Amusing Stories – The Brotherhood https://thebrotherhoodmusic.co.uk The premier wedding and corporate band Tue, 15 Nov 2016 20:24:03 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.7 The 1st Live Band https://thebrotherhoodmusic.co.uk/the-1st-live-band/ https://thebrotherhoodmusic.co.uk/the-1st-live-band/#respond Mon, 26 Oct 2015 21:03:48 +0000 https://thebrotherhoodmusic.co.uk/?p=178 Being professional musicians, working the circuit for years, we found this hilarious. Please enjoy… And so in the dark of night the Lord awoke Noah, and spoke to him. “Noah, awake and heed my words!” And Noah, being sore afraid ...

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Being professional musicians, working the circuit for years, we found this hilarious. Please enjoy…

And so in the dark of night the Lord awoke Noah, and spoke to him.

“Noah, awake and heed my words!”

And Noah, being sore afraid and disoriented, did cry out, “Who goeth there?”

And the Lord did smite him upside the head, saying, “It is the Lord of all
things, dummy!”

And Noah did tremble, saying, “Lord, why hath thou wakened me?”

And the Lord did say, “Noah, build me a Jobbing Band.

“For the earth will be visited by a plague of Brides, followed by forty days
of Trade Shows and forty nights of Awards Banquets.”

And Noah did say, “Command me, Lord.”

And the Lord did say, “First, thou must find me a Leader.”

And Noah replied, “But Lord, will I not be thy Leader?”

And the Lord did smite him again, saying, “Fool, thou will be my Contractor.
Ask not why!”

And Noah did bow his head, saying, “Yes, my Lord. And what will this Leader
play?”

And the Lord said, “It mattereth little, whether he play or not, or whether
he be proficient or not. For his job shall primarily be to talk to the
Brides and their Mothers, and to deal with Clients, and to count off Tempos
wrong, and to inquire as to whether Overtime will happen, and to try to
segue tunes that should not be segued. If he playeth any instrument, thou
must always have another player of that instrument on the band, just to be
safe.”

And Noah did say, “And what else shall this Leader do?”

And the Lord replied, “It shall be his job to spread Bad Information and
Confusion amongst the Sidemen, and to pit them one against the other, and
to delay all payments.

“Further shall it be his job, until we can afford a Soundman, to create
Feedback, and to invent new Equalization Curves therefore.”

And Noah did shake his head in wonder, saying, “Lord, thy ways are Strange
and Mysterious. What more shall I do?”

And the Lord said, “Next, find me a Rhythm Section.

“First, find me a Drummer. And Three Things above all must this Drummer
possess.”

And Noah did ask, “What are these Three Things? Double Bass Drums? An
Electronic Kit? Congas?”

And the Lord did smite Noah again, saying “Second-guess me not, my servant.
First, this Drummer must have slightly imperfect time, so that whenever he
playeth a Fill (and he shall play many), he always emergeth at a different
place, sometimes early and sometimes late, but thou may not guess which.
“And second, he must be Supremely Discontent, always hoping for the Big
Break which will lead to him playing with Chick Corea or Madonna, so that
he despiseth Jobbing.

“And third, he must always be convinced of his Righteousness, in all things,
including Time, Volume, Tempo and Feel, so that he argueth always with the
Bass Player.”

And Noah did say, “As you command, Lord. And what next?”

And the Lord did say, “Thou art learning, Noah. Next shall be the Bass
Player. And he shall be Bored. That is all.”

And Noah did say, “Of course. And next, my Lord?”

“Next shall be the Piano Player. And he shall play as if he has twenty
fingers, and he shall ply Substitute upon Substitute, until no man may name
the Chord, and he will not be helpful.

“Furthermore, he shall always be Late. And he shall always be trying out
New Gear, of which he has no knowledge.”

And Noah did wonder aloud, “Lord, Great is thy Wisdom!”

“Next shall be the Guitar Player. And he shall be a Rock Guitar Player.
And he shall be Loud, and he shall sing ‘Old Time Rock n’ Roll’. “Also shall
he know not The Page, and so shall rely upon his Ears, which have been
damaged by exposure to High Sound Pressure Levels. For the Guitarists who
Read shall already be playing Shows, and will be making the Big Shekels.
“And his tux shall be the Rattiest.”

And Noah did say, “It shall be done.”

And the Lord did say, “Next thou shall need Horns.

“First shall be the Saxophones. And they shall be Beboppers. And they shall
play their Bird Quotes in every song, yea, even the Celine Dion ballad.
And they shall Get High on every break, and make the Long Faces all night
long, but especially when ‘In The Mood’ is called.

“Next shall be the Trumpeters. And they shall every one attempt to take
everything Up an Octave, and fail frequently. And of Changes they shall know
nothing.

“And finally shall be the Trombone Player. And many jokes will be made about
him, for he will have a Beeper, as well as a Day Job, and he will be the
first to be Cut from the Band.”

And Noah, taking many notes, did say, “Mighty is the Lord!”
“Next shall be the String Players. Find me Three Women, and attach Pickups
to their Violins that are more ancient even than Myself, so that their
instruments screecheth and causeth great pain.

“And their job shall be to dress in Evening Gowns, and to Fake Parts on all
Ballads, and to occasionally Stroll, and to complain about the Volume, and
the Intonation, and to impede the Swing.”

And Noah did say, “What else can be left, Lord?”

And the Lord did say, “Finally, find me the Singers.

“And they shall be Three, one a Male, and two Females.
“And the Male shall be a Strutting Peacock, with the Rock ‘N Roll Hair, and
he shall never have to wear The Tuxedo, and also shall he play The
Harmonica.

“And of the Females, one shall be Black and one shall be White. And the
Black one shall ALWAYS sing the Aretha songs, and the Disco. “And the White
one shall ALWAYS sing the Power Ballads, and the Country Songs. “But both
shall share the Motown Medley, and shall sing Backup for the Male, and
forget the Words, and be Late, and know nothing of Keys or Form. And they
shall leave every gig immediately, having never touched a piece of
Equipment.

“And they shall be paid many more shekels than the Sidemen. Ask not why.”
And Noah did say, “As Thou sayest, my Lord.”

And the Lord did command him, “Search high and low for these, as not every
musician can fulfill these requirements. And though we have No Work yet, a
Committment must be secured from All. And while you’re at it,start looking
for Subs.”

And Noah did say, “Lord, thy will be done.”

And it was.

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What makes a great cover version? https://thebrotherhoodmusic.co.uk/what-makes-a-great-cover-version/ https://thebrotherhoodmusic.co.uk/what-makes-a-great-cover-version/#respond Mon, 26 Oct 2015 21:02:34 +0000 https://thebrotherhoodmusic.co.uk/?p=180 From the smallest local weekend pub band, right through to the most famous and prestigious Stadium artists; cover songs are a huge feature of the music industry today. They play an enormous part in generating income freplor songwriters, publishers and ...

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From the smallest local weekend pub band, right through to the most famous and prestigious Stadium artists; cover songs are a huge feature of the music industry today. They play an enormous part in generating income freplor songwriters, publishers and also the performing artists. But what exactly goes into making a great cover version? Have you ever noticed that many cover versions seem to compare poorly with the original masterpieces they are copying? They are very often lacking in spirit, feel, and technical ability; some even seem to miss the point of the composition entirely.

Why Do Cover Songs Exist?

In order to sculpt and hone their talents, and aid technical and artistic development, aspiring musicians and performers will very often learn and copy songs and performances of their inspirational idols and mentors. But what are the reasons for performing in public, re-recording and re-releasing other composer’s copyrighted material? We have made a small list of suggestions:

  • To provide live music entertainment in local or smaller venue settings, and private functions. This applies to most working bands and artists, and examples can be heard in many venues across the country each and every weekend.
  • To launch a new performing artist (usually a vocalist) who does not necessarily specialize in songwriting or composition themselves. This has been done countless times over the past few decades. Many artists have had an initial flurry of success by taking this approach, before facing a dwindling profile from lack of support from subsequent songs. A small number of artists have continued to enjoy relatively successful careers as a result of employing this tactic.
  • The re-launch of pre-established artist whose career maybe experiencing a lull. This is usually a tactic taken on by artists who are experiencing lack of inspiration or “dry patches” in their songwriting, but still wish to maintain a strong public profile.
  • The re-working of a song in order to launch a publicity campaign of another work, event or product. This work could be a feature film, TV programme, brand, sport, charity, to name just a few. The promoters will draw from the target audience’s prior knowledge and love of the composition and exploit this in order to promote their own product.

All of these uses listed of the work, require the original composer’s (or their publisher’s) permission, which will be granted via a legally binding contract.

What makes a cover song good?

The answers to this are indeed, rather subjective, but we have humbly put a few thoughts and points of note together in an attempt to answer this common question:

  • Technical ability. There’s simply no point in attempting a song which is either harmonically, rhythmically or technically too difficult for a band to execute. The song will simply serve to make the cover artist appear weak; bands looking to cover songs which are originally performed by virtuosos, should be completely sure that they are up to taking on the responsibility of bringing justice to demanding pieces of music.
  • A firm grasp of arrangement skills. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should be able to re-score Duke Ellington’s “Take the “A” Train” or re-harmonise “Bohemian Rhapsody” but a cover band, or music producer should possess a firm idea of the roles of instruments in the ensemble with which they are working. From this knowledge they should be able to manipulate melody and countermelody lines, re-harmonise and re-structure, the work. They should have shown that they have been prepared to experiment with feel, groove, tempo and instrumentation.
  • Excellent studio skills. This includes all aspects of recording such as; microphone technique, mixing, editing, producing, effects, and even mastering.
  • Excellent performance skills. You (or your band) may be the best bedroom guitarists, but if you can’t deliver that “Surfing with the Alien” cover which you dearly love in an effective manner, either onstage, or in the studio, then you are unfortunately better off pursuing that day job.
  • A wave of inspiration. This is such an incredibly difficult phenomena to depict and describe. The Oxford English dictionary defines inspiration like this, “The stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings,  etc, to special or unusual activity or creativity”

There’s no getting away from it, a cover song will certainly require something new and interesting, possibly unusual and creative in order to make it appealing. Freshness and originality will without doubt draw an audience to your rendition. An ability to portray a well known and loved work in a different light, and with passion, honesty and humility will surely attract the attention of many, and hopefully their approval too. We at The Brotherhood take great pleasure and delight in breathing new life into what we believe are already great tunes. We work hard to reproduce the songs in a worthy manner, and to bring fresh alternative arrangements to songs which people know and love. We do hope that you can share our enjoyment of the art of creating effective cover versions, and trust that they’ll bring as much joy to you, the listeners, as they have to us while we have created them. Please reply to this blog by telling us either your favourite, or least favourite cover versions! Try to say why you like or dislike your choices!

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Our Recipe for the Perfect Wedding Band https://thebrotherhoodmusic.co.uk/our-recipe-for-the-perfect-wedding-band/ https://thebrotherhoodmusic.co.uk/our-recipe-for-the-perfect-wedding-band/#respond Mon, 26 Oct 2015 21:01:57 +0000 https://thebrotherhoodmusic.co.uk/?p=183 For the real live music connoisseurs out there we decided to put our chef’s hat on and cook up our favourite wedding band and live music recipe! You can mix and match certain items to suit your individual taste, but ...

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For the real live music connoisseurs out there we decided to put our chef’s hat on and cook up our favourite wedding band and live music recipe! You can mix and match certain items to suit your individual taste, but be warned, take too many ingredients out, and your band soufflé may come out a little flat!

Ingredients:

  • 1 x supreme lead vocalist/ rhythm guitarist;
  • 1 x grooviest drummer plausible;
  • 1 x super laid back bass player (electric or upright);
  • 1 x outrageous lead guitarist (with a dash of ego but not as big as the vocalist’s as they will fight)
  • 1 x balanced and reliable sound technician (if possible- there is speculation as to whether such a species exists or not).

Optional extras:

  • 1 x extra tasty keyboardist
  • 1 x extra spicy percussionist
  • A sprinkling of sumptuous backing vocalists to taste.

Method:

Take initial ingredients and mix together in 1 rehearsal room for a few hours. Find and collate as many of your favourite songs as possible and catagorise said songs under various headings such as; Soul classics; chart hits; chllin out; rockin out. Leave to simmer in rehearsal sessions, spaced over the period of a few weeks. When smelling ripe and pungent, add in some of your optional extras to suit your taste and fancy.

To serve:

Book wedding band on event of your choice, turn volume up to desired level, sit back (or hit dance floor) and enjoy!

*Note to chef:

At no point in this procedure should the drummer be approached, conversed with, or amused. Such species are known to be unpredictable, unstable and, at times, volatile. These strange individuals are best left to be dealt with by hardened professionals with years of experience and who know what they are doing. Drummers…walk away and just say no.

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