Dear Fractal Doctor, my band likes to practice in the dark

Bojangles

Bojangles

Experienced
The band i play with like to practice twice a week, but for some reason (and i'm not sure how this got started) when we start our practice they turn the lights off, so much so you can hardly see the fret-board.

Some of the justifications go along the lines of, its dark on stage, practicing in the dark help, its just better with the lights off, blah blah blah blah

This is usually promoted by 2 of the 4 people in the band, the drummer and the singer

Sure i can see some benefits, but i can also see a lot of disadvantages, i'e if its just set practice it isn't so bad, however for creativity, song dabbling and improv it feels like just a hindrance, and truthfully just stupid

Is this normal?
Should i just put up with this seemingly neurotic behavior as it might have some benifits?

what do you think
 
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that's the dumbest thing i've ever heard, lol.

practice is to get better, to grow as a band....i don't see how darkness promotes that.
 
I've done it and kind of liked it. Not to many of the pros spend a whole show looking at their hands... a lot of amateurs do. I'm definitely in that second category but can see the benefits of it if you're goal is to entertain others.
 
Tried it, and I think it can be useful as an occasional thing. But then I also like the George Lynch trick of "play for a while without using your (fretting hand) index finger. Then when you throw it back in to the mix everything seems so much easier".

If the drummer and singer insist on doing it regularly, counter with the suggestion that you should rehearse with a really shitty monitor mix, 'cause hey, we might have to play that way some time...
 
yeah i can see the merit in trying new and different things, and does make more sense(not a lot) for polished set songs, however doing it all the time and also trying to write an create new material blind or be experimental is seemingly just a massive impediment

sure we could all try to write songs standing on 1 leg or have a finger on each hand tied down but its not really productive in my thinking

If i can get enough comments, i might show them the thread and reinforce what a pointless exercise it is
 
While I've not had band practices in near pitch black, I've certainly with previous band had them in dim lighting. Not to supposedly simulate stage conditions but just for mood. I liked it, but it wasn't anything to make a big deal about either way.

That said, I've never played on a stage so dark that I couldn't see the fretboard. I have however played on stages where I've been temporarily blinded by the light. I can most of the time play no problems without looking, but in some of our songs I have pretty big shifts to make and bugger all time to make them, so looking helps. One on of these occasions, the lighting happened to be hitting the neck in just the right way that I couldn't see the side dots. And my fretboard is blank on the front other than tiny offset 12th fret dots. So, I screwed that bit up good 'n' proper. :lol: Thing is, I don't think it was so much that I couldn't see it, more that it all happened rather quickly and right at the instant where I wanted to see what I was doing, I couldn't. I didn't need to see, it was just a back up, but the back up suddenly wasn't there and my brain panicked. If the stage was permanently dark or ridiculously bright, or I was playing blindfolded or whatever other odd situation, I wouldn't have been expecting to be able to rely on seeing and it likely wouldn't have been a problem. So I don't think practicing in the dark or whatever would really achieve much for that purpose.

That said, I now put little strips of white tape (actually label tape) over all the side markers on my main to basically make them huge and fairly difficult to miss, plus I can also feel the strips with my thumb as I move up down the neck.
 
done occasionally there is nothing wrong with this, though not while writing or sorting out parts. I

t should be part of the performance practice. we used to rent a room with a full stage setup PA and mirrors. Facing the "audience", dim lighting, full on stage presence, etc.

all of the things that differ from standing in a room facing each other.
 
Sounds goofy to me. Wait...unless the band you're in is The Darkness. In that event, it totally makes sense. LOL
 
I have tried that a few times, it is interesting in terms of how much of communication is done via eye contact, but for the rest I did not find it that useful.

Jens
 
I often jam in low lighting. Maybe meet them half way with some candles or something. Great for setting mood and atmosphere.
 
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