Suggestions for gigs w/Player

[CogCode]

My experience with iReal Book's player in a gig setting was very positive.

I'm a singer/guitarist, and I often bill myself as "The Eclectic Electric Jukebox", because I gig with a computer rig that allows me to do everything from Sinatra to Sabbath.

All of my backing tracks are played "live" via a sequencer, feeding into virtual drum kits and racks of soft-synths and samplers. This is all on a Mac mini, which I have mounted on a portable carry-case along with the audio interface, etc. Heck, I even do all the vocal and guitar processing live via that computer.

Anyway, my most recent gig was a three week run, 4 nights a week, at a venue in North Hollywood. For this gig, the jazz standards (and my originals written in the same style) were what was going over the best for that crowd.

A few days before the last week of the run started, I stumbled across iReal Book in the app store. Customizable chord chart library? Love it! Fantastic. But what really got me was when I tried the player and it sounded good. (especially the bass... nice!)

So, for my last week of the gig, I plugged my iPad into my mixer, adjusted the levels/eq, and used it for several songs each night.

You know what? It fit right in with all of my own hand-crafted midi-based backing tracks. Actually, in some cases, it sounded a little better because the real players on the iReal Book player samples are better at their instruments than I.

Bottom line is, it worked, the audience liked the sound (lots of positive comments, no negative ones), and to the ones who were interested in my setup, when they found out that some of the backing was being played in realtime from the iPad, they were stunned.

Because that gig went so well, I now have some upcoming "jazz-standard only" gigs.

And for jazz standards, I won't need a rig that can do all the horn parts to "Sledgehammer" or play hammond on "Whiter Shade of Pale". So the computer rig is going to stay at home, and my iPad will become "The Eclectic Jazz Trio" for the evening. lol Plus, if I feel like doing a song with a different jazz style from one night to the next, I'll have that freedom, which I didn't have with my hand-sequenced songs. VERY cool.

In fact, because of this "minimization" that I'm going for, I found an old iPod touch lying around and set it up with AmpKit software. Now I'm so portable, it's almost ridiculous.


Anyway, I have found that the iReal Book player is VERY viable for live situations.

[dflat]

http://forums.irealbook.net/showpost...6&postcount=10
Click Thread:... top right for the whole thread.

[boscotom]

Thank you. Feeling better and better.

[CogCode]

YES!

In one of my closets, I found a little old 30W Dean Markley K-15 (circa 1995), 6" speaker, tiny and light. Plugged in my iPad and the iReal Book player, and it sounds very clean, even at higher volumes. It even has enough bass response that the upright sounded good.

This is PERFECT for an even SMALLER setup, sans mic and guitar amp, for when someone asks me to play some songs at a party or whatever.

I'll just whip out the old nylon string, and use this little iPad/amp combo for my backing band, and sing and play away, "unplugged" style.

[boscotom]

I bet that sounds nice together---the nylon strings and the Player through that set up. Have you gifted it live? What do people say?

[CogCode]

I bet that sounds nice together---the nylon strings and the Player through that set up. Have you gifted it live? What do people say?

Coincidentally, I posted that Thursday afternoon, and a couple of hours later, I was asked to bring my guitar to a party that night if I wanted.

Perfect opportunity to do the "unplugged thing", and when I walked in with my guitar in one hand and the iPad and amp in the other, I jokingly said, "I bought the band with me."

When I sing at play at a party, I usually like to keep it "low key". I've seen too many people who bring instruments to parties and just completely KILL the momentum by making a "performance" of it, where people feel like they HAVE to listen.

But this little setup was perfect for that "cocktail party" volume and vibe. I kept it just loud enough so that people who wanted to listen, could, but quiet enough that conversation could continue for those who wanted to eat, drink, and talk.

Another strategy I used was, I asked the host play some instrumental jazz trio stuff on the stereo for a bit, then once I was ready to play, the stereo went off, and I picked up where the stereo left off. This smooth transition helped make it "not a big deal" that I was playing.

A side note: yes, that nylon string blended in nicely, and let me approach the songs with a little different flavor than usual. I think I've found that perfect "portable entertainment" rig that I can carry in two hands.

Everyone had a great time, and there was a lot of talk about how the live music added a lot to the party. Also, a lot of people were singing along with the songs, so I would call my little iPad/practice-amp/guitar combo a success.

[dflat]

New thread here that might be relevant:
http://forums.irealbook.net/showthread.php?t=1124

[boscotom]

"gigged" (sorry)

[boscotom]

Had a fine gig w the Player doing the Charlie Brown Christmas sound. Thank you all for the support and advice. Looking forward to using it again soon.

[katalin]

All the above is great advice and very interesting to read.
I too have used Ireal B a few times when there is no money for any added musicians.
I used the house PA for my voice and keyboard and had the bass and drums blasting out of a 40 watts amp right next to me, basically to give me a feel and keep me in time. It worked for me as I had a great time playing with "my band" and while the audience may not have heard IrealB very loud they still benefited from the fact that I was enjoying myself.
Of course the ideal is to play with musicians and have all that telepathy going on, but IrealB is so much better then any drum machine, the bass and drums are very good.