New unit came today and within 10 minutes there are problems

electronpirate said:
"The new thread came today and within 10 posts there are problems"

We were all pleasantly off topic here. Let's keep it that way. Opinions about Gaga/Madonna will abound. The Dali Lhama teaches us that from space, the earth is placid. Lets dream that reality.

-Pee Wee Herman.
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I just spit diet Coke on my dual monitors at work. Classic.
 
henryrobinett said:
Well I'm not interested in guitar records. I go for the music regardless on the instrument. If you're saying my statement is a bit naive, could be. But I look at it like there's no room to complain if you're not doing it yourself. And if you ARE doing it yourself you've got no time to complain.
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+1
I can't agree more.

If you want to create music for a living, you HAVE to think about the business side of things. You absolutely cannot ignore business practices and expect any sort of return on your time besides personal gratification from writing the music. Networking, practicing, writing, and playing live are the BARE MINIMUM you need to think about. On top of that, you have to manage schedules of all the people in the band (5 guys for my band), and at my age you've got full time career jobs + kids + wives for everybody. Attempting to put an album together you have to worry about cover art, inside art, what type of case you want, track listing, ISRC registration, tracking times, mixing, mastering, production, promotion, pricing structure, distribution (physical and digital), overall layout of text including UPC and legal stuff, copywrite, trademarking the logo, designing the logo, getting the album reviewed, creating a press kit, acquiring contacts to send the press kit to, who is going to be sitting at the merch table... the list is never ending. That's just for an album, next you need to have a professional looking website, manage all your social networks, still find time to go to shows and network with bands/promoters...

I still work full time and have a cover band that plays 2-3 weekends a month. I read/post to only this forum and I do it while at work. The reason the odds of "making it" in the music industry are 1 in 100 million are because 80 million of those bands don't put in the work above writing and playing. We're a nobody band in Fargo, ND and we've been on both AM and FM radio (music and interviews on both) and we have offers to play clubs ranging from New York to Denver. That's a direct result of work, not luck.
 
Net worth is really hard to determine in the music biz. Debts can accrue quick in unforeseen ways. What looks great on paper is rarely reflected like that in real world hard currency. Previous debts to record companies, mangers, ads, loans for costumes, salaries, studio, promotional crap, tour crap. It's hard to tell.
 
Here's a test.

Would you pay money to support gaga or madonna by actually buying music or seeing them live? If not, then your respect for their accomplishment is nice, but you really don't give a shit for the music. If you don't care enough to support them with your patronage, then why should we listen to your argument about how talented the bandmembers are? Who cares about how good they are in theory? When they play in the gaga setting, they are performing musicians. If the music is a shit part and they play it perfectly, they play shit. garbage in, yada yada....

Coulda been, shoulda been.

I think most pro players are very talented, but in this contrived, commercial setting, they are stage sausages, playing a part that most of the people on this forum could play. Maybe the band mates are great players, but do they really play music, or do they just play the part, shitty as it may be?

I'm probably being naive and amateurish again, but post a killer vid of madonna's or gaga's stage sausages and I'll send you a nice gift certificate. No shit! Post it and we'll setup a poll to see if you win $100 from me.

But I reserve the right to counter your post of an awesome musical moment, by GAGA or MADONNA, with my own choice moments from whomever I choose, or a rebuttal example of how much they stink.

Peace to my fellow musicians. And peace to the music business, especially to gagadonna.
 
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henryrobinett said:
Net worth is really hard to determine in the music biz. Debts can accrue quick in unforeseen ways. What looks great on paper is rarely reflected like that in real world hard currency. Previous debts to record companies, mangers, ads, loans for costumes, salaries, studio, promotional crap, tour crap. It's hard to tell.
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I agree henry, there are so many costs to come out of scant revenue. I don't think the music business actually every works for musicians. You gotta be an entertainer and business person to make it. Musicianship is a given, but slightest factor.
 
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I try to support my fellow musicians and artists. I find no use in slagging them or dragging them through the mud. They and we have enough to fight instead of fighting amongst ourselves. They are not the enemy, as I see it. Art, any art, is worth supporting. I like to try and find things I can admire in something I may not like at first. I have found that there's ALWAYS something I can find to admire. It might be staging, costumes, choreography, if not the music itself. But then there's always production values. I can admire the sparseness in the drums or parts or just the plane work ethic and planning.

But truthfully that's how I can enjoy most pop or rock and roll. But for me the measuring stick is is the artist making these choices his or herself? If it's her vision, as I'm sure it is with both Madonna and Gaga, I can admire that. They have visions, there's no denying that. Of course it's a choice of what their vision represents. But purely on a staging, theatrical basis, cool. David Bowie.
 
randolfo said:
Here's a test.

Would you pay money to support gaga or madonna by actually buying music or seeing them live? If not, then your respect for their accomplishment is nice, but you really don't give a shit for the music. If you don't care enough to support them with your patronage, then why should we listen to your argument about how talented the bandmembers are? Who cares about how good they are in theory? When they play in the gaga setting, they are performing musicians. If the music is a shit part and they play it perfectly, they play shit. garbage in, yada yada....

Coulda been, shoulda been.

I think most pro players are very talented, but in this contrived, commercial setting, they are stage sausages, playing a part that most of the people on this forum could play. Maybe the band mates are great players, but do they really play music, or do they just play the part, shitty as it may be?

I'm probably being naive and amateurish again, but post a killer vid of madonna's or gaga's stage sausages and I'll send you a nice gift certificate. No shit! Post it and we'll setup a poll to see if you win $100 from me.

But I reserve the right to counter your post of an awesome musical moment, by GAGA or MADONNA, with my own choice moments from whomever I choose, or a rebuttal example of how much they stink.

Peace to my fellow musicians. And peace to the music business, especially to gagadonna.
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Prong - All Knowing Force - YouTube

Madonna's touring guitarist was Monte Pittman of Prong. Anything off Scorpio Rising is him in a creative sense (writing, playing, performing). He even played bass on it. I don't know what you consider "killer", but there's some pretty awesome riffage there. Prong's music doesn't exactly call for shred solos.

Here he is live:Prong - Embrace the Depth / Live - YouTube

Here are gaga's guitarists talking about gear. Ricky & Kareem from Lady Gaga's band - YouTube

Ricky Tillo (gaga guitarist) live Ricky Tillo @ Joe Mama's - August 16, 2009 - YouTube
Kareem Devlin (other guitarist) Kareem Devlin rockin' his Kantor Crystallized LP @ Lady Gaga's 2010 tour - YouTube
and a live clip of Ricky Lady Gaga Jammin with guitarist @ Tacoma Dome - YouTube

Also, I own a physical copy of all of Lady Gaga's albums and I have some old tapes of Madonna. Also, I was PISSED that we were in Denver when she was performing, but couldn't get tickets. We were on the tarmac when i got a text from my cousin, who was picking us up, "OMG! I just saw lady gaga!"... grr... so, yes, I would totally pay to see her perform.
 
Henry, I live pretty close to you. we should have a beer sometime. I do like to promote and support good players. I think there are very few around, and they live on scraps, and there are also alot of players that just focus on the biz. Just because certain of them were picked up and promoted and made it huge, doesn't mean that we need to sacrifice our sensibilities. It's art, and if you don't dig it, it's no good!

I'm never going to make money at music. that's ok. But at least I can play music for myself now that satisfies me more than most musical acts. But it's just for me. And I play better now than I ever have.
 
sidivan, I'm listening to it now, and don't really have an opinion yet. I'll listen to it more tho. the first instance wasn't too much playing, imho.

I stand by my post, and to clarify, if you post something that demonstrates great musicianship, by any member of gaga or madonna, playing in the band of either of them, then I will either refute your post, or we'll have a poll on whether you deserve $100 from me as a gift towards purchase of a mission pedal or FAS product.

It doesn't count if you have a vid of madonna's guitarist playing solo in a coffee house, it's gotta be in the madonna band setting, playing her music.
 
randolfo said:
It doesn't count if you have a vid of madonna's guitarist playing solo in a coffee house, it's gotta be in the madonna band setting, playing her music.
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It's hard to find those videos because the artists involved are extremely protective of their likeness being used. If you do find one, the quality is extremely poor. Apparently, I misunderstood your point, which I thought was that the players were not hired based on their abilities and that anybody here on the forum could fill those shoes. The coffee house video CLEARLY demonstrates his talent (Gaga's band btw, not Madonnas). There are several videos of them shredding, but as mentioned previously, the quality is very very poor to the point where it's difficult to hear what they're even doing, which I'm sure is why they haven't been taken down by Gaga's people.

Also, you're going to be hard-pressed to find a killer video of a guitarist playing "her music" when their music isn't guitar-heavy. That's like asking to see a killer guitar video of a miles davis song, but it has to be during one of his performances.

I must've read and started responding to your post prior to you editing that part 'cuz it looks like the quote is even the edited version.
 
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randolfo said:
Henry, I live pretty close to you. we should have a beer sometime. I do like to promote and support good players. I think there are very few around, and they live on scraps, and there are also alot of players that just focus on the biz. Just because certain of them were picked up and promoted and made it huge, doesn't mean that we need to sacrifice our sensibilities. It's art, and if you don't dig it, it's no good!

I'm never going to make money at music. that's ok. But at least I can play music for myself now that satisfies me more than most musical acts. But it's just for me. And I play better now than I ever have.
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Yeah, but you know PLAYERS are just a portion if MUSIC. I support music makers. Players too! Mainly, sure because the really, really good players go unacknowledged too often. Like great bass players.

I never sacrifice my sensibilities. I know what I really like. But I won't, generally, denigrate what I don't. I don't need to try and harm those people who are really doing it. There's a difference between promoting what you like, and denigrating what you don't.

coffee or a beer would be cool.
 
That's kind of why I don't listen to guitar payers that much. For me it's not about the instrument. It's about the music. Whenever I get too myopically introverted into the guitar alone, I lose focus on the actual music.
 
Well re. Supporting Musicians .... in my neck of the woods all the local musicians that I know are more than willing to help each other out - lend an amp, guitar whatever to get someone out of a hole ... I'm pretty sure that's a common thing all over
 
maxdown said:
Well re. Supporting Musicians .... in my neck of the woods all the local musicians that I know are more than willing to help each other out - lend an amp, guitar whatever to get someone out of a hole ... I'm pretty sure that's a common thing all over
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A rising tide raises all ships. Adding to the overall value of the music community is one of the most important parts of being a musician, imo.
 
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