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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,319
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Expert
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,319 |
As the live music industry withered away in the 1980s, the then future Mrs. Notes and I were in a 5-piece band.
Two things were happening:
1) Club owners were paying less for bands, because there were more bands needing work than places that used bands. By then DJs, Sports Bars, Comedy Clubs, Open Mic Nights and so on were filling places where bands formerly gigged.
2) Personnel problems further withered our income. In one year, two members quit and we ended up out of work for 3 months while we found and trained new musicians.
Knowing that as a rule, smaller groups make more money per musician than each musician in a larger group, we decided to form a duo.
I bought a Teac A3440 4 track 15” reel to reel deck. Since I play sax, flute, guitar, bass, drums, and some keys, I could make my own backing tracks. This was very new at the time. So I recorded everything but the parts we wanted to play live, mixed to cassette and got gigs.
We got a 3 week with options gig on a Carnival cruise ship. Carnival liked us because our lounge generated all-time record-breaking revenue. We weren't that good yet, but we figured out what the cruise ship was lacking and focused on that. The 3 week options ended up 3 years on the ships, and we gave notice to take care of Mrs. Notes' ailing mother.
By the time we got off the ships, we were well seasoned and as good or better than any duo in South Florida, where we live.
On the ships, we collected requests, and learned the songs that got requested most frequently. We still do that.
Also MIDI came around, so we redid everything with MIDI as we learned new tunes.
We haven't been out of work since, except during the COVID drought.
We had a house gig in a club for 12.5 years, the plague came, the club got sold, and the new owners wanted to pare down to single acts. So we went to a competitor, he hired us on our reputation, and we've been there a year and a half now. He says we have the gig for as long as he owns the resort.
Yes, it's a business.
We are employed because we take the business side seriously.
1) We learn what the public wants to hear. Songs requested frequently or by a regular customer get learned.
2) We are pleasant and easy to get along with. The bartenders, wait staff, management, and owners like us as people.
3) We go over and above what the club hired us for. Crowd having a good time and it's break time? Skip the break. Our shift is over, and the audience wants more? If no one is following us, we play long.
4) We put ourselves in the proverbial shoes of the person who hired us, and make our decisions with that in mind. In a commercial club, anything that we can do to make the club more money is a go. For private parties, anything we can do to make the guests tell the host/hostess they had a great time is a go.
5) We don't do set lists, but read the crowd, play what they need, when they need it, even thought they don't know when they need it.
Besides the business end (above) Mrs. Notes and I really enjoy singing and playing. It's the most fun we can have with our clothes on.
We are very good at what we do, the backing tracks are great. Mrs. Notes is a fantastic singer and she plays guitar and synth. I'm an excellent sax/wind synth player and decent at singing, guitar, and flute on stage, and because I also play bass, drums, and keys, I can make our own backing tracks, in our key, and our arrangement.
I don't know what works for the zillions of songs uploaded that can make you an overnight star, but I do know what it takes to keep working, and as that changes, we adapt to the changes.
Mrs. Notes and I have been in this duo for 38 years now. I tell the audience, “The only band who has been together longer than is, is the Rolling Stones.” After a pause, I'll add, “And we still have all the original members.”
If making a living doing music and nothing but music is the dream, we are living the dream.
Insights and incites by Notes ♫
You forgot to boast about how you are the best band in the universe and how you play 15-20 gigs per month... And cruises. Let's not forget how you play cruises.
Do you have all this flexing in a text file somewhere, because almost every post you make contains all of the same "look at us and how great we are" items. All that's missing is that you went to high school with Bob Dylan, as we used to see once a week at least...
More and more I am happy that you didn't come to Herbstock. After reading Eddie's comment, I'm kinda' glad I didn't come to "Herbstock" either.
Bandcamp Soundcloud Win-11; BiaB-2024-latest Beta; Cakewalk; Melodyne-5; Scaler 2; NI Komplete: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Band-in-a-Box User Video Tutorials!
If you've reviewed our Support page, you've probably noticed the Videos page, which separates our Band-in-a-Box® tutorial videos by category: Overview, VST DAW Plugin, Setup, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and there's even an Archive category to go down memory lane... (You'll also find these videos on our YouTube Channel.)
It's always great to hear how other Band-in-a-Box® users create their songs, especially when they explain in detail what they're doing. Like Henry Clarke's YouTube Channel, Henry Clarke - Senior Musicians Unite! There you'll find his ALL Band-in-a-Box Tutorials playlist with over 50 videos! His top-three most watched videos include "How to Get Started with Band-in-a-Box," "How I use the Audio Chord Wizard in Band-in-a-Box," and "How to Create An Effective Solo Using Band-in-a-Box" - however he touches on many other topics and also demonstrates his own Band-in-a-Box® songs in the Band-in-a-Box Created Songs playlist!
You're guaranteed to find some helpful videos when you visit Henry Clarke's channel!
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 Italian for Windows is Here!
Ci siamo dati da fare e abbiamo aggiunto oltre 50 nuove funzionalità e una straordinaria raccolta di nuovi contenuti, tra cui 222 RealTracks, nuovi RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 3, Playable RealDrums Set 2, due nuovi set di "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 e altro ancora!
Tutti Pacchetti | Nuove Caratteristiche
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 French for Windows is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 apporte plus de 50 fonctions nouvelles ainsi qu'une importante de contenus nouveaux à savoir : 222 RealTracks, des RealStyles nouveaux, des SuperTracks MIDI, des Etudes d'Instruments, des Prestations d'Artistes, des "Morceaux avec Choeurs", un Set 3 de Tracks Jouables, un Set 2 de RealDrums Jouables, deux nouveaux Sets de "RealDrums Stems", des Styles XPro PAK 6, des Xtra Styles PAK 17 et bien plus encore!
Tous Packages | Nouvelles Fonctionnalités
Video: Making a Song with Band-in-a-Box®, ChatGPT, and Synth V
Take your Band-in-a-Box® project to a whole new level when you incorporate ChatGPT and Synth V to add lyrics and vocals to your song!
We wanted to demonstrate how this is done with our video, where we show you how to go from nothing to a finished "radio ready" modern pop song by combining the features of Band-in-a-Box®, ChatGPT, and Synth V!
Listen to the finished song, so you get a listen to the finished product: https://demos.pgmusic.com/misc/behindthefame.m4a
If you like it, watch the video. Either way, let's hear your comments!
Henry Clarke: Revolutionize Your Band-in-Box® Tracks with Regenerating Function
User Video: Next-Level AI Music Editing with ACE Studio and Band-in-a-Box®
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 German for Windows is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 für Windows Deutsch ist verfügbar!
Wir waren fleißig und haben über 50 neue Funktionen und eine erstaunliche Sammlung neuer Inhalte hinzugefügt, darunter 222 RealTracks, neue RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, abspielbare RealTracks Set 3, abspielbare RealDrums Set 2, zwei neue Sets von "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 und mehr!
Paket | Was ist Neu
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