https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 22:39:55 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360162 Sun, 24 Oct 2010 05:14:08 +0000 How do you signal your drummer / bassist etc that the end is coming. A pre-arranged gesture.
Make eye contact.
Nod towards someone.
yell (off mic) "let's end this turkey" or something

Zappa used to "conduct" his band fairly often. Sometimes like an orchestra conductor, but most often just to re-direct the song into an other direction if he thought it might be cool.
In every interview I've heard from any musician who played for him, they say that there was a bunch of pre-arranged gestures that Zappa might make at any time, and the band was expected to change direction on the fly to react.
Maybe one gesture would mean "marimba fill here". Another would mean "Louie Louie for 4 bars, then resume where we were.

Watch some concert videos of bands that like to change things up a lot and see what they do.]]> Live Sound kent_eh https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360162 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360060 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 19:24:53 +0000
Does anyone do medleys anymore? Sure do. I also love arranging so we can segue from one song directly into another like this (long video follows!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J6rue6YFVQ]]> Live Sound Moonrider https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360060 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360047 Tue, 19 Oct 2010 23:15:21 +0000
Pixies's Caribou ends nicely on long G, but again, i want to be able to postpone the end as long as needed.

Summertime blues by Blue cheer gives us problems altogether, but, i guess knowing how to play that one is really about knowing your bandmembers:)

Basically, i'm in search for ways to improve communication in the band. How do you signal your drummer / bassist etc that the end is coming. If a band can make this idea work, then, ending a song is not a problem anymore, right?]]> Live Sound MarcMM https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360047 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360038 Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:39:16 +0000
Does anyone do medleys anymore?]]> Live Sound Dan Lasley https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360038 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360034 Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:45:55 +0000 Live Sound MarcMM https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360034 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360031 Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:02:12 +0000
My advice is to make endings for the songs and forget about the fade out.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫]]> Live Sound notes_norton https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360031 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360013 Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:59:26 +0000
if you want to simulate a fade. ritards will do it to some extent. also consider playing more sparsely, even dropping out instruments one-by-one. but as pointed out above, fading is not usually a very effective or satisfying way of ending a live tune. exercise your arranging chops and work up some other dynamic alternatives.]]> Live Sound gnease https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360013 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360011 Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:03:05 +0000
Second it's probably gonna be the drums that drive the fadeout or ritard at the end. Depending on the drummer, you may find it easier just to decide on a way to end and dump the fade.]]> Live Sound Moonrider https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360011 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360009 Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:41:46 +0000
Give a cue to the drums - a single long chord on beat 1 held for the whole bar allows your drummer time to take the tempo down a touch/ perform an ornamented drum roll round the whole kit and so on and come to rest in the tonic chord with the lead player doing some form of cadenza. A single beat chord on beat 1 to finish.

Obviously, how you get there is another matter. You're best off extending the end sequence by repeating the chorus or outro chord patterns; don't write and new material for this bit.


A :-)]]> Live Sound Alan Green https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-360009 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-40095 Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:37:59 +0000
I've been playing in bands for a couple of years now. The problem appears, when we're playing songs that end with fadeout. It's really hard to fade out live, but sometimes u can slow the tempo gradually. So, i'd like u to share your experience about that.. Who pulls it back? guitar? Drums? I know that this feel comes spontaneously with time, but, is there any way to practice it?]]> Live Sound MarcMM https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/playing-in-the-band/#post-40095