Misc internal ramblings about last nights gig.

[9lbShellhamer]

We played our biggest gig last night. It was an evening gala and we played for 2 hours while everyone showed up and found their seats and ate dinner. We've played mostly small bars, weddings, a running race, etc. Nothing that big as we've only been playing together 7 months. (Wow...it feels much longer than that!) There were over a thousand people there, and it was formal dress. We're a mostly traditional BG band who throw in a few newgrass covers for good measure.

I just wanted to share my thoughts on how the gig went; what went well, and what can be improved upon. Writing helps me situate my thoughts...

The Backstory:

I am a runner by trade and I raced a 100 miler on Saturday so I'm still not fully recovered. I also work one or two days per week as an ER nurse. I worked yesterday before the gig until 4 and I was pretty tired and also came down with a sinus infection that had me knocked out feeling sluggish. I made sure the day before the gig to rest all day on the couch and I tried my best to be fresh.

After leaving work a few minutes early I fought traffic to make it there in time and of course there was two accidents en route to the venue: Millionaires row @ Churchill Downs in Louisville.

I like my band-mates and I'm very comfortable with them. I was really excited about this gig because we had put together a good set-list prior to the gig and actually rehearsed it. We're trying to practice more regularly and be more "professional" which is awesome. I was keyed up and tense however from the busy day and car ride to the venue. I wanted to play really well, and the tension in my body and excitement to play really well was counter-productive. TENSION KILLS SPEED and clean tone. The rest of the band was playing strong, powerful. I was very happy with them. The sound quality not great and it was hard to hear my breaks, and in retrospect, I should have taken a few moments to do a slow breathing mediation before the gig to free the stress and tension of the day. It showed in my playing. I played ok, but not great. I wanted to really shine, but the tightness in my shoulders and forearms resulted in less than perfect breaks.

So...

Notes for next time. I made sure to rest on the couch the entire day before since I was sick and knew I needed to bolster my energy stores. That was good. The gig forced us to get together and rehearse our actual set. That was good! I did my best to recover. That was good.

I was too anxious and should have forced myself to chill out and not care as much. I tried to really release all tension, and got through some tunes like Cherokee Shuffle at the fastest tempo we've ever played.

I think in retrospect one reason I was not totally elated with my individual breaks, is that my best breaks are on fiddle tunes, and due to time constraints we cut some of those tunes out, like Bill Cheatham and Pike County Breakdown.

I've learned my fiddle tunes from others, but my vocal tune breaks are all stuff I've created on my own and they aren't up to snuff. I need to learn better breaks to our vocal tunes. I built some OK breaks but need to learn other peoples breaks that really shine.

Anyways...

I'm just getting this out in writing. Sharing my thoughts, getting them in order. Pick on, mandolin lovers! Maybe this will help some other new folk get used to performing and play better with others.

I'm just glad we had the chance, and honestly, I'd say it was a really successful gig. I'm being critical for improvements sake. it was good!

[Mandoplumb]

9lbshellhammer work out your own breaks just work out better ones. If you copy someone else's it has already been done. Original is always better IMHO.

[AlanN]

100 miler? And you could pick after that? My hat's off to you...

[9lbShellhamer]

100 miles is challenging, but picking clean eighth and sixteenth notes at 200+bpm seems impossible.

[farmerjones]

Thanks so much for the report 9lb!

The "sea of people" thing.
I wish it were possible to just stand there and acclimate, for a few minutes.
I'm sure you guys worked it out for your first couple numbers, but those are the tunes I need to be able to play auto-pilot, so I can look out and acclimate.

Had one gig where it was several hundred folks and two tunes. I shake my head as I write this. Sure, it was probably ok, but it didn't feel pretty to me.

[Randi Gormley]

FWIW, most people aren't any where near as critical as you are on your own stuff. Where you may think that your breaks were less than stellar, I can pretty much bet nobody in the audience felt that. Regardless of tension, or illness, or tiredness, if you played with concentration and to the best of your ability, you pretty much did a professional job and that's all that an audience can ask. Absolutely, stretch yourself and improve, but I'll bet your audience -- if they paid any attention longer than a minute or three -- expected professionals and weren't disappointed. congrats!

[UsuallyPickin]

Listen to how other mandolin players breaks are crafted. There are identifiable patterns / parts . There is a kick off, stake your turf.... then some recognizable melody often with a double stop at the chord changes adding a touch of tremolo or some cross picking then some more melody and close with a flashy lick leading back to the chord using a chord tone. You can add syncopation or some bluesy feel by flatting a third fifth or seventh and then slide into a melody tone........ lots of tools to choose from. Keep it melodic and simple so it has room to grow..... R/

[Ky Slim]

Millionaires Row at Churchill Downs??!! Nice Gig Dude! They'd never let me up there and especially not with a mandolin.
I'm sure it went very well. The breaks will come. Thanks for sharing

[Londy]

Sounds awesome 9lb. Congrats on the gig. This is something you can feel good about, learn and build upon. Everyone needs to experience this to get really good. When I played out on solo piano, I used to write a note to myself on top of the set list. Something like, "slow down, relax and have FUN" or whatever I felt I needed for that gig. It worked for me.

[allenhopkins]

We played our biggest gig last night. It was an evening gala and we played for 2 hours while everyone showed up and found their seats and ate dinner....

Rest assured that fewer than 1% of your audience, at an event like that, was actively listening to your music. Despite the fact that it was a "big gig" -- and I hope your band's paycheck reflected that! -- it has all the earmarks of an "acoustic wallpaper" situation. If you sampled the guests' opinions, you'd find that perhaps half of them noticed that there was "some bluegrass" being played.

Doesn't invalidate your own self-analysis and self-critique. But, I get a bit more anxious playing for 50 people in a "listening room," where I know that there are other musicians in the audience, who have both the experience and the motivation to evaluate my performance.

How many gigs have I played, where someone says to me afterwards, "It may have seemed we weren't listening, but we really liked your music." I totally believe the first part of that statement, not so sure about the second...

[9lbShellhamer]

Rest assured that fewer than 1% of your audience, at an event like that, was actively listening to your music. Despite the fact that it was a "big gig" -- and I hope your band's paycheck reflected that! -- it has all the earmarks of an "acoustic wallpaper" situation. If you sampled the guests' opinions, you'd find that perhaps half of them noticed that there was "some bluegrass" being played...

Yes, I agree and follow that. I suppose I really wanted to play well for myself and my band. I wasn't intimidated by the crowd. The next week I played better than I EVER have, so it's all good! Just keep playing, keep learning, keep working. I'm enjoying the journey.