I found a place that has an open mic every Sunday. It is in Denver, where my wife and I are going this weekend. I would like to perform one of my BIAB songs, but I don't know how to do it.

Will they have a 'house' band, and I should bring sheet music for each individual instrument, or should I bring an mp3 of the accompaniement, or some sort of karaoke cd?

I could probably call and ask, but I feel more comfortable asking you friendly guys.

Skyoma

You should first go VISIT and WATCH, find out what's going on, etc.

Then come back prepared.



--Mac

House bands for open mics are nearly non-existent. You should be prepared to bring whatever you need and know if it plugs in to whatever they have available.

Sometimes there's a house 'guitar or piano' that you get to play, but don't expect any human accompaniment.

I agree with Mac - best to be an audience member first. See if the audience respects the performers with attention and so forth. See if they have a PA system that works with the gear you would be bringing.

-Scott

Mac's right (as always)

The great thing with BIAB is that you can present it all in whatever way works best for you. You can give the band a karaoke track to stick on the player (CD/DVD/mp3). You can give each musician a copy of this in advance, along with a copy of their individual instrument soloed out, so that they can hear what you want. You can even give them the sheet music for it. IN ADVANCE. You can't just walk in and wave a magic wand and expect them to know how to play your music without at least having had one or two rehearsals before, unless it is dead straight (like a 12 bar blues with a twist). The only way you can do that is to karaoke it with playback (you still need to know what format they need it in first)

Remember to allow them artistic freedom - it won't be exactly as you created it. But that can be a good thing. Otherwise, nobody would need musicians anymore!

When I did it, I made dumps of my songs without the vocal track as MP3s, put them in my iPhone, plug it into the house system, (make sure you turn on airplane mode) and do your live piece over the tracks. 75% of the acts in my town do this now. Duos with canned music, solos with canned music....

I would not take canned backing music into an open mic until I knew what kind of folks were there and what they expected (OK, I would never take canned backing tracks to an open mic, period! But that's just me). If the crowd expects 100% live performance, having backing tracks will just allow you to make a very bad first impression.

Well canned backing tracks is my only option this weekend, unless I meet a willing band in Denver.

How do I make a karaoke cd in BIAB? I can't seem to find the menu item.

Skyoma

RealBand is better for that than BIAB, Skyoma

Kevin, the particular event I took my stuff is a no holds barred situation. My songs do not translate to solo very well so I took my "band" in on a phone. The stage at this place is big enough for MAYBE a duo, and it is billed as a songwriter showcase. You can do 3 songs in your alloted 20 minutes, and 10 people perform, so the call it "10x3" and it is quite popular. A lot of folkies and some country. Most just want to get first impression live feedback.

For me personally I have no issue with someone playing over tracks they created in a home studio.

Hi,

Sorry to disagree, but out here in Nova Scotia, we have "open mics" all over the place, and they all have house bands. I'm playing dobro and lap steel with all of the ones I attend. The band can usually play along with anything you throw at it. You have a choice whether you use the band or not. Just give them the key, and approximate tempo. Unless the song has complicated chords or rhythms, we can usually pick up what to play pretty quickly.

You could of course bring prerecorded tracks if you want to, but there's definitely something appealing about just taking a chance on it, and seeing what comes out. I find the audiences are very forgiving of mistakes, and even performers of limited talent. They appreciate the effort you put into it.

My 2 cents worth.

Andrew

You need to differentiate "open mic" from "jam night". There are jam nights all over Cleveland with a house band and people are welcome to join in after the first set. (I do not attend.) I would be hard pressed to find a house band who could play songs I wrote that they never heard. If you get up and do covers it's a different story but I can only take "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" so many times.....