How to embellish a solo act?

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

Holy Cow, Batman.

Had a "house band" gig years ago and hated it. It was 104 gigs a year (2 nights a week, same club, same crowd) and we did side gigs as well. Much preferred traveling, but that had more expenses.

I have a fulltime day job and with vacation, weekends, and holidays will only work about 230 days a year.

300 gigs a year is 5.7 gigs a week nonstop.

You're an animal !

Ha, I feel like a dinosaur!

More than five gigs per week from May-November, then it slows down after Thanksgiving, picks up during the Christmas holidays again, and Jan-March is a solid 3-4 gigs per week, but I pick up a lot of studio session work during the slow months. Summers are insane with afternoon patio gigs added to my schedule. Lots of doubles on the weekends.

A few solid weekly gigs year round plus weekends and in the summer, I do doubles and even triples on some Saturdays. I scaled back from over 300 to around 250 now and I'm much happier.

I put my whole setup in two flight cases with a cable snake in between them. My setup is under 10 minutes once I get to the stage. Everything is plugged in and connected to power supplies on their respective boards.

I make seven 6 audio connections and two power connections. The cases are on the heavy side, but set up and tear down are a dream. Plus I have a rock n roller cart for transport and I'm not afraid to ask a busboy for help if I need it.

Residencies can be a drag. It's nice to have those solid gigs, but it can become stale. My 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Fridays are at three different places, as well as 2nd and 3rd Saturdays at two other places year round. I keep 4th Fridays, 1st and 4th Saturdays open to book new places.

The places that I play are wonderful to me. I'm fortunate to work with some great venue owners that are committed to live music.

I add new music as often as possible to keep me and the regulars at these places from hearing the same songs too often. The ipad helps for lyrics and charts.

It's a different kind of hustle for sure, but I make way more than I did working loss mitigation at a bank, and I love what I do. The looper makes things interesting for me and really helped with the carpal tunnel problems that I was developing years back from constantly chording.

Once I lay down the chords, I'm mostly playing leads, lines, colors, and inversions. Plus, I can add and subtract parts on my looper so the song doesn't sound static. It's really less of a gimmick, and almost its own separate instrument the way I use it.

[lt20dbl]

If you love what you do and are good at what you do, It will all come together. It is nothing that you can buy. Just keep doing it and never give up. It's the only way you will know. Hopefully, you will continue to improve, your whole, working life. The audience will let know when you get it right.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

Interesting where some of us draw the line: a guitar synth is OK, but a looper (which IS the player playing) or a vocal harmonizer (which IS the person singing, and might be considered a vocal synth) is bad.

I would offer: just like each of us plays differently, what one chooses to embellish a solo act is that person's choice. It may not be what you choose, but that doesn't not make it a "gimmick."

The OP asked what people are using in consideration of adding something to the performance. I see all these options as another choice, and not good or bad... depending on how adept the player is with it, of course.

As an aside I would add as long as this “gimmick” whatever it may be.
It has to be done well. Or not at all.

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by varmonter

As an aside I would add as long as this “gimmick” whatever it may be.
It has to be done well. Or not at all.

What some people are calling gimmicks are actually tools. Some even require developing another skill set.

[sportycliff]

I think I would do whatever it takes to give my audience the best performance that I am capable of.

If I believed that an added effect or a loop or singing bears would enhance my performance (even a smidge) I would do it. We are being paid to entertain and I try to give my best. This is my opinion, of course your mileage may vary...

[Captain Jim]

Does anyone have a link to the singing bears and will that vendor price match vs Amazon?



It's a joke. I'm kidding. Really, I'm a kidder. I've tried the singing bears and they add nothing to my Bose set up. I think I need to add a bear harmonizer.

[Wengr]

Originally Posted by JackB1

OK so I have gotten a few gigs now under my belt with just my acoustic guitar and vocals. Simple setup....just me, the guitar and my voice and my PA. What's the next steps I should consider to make my act more interesting sounding? Should I get a drum pedal (Beat Buddy, etc) or a vocal harmonizer or a looper or other effects pedals? What in your experience made the most noticeable difference? What do you guys think? Or should I just hone my singing and playing first before adding more?

Continuing to refine playing and singing should be a given regardless. And I would add that making your act more interesting does not require electronic gadgets/tools/gimmicks/etc. To what degree are you:
1 Using alternate and open tunings?
2 Percussive tapping of the guitar?
3 Slide?
4 Harmonica
5 Varying your method of attack - flatpick/strumming/fingerstyle?

I have nothing against well used technology, but I'd first like to see a strong showing of elements such as these.

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by Wengr

Continuing to refine playing and singing should be a given regardless. And I would add that making your act more interesting does not require electronic gadgets/tools/gimmicks/etc. To what degree are you:
1 Using alternate and open tunings?
2 Percussive tapping of the guitar?
3 Slide?
4 Harmonica
5 Varying your method of attack - flatpick/strumming/fingerstyle?

I have nothing against well used technology, but I'd first like to see a strong showing of elements such as these.

You had me up until harmonica.

[sportycliff]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

Does anyone have a link to the singing bears and will that vendor price match vs Amazon?



It's a joke. I'm kidding. Really, I'm a kidder. I've tried the singing bears and they add nothing to my Bose set up. I think I need to add a bear harmonizer.

[chevymopar]

Originally Posted by eyesore

stick to the basics!! there are too many showoffs out there already!!!!

for sure agree with that minimal use ....sometimes when i see guys with too many electronics it feels like i should just go watch a DJ instead.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by chevymopar

for sure agree with that minimal use ....sometimes when i see guys with too many electronics it feels like i should just go watch a DJ instead.

See, honestly, I'm the opposite. To me, the electronics stand out the most when they're too isolated...so if a guy's whole show is just him and a guitar and then suddenly, he kicks on the harmonizer, I'm like "Where did that come from?"

But if he's doing some experimental stuff the whole time, it wouldn't sound out of place to me at all.

[chevymopar]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

See, honestly, I'm the opposite. To me, the electronics stand out the most when they're too isolated...so if a guy's whole show is just him and a guitar and then suddenly, he kicks on the harmonizer, I'm like "Where did that come from?"

But if he's doing some experimental stuff the whole time, it wouldn't sound out of place to me at all.

good point..........I guess it all comes down to if it is done well and personal preferences.

[Stratcat77]

Originally Posted by The Kid!

What some people are calling gimmicks are actually tools.

Yep!

I totally get that everyone has different tastes and preferences. Cool. Some like a certain sound. Cool. Some really do not like other sounds. Cool. But to suggest that using a certain tool is somehow less "pro"? Not cool. I generally don't enjoy watching a performer using tracks. But I don't think that necessarily equates to them being less of a pro. I've seen guys using tracks or loopers (or god forbid, ipads!?!!? ha ha) who were very impressive and I've seen guys stripped down to just raw guitar and voice that were really.... um... raw!

It's a little bit funny to me how some claim to prefer "pure and simple", but if they enjoy any pro artists, do they understand that they all use all kinds of electronics to perform live and to record. So at what point is it crossing that line of not being "real"? Anything beyond just the guitar and the voice (pickups, preamps, sound systems, compression, reverb, EQ, etc) are all artificial.

A very talented younger guy that I enjoy listening to came out to hear me last weekend. He commented on how polished he thought I sounded. I'm not sure if his comment was referring to my live "sound" (equipment and settings) or my performance, but I was happy to hear it either way. He had nothing negative to say about my looper or harmony pedal! I guess he's a gimmick guy!? Ha ha

To me, it's about delivering a show (sound and performance) that keeps people coming back. And it's got to sound good to me and be fun.

[hotroad]

Originally Posted by Stratcat77

Yep!

I totally get that everyone has different tastes and preferences. Cool. Some like a certain sound. Cool. Some really do not like other sounds. Cool. But to suggest that using a certain tool is somehow less "pro"? Not cool. I generally don't enjoy watching a performer using tracks. But I don't think that necessarily equates to them being less of a pro. I've seen guys using tracks or loopers (or god forbid, ipads!?!!? ha ha) who were very impressive and I've seen guys stripped down to just raw guitar and voice that were really.... um... raw!

It's a little bit funny to me how some claim to prefer "pure and simple", but if they enjoy any pro artists, do they understand that they all use all kinds of electronics to perform live and to record. So at what point is it crossing that line of not being "real"? Anything beyond just the guitar and the voice (pickups, preamps, sound systems, compression, reverb, EQ, etc) are all artificial.

A very talented younger guy that I enjoy listening to came out to hear me last weekend. He commented on how polished he thought I sounded. I'm not sure if his comment was referring to my live "sound" (equipment and settings) or my performance, but I was happy to hear it either way. He had nothing negative to say about my looper or harmony pedal! I guess he's a gimmick guy!? Ha ha

To me, it's about delivering a show (sound and performance) that keeps people coming back. And it's got to sound good to me and be fun.

We use effects all the time ie strings of various types, picks of various types, pickups, amps with various settings, different length necks, different woods, different styles of picking or strumming, and all types of pedals and effects. These all effect the tone.

[Mr Bojangles]

Originally Posted by The Kid!

What some people are calling gimmicks are actually tools. Some even require developing another skill set.

Jimi Hendrix said that "I'm tired of people saying that we rely on gimmicks, the world is nothing more than a big gimmick, with wars, napalm bombs"...