The band can't play in time

[Andrew07]

What do you guys do? Basically I told the guitarists to go home and practice playing a click until they could play in time...it's been two weeks and they still can't do it

[flhctroll]

What else is new. Grin and bear it.

[richiebee]

Not being able to play in time is worse than not being able to play the right notes. Either they have to practice, or you get new guitarists. I'm curious as to how they got in the band in the first place if they can't play.

R.

[brandondrury]

I'm curious as to how they got in the band in the first place if they can't play.

The cold war is over and any asshole with a guitar and amp can be in a band, unfortunately. Of course, this means that there are 3 types of "serious" bands....pro level bands that are already signed, bands that knocking on the door of being signed, and bands that don't have a chance in a hell of anything resembling a clue.

Playing to a click is not that difficult. Just show them how to bob their head to the beat and the rest will fall in. If they can't figure it out in 10-20 minutes, there is something wrong. If they haven't practiced to a click before or at least played along to their favorite cds, something is wrong.

I hope this isn't the band you are producing. If it is, I think you may have made a grave mistake in working with them unless the lead singer is amazing (and amazing looking) and the songwriting is mind blowing.

Brandon

[Andrew07]

Yup, this is the band I WAS producing. Been working with them for a couple weeks but no matter how hard I push them it's not falling together. I'll keep making the guitarists re-record parts until they can A.Play the right notes correctly B.Play in time, but I'm starting to think it's a lost cause. I tell them to go home and practice and not record until they have everything down(I gave them each their OWN metronome to take home and practice, wrote out all the tempos for them) but they keep wanting to rush and just finish half-assed as it is...

[brandondrury]

You clearly chose the wrong band to produce.

While I have pushed you to produce bands, maybe I didn't make it clear as to how picky you should be with the bands.

#1 The singer must be amazing. If you are not blown away by him, no one else will be either. Think of the best singer you know and produce that band. You mentioned before that the singer wasn't that good. Screw that!

#2 The songwriting must be amazing. If the songs aren't tremendous, no one will care. No one will probably care anyway, but they really won't care if the songwriting is medicore.

#3 The music must be able to move up to the next level. There is no point in producing people who are not ready (and probably never will be ready). You must be able to make money with your producing. You can't just donate your time. If you really believe in the band, than do it. If the band doesn't seam a head and shoulders above every other band you have done then you are wasting your time.

If you don't get excited thinking that these songs are so damn good that it's going to blow peoples minds, no one else will either.

#4 The band doesn't respect you.
The band is happy with a half assed project. If they are content with that, they don't understand your bigger vision and don't care. I deal with this from time to time (but never with the bands I produce, ironically).
When a band works with a big producer, they will do whatever he says. When this band works with you, they say "this is good enough!". Don't work with people like that.

I'm very very picky about who I take the time to produce. I must like them personally, agree with their ambitions / goals, and believe in them musically. This is not easy to find. Good luck! But, that's kind of the point. It should take a year to find the right band to produce. When you find this amazing band, with a huge following, you should produce the shit out of them. If the band doesn't have all their ducks in a row, they will not move up!

Brandon

[brandondrury]

One other thing. If these bags of crap don't have the work ethic to learn how to play to a click track in 2 weeks, then they should be executed. They have officially wasted your time.

I'd stop all recording / producing immediately. I'd back up the files onto DVD and delete them from the hard drive. I'd call up the band leader and tell him to shove it up his ass. If they want to grow up and play ball, they'll come out with a mindblowing recording. Tell him if the band can't get their shit together in one week, you are officially ending the project and moving onto a band that actually wants to work hard on creating something truly great.... I'd randomly sprinking in words like "fuck", "fuck you", and "you motherfucker" in there as you see fit.

You are being walked all over like you are a total pussy. I WOULD NOT stand for this and you shouldn't either. If you are seroius about producing, you have to let every person in the band know that you are a bad motherfucker. If they don't respect you, screw em. If they don't work to work hard, fire them!

Brandon

[flhctroll]

Holy shit your pissed today

[richiebee]

I agree with Brandon in a slightly less intense way

I don't know how difficult the stuff is that they're playing, but if they can't play it in two weeks, they shouldn't be recording it. They either need to get easier songs, or (more likely...) sell their guitars and take up some kind of sport.

[brandondrury]

Boys,

I'm learning how to produce. In a producing situation, I find that I almost ALWAYS have to be over the top. "This vocal, right here is the most important thing in the universe." is kind of what goes through my head when I'm working with a singer.

In this setting, I'm producing Andrew07 here. I'm trying to motivate him to take the best path for him, his abilities, his name, and his studio.

I have a feeling that if he did call up the band and told him that he had officially fired them, one of the members would call and say "Why?". Of course, Andrew07 could say, "Because no one wants to work".

Then the guitar player would take a hint, put down the Xbox controller and practice for the 15 minutes required to get used to a click track. Done!

I've been in these situations. Sometimes you have to be extreme.

The other day a singer was 1.5 hours late for a session. What did I do? I left. The day was wasted but I have a feeling that it won't happen again.

Brandon