Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with band

How do I be in a band?

largecorp — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:50:19 -0800

I love music and over the past few years have taught myself to be pretty good as a ukulele player. I'd love to get involved with a band--old-time jazz, dixieland stuff--and really learn how to make music with others. But all I know is how to play by myself. I don't know how bands work in the slightest, nor how to find others who are better than me but willing to let me "play along." How do I get started getting started? Thanks!

Personalized candy necklaces?

useyourmachinegunarm — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:37:15 -0800

I am looking for some sort of fun promotional item I can give out at a band's ep release party. But I haven't been able to come up with anything I can actually find and I am running out of time. Ideas? I was thinking something along the line of personalized candy necklaces with the band's name on it, personalized stickers or buttons. I don't think personalized candy necklaces exist, buttons are sort of boring and the band's name is sort of long to fit on a small sticker. I am looking for something a little bit out of the ordinary if possible - no personalized m&ms please. Any ideas for a personalized and fun promotional item we can give out that isn't too expensive and we can have on hand for the show by Jan 7, 2010?

When all the guys join in singing...only they're yelling it from the back of the band

rileyray3000 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:34:18 -0800

Okay what is the name of the kind of swing music where the band does call and response with the singer? Not the backup singers. The horn section. So I was listening the other day to a favorite jazz song, Blue Skies

It occurred to me that what I like about it is the call and response with the regular guys in the band, the horn section, the rhythm guys. It's also what I like about a couple of Cab Calloway songs. Unfortunately, trying to find MORE songs like this based on "it's where the guys with the guitars yell back at Frank" isn't the walk in the park I thought it'd be

So my question is: is this a subgenre of Swing? If so, can you recommend some other examples I might like?

Don't Wanna be an Idiot.

jhighmore — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:59:52 -0800

I have an interview at a "school of rock"-esque institution, which will require me to teach the song "American Idiot" by Green Day to a group of children. I have been playing guitar for years and years, and will be able to easily teach basslines. But drums is the problem. What's the best way to teach a drumline with no previous drum experience? Further info: The drummer that I have been assigned has been described as "advanced" (on a 1 - 3 scale). I am aware of "drum tabs"; would it be fine for me to print something like this off for him?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Watch strap replacement

edmz — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:38:53 -0800

Where can I find an original watch strap replacement for a Diesel DZ-9005 watch. I can only seem to find cheap replacements, all of them made of plastic while the Diesel watch comes with a leather strap.

Help with a band name

Astro Zombie — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:30:34 -0800

I want to start an Irish band called the Peter O'Tooles. Might this be a problem? Can Peter O'Toole stop me, since we're just taking his glorious name?

I've seen a million faces

Potomac Avenue — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:27:36 -0800

What are some good songs about being on tour? My band's tour is coming to an end and I'd like to make a goodbye mix for all the crew and other bands we've been rolling with for the past month+.

They could be classic (American band, various zepplin), obscure (humble pie's 30 Days In The Hole [my personal favorite]) or modern (living legends' Creative Differences). They don't have to entirely be about touring as long as at least one verse or so specifically talks about life on the road as a musician.

TIA

Knee pain above and to the outside of my kneecap

Popcorn — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:58:36 -0800

Knee pain concerns: I have a small pain that feels like it is coming from the upper outside of my left knee. I've had this issue on and off for a long time and it doesn't prevent me from doing anything, but it has me worried. I'm in my mid 20's and am a pretty hardcore mogul skiier and I do lots of mountaineering. I'm unable to see a doctor for a few months and I'd like some insight into what this might be.

The pain seems to happen when I am extending my leg under load, for example, when I'm climbing stairs. It also comes up when I'm riding a bike. I've never had any major knee injuries but this feels like it is gradually increasing over time. Sometimes, when I'm running up stairs I get a little twinge and I have to stop running up stairs for a day or two before it goes away. When this happens in the middle of a multi day climbing expedition I can still continue but I have to be a little gentler on the knee. So this is not debilitating pain, I just want to make sure I'm doing everything possible to preserve my knees.

Looking at this picture, It feels like the LCL but I'm not sure. If you are looking at my left knee from the front, the pain is at about 2 o'clock, about 1-2cm (radially) out from the edge of the kneecap.

So I'd like some attempts at diagnosis, is this a tendon problem? Cartilage? Muscle? (I know this is frowned upon here, but I'm not able to get proper medical attention for a few months and I'm going to be climbing a mountain soon) Also, some advice about what I can do to prevent further damage. Would a brace help? If so, what kind? Are there exercises or stretches that would help? Currently I try to stretch the affected area by pulling my heel up to my butt. Seems to help.

Also, for many years I think I was riding my bike with the seat too low and I get a feeling that this is related.

Thanks!

Music Videos that leave the band out

occidental — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:04:37 -0800

I am looking for music videos where the band is missing or does not appear in proper form. What are some examples of videos in which the band does not appear either deliberately or in a form other than is standard such as lego figures in "Fell in Love With a Girl" in the White Stripes video? I am not too worried about your interpretation of what this constitutes so feel free to stretch the concept a bit if you have something you feel is relevant. Thanks!

Stop running and identify yourselves!

Acacia — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:18:54 -0800

Help me identify the 4 running dudes pictured on this button. I found this bag of buttons at a garage sale, and have had them banging around the house for about 15 years. A few friends have thought the image to be that of the Beatles, but I'm not so sure. I have no back story on the bag o' buttons to help solve the mystery. Can you identify what I assume is a rock band?

Canadian diamond wedding band in NYC/NJ?

exhilaration — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:21:18 -0800

Know of any jewelers that carry Canadian diamond wedding bands in North Jersey or Manhattan? I need a wedding band (getting married in 2 weeks!), and my fiancé doesn't want an African diamond after watching Blood Diamond. I'd like someone I can deal with in person rather than a website. I called like 15 local jewelers in New Jersey and none carry Canadian diamonds. What's up with that? I tried two local Ultras and they don't have wedding bands. Any other recommendations?

Motörhead's concert take

stargell — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:45:27 -0800

How much did Motörhead make last night? The world's greatest rock 'n' roll band played the Roseland in New York City last night. The venue holds about 3,500, and I'm guessing it was close to capacity—say 3,000 paying customers. Tickets were $38 in advance, $48 at the door. So figure an average of $40, making the gate $120,000. There were also three other bands on the bill of varying prominence. T-shirts were also on sale for $30-40. Beer was $6. Figure they sold 300 shirts—call it $10,000, and, conservatively, one beer for each customer, or about $20,000 at the bar.

So, folks with some music business know-how: What would the headliner's take be? Who else is taking a cut of that cash?

mountie repellent

Potomac Avenue — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:15:03 -0800

Do American musicians need a special work permit to play two shows in Canada? I've found some information that says we do, mostly from musician's unions that want lots of money to send you letters to give to border guards. I can't find any official word from either country or musicians informally saying what to do.

Experiences? I know, YANML, but what actually happens when we show up at the border in a van with some musical equipment?

(Would have posted this in the last touring advice thread but this seems mighty important and obscure to append to an old question.)

Thanks greatly MetaFilter of the Gods.

if u live on the road theres a new highway code

Potomac Avenue — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:17:26 -0800

My band is going on a national rock tour: what should I know? Unexpectedly, a pretty big-time act wants this indie/psych group I play with to open for them on about 40 dates this fall. The dates are almost all booked, with a little break in the middle.

I have read this thread, and this thread, so I've got a pretty good idea about what to bring in the van, but mainly I'd like to know what you wish you'd known before your own band headed out on tour, or what you, as someone tangentially involved in the music scene in your town, wished that touring bands knew about.

Also: It's been 10 years since I went on the road what kinda stuff should I expect to have changed or be vital to know about now? What resources (besides BYOFL, which as far as I can tell is useless now) most came in handy when you were playing shows around?

FYI I am also the manager/publicist/booking agent and everything else. We have a self-released album and some t-shirts as a starter kit. We're buying a van. We walk the streets at night, we go where eagles dare.

Marching Band short subjects?

Flakypastry — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:48:36 -0800

Marching-band themed short subject (such as a cartoon or PS announcement)? I'm in charge of our local high school's Movie Night during band camp week. I've already chosen the movie (Batman - it's the one that their drill music is taken from), but I'd like to start the evening with some sort of short subject. To give an example, last year I chose the Sponge Bob episode "Band Geeks", which was a big hit with the kids.

I'd rather not show the same short this year, and I'm having a tough time finding something with a band or Marching Band theme - it can be a cartoon, an old TV show episode, or one of those old cheesy B&W public service reels - something preferably 10 minutes or less.

Any ideas kicking around out there?

Buying a keyboard amplifier

Tlogmer — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:55:37 -0800

I'm looking for a keyboard amplifier for use in a rock band. Is the roland kc-150 (65W) going to be loud enough or should I spring for the KC-350 (120W)? Or should I look for a bass amp?

Yabba Dabba Do Song

ElmerFishpaw — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:22:03 -0800

What's that song from my childhood? Late 80's. A band was on TV performing this song. It may have been on local cable access so this is a long shot. It was about the Flintstones. All I remember is the chorus which went "Wilma Betty Barney Rubble Fred, Yabba dabba dooooooo-oo" It wasnt in an overly goofy or satirical way. Sung by a male singe with a deep voice in a low energy groovy stone rkind of way. Anything?

A guy and a girl singing together?

zeek321 — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 07:07:03 -0800

I am a music ignoramus. But, I know I really like a man and a woman (a guy and a girl) singing together. Call and response, harmony, part of the lyrics or not, I think it's really amazing when a masculine voice and feminine voice are working together. I like Andrew Bird, Bonnie Prince Billy, Dent May, ...and Avril Lavigne. (Work with me, here.)

What are some amazing bands or just songs with a male and a female lead singer, where the music can be subtle, epic, ambient, soaring, mournful, bittersweet, peaceful, emotionally intimate or just with an awesome and/or racy and/or in-your-face pop hook?

Bonus #1: If you have additional info about whether the music is a team effort, who the creative force is, is there a friendship or relationship outside of the music, etc., that would be very cool.

Bonus #2: Is there a song called "Sleeping Together" where one of the lyrics is "like two notes, sustained"?

P.S. Previously. Noted.

Less Cops?

tmcw — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:40:20 -0800

How do bands in cities practice? I've got the band, I need the space. So, I'm moving to Washington, DC (and so is my drummer, bassist, guitarist, etc) and would love to keep things going and play some shows if things work out. But, although some of the rowhouses I'm looking at have basements, that probably won't cut it as far as noise goes. Do people rent practice spaces? Practice elsewhere? Live elsewhere?

Please help me keep the rock alive!? Thanks

BLACK DOG

crazylegs — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:55:45 -0800

Who did the big band version of Black Dog and where can I find it? Once, years ago, I heard a Big Band version of Led Zeppelin's song 'Black Dog'. I've been trying to find it on You Tube with no luck. Who did this version?

I want .mp3s in my sidebar, not in my posts.

arcanecrowbar — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:20:37 -0800

Best Wordpress music solutions for artists? There's a previous question about this, but it's not exactly the same situation and it's over two years old, so I figured I'd throw this out there.

I'm in a band, I have a website, I'm not a web developer. I discovered Wordpress recently and it's been a godsend, allowing a codeless wonder like myself to achieve a high degree of customization with showing images, concert dates, venue information, etc. The problem is playing music.

Ideally I would like to install a plugin with widget support that will present a music player with album covers, track information, links, etc. I'd like to draw all this info from a site that specializes in presenting it, like last.fm or bandcamp. The music player on any band's myspace page is just about the right size/shape/info density for what I'd like.

Last.fm For Artists is a Wordpress widget, but it only supplies top track info and tour stuff that I'm handling elsewhere. Last.fm has a few Wordpress widgets that actually play music, but they're geared toward fans.

Bandcamp offers a player you can export into Wordpress, but I'm only able to use it by putting it into a text widget, which requires some futzing with the code and has kind of an awkward appearance with a drop-down menu that craps all over the box it's in. It appears that almost every piece of code written to put .mp3s into Wordpress is all about putting them into posts, which is where I don't want them - I want them in a sidebar widget.

I'm at the point where I'm seriously considering shoving a generic flash mp3 player into a text widget, manually messing with all its properties to try and make it look OK, and playing tunes from my own server. I don't want to do this! Don't get me wrong, CSS is cool and I'm enjoying all the new skills I'm learning, but surely I'm not the first band guy who has ever tried to do this.

So, what am I overlooking? An easy, attractive widget-based flash mp3 player plugin that will draw music from my own server? A bandcamp or last.fm like site that offers Wordpress widget integration? Something else? Do I really have to re-invent the wheel? Hope me.

Please give us money?

LolaGeek — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:28:24 -0800

After 28 years of existance and 5 years of working toward this goal, my community band became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization six months ago. Yay! Now... How can we start getting donations? Everyone is very eager to start accepting donations for the band, which would be put toward the purchase of music and instruments, and for other expenses like renting rehearsal and concert space, etc. So far we have received one donation, which was from our conductor's parents at our last concert. With another big concert coming up in a month, how can we ask the audience for money without coming off as rude/needy/pushy or worse, clueless? Nobody in the band (100+ members) seems to have any experience with this, or if they do, they're not volunteering to help out.

Probably our conductor will make some announcement about it during the concert. We are also planning to include an insert in the concert program to collect information about the audience (e.g. how they found us, contact info for our mailing list), and they can also indicate if they would like to make a donation of money, goods, or services. At some point we would like to send out letters to people on our mailing list, as well as local businesses.

We are also planning to apply for grants, which we have done in the past, but more will be available to us now as a non-profit org. So the question is really about how to ask nicely for donations, not other ways to get money. We really don't want to do things like sell stuff (cookies, candles, etc.) or hold auctions.

Thanks!

Start me (band) up

ocherdraco — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:01:44 -0800

I sing. I don't read music. I don't know musicians who play my kind of music. But I want to be in a band. What do I do? I live in New York City. I sing things like blues, classic country (think Patsy Cline), rockabilly, etc. (If you can imagine Neko Case, Nina Simone, or Etta James singing it, it's probably something I'd like.) Recently, I performed at a cabaret with a couple acquaintances (who aren't available to play with on a regular basis) backing me up on guitar, harmonica, and bass (I posted a recording from our rehearsal on Mefi Music). Performing (and getting a great response from it) reminded me how much I love doing this. I want to have a group to sing with regularly (guitars, bass, drums, etc.) and maybe perform with from time to time, but I've never done this before, and don't know where to start. Mefites, what should I do?

Rock Band vs Guitar Hero

gnomeloaf — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:33:24 -0800

Rock Band or Guitar Hero for Xbox 360? Possibly mitigating factors inside. -- Household until now has played Guitar Hero titles on a PS2.
-- No one is wildly talented, so easier gameplay a bonus.
-- Kid friendly settings (e.g., true co-op) a BIG bonus.
-- Musical tastes range from 80s to stereotypically indie to metal. Yes, we are aware of the upcoming Guitar Hero release and yes, we have Xbox LIVE.
-- Any other factor(s) we should consider are worth mentioning.

I was surprised that this question has not been asked previously as far as I could see, so feel free to mention anything that might help someone dealing with the basic decision. Thanks!

What's that web site?

emelenjr — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:37:39 -0800

I'm not sure if it was ever linked on Metafilter, but I remember running across a web site where bands could set up online streaming and downloading of their music, with multiple audio formats and multiple pricing options. There were also various visualizers built into the music players. Hive mind, who can help me track down the URL I've lost? It was a relatively recent find in my travels on the internets—possibly late 2008.