with the changes they should leave. I then discussed all the work I was doing and that showing up for rehearsals and gigs is simply not enough. I tried motivating them by describing all that we could accomplish if we would only work as a team. I also reminded that none of them were here on a scholarship and that we all need to pull our weight and not slack off.

I then tapped into my bandmate’s strengths. I delegated responsibilities to each band member, taking into consideration their abilities. As a result, all members began to communicate better with each other. Rather than wait to see each other at practice, we send group e-mails to each other, which mostly resemble a message board or forum-type of communication. Everyone knows whats on each others minds and we are all on the same page with each other.

Also, we’re getting a lot more done now that certain members are responsible for making flyers, certain members book gigs, certain members get us newspaper articles and radio interviews. We also split the responsibilites of running the website and e-mail lists.

As a result, 2010 has been a banner year for us. We have 6 new songs in our set, we are booking shows in not only NY, but in PA and CT as well. We have done a few radio interviews and a few newspaper articles. Plus we have performed 17 gigs this year and its only August! We are currently recording our new CD and hope to have it out by Fall.

The band seems rejuvinated not only sonically, but spiritually as well. Everyone pitches in and we all work together to reach a common goal. It took a lot of work, but its a lot better than me pushing a big rock uphill by doing it all by myself.

About the Author

MARK - LEAD GUITARS & BACKGROUND VOCALS LOCATION: Mineola, NY

INFLUENCES: Neal Schon (Journey), Joe Satriani, Al DiMeola, John Petrucci, George Lynch (Dokken), Gary Moore

GEAR: Paul Reed Smith, BC Rich and OLP electric guitars, Guild acoustic guitars, Carlo Robelli 12 string and 6 string acoustic guitars, QSC amps, Line 6 effects and cabinets, Samson wireless systems, SKB road cases, D'Addario strings

QUOTE: "If you mess with the bull, you're gonna get the horns"

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AHB-1s - Seymour Duncan Blackouts – Set. Our engineers figured out how to capture the tone that players want in an active design, but using balanced inputs. The result is 12dB to 14dB less noise, plus more lows, more highs, and more output. Simply put, Blackouts have more tone than other active pickups. The blade magnets make this pickup suitable for both humbucker and Trembucker string spacings.

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Seymour Duncan - Gus G. and Evan Skopp
Gus G sure loves his "BLACKOUTS"!
Seymour Duncan Pickups

While best known for his fretboard pyrotechnics in the Greek metal band Firewind, axe man Gus G. is about to blow up big time on the world stage. He recently accepted lead guitar duties with the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne. The lineage of Ozzy's guitarists includes the legendary Randy Rhodes, Jake E. Lee, and most recently Zakk Wylde. And the tones emanating from Gus' guitars come courtesy of Seymour Duncan. Gus uses passive pickups in his ESP® signature model (Duncan Distortion and '59), but his Eclipses rely on Original Blackouts for the heavy duty fire power.

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Gus G Visits The Seymour Duncan Factory

Recently Gus stopped by the Seymour Duncan factory for a tour and to meet the crew. He had a chance to hang out with Seymour, wind a pickup with ...

APH-2B - Slash Signature Series Humbucker

APH-2B - Slash Signature Series Humbucker


A warm, moderate-output humbucker pickup set designed to produce Slash's unique recorded guitar tone.

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Slash at the Seymour Duncan booth during 2010 NAMM

The EMG X Series Pickups for the BASS Guitar

EMG X SERIES BASS PICKUPS

EMG X SERIES

Guitar Parts Depot USA is excited about bringing you The EMG X Series Pickups for the BASS Guitar. These X-Sreies Pickups provides a wide range of tone blends from your bass. The result is pure capability; the capacity to produce everything from tight slap funk to smooth Motown groove, all with a sound that'll set you apart from the rest of the pack. EMG X Series Bass Pickups give you all this and more while still maintaining the clarity and response that EMG’s are renowned for.


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EMG X SERIES BASS PICKUPS

EMG X Series

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EMG X Series

EMG Inc, a leading manufacturer of pickups and accessories, has released a new line of high-output guitar and bass pickups for all styles of playing – The X Series.

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EMG X-Series 81X, 85X and SAX Pickup Review
by Kenny Rardin

We see what kind of an upgrade the X-Series offers to EMG's classic lineup


The New X-Series

The samples I received for review were the 81X, the 85X, and the SAX. The first thing I noticed upon opening the packaging was the new pickup wiring buss. For the last few years, EMGs have had a slide-on connector on the pickup end of the pickup lead. This made it very easy to change between EMG models in the guitar. Now they have taken it a step further. This new pickup buss eliminates the need for any soldering. The rest of the wiring harness attaches to convenient screw terminals on the pickup buss. This makes for a clean, neat, simple way to make pickup and power connections in your guitar. Changing pickups takes no time at all with the new EMG models.

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FCH-4BCHR - Babicz FCH 4 Bass Bridge. Chrome

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FCH-4BCHR - Babicz FCH 4 Bass Bridge. Chrome


FCH-4BCHR - Babicz Full Contact Hardware 4 String Bass Bridge. Chrome. A direct replacement upgrade for Fender Precision or Jazz style bass bridges. Mounts with the Fender 5 hole screw pattern. Installs in minutes and offers a "saddle housing lock" feature for added saddle stability. Includes all necessary screws, instructions and adjustment wrench.


Babicz Full Contact Hardware Bridges


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