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heyhey! Been itchin' to blog but I have nothing to write about =.= well now I have!!!

I had a gig last night in campus. It was conducted by the uni's music society. This event has been held every academic year and finally I got to play in that event!! I played with my fellow rubbers--another 'finally!!!' moment-- and I got to play with fellow 2nds. I subbed for their bassist who is currently studying abroad. 

That was fun! Although a lot of mishaps, wrong chords, and unbalanced sound system, it was a gig worth remembering. Every gig teach me different lessons, so yeah. This will be another lesson :) Here's what I've learned:

First, playing as an opening band is actually not so bad after all. Me and fellow rubbers didn't expect to play as opening band because we were informed that we'll be playing 2nd or 3rd. And when we reconfirm, we were supposed to be the 1st. So we were kinda surprised. The thing is, you'll get more time setting up gears on stage and that's a big advantage! Because of that, I didn't feel nervous anymore. 

Second, GO BUY A LOOOOONNG JACK, or maybe a wireless one if you can afford it. This will come in handy. I bought a 6m jack the other day --well it's not actually that long, but it came in handy last night. The amps position last night was like: guitar amp-drum-bass amp-guitar amp. When I play with the 2nds, the guitarist was using the rightmost amp. So, if I stand in front of my bass amp, the position on stage will be verry awkward because that will cause the vocalist not to be at the center. That's why I need to move to the left side in front of the guitar amp. The stage is quite wide, but thank God my jack is long enough and I still can play freely at the other side.

Third, playing for 2 bands at the same gig is EXTREMELY STRESSFUL!! I don't know. Maybe this is just me. Or maybe because this is my first time for such situation. I got verrrry busy because of the double jamming, spent a looot of money for studio rent, and all the songs and sequences were mixed up in my head just like when I was having 2 exams on the same day. Also, not to mention the sound setting! The settings for some songs are different, so I got extra stuff to remember. Plus, I am a sub for the 2nds, so it kinda gave me extra pressure because if I didn't do well, I'm afraid that I might ruin their reputation >.<... Man...

Fourth, the sound that you are hearing on stage is TOTALLY DIFFERENT than the one off stage where the crowd is. I think it's because the sound of all instruments are combined and come out through another speaker which totally has different equalizer or something. During the sound check, the sound on stage was awful, but Mr.Manager said that it sounds good from his stand point. But the thing is, during the real performance, the one on stage sounded good to me, so I really hope that it didn't sound awful for the crowd (x.x). It will be better if you have somebody who can direct you from the crowd stand point. Thank God we have Mr.Manager to do that :) For amateur gigs, we can't control the equalizer of the main speaker, and worse, we can't really coordinate with the sound man or complain the drum's bass is too bass-y or the lead guitar riffs is so faint. I don't really know how these things go in a professional gig though. Y'lemme know

Fifth, own a pair of earplug. I've been to heavy jamming sessions these past few weeks, and because most of the studio I went to only have small jamming rooms, we stood really close to each other and I was always stood near the drums. Actually, wherever I stood didn't really matter because the drum will still be loud. I usually become deaf after jamming, and my hearing will be normal after 15 minutes. Months ago rubbers' drummer gave me 3 pairs of earplug heheh and those things came in handy. I didn't turn deaf after jamming anymore. Even if it's a very loud one. The earplug also came in handy during the gig. We didn't have monitor facing the band, so basically we can't hear ourselves singing. But when I use the earplug, I only plug my right ear so that I can still hear the music and listen to myself at the same time. Don't plug both ears if you will be singing because you might not be able to listen to the music and ended up singing off key. My first time using an earplug, I went off beat (=.=").

Alright, hope it helps! :D