Top 10 List...from a guitarist

[cjbdrm]

The most professional band I ever worked in made me go through a 4 part audition. 4 parts! These guys were great players as well as professionals. They had auditions down to a science. Others could learn from it...

They placed an ad in the village Voice(NYC), which I responded to. You had to leave a message with your contact information. Over 100 drummers responded. They scheduled 10 minute auditions. Everyone was told to learn a certain song for the audition. When I got there, the place was packed with drummers- no place to sit. I noticed that there wasn't much playing going on inside the studio. When it was my turn, they didn't talk much- they just explained that they would cut the song off after the first chorus(about a minute), and that's what they were doing for everyone. They said they would be calling people back for second auditions if they were interested in them.

They sucked big time. They sounded tired, the singer wasn't singing, he was talking the lyrics. At this point I didn't care if I got called back, but I gave it my best anyway, and then got the heck out of there.

I got the call back. They said that for the second audition, I was required to learn 4 songs, which they sent on tape in the mail. One had a loop, one had a click, one was a metal tune, the other was a funk tune. So it was a variety. I shedded on them and wrote out charts. The second audition was scheduled for about a week later.

At the second audition it was more relaxed, and there was more of an attempt to get to know me and my background, current obligations, etc. The first thing they did was apologize for how they sounded at the first audition...explaining how many auditions they had to sit through. They definitely sounded better this time around. I played the 4 songs well, I thought. After each tune, they seemed to become more interested in me. After the audition, they thanked me and said they would be in touch after the second auditions were over.

I got the call about a week later. The leader explained that the next step would be to come check the band out at a gig to make sure I was into what they were doing, and that I was to sit in with them to play those same 4 songs. They wanted to see how I performed in a live gig setting.

I drove out to Long Island to hear them play. They were the best band I had ever heard, bar none. They were much better than any band I ever played with - and to top it off the leader was a sound engineer and the PA sounded friggin' incredible. I hung out with them a little after sitting in on the 4 songs. They said they would be in touch- there were still other drummers, though they had it narrowed down to 3 or 4.

I didn't hear from them for a couple weeks. I was really bummed. Then I got a call. They said they wanted to hear me do the same thing again, but at a different club. They said it appeared I didn't hit hard enough, but they were willing to give me the benefit of the doubt, because the sound onstage at the first club was very live and I may have been compensating by playing softer. I agreed to come out that weekend. I was glad to be given a second chance...

Needless to say I sat in again and found out a week later I got the gig. After I got the gig they sent me tapes of all the songs to learn. I wrote out charts for every tune and after 2 rehearsals, we were ready to go!

Every step of the way these guys were checking me out. I'm sure they took everything into consideration...from having a phone, to having a car, returning phone calls, showing up on time, being prepared, learning tunes, being organized, being easy to get along with- it all matters. Playing was only a part of it. I may not have been the best player(but then again maybe I was), but I was the best man for the job.

I hope this has some relevance to the original topic. Needless to say, while I was in the band, over time, we auditioned guitarists, singers, and keyboard players. I learned a lot from these guys.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 29, 2005 04:27 PM: Message edited by: cjbdrm ]</font>

[got_a_matchgrip]

Ha ha ha

The likely rsponse to that may be "No; YOU go watch the [smaller] TV in the bedroom"...["YESSSS, dear."]

If you're doing sessions, or subbing, obv it's not like a marriage [but like a temp one /;-p].

However, traveling & touring extensively & playing daily / nightly for longer periods of time is a WHOLE other ball game / -of wax... [img]graemlins/thinking.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img] [img]wink.gif[/img]