Does Your Band Have A Rider?

Expanding from a garage band toward a profitable concert performing success story requires a lot of transitions. Are you prepared to handle your next venue? Is the venue ready for you? Having a band rider is an effective way to get all of your ducks in a row well in advance.
A rider is simply a paper that lists everything you expect/want/need from the organizers of an event. Make sure anything that you absolutely need is listed. You can be as specific or vague as you want, and be flexible too.
The idea isn't to scare off anyone that might want your band to play, but conversely to show your professionalism. How many power outlets does your band need access to? If you are using their sound system, how many inputs will you need? The clearer you are on your needs, the more likely your show will be a success. Try going to successful bands websites that you like, they probably have a section somewhere for booking, and take a look at their rider. The more demand for the musician, the more specific they get. As a place looking to host live music, they will usually apreciate the lack of "winging it" when all eyes are on you...but until you really hit it big, don't ask for the moon.

Bag of Tricks

Being a traveling musician, there are endless perils to be discovered waiting for you at a gig. Finding outlets, connecting things in new creative configurations, if you are using an existing sound system, you never know what kind or how many inputs/outputs they will have. This is why it is essential to have a 'bag of tricks' of sorts to take with you.
My bag of tricks is mainly a large assortment of small converter pieces for audio. xlr to rca, rca to quarter inch, eighth inch to quarter inch, male and female adapters of all varieties, so that when the occasion arises, you are ready. I also have a battery or two of various sizes, scissors, tape, a flash light, extra picks, needle nose pliers, strings, marker, and a screw driver.
The band that I was in a few years back had optional video that companioned with our show with textures, music videos, pictures, live video of the crowd, lyrics, and a pre-show countdown, so it was also necessary to include every type of video adapter we might come up against to hook to the computer.
The hard part is creating the kit with everything you'll need the first time...after that you just grab it and go. You'll be suprized how often you need to change things on the fly, even when using your own system.
On a side note, I also put the kit in a professional looking gig case for my own enjoyment. It looks very professional when at a show a problem arises and you pull our a shiny brief case filled with all the stuff you need.

Powering your system.

  Powered soundboard? Powered speakers? Seperate amp? Why choose one over the other? There are advantages to all three, and disadvantages as well. Of the factors that play into your choice, a few are more important than others.

  Having a powered soundboard is best for ease of setup. Both the seperate amp, and the powered board need a single outlet. All you have to do is plug in at the soundbooth, and run the audio cables to your speakers whereever you put them. That also means if power has a problem in the system it is easily identified, as aposed to being plugged into outlets on multiple breakers, but all on one circuit also brings a higher likelihood of blowing a breaker. Which brings us to the next point: with a powered soundboard there is a limit to the size (loudness) of your overall system with the amount of electricity you can draw.

  Speakers that have a powered amp built inside is a great idea for people who don't want to worry about ruining their system, A built in is designed for the optimum compatibility with amp size and speaker capacity...which means that it won't blow the speaker. If you crank the volume all the way up, the speaker will stay in a solid range, and many brands will automatically cut itself for a second on a signal that is too loud. The disanvantage here is that if a speaker cuts, then there is dead time on that one speaker, but that can be avoided by getting speakers that can handle the volume levels you need, and not sending a signal turned up all the way. Again, you have to have an outlet, or an extension chord going to each speaker, which makes setup time a little longer, but it may be worth it for the security of your system. Another great reason for a powered speaker is that you can run audio cables to a powered speaker in any arrangement you want: daisy chain some, run some individually, or even plug an instrument straight into it.

  The seperate amp has many of the pluses and minuses as the all inclusive board, with flexibility. If you only require one amp for the size show you are playing, it can be stowed in the soundbooth and used the same way as mentioned, but you can expand to multiple amps, which means you can also diversify them over circuits, and place them where needed. If an amp, a speaker, or the board goes bad, or you outgrow the number of channels on your board, with the seperate system you can buy just an amp, or just a board, or just a speaker which is much cheaper than buying another powered unit. This configuration is ideal for poeple who understand The amount of power their speakers can handle, and how to setup the right way everytime.

  So there is no complete answer. Having each piece seperate is ideal for people who really grasp electrical capacity of the system they are configuring, and is cheaper to replace individual pieces. A powered board is great for simple, quick system setup on location. Powered speakers are best to never worry about blowing, or wearing away at your speakers by overpowering them.

Guitar Bug

I have an AKG guitar bug, and I love it. it operates on a UHF signal, never had a single problem with it as long as I replace the battery often. love love love it. So I searched for the official stats on this product in order to write a review, and found none.
What am I to do? There are a number of offbrands that now carry wireless guitar products, a few look the same as mine...but I've never used any of them. What I'll tell you is why I bought mine, and what I like about it, and let you decide what to do.
The UHF signal as opposed to VHF is pretty important because of the transmitter capacity limits the range of signal, and VHF won't go as far, which in a large venue packed with warm bodies, and obstructions, the signal may experience problems.
My "bug" known by the sampson company as a "bud" is very small, no wires that attach to a pack or anything, just a little device just slightly larger than the AAA batter it holds that plugs into a quarter inch jack and can velcro the instrument so it won't jerk around.
I like many products by AKG, and I am familiar with the company more than any of the brands that made them or make them now. I love the versatility of being able to run into a crowd while playing, if everyone is sitting or unresponsive, I would always go sit next to the "cool guy" and play right next to him...This usually was crowd pleasing.
There may be a reason AKG stopped manufacturing this product that I am unaware of, but the fact that other brands still make it lead me to believe it was just lack of sales.

The Keyboard I use

Hi, I'm Mike the creator of DiscoverMyBand. Wonder what equipment I actually use on stage? I most often play the keyboard, and I am very particular about the feeling of my keys.
Just read a few reviews of any keyboard on Amazon or any other site, and you'll see some people say "KeyboardY doesn't feel as authentic as keyboardX" and then under keyboardX's comments someone else says it doesn't feel as authentic as keyboardY. It's primarily a matter of opinion, and whether your fingers easily tire with much resistance.
I play the M-Audio ProKeys 88
. Admittedly, I can tell the difference from it to my upright in the back room, but this does not discredit it. It feels convincing and easy to play at different velocities, which is what I need to play music that has some emotion to it. I love the sound quality, the options, and the ease of understanding this keyboard.
The combo of that and it's price range, it's a no brainer to me. To get any keyboard that I would like better would be more than twice the price.