Know Your Equipment

Throughout the years, as a musician, I have purchased a lot of musical equipment. Some items I have kept right up until this day and other items I sold for the purpose of using the money to buy something else that I thought I needed more. Priorities change over time and sometimes we make bad purchasing decisions and so we get rid of the stuff we don’t use.

One thing is important though, regarding equipment and that is to really understand what you are either purchasing, considering purchasing and the equipment you have. Knowing your equipment can save you money as well as allow you to get the most from it.

Knowing What You Need

There are two categories regarding the purchasing of music equipment. The things you want and the things you need. For example, you need a sound system in order to play out. So you or your band mates will have to purchase one. Or maybe you all will have to pitch in. But you need to know what kind of system you will need.

As and example, I am a solo performer. I mostly sing and play guitar. I also don’t play very large venues. So technically, I don’t need a massive sound system. I use a powered mixer with just two speakers. I only use a few channels on the mixer. So anything beyond what I currently use would be overkill and more expensive.

Now your situation may be considerably different. You may have a full band. You may also have a very loud drummer, which means you are going to have to be able to match him in volume. You may also be wanting to play larger venues that take full bands. As a solo performer, I can play many of the smaller venues and still make good money. As a full band, you will have to play larger venues that can afford a large band in order for you each to be able to make decent money.

So what you need to do is assess what your musical goals are and then do some research on the equipment you think you might need to meet those goals. Making the right purchasing decision will save you money and will make you sound better. So step one is to know what you are looking for and know what you are buying.

Learning How to Use Your Equipment

Once you get that sound system, you need to learn how to get the best sound possible out of it. Or maybe you just purchased a new guitar effects unit. The same would be true regarding that or pretty much any other type of equipment you are using.

It is best that you have band rehearsals using the same equipment you intend to use playing out. That way you will know what settings work best before you even play at a venue. Otherwise, you will be spending a good portion of the night trying to tweak your sound at the gig.

I mostly practice with the use of an acoustic guitar. I play the guitar and sing without the use of a sound system. But I have practiced at home with the use of the sound system I use playing out. Then I wrote down the settings so that I can try to reproduce the sound at the venue when I play the gig.

I generally have an idea as to the sound I am looking for. As a solo performer, I seek to have the fullest sound possible, due to the fact that I have no one else playing along with me to fill the sound. I play out with an acoustic guitar as well as an electric. The acoustic guitar provides a nice full sound without much tweaking but the electric takes a bit more effort to get a full sound.

Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment

The first thing I do when I get a new piece of equipment is to look over the manual. Sometimes I will download the manual for a piece of equipment before I even buy it. It gives me an idea as to what it is capable of before I make that purchasing decision. Most manufacturers offer PDF manuals for their equipment on their websites, for download.

Since I often view the manuals before I even get the equipment, I usually know something about the capabilities available. So I can basically hit the ground running when I finally do get it. But once I receive the equipment, I spend a good amount of time experimenting with it. That way, I learn about its capabilities as well as its limitations.

Most often, before I make that final purchasing decision, I will watch a lot of demo videos for whatever piece of equipment it is. YouTube is full of demo videos for music equipment. I usually view them before I buy something. But I also view them even afterward because sometimes you can learn something more about the equipment from the way the person demonstrating it is using it. I often view more than one demo video because different people usually demonstrate and emphasize different features in their own videos.


After watching some of the demo videos, I will often try to recreate what they are doing if I find something they are doing to be interesting. So I will experiment with those sort of things. I have seen some pretty good demonstrations online that have provided a bit of inspiration.

How to Save Money by Knowing Your Equipment

Everybody wants to save money. There are a lot of ways to do that, regarding music equipment. You see, if you know your equipment and what it is capable of, you may discover that you don’t need to purchase something because the equipment you already have may be capable of doing it instead. Maybe not as well sometimes but maybe to a satisfactory degree. The experimentation process can help you to make that determination.

Learning what certain pieces of equipment are capable of before you buy it prevents you from purchasing the wrong equipment. You just have to know what you are looking to achieve. That will help you to make wise purchasing decisions.

If You don’t Use It, Sell It

Perhaps you have made some bad purchasing decisions. Or maybe you’ve purchased something new that either does things better or does more. I have had some pieces of equipment laying around not being used anymore. So I have sold them and used the money to buy the things I needed to achieve my various objectives. Sure, I took a loss on those things by selling them used but they were doing me no good by laying around gathering dust.


Priorities change over time. Maybe your musical goals have changed as well. You need the equipment necessary to meet those goals. Keeping old useless junk around won’t do that. It just takes up space and the money you could get by selling it could be used for better things.

Summary

So knowing your equipment can save you money and help you achieve certain objectives. You must learn the capabilities by experimenting with the equipment and you will also learn its limitations in the process as well. You will get the most out of the equipment you have and you will be able to achieve a better quality of sound. Read the manuals, experiment, read articles on it and watch demonstration videos online. You will be amazed by some of the ideas and inspiration you will find just by doing all of those things and knowing your equipment.

Bob Craypoe
Creator of The Punksters™
Founder and Creative Director of Craypoe Productions®

The First Five Guitar Effects Pedals You Need for Electric Guitar

 

Introduction

Maybe you have a multi-effects unit and want to start using stomp boxes for gigs for the sake of simplicity or maybe you are starting out on guitar and just want to start building up a pedal board. In either case, you need to prioritize what pedals you should get first. I break it down to five pedals with some of them being a choice between two options. I have two very large pedal boards loaded with a variety of pedals, so I know from experience which ones are most important and which ones are used most. I feel that I know enough to make some qualified recommendations. These recommendations, though, are ones based on the fact that you are playing an electric guitar. I would not make the same recommendations for acoustic guitar. 

 

1) Distortion, Fuzz or Overdrive

I would make different suggestions based upon the type of music you play. For someone playing Jazz or Blues, I would probably recommend an Ibanez Tube Screamer. It’s not a lot of distortion and it provides a very warm tube-like sound. You can also use it as a boost pedal before an amplifier and use the distortion of the dirty channel of the guitar amplifier. You can use it as either a clean boost or a dirty boost. The Tube Screamer works great in either case. Randy Rhoads use to use an MXR Distortion + as a boost for his Marshall amplifiers. He would use mostly the distortion from the dirty channel of his Marshall with just a little drive from his Distortion + pedal.

If you do Heavy Metal, you could still use just a Tube Screamer but solely as a boost and use an amplifier’s distortion for most of your distortion needs. A lot of guitar players from the Classic Rock era used boost pedals prior to using an amplifier’s distortion. They either use it just to boost the guitar for a lead solo or sometimes just leave it on all of the time. You can get a variety of distortion sounds by blending a distortion pedal with the amplifier’s built in distortion; using a little of each or one more than the other. It’s definitely something worth experimenting with.

Now, if you play Heavy Metal or hard rock and want to get all of your distortion from a pedal, a Tube Screamer or Distortion + just won’t cut it. You need something a little heavier. A Pro Co Rat is a very versatile distortion unit. By playing around with the Distortion and Filter knobs, you can get a variety of distortion tones. If you want an all-out metal sound, then I would recommend some of the ones by MXR and Boss. They have a nice selection of distortion units that are useful for a number of different genres with some of them being more suitable for Heavy Metal. Electro-Harmonix even has a version of the Muff Fuzz for Heavy Metal that they call the Metal Muff. They have a few different models of the Metal Muff with a variety of features.

There are some cheap alternatives as far as distortion pedals go. There are brands like Behringer, Donner and Mooer that offer cheaper pedals. So if you want a variety of distortion sounds, you could get a cheap Tube Screamer clone and a cheap fuzz pedal. Those manufacturers I just mentioned offer some pedals that are below $25. So you could get a few different types of distortion pedals for the price of one from the more expensive manufacturers. Then later on you could replace the cheaper units for the more expensive ones from the bigger brand names.

2) Noise Gate or Noise Suppressor

If you are going to use distortion, fuzz or any type of overdriven sound, you will definitely need a noise gate or noise suppression pedal. The names vary depending upon the manufacturer. The most common terms are noise gate or noise suppressor. In any case, they basically cut out the noise when you are not playing. This comes in real handy when you are playing songs that may have a pause here and there. Who wants to hear a bunch of noise, hiss and hum coming from your guitar whenever you pause or have a moment in the song where you stop playing your guitar?

If you are using the distortion from an amp, you will have to use a noise gate in the effects loop. Some noise gates even have an effects loop of their own. I actually own one that does but I don’t use the effects loop, I just plug straight into the input and that’s it. You can get them fairly cheap from the same manufacturers I mentioned above. It depends on your budget and what you are willing to spend. But make no mistake, if you use distortion, you need a noise gate.

3) Chorus Pedal

As far as modulation effects go, I would recommend a chorus pedal over any other type of modulation effect. It adds so much depth and/or ambiance to your sound. You can use it with or without distortion and it works with pretty much any genre of music. It sounds great with Jazz guitar as well as with Heavy Metal, so it’s good for just about anything. It’s also an important component in New Age and anything involving ambient guitar.

I generally place my modulation, delay and reverb effects after my noise gate. You can use it before your amp but if you use the distortion in your amp, I would recommend you use it in your effects loop in your amplifier, just as I would with any other effects pedal.

4) Phase Shifter or Flanger

Phase shifters and flangers are modulation effects that sound a bit similar. The flanger is a much harsher sound that you probably would not use as much as you would a phaser. Some brands of flangers do have a lot of control over the sound to where you can get a very light flange sound that comes close to a phase shifter but some brands do not. So, in the cases where they don’t, you are stuck with a very strong flange sound that sounds a lot like a jet taking off.

If I were to choose between the two, I would probably choose a phase shifter over a flanger because I would use it more than a flanger, due to the fact that is is not as heavy or dominant a sound. Phasers and flangers work great for lead solos or rhythm guitar parts. Eddie Van Halen used an MXR Phase 90 quite a bit in his early years for his lead solos, including the song “Eruption.”

5) Reverb or Delay

Reverbs and delays really provide a lot of depth to your sound. Since a lot of guitar amplifiers come with reverb built in, you could just get away with having to buy a delay pedal. But it is a hard choice if your amp doesn’t have reverb. They both provide depth to your sound but they do differ in sound and it’s a pretty tough decision as to which one I prefer over the other; especially since I like to use both at the same time, in my current rig. But if you have an amp with reverb then the choice becomes obvious. You get the delay pedal.

As far as reverb goes, I like to use hall reverb sounds. But some reverb pedals offer a few different types of reverb like hall, spring and plate. Some have a toggle switch that you use to choose between those three types. Cheaper units have just one knob that controls the amount of reverb. More expensive units have controls over the delay time, room size and so forth. Sometimes it’s just easier to get a unit with one knob just for the sake of simplicity, especially for live situations.

Delay is probably a bit more complicated than reverb because the wrong delay time could conflict with the tempo of a song. For the sake of simplicity, I often just use a quick slap-back delay. That causes a lot less conflicts with songs of varying tempos. With longer delay times, it can be difficult to match the delay time to the tempo of the song but it does sound great when the song’s tempo and delay time are perfectly synchronized. It’s a beautiful thing.

Just as with the modulation and distortion pedals, you can find cheap delay and reverb pedals as well. So maybe you won’t have to choose between the two if you buy a couple of cheap ones under $50 or so. For some reason, reverb pedals cost more than delay pedals. You can get delay pedals for under $25 but the cheapest reverb pedals I have seen are around $50 or so. So price may come into play when you are making your decision as to which one of the two effects you will purchase.

Conclusion

I am not saying that you will be able to achieve every possible sound with just five pedals. But you have to start somewhere and five pedals are a pretty good start. You can always build upon it later. I have a couple of pedal boards with over a dozen pedals each. I have more than a few types of distortion pedals alone. I have a boost pedal as well as auto wah, reverb, delay and modulation pedals. I even have a few Guitar synth pedals. I often use more than one at a time. I can get a variety of sounds, tones and effects. I can mix and match to a countless number of variations. I am always experimenting to either come up with new sounds or to improve the sounds I currently use. It’s a lot of fun sometimes just to play around and see what I can come up with. So after you get those five pedals, play around some. Experiment and have some fun.

Bob Craypoe
Founder of Craypoe Productions® and Creator of The Punksters™ Characters

  

What an Open Mic is Good For

 

Introduction

When I did my first open mic, it was a very positive experience for me overall. I played acoustic guitar and sang. It was actually the first time I had ever done anything as a solo act in front of an audience. Prior to that I had only been a guitarist in the various bands I had played in. So this was a first for me and the reception was very good. So I obviously was encouraged enough to want to come back again.

Since then, I have done I don't know how many open mics. Some were good, some were bad, some had their purposes and others served no good purpose whatsoever. But, in any case, you have to think of what you are trying to achieve by performing at one. So how do you know if one is worth your time? I can give you some of the deciding factors for me.

Checking Out the Local Music Scene and Meeting People

When I decided to try my first open mic ever, my intention was just to go out and see what the local music scene was all about. That's obviously good to do if you are considering getting out in that local music scene and playing for money. You will also get a chance to meet other musicians who you may actually want to work with.

My intention at the time was to hopefully get together with other musicians and form some kind of band. So I figured I'd play a few other open mics at various venues in the area to kind of announce my existence to the world and hope someone would want to form a band with me. I eventually met a keyboard player at an open mic and we formed a music duo. We then played a good number of gigs together and made a good amount of money along the way.

Using an Open Mic as an Audition

As a Duo, my keyboard player and me would want to check out a new venue from time to time, so we would do their open mic. Often the person who would do the bookings would be present. So we would use it as sort of an audition. This worked out rather well a number of times and we had scored a number of gigs by doing so. Later on I went solo and would take the same approach when trying to get solo gigs. Again, it all worked out rather well.

Over time, as the economy kind of took a downturn a lot of places stopped having live entertainment. For some of those places, the only live entertainment they had was their open mic. So obviously playing at those open mics did not help in scoring you any gigs at any of those places. In my case, as a solo act, there was no reason to try to meet other musicians for the purpose of forming a band. So basically, there was no real reason for performing at those open mics.

Trying Out new Material in Front of an Audience

When I was putting together a repertoire for the purpose of playing gigs, I used the open mics to try out the new material to see how it would go over with the audience as well as to kind of get over the nervousness of playing something new in front of an audience. As performers, we sometimes do a lot of the same songs simply because we feel more comfortable with them and so we may put off playing that new song in front of an audience for the first time.

For a while, as I was building up my song list, I would do the same open mic every week. I would force myself to try at least one or two new songs each week, since I would be playing in front of the same audience each week. It was my way of forcing myself to learn new material and to try it out on an audience.

When an Open Mic is a Waste of Your Time

When you go to an open mic, you buy drinks. Even the price for just a coke is ridiculous in some venues. So you are spending a significant amount of money in some cases. For what? Really, think about it. If you are not achieving anything by doing an open mic, why throw away your money?

I did an open mic once at this one establishment that I never went back to again. The drinks were very expensive and the person who hosted the open mic didn't really care how the performers sounded. So that person made no effort to properly mix someone and, as a result, most of the acts sounded terrible. I have been to other open mics where the host would make the utmost effort to make the performers sound good as far as the mix would go. He believed that if the performer liked how he sounded, he would come back to the open mic again. He was basically right because his was the most popular one around, no matter where he hosted it.

Now that one open mic with the expensive drinks and the poor mix, as it turned out, did not do their own booking. They relied upon a booking agency. So doing the open mic at that establishment was an absolute and complete waste of time and effort. Obviously I never returned to it. What would have been the point? Expensive drinks, really bad mix and no opportunity to score a gig.

Summary

Now, I had done a number of open mics where the drinks were cheap and the mix was good. Those I didn't mind doing once in a while, even if they didn't normally book bands for live performance. Every now and then it's nice to just get out and have a little fun. So you call up a couple of your musician friends and ask them if they want to meet you there and hang out. But I generally don't make a practice of that though. It's just fun to do every now and then.

To sum things up, the good reasons for doing an open mic are: to try out new material for the first time, to try to meet other musicians to form a band, to check out the music scene in the area or the establishment or to try to score a gig in the establishment hosting the open mic. When none of those things are being achieved, there really isn't much reason for doing an open mic.

So, as you can see, open mics do have their purposes. And if one does fit those purposes, then, by all means, do it. But if you really think about one and you can see no real good reason for doing it, you might as well just stay home and practice.

© 2017 Bob Craypoe
Founder of Craypoe Productions and the Creator of the Punksters Characters

 

Psychological Trivia Every Musician Should Know (According to Actual Psychology)

 

Musicians are fascinating creatures. Psychology has spent decades studying creativity, performance, personality, and motivation, and some of the findings explain why musicians behave the way they do. Of course, we're going to have a little fun with those discoveries.

Here are a few psychology-based trivia facts with a Punksters twist.

1. Your Brain Loves Patterns

The human brain naturally looks for patterns, which is one reason music is so enjoyable. We actually get satisfaction from recognizing melodies and predicting what comes next.

Translation: That's why you keep humming the same chorus for three days even though you swore you were sick of hearing it.

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2. Performing Creates Adrenaline

Stage performances often trigger an adrenaline rush. Your heart races, your senses sharpen, and your body prepares for action.

Translation: That's why you feel invincible on stage... and then spend the next day wondering why your knees, back, neck, and shoulders all filed separate complaints.

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3. Confidence Is Contagious

Psychologists have found that confidence influences how people perceive performers. Audiences often respond more positively to someone who appears confident.

Translation: If you confidently play the wrong note, half the audience may assume it was jazz.

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4. Practice Builds Automatic Skills

Repetition strengthens neural pathways. With enough practice, many musical movements become automatic rather than requiring conscious thought.

Translation: Which is great... until someone asks what chord you're playing and your brain replies, "I have absolutely no idea. My fingers handled that."

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5. Creativity Often Happens During Rest

Research suggests that stepping away from a problem allows the subconscious mind to continue working on it.

Translation: Your best song idea will probably appear while you're in the shower, mowing the lawn, or trying to fall asleep—not while you're staring angrily at a blank notebook.

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6. Perfectionism Can Hurt Creativity

Psychologists consistently find that excessive perfectionism can reduce productivity and increase anxiety.

Translation: Congratulations! You spent six months fixing a song nobody else thought needed fixing.

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7. Music Can Improve Mood

Listening to and creating music can increase dopamine, one of the brain's reward chemicals.

Translation: Which explains why buying another guitar feels like an excellent life decision... at least until the credit card bill arrives.

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8. Audiences Notice Fewer Mistakes Than Performers

Studies show performers are usually far more aware of their mistakes than the audience.

Translation: The crowd remembered the great performance. You're still thinking about that one note from the second verse that was approximately 0.04% flat.

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9. Social Connection Matters

Playing music together strengthens social bonds and creates a sense of belonging.

Translation: Unless someone keeps changing the rehearsal schedule five minutes before practice.

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10. Musicians Never Really Stop Listening

Experienced musicians often analyze songs automatically without intending to.

Translation: Normal people hear a song. Musicians hear the chord progression, production quality, vocal mix, drum tone, bass line... and somehow still forget the actual lyrics.

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Psychology tells us that musicians aren't strange—they're simply wired to experience creativity, performance, and music in unique ways. Of course, that doesn't explain why instrument cases multiply in closets or why every rehearsal somehow turns into a debate about equipment. Science is still working on those mysteries.

Bob Craypoe
Founder of Craypoe Productions and Creator of the Punksters 

 

When Followers Start Requesting Specific Characters

 

One of the most encouraging things that can happen as a content creator is when followers stop simply watching your content and start asking for more of something specific.

I’ve been seeing more of that lately with the Punksters characters and the various characters they portray. On different social media platforms, people have started requesting particular characters they want to see again.

And recently, I’ve gotten more requests for Nethaniel Goone and Mongo.

That tells me something.

People are beginning to remember the characters.

Who Are Nethaniel Goone and Mongo?

For anyone who hasn’t encountered them yet, Nethaniel Goone and Mongo are part of one of the many comedy worlds built around the Punksters characters.

Nethaniel Goone, played by Jerry Bangston, is a wandering pioneer and frontier adventurer. He isn't a sheriff or lawman. He's simply a guy traveling from place to place through the unsettled wilderness, never quite knowing what ridiculous situation he is going to encounter next.

Along the way, Nethaniel deals with bears and other wildlife, wilderness hazards, suspicious or difficult tribes, and an assortment of pioneers, hunters, trappers, mountain men and other frontier characters.

And, of course, he has his companion Mongo, played by Jerome Bloom.

Mongo travels alongside Nethaniel and frequently provides another perspective on whatever absurd predicament they've managed to wander into. Their contrasting personalities give me plenty of opportunities for comedy.

Basically, Nethaniel keeps wandering into trouble, and Mongo gets to be there when it happens.

What could possibly go wrong?

The Characters Are Becoming Characters

This is something I've wanted to accomplish with the Punksters from the beginning.

Jerry, Jerome, Crash, Bill and the others aren't limited to one particular setting.

They can become pirates.

They can live in the Old West.

They can appear in medieval adventures.

They can wander through the wilderness as Nethaniel Goone and Mongo.

The same familiar Punksters characters can be placed into entirely different worlds and situations. That gives me an almost unlimited number of possibilities for animated comedy.

But something interesting happens after you've created enough of these videos.

Certain characters begin developing their own following.

Someone doesn't merely want another Punksters video.

They want another Nethaniel Goone and Mongo video.

That's a big difference.

Requests Are Valuable Feedback

As a creator, I pay attention to views, likes, comments and other statistics. They can all tell you something.

But someone actually requesting a character is another kind of feedback entirely.

That person remembered the character well enough to ask for another appearance.

That's valuable information.

It doesn't mean I'm going to abandon everything else and produce nothing but whichever character happens to receive the most requests. The variety is part of what makes this whole thing fun for me.

But I definitely pay attention.

If people want more Nethaniel Goone and Mongo, I'll make more Nethaniel Goone and Mongo.

In fact, I already have more ideas for them.

Building a Larger Punksters Universe

This is also why I've continued creating so many characters, settings and recurring series.

Every new character adds another possibility.

Every new setting opens another door.

And every time followers respond positively to one of them, I learn a little more about what people enjoy.

Over time, the Punksters universe becomes larger.

Somebody might discover the Punksters through a pirate short featuring Captain Jerry Driftwood. Someone else might discover them through Jerry Jesterman. Another person might encounter Sheriff Rat Bastardson.

And apparently, some people want to wander into the wilderness with Nethaniel Goone and Mongo.

That's perfectly fine with me.

There's plenty of wilderness left for those two idiots to get lost in.

Keep the Requests Coming

So if there's a Punksters character you'd like to see more often, tell me.

I genuinely pay attention to those requests.

You might even give me the push I need to dust off a character I haven't used in a while—or inspire an entirely new adventure for one you already enjoy.

And to those of you who have been requesting more Nethaniel Goone and Mongo:

Message received.

They'll be back.

Assuming they can find their way out of the woods.

Bob Craypoe 
Founder of Craypoe Productions and Creator of the Punksters Characters 

 

The Punksters: Band Member Excuses We've Heard (And Unfortunately Believed)

 

If you've ever been in a band, you've heard excuses.

Not reasons. Excuses.

Some are believable. Some are creative. Some make you question whether your bandmate should be allowed to operate heavy machinery.

Here are a few of our favorites.

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"Sorry I'm late. I got stuck behind a funeral procession."

Crash: "For two hours?"

Band Member: "It was a very popular guy."

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"I didn't learn the songs because I wanted to keep my performance spontaneous."

Translation: I forgot.

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"I left my guitar at home."

Jerry: "You live five minutes away."

Band Member: "Yeah... but that's ten minutes round trip."

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"I couldn't make rehearsal because my horoscope said to avoid creative conflict."

Bill: "Mine said I'd be surrounded by idiots."

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"I practiced... just not our songs."

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"I couldn't hear my metronome because I was wearing headphones."

Nobody knew how to respond to that one.

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"I thought rehearsal was tomorrow."

It's amazing how tomorrow always seems to arrive whenever rehearsal is today.

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"I would have been here sooner, but I stopped to help someone."

"Who?"

"Myself. I was hungry."

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"I know the song. I just don't know which part I'm supposed to play."

A surprisingly common problem.

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"I forgot there was a gig."

While standing on the stage.

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"My amp doesn't work."

Bill: "Did you plug it in?"

"...That wasn't the problem."

"It is now."

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"I didn't answer my phone because I was charging it."

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"I couldn't find my pick."

Jerry hands him one.

"No... my pick."

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"The new songs are too new."

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"I was going to practice, but I didn't want to wear the songs out."

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"I thought we were starting at eight."

Jerry: "We ARE."

"Then why is everyone here at six?"

"Because that's called setting up."

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"I couldn't tune because my tuner battery died."

Jerry: "You have ears."

"Not good enough ones."

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"I didn't know we changed the ending."

"We changed it six months ago."

"I've been meaning to catch up."

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"I can't play tonight. I think my stage clothes shrunk."

Bill: "Funny... they only seem to shrink around the waist."

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"I wasn't late. Everyone else was early."

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"I thought someone else was bringing the PA."

Everyone thought someone else was bringing the PA.

The audience enjoyed a wonderful evening of unplugged silence.

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Bill's Favorite Excuse

Bill looked around after everyone had shown up late, forgotten cables, missed cues, and blamed traffic.

"I've figured out why we're still an unsigned band."

Jerry asked, "Why?"

Bill sighed.

"Because apparently we're not even capable of organizing our own failure."

Sadly... nobody argued with him.

 

Bob Craypoe
Founder of Craypoe Productions and Creator of the Punksters Characters 

 

How to Tell Your Bandmate Is About to Quit

Being in a band is a lot like being in a family. You laugh together, argue together, and occasionally wonder if hiding someone's instrument would improve everyone's quality of life. While every band goes through rough patches, there are usually a few warning signs that someone may be thinking about calling it quits.

Here are a few of the classic ones.

They stop arguing.

Believe it or not, this is usually the biggest warning sign. When someone still argues, it means they still care. Once they stop caring enough to even complain, they may already have one foot out the door.

They suddenly miss every rehearsal.

At first it's a doctor's appointment. Then it's a family emergency. Then they have to wash the dog. Eventually you begin to suspect the dog has cleaner teeth than anyone you've ever met.

They stop talking about future plans.

The band starts discussing the next album or upcoming shows, and they just shrug. They don't seem excited anymore because, in their mind, they may not even be around for the next project.

Their gear starts disappearing.

One week the extra amplifier is gone. The next week they "loaned" their microphone to someone. Before long they're showing up with an acoustic guitar they borrowed from their uncle because they already sold everything else.

They become suspiciously nice.

The person who used to argue over every little detail suddenly agrees with everything.

"Sure, whatever songs you want."

"I don't care where we rehearse."

"Sounds good to me."

It's almost unsettling.

They start saying things like...

"You guys will be fine without me."

Or...

"I've always wanted to learn accounting."

Neither statement inspires confidence.

Of course, sometimes someone isn't planning to quit at all. Maybe they're just burned out, overwhelmed with work, or dealing with personal issues. Before assuming the worst, check in with them. A simple conversation can often solve problems long before they become permanent.

And if all else fails...

Hide the van keys.

Bob Craypoe
Founder of Craypoe Productions and Creator of the Punksters characters