Music is a super difficult art.

[kotornut]

Think about it, our art is cooperative. We work together with other musicians to make beautiful art but it's hard to be an artist and share.

Can you imagine Picasso saying to another artist "yeah paint what ever you want on the canvas"?

Or Michalangelo saying "sure you take the chisel."

But we have to do this all the time in our bands and man does it get disapointing when the other people in the band can't keep up.

I'm dealing with this problem right now and man does it give me stress. Granted, I'm not at the same level as Picasso or anything but it's still hard.

[rastachild]

that is an eternal problem with bands. if you think of it, it's amazing when any good band can stay together for any length of time. first you have to find people who are interested in the same type of music that you are. then these people have to have relatively the same level of ability. then these people have to not be a**holes. and lastly, they have to have the same commitment level. if any of these qualities are lacking, then your band will probably not last very long. and trying to find 3-4 dudes/dudettes that meet each of those criterion can be very daunting!

which is why i write and record my own music and play live as a sideman in other bands. the stuff i'm passionate about i horde to myself and have 100% control over and i get the rush of playing live with these other side projects. that way i don't have to get too involved and butt-hurt when the other band members let me down in one way or another. if things get too bad, i just move on to the next thing. would i like to eventually be able marry the 2 worlds? of course, but it would have to be a perfect situation. which is probably not likely.

[andy7jem]

This is probably a good point as to why the likes of Satch and Vai have stayed popular for so long. They constantly look around for who is available for recordings or tours that best fits the current feel of their material at the time. I know some members have been constants for the most part but there is always some changes to keep the ideas and enthusiasm flowing.

[Rachmaninoff]

Then imagine to coordinate a whole orchestra, with lots of temperamental musicians.

[kotornut]

Yeah, I'm only doing this for fun (if that's even possible) but I still get too wrapped up in the song writing. I'm not a great guitar player but I have invested almost 17 years in being the best I can be at guitar, but it seems that I'm a unique case over here in Japan.

I'm starting to be like you rasta, just writing my own stuff.

[Myst and rain]

I don't play in a band. It would be nice if I ran into people with whom it would 'click', but it's not something I'd pursue intentionally. If I did run into people, it probably would just be for fun, anyway. We wouldn't be working seriously on any kind of arrangement, or anything like that. I'm fine playing by myself and recording my own stuff.

Alwin

[kotornut]

Yeah, well I just wish I could make music with others I don't want to be the sole guy doing it. I just want to feel like together it's better than it was on my own.

Oh well, it is fun to just play around with the songs, and they do tell me to play a lot of solos.

[Gurj]

Writing music is something I wish I was good at. Consequently the only bands I've ever been in have been cover bands.
And rasta pointed out, finding other people who want to play the same kind of stuff and actually get on is really difficult. I recently left a band where I got on with most people, but a lot of the music we played I really did not want to play. Stuff like Pink and Natalia Umbruglia! Some even wanted to play Robbie ****ing Williams! Come on I'm a metal head for **** sake!! I'm searching for another band again, hopefully where we can play some good songs and where the rest of the band want to write our own music.

[kotornut]

Originally Posted by Gurj

Writing music is something I wish I was good at. Consequently the only bands I've ever been in have been cover bands.
And rasta pointed out, finding other people who want to play the same kind of stuff and actually get on is really difficult. I recently left a band where I got on with most people, but a lot of the music we played I really did not want to play. Stuff like Pink and Natalia Umbruglia! Some even wanted to play Robbie ****ing Williams! Come on I'm a metal head for **** sake!! I'm searching for another band again, hopefully where we can play some good songs and where the rest of the band want to write our own music.

I know how you feel. My favortie bands are either power metal or death metal, and I'm stuck playing stuff that sounds like wannabe Ramones with vocals only half as good, can you believe that?

It's funy when I cut my solos though, tapping and alternate picking with that kind of backing track.

[rastachild]

Originally Posted by Rachmaninoff

Then imagine to coordinate a whole orchestra, with lots of temperamental musicians.

well the difference here is money when musicians are getting paid they are more likely to behave, play music they don't like and be committed to a project.