How do you find decent musicians????

shredguitarman

shredguitarman

Learning to Live
Aug 11, 2002
130
0
16
47
Manchester, UK
www.mp3.com
Hi everyone,

I live in the UK and trying to form any sort of interesting band is virtually nigh on impossible... dominance of musos today seems to be on nu-metal fads and pop etc....

Just wondering what tips you have to try and find decent proggers out there!! esp Keyboardists and Drummers!!!

Or do you think I should just lower what I expect and join a standard hard rock/metal band??

On a secondary note if there are any UK SX fans out there I'd love to hear from you... feel like the only one at the moment although I am spreading the word!!!

Mike Boardman.
 
well where i live is hard as hell to find decent musicians especially guitarrists or bassits i play keyboards and sing but i don't find other people that are decent at least on any instrument i was looking for band mates to form a thrash band or neo-classical influenced metal band but i can't find a dam decent guitarrist i would join a standard hard rock or metal band in a while and if i get the chance to meet a great guitarrist i would offer him to form a prog metal band
 
yeah know the problem.... I've ended up learning how to program a drum machine (although not very good) and can play a bit of keyboards as well as getting one of those Roland GR33s so I can MIDI my guitar and cheat....

But this sure doesn't beat playing with REAL musicians eh???

It's really annoying when people ask why your not in a band.... well I'd rather not be if it means selling out... I'll wait until I find that mega double-bass dummers and 15 fingered keyboardist!
 
lol it sure doesn't beat real musicians if you don't wanna join a band till' you are sure you got the real deal i would work on my own songs or lyrics until i get the chance to join a very good band
 
Best advice for this situation is to get yourself in the places where serious musicians hang out. That could be a bar, a rehearsal room or studio, musical instrument shops or even a record shop (if you're really lucky).

When I had the same problem, that's the best answer I could think of, until I decided to go to university on a music degree.
You'll meet almost nothing but serious musicians there. I highly recommend going to either a university or some sort of decent music school. Even if you don't study there, you could always just put notices up on message boards or hang out there.

I don't, however, recommend being so poor that you can't afford to stay at uni and have to quit :D

Shredguitarman, I'm from England! I'm down in Brighton. I play in a progrssive rock/metal band down here. I think we're the only one around for miles!

You are not alone!!
 
Already went to uni but studied Physics instead doh!!! and yeah I couldn't afford to stay and had to leave so now in a boring job but it pays for nice guitars and amps!!!

While I was at uni I was a member of our music society and we played every Sunday night... out of 200 musos only 3/4 was into prog... and they were from Holland - none from UK. But then I studied at Manchester.... not really the home of great musicians during the 90s!!! (Oasis et al...)

I think we're a dying breed here.

Maybe I should emmigrate!!! At least it gives me time to practise my 16th notes alternate picked at 180bmp....
 
Definitely... here in the city where I live, there is only ONE band... yeah, you read correct... ONE band... and it's a Hardcore one... bleragh... so, I am my own band... I play all instruments on keyboard (such as arrangements, drums, addictional percussions and bass), play the guitar, and I even dare to sing in my recordings! hehehehehe!!! Sad, but true...
 
Didn't Napster have some sort of facility for musicians jamming online?

I bet there's even less room for prog rockers in Manchester than there is down here in Brighton, ShredGuitarMan.
We need to make it so that prog is more popular here in Britain!

I can't wait to see Symphony X performing on Top of the Pops :lol:
 
You're right there!!

What Ibanez u got and through what system?

I currently play a Tom Anderson Cobra, Gibson Custom Shop LP, Roadhouse Strat, Ibanez S540, and Ibanez R540 (the Joe Satriani shape) through a Mesa Boogie Tremoverb!!!
 
I don't have great stuff, really. But I love my guitar. It's an Ibanez RG570. I use a Boss GT3 effects processor. It's not bad, but I would like to upgrade to more serious equipment (preferably Mesa Boogie ;)).

My amp is pretty ok, though. It's a Roland Bolt-100. It was used by Hawkwind!!
I really like it's sound. It's very unique.
 
why not go for a POD pro and say a Boogie 50/50 power amp...

heard that Romeo uses the POD pro for live performances...

quite a cheap way to get a kick ass tone...

the RG570 is a classic.... I class it as a great piece of kit.. can certainly take some beating (I used to have a RG550 so know!!)
 
I'd like to get a Boogie Triaxis. Lots of players who's tone I like use those.

I've never tried a Tom Anderson, but they're reputedly fantastically well constructed guitars. Although not being a strat fan, I probably wouldn't like one.
Didn't Steve Lukather play Tom Anderson for a long time?Those S series Ibanez guitars are amazing. I tried one of those out when I bought this Ibanez. They're so sleek!

So, what are you doing musically speaking, Shred?
I think if I was in your position, I'd probably be pulling my hair out by now. If I hadn't found this band I have now, I'd probably have joined a more standard metal band.
 
Yeah being a big Petrucci fan I'd love a Triaxis but prices in the UK suck big-time (for all you non-UK Triaxis is currently selling for £1900 or about $2900). And pairing this up with the needed 2:90 would mean a layout of £4k - way too much for a system. But hey wouldn't blame you if you sold your sister or something.....

Tom Anderson make ace guitars - I traded in my PRS Custom 24 for the Cobra. You would like it... although it's Strat based it has a Mahogany body with maple cap, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, and 2xh/buckers. It crunches like no other guitar I've played (way better than Ibanez/PRS) - did you know Mesa/Boogie use Anderson guitars to trial and perfect their amps in development? I use this guitar to play the heavier stuff (ie nearly everything)... it gives real crystal clear clean tones as well thanks to some clever coil tapping. The scale length is the same as a Les Paul so the bass frequencies are stronger but not overpowering.

As for what I'm doing musically - nothing!!!!

I just keep writing and recording little riffs here and there and segments of passages I'm working on.

I'm sure the UK is the worst place in the entire globe to find musicians.

I think if I tried to form a mainstream metal band I'd end up getting kicked out as I recommended a nice acoustic section with strings..... y'know what I mean!!

I'm through to the ErnieBall Musicman Jam 2002 Semi-finals so maybe I'll meet some people through that...

Here's hoping...

You got any MP3s of your band?
 
Hey, that's fantastic news that you're through in that competition. I've not heard of it before. Is it a live performance-type deal, or do you send in recordings?
Best of luck with it.

I know what you mean about suggesting less obvious ideas to a mainstream metal band.
Joining a band in which I couldn't suggest things like that would not be first choice for me.
I'm lucky that in my current band we have no problem suggesting anything like that. Everyone in the band is a big fan of variation.
I really have been lucky getting this band together. I've known since day one that if anyone left, it'd pretty much be over. I think everyone in the band is irreplacable if only because we wouldn't find another musician who has heard prog or fusion, let alone likes them.

I made a crappy site for my band, and we have some clips of us on it. The clips are at www.lapd1.0catch.com/mediaclips.html

We're just in the process of finalising a name and getting a decent site online. We'll record a demo soon, too.
But for now, you can check out some streaming clips there. I would recommend listening to Progtolists 1 and 2.
 
yeah just gonna tell u that!!!

The Musicman compo was run in combination with Guitar Buyer. You sent your name off to them and they sent you the crappiest backing track ever on CD.

It was 2 mins of repetitive boring guitar riff - notice how I mention riff and not riffs!!

Anyway I recorded a total impro jam thingy over it on my Strat in the Malmsteen mindset with touches of Gambale coz I was so pissed at the backing - in essence I shredded for 2 mins contantly... no breaks...no melody.....

And then I got a letter through to say I'd got through!.. I play in the semis at UMIST in Manchester in October.
 
Just listened to your tracks... your skills are quite sharp!!! Like to hear a full piece to get a better idea.. loved your clean tones also, kinda reminded me of Holdsworth type choras/delay settings.

As forthe prize for winning the competition - a £2k custom musicman guitar. Here's hoping it's a 7-string Petrucci model.
 
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