Our band rehearsals have started off rocky as we have not found a drummer and Clarke, the lead guitarist, hasn’t been in college to rehearse. This was definitely not the greatest first rehearsal, I barely knew the structure of the song and my guitar definitely needs some work, the tone was so bad and it just sounded out of tune. Jozef also forgot the chords in the chorus and lacey voice could definitely work on having more power, but for a first time it could have gone a lot worse. We all just need to practice playing the song ourselves so that when we get back to rehearsals next week we can do it better than before.
Both me and Clarke weren’t in this rehearsal as I had work and Clarke wasn’t at college, we also both haven’t learnt this song yet, so need to learn it. What Lacey and Jozef have done sounds good however we need to sort out who plays what part in the song because on the tab app it shows there’s 3 different guitar parts however in live videos there’s not that many. Me and Clarke need to learn the song and Lacey and Jozef just need in order for us to be able to practice this song in the next few weeks.
We now have a lead guitarist and a drummer so the song sounds so much better. We all know the structure as it’s a lot easier to know the structure when you have a drummer, the build up section also sounds so good with the drummer. We really need to work on getting all the volumes and tones right though as at the moment its really hard to hear ourselves in person and on the video, especially the lead which was really quiet for this rehearsal. Also Lacey needs to work on her vocals, it doesn’t sound too bad but because she’s used to singing quietly and gently, it’s a big change for her to sing loud and with power behind her voice. We all need to practice individually so that when we rehearse together we can be even better.
For a first rehearsal it wasn’t too bad, we had to get Ollie on the drums as we didn’t have a drummer to play for us so that helped that he wanted to help us out. We could definitely get a better sound and tone though as at the moment everything sounds very messy and muddy but I think that’s also because we all need to practice more. The end was quite sloppy and didn’t end how it was suppose to end at all so we need to work on that, also Lacey needs to work on getting more power into her vocals. For myself, I just need to keep practicing the song and getting the solo more prominent and clear.
In this rehearsal our lead singer, Lacey, didn’t turn up to class and so Clarke had to step in and sing which is why the vocals aren’t very good. From the last rehearsal however, it definitely sounds a lot better, we have the sound a lot better and more balanced. The tone on my guitar definitely needs to be better however I don’t have the pedals to make it exactly like the guitar in the song so we’ve had to make it as good as we could by using the amp presets. The heavier parts of the song are much better than the quiet parts just because there’s no rhythm so it feels like the songs lacking something at the moment. The solo was a bit messy and I really need to practice it. Also the bridge sounded awful, again because we had no singer and rhythm guitarist so it was just really messy. We are slowly getting there with this song and we should have it very good very soon if we all just practice on our own.
I need to get the starting riff as clean and smooth as possible as at the moment I’m playing it quite messily and a tad bit slow. Again, because we didn’t have the second rhythm guitar, the song just doesn’t feel full enough. We all need to really practice this one so we can give it the power we need, Clarke needs to work on his vocals, I need to keep practicing the guitar part so make it as good as possible, Lacey needs to also work on the guitar (and turn up to rehearsals) and Jozef needs to remember the structure a bit better as he plays a few wrong notes in the song. I think if we all focus on our faults, when we rehearse next time we will have the song pretty much perfect.
UPDATE BEFORE I EVALUATE MORE VIDEOS!!
As a band we have decided that we are going to change two of our songs, The Man Who Sold The World will now be Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana, and Friday I’m In Love will now be Go With The Flow by Queens of the Stone Age. We have decided this because of band members finding the songs too hard. Lacey was not able to sing The Man Who Sold The World and it also didn’t really go with the set as we were wanting to do it acoustically, so we changed it to Heart Shaped Box as she can sing that one and it is rocky like the rest of the songs. Friday I’m In Love we changed because Clarke found the riff too tricky to learn as it was the same thing over and over again and it made him really struggle learning the structure, especially since he doesn’t really like the song. We also changed it as again, it didn’t really fit the set list and Go With The Flow is rocky and we all know it already so we don’t need to stress about learning a whole new song with only a month left until the showcase.
Now that we have 2 rhythm guitars playing the song sound a lot better, more full. I still need to work on the beginning riff and get the tone a bit better. Also Jozef needs to work on the structure still as he’s playing the wrong chords at times and it really throws us off and you can really here the clash of notes. Clarke also needs to work on the singing as he’s still straining his voice a lot and its very obvious he’s struggling, he’s going to do vocal warmups to help. Apart from that the song is sounding really good. Me and Clarke are planning to do an acoustic cover of the song to get his singing and confidence up.
I think for a first rehearsal it went well however the tones were completely off, I had more of a metal tone when I should have definitely had more of a crunch tone. I also think, not only for this song but for all of the songs, that lacey needs to work on getting more power out of her voice, Clarke does sing in the chorus which helps a bit but for the verses it needs to be better. Some more practice and sorting out tones is all we really need to do in order to get this one done.
For a first rehearsal this wasn’t a bad do. We did have some timing issues at certain points because of how fast the song is and me and Lacey struggled just doing all down strokes that quickly. Lacey also forgot to come in at the right time which put Clarke off with his lead parts. Clarke also needs to keep practicing his parts as some of his parts are slightly sloppy. If we all practice to the song/metronome is should get easier to play.
The same as last rehearsal the tones for my guitar are still off but we can’t really do much about it as of right now because we are only using amp pre sets, however Evans going to bring in his pedal board for next weeks rehearsals so hopefully we will be able to get a better tone next time. I feel like we almost have this song spot on apart from structural remembering issues, we just all need to play to the song more so we remember it.
After watching this and comparing it to the song there’s still lots to work on. Personally, I just need to keep practicing playing to the song as much as I can, I really need to get the solo perfect but at the moment its still sounding very sloppy. There was also a part I messed up in the middle of the song so I just need to keep practicing by myself so that I’m no longer struggling. As a band we are sounding really good with this song but getting the sounds right is still tricky for us because of the lay out of the room, even though I can hear myself really clearly in the recording, in the actual room I could barely hear myself when it came to my solo which is a problem as it made me play out of time. We will have to work on getting our sounds right so this is no longer a problem.
This song sounds so much better than last time, I tried turning my gain down on the amp and also wasn’t playing at full volume on my guitar so it got rid of the very heavy tone to the guitar and it sounds much better. Lacey’s sing is a lot stronger too much is really good. This song is definitely very ready to perform as long as we keep practicing it on our own.
This song is also pretty much ready to perform, we are all very confident with it and it sounds really good. However me and Clarke need to work on the chorus as we have to be perfectly in sync and there was a time in the 2nd chorus where we went slightly out and it was really noticeable and sounded really bad. Apart from that it sounds really good and if we keep practicing it by ourselves it will do really well in the performance.
This rehearsal is so much better than the last, I have finally sorted out the tone of my guitar and the dynamics are so much better. In this rehearsal I had added the tremolo pre-set on the amp to it to make it sound more like the song, I also added a treble booster pedal so when it came to my solo I was a lot louder and could actually hear myself. The solo sounded a whole lot better and we all have definitely improved. If we keep practicing this one and keep the volume the same as in this rehearsal it will go really well and I’m very excited to perform this song.
This rehearsal went fairly well. I think the song sounds really good however because of the tempo being so fast, you can clearly see me and Lacey struggling to do all down strokes and having to resort to strumming up and down, it still sounds good it just doesn’t around as spot on. But because of how fast it is I sometimes fall out of time doing all down strokes so that’s something I can work on and practice. Apart from that it sounds really good and if we pull it off it will go really well with the crowd.
Full Set Run Through:
Evan has given me his pedal board to borrow and so now the tone of my guitar is so much better. Grace is sounding really good and we finally have the dynamics sorted and sounding good. I think Grace is ready to perform as we are making little to no mistake and Clarke’s singing doesn’t sound as bad now as when he tries to hit the high note he also plays it on guitar making his voice sound stronger. I think over the weekend before the showcase I will practice the intro a few times to get it sounding super clear but apart from that Grace sounds really good.
Heart shaped box is pretty much perfect and doesn’t need any more work really as long as everyone rehearses to the song over the weekend to make sure they can keep the song in their head.
When it comes to the actual gig, Lacey really needs to be speaking between songs where we are tuning our guitars as it would sound really awkward and unprofessional to just go silent for 2 minutes and the crowd to be waiting wondering what’s going on. We did give her lines to say she just forgot in this rehearsal which can’t happen on the gig so she needs to rehearse what she’s saying and when she’s saying it.
Go with the flow also sounds really good and pretty much ready to perform as long as we rehearse individually over the weekend.
My Iron Lung has been a tricky one for us because of the dynamic problems but we finally have it sorted out now that I am using Evans pedal board. The song was going good however Evan stopping drumming too early at the solo which slightly put me off but it still sounded really good. I think with a bit more practice individually My Iron Lung will be a really good song to perform.
My hero is definitely our strongest song and sounds really good and will hit really well with the crowd as its a very popular song. We don’t really mess up with this song either and all the tones and dynamics sound good so this one is very ready to perform.