Solo Act..Worth it?

ZoonDog

ZoonDog

Member
Hey all, due to the lack of commitment by my band mates, I am considering putting together a solo act so I can play more often without the hassle of band scheduling etc...(don't get me started on that). Anybody doing this? How are you doing it...what gear? Band in a Box type products? Pre-recorded drums and bass, keys? Vocal harmonizers? I would like to keep it simple if possible.
I have always performed with musicians playing all the music on stage "live" so not sure if anyone cares about that anymore except a few of us older gen folks.
I would be playing classic rock and some pop tunes...and using my FM3 with acoustic and electric.
I would be interested if anyone is doing this in-between band gigs and what the good, bad, and ugly might be

thanks
 
I do this (solo and duo, when not playing with my band), and I've tried a few options for drums/percussion.
My acoustic pedal board has 3 main components: Infinity Looper, Beat Buddy, Line6 HX stomp (yes, I know....)

For me, the drummer in a box is easiest with a Beat Buddy pedal and an additional midi pedal. If you want to do full drum sounds, you can...and they're great in the Beat Buddy. But I found that using a Cajon beat was more fitting for acoustic music (classic rock and pop tunes). It fills the percussion void very well, without sounding too fake. I felt the full drum set was just too much and didn't feel appropriate when your playing solo in the corner of a bar.

The Pigtronix Infinity Looper is excellent because (and this is very important), it syncs via Midi clock with the Beat Buddy. This means that my loop start and end points are perfectly in time with the drum beat. I don't care how good your timing is, if your looper does not sync with your drum (machine), you are going to have issues. Even if you are a millisecond off when you start/stop your loop recording, after a few 'loops'....your guitar loop will be out of sync with your drums. I tried using my AX8 looper, and even had it read the midi clock from the Beat Buddy, but it didn't even close to as good as the Infinity Looper. With the infinity, if you stop your loop and then 'turn it on' again....it will always start at the top of the measure (which it reads from the Beat Buddy). Very few loopers do that.

Lastly, the HX Stomp. - I use it for basic effects, a tuner and a solo boost. I would have loved to use my FM3 for that, but the HX is substantially smaller and since I don't need amp modelling, the HX is great.

I have not added any other instruments (keys or bass), and I don't use a harmonizer. I have a TC Helicon unit and used it maybe twice. I just think the harmonies sound too fake.

Solo/Duo gigs are a great way to fill some space in the calendar and learn some new skills. They will also make you enjoy your band gigs a bit more (IMO). You will appreciate turning up your amp and rocking on a stage with your buddies.
 
All solo acts should be just the artist and his instrument. Recorded music has no business on a live stage. Sorry, but that's how I truly feel.
 
ZoonDog said:
Hey all, due to the lack of commitment by my band mates, I am considering putting together a solo act so I can play more often without the hassle of band scheduling etc...(don't get me started on that). Anybody doing this? How are you doing it...what gear? Band in a Box type products? Pre-recorded drums and bass, keys? Vocal harmonizers? I would like to keep it simple if possible.
I have always performed with musicians playing all the music on stage "live" so not sure if anyone cares about that anymore except a few of us older gen folks.
I would be playing classic rock and some pop tunes...and using my FM3 with acoustic and electric.
I would be interested if anyone is doing this in-between band gigs and what the good, bad, and ugly might be

thanks
Click to expand...
I keep looking at Ableton Live and thinking about the same thing. No doubt a learning curve for the software, but looks like it can do pretty much anything. People do some amazing things with loopers nowadays too...
 
Tonedeaf said:
Recorded music has no business on a live stage.
Click to expand...
There would be very few shows happening today if that were the case. :)

I think you can do whatever you want - it's your show. Loopers and tracks are tools. If you're blessed to be able to put on a great show with just your voice and a guitar, then that's all you need. But throwing some other flavor in there with drums, looper, tracks, etc. can definitely give your audience a nice change of pace. A lot of acoustic solo acts get fairly boring over time if there's not much in the way of variety or dynamics. I love watching someone who's adept with a looper for instance. That gives you a way to play along with other tracks that you're creating and keeps that live performance aspect.

Tracks can work for you also, but IMO it's very boring to watch someone just basically karaoke-ing up there to a track, so more is expected (by me) if you're going to use tracks well. In the end, it's about the performance - are you putting on something interesting regardless of the tools, or just playing karaoke?
 
ZoonDog said:
Hey all, due to the lack of commitment by my band mates, I am considering putting together a solo act so I can play more often without the hassle of band scheduling etc...(don't get me started on that). Anybody doing this? How are you doing it...what gear? Band in a Box type products? Pre-recorded drums and bass, keys? Vocal harmonizers? I would like to keep it simple if possible.
I have always performed with musicians playing all the music on stage "live" so not sure if anyone cares about that anymore except a few of us older gen folks.
I would be playing classic rock and some pop tunes...and using my FM3 with acoustic and electric.
I would be interested if anyone is doing this in-between band gigs and what the good, bad, and ugly might be

thanks
Click to expand...
I started doing this almost twenty-five years ago when a club owner mentioned in passing that he would be willing to pay me and our female vocalist the same as our entire band. Since then I've done a ton of solo and duo work (I average four nights a week) and make way more than I ever made in a cover band. It pays well enough that I am able to schedule band gigs for fun without really worrying about all the usual band issues. So, yeah, totally worth it from a financial standpoint.

I tried a number of technologies in the beginning but have settled on .mp3s played from a laptop or tablet. I was a music director in my former life, so sequencing pop tunes is pretty fast for me. Not dealing with midi on stage cuts way down on the footprint and allows me to have a stupid huge repertoire (several hundred songs) painlessly.

I started off sequencing full-blown productions. The audience rarely seem to care about backing tracks. However, I have always had a rule that any part that calls attention to itself should be played live. And over the years I scaled my sequences back to a very bare bones structure for new tunes. I also throw in a couple of totally live tunes each set to keep things real and act as contrast.
 
Oh, and, if you are playing the same venues again and again, I would strongly encourage you to find a partner to share the vocal load. Hell, I don't want to hear my own voice for an entire evening.

Also, if you throw in some standards, there are tons of up-scale restaurants in most markets that will pay a premium.
 
Tonedeaf said:
All solo acts should be just the artist and his instrument. Recorded music has no business on a live stage. Sorry, but that's how I truly feel.
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Or her.

I don't disagree, but I will say - using a looper and a percussion pedal is harder than playing with a band (from an execution perspective). So I don't discount anyone who does this. It's not 'simple' to orchestrate that as a solo performer.
 
Tonedeaf said:
Recorded music has no business on a live stage.
Click to expand...
I respect your opinion yet couldn't disagree more. We're all performers regardless of our instruments. I don't do solo but we play a 3 piece (2 guitars and a female singer) to a backing track containing drums, bass and keys. All of our auxiliary parts are recorded, played and produced by us in a studio. I record bass, key accents and one of my best friends does the drums for us. We use Showbuddy with a MacBook which also controls all lights, mix modifications, fog, and preset changes on (2) Axe III's, X32 Mixer and Eventide Eclipse.

I wouldn't go in front of 10,000 people like this but I don't play in front of 10K people. I've played in bands, with some stellar musicians, for over 5 decades and the hybrid band using the backing track is the most difficult and challenging scenario I've ever dealt with. It is unforgiving and requires intense precision and discipline.
 
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BBN said:
Or her.

I don't disagree, but I will say - using a looper and a percussion pedal is harder than playing with a band (from an execution perspective). So I don't discount anyone who does this. It's not 'simple' to orchestrate that as a solo performer.
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To me looping is still live music so long as you are constructing the loop live.
 
There is no question that playing with a band without any non-human-played instruments is way more fun and, as a consumer, that's what I would choose to support with regards to live music. My comments are limited to personal experience navigating the compromises of working as a musician.

I also have to second the earlier post about live bands and tours. In my experience, using some form of track, sample-based or computer support has been a well established practice since the mid-1980s.
 
I shifted to a duo with backing tracks (initially 'sequencer tracks') decades ago as an old band fizzled out into the realities of disparate lives. My partner (who was also in the old band) have found it a great way to keep playing live (just occasional hobby-level gigs, not pro). I also get a lot of enjoyment out of producing the backing tracks; tedious but rewarding and they become a unique part of the band sound. However, I'd probably not do it as a solo player. As others have noted, much of the fun comes from the comradarie, even if with only one other person.
 
All great stuff! I struggle with the "live" thing as Tonedeaf has mentioned. And good suggestions on some of the gear. Will definitely check it out. Seems to me in my neck of the woods that my gen tends to leave the clubs we play fairly early after 1st set which leave the younger folks to entertain and they don't seem to be that critical of how music is performed as long as they enjoy the music. Fortunately, I had a constructive conversation with my ex keyboard player last night and he is up for doing a duo thing...which I agree would be more entertaining and share some of the duties if you will. I will still do some solo stuff but this will be more fun sharing the experience! The folks comments on this forum is just what I needed to get me out of the band rut and to get my creative juices flowing again...might even rub off on the band...but wouldn't hold my breath...lol.
 
I've struggled with this subject for years with my band mates. I have zero issues with people using backing tracks when it's obvious and they're not trying to hide it. A duo playing a small venue with full drums, key, and bass coming thru the PA is fine and I'd imagine it's difficult to pull off seamlessly, but a 5 piece band that I catch using backing tracks and trying to hide the fact is cheating (to me). We have bands that come to the area with flawless harmonies and perfect keyboard solos when I can clearly see they're not really doing it live gets on my nerves. Our band works very hard to create a good product that's 100% us live on stage, it may not be perfect but it's also 100% real. Don't use backing tracks to cover for lack of talent or practice.
I was super bummed last year when we saw a touring 70's national act live and could hear the 3 part harmonies as one member was still walking up to his mic and wasn't even singing yet. I get that they're trying to put out a quality show but I'd personally rather see the warts here and there to show they're human.
I've refused to let our band use backing tracks in the past but may be forced to go to them if our keyboard player calls it a career and we can't find a replacement but we won't try to hide the fact. It's hard to play Journey, Styx, REO, and such without keys. It'll suck!
Sorry for the rant but this is a sore spot for me. I'm old and a hard-head.
 
Tonedeaf said:
All solo acts should be just the artist and his instrument. Recorded music has no business on a live stage. Sorry, but that's how I truly feel.
Click to expand...
In principle, yeah....but many of the bands I enjoy would have to tour with a dozen musicians if they didn't use some cheats.

I have to be honest, I becoming more open to vocal/guitar karaoke.
 
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