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Does anyone regularly do a quiet restaurant/lounge 'wallpaper' music type gig? You know, the kind where you just play chord melody type stuff (even improvised) all evening that pretty much pays you for practicing? If, so, what's your setup - guitar, amp, looper, backing tracks, etc.? I've been thinking that, in my old age, that's what I'd like to do - low stress and no BS.
I got to thinking about this because the theater where I'm doing "Best Little Whorehouse In Texas" right now has a really (really) old guy in a suit and Aussie campaign hat(!) in the lobby playing Hank Williams tunes on the piano for the folks waiting for the play to start. Nobody really pays him much attention but, at least, he's working - probably makes as much in an hour as I do playing the 2 hr show. I could play some jazz chord solos, ragtime fingerstyle, and Chet tunes, collect my pay and go home! Sounds good to me!
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10-25-2014 03:41 PM
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I'd come and see ya if you were in my neighborhood....The looper seems like a good option, a lot of UTube vids to check out....seem to be easy enough to master....
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I was doing that two or three times a week for several months before we left Portland. I do it a bit here as well but not as often as I should. No looper or tracks, just me and a guitar. My rig until recently was my Pod HD with a small power amp and a Raezer's Edge cab. Recently I've been experimenting with a bunch of different amps. That's what I got the GK and Carvin mini bass heads and I have no doubt that either would work just great. I'm running both with a TC Electronics reverb pedal and the rig sounds great with either amp and the RE cab.
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I'm looking for one.
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Love these gigs...had one at two restaurants that both closed their doors in the last year. Would love to find anither steady...
In the meantime, ive befriended an event planner abd have done some private parties...pays better, but you cant really experiment as much.
Always me and a guitar. I don't play guitareoke.
Loopers are fun, but for experimental stuff...Cant really do much of that at a wallpaper gig..
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Jim Soloway - Jim - which TC reverb are you using? I know some of the steel guys have been using the HOF and it's demo sounds impressive.
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I have done it some and would like to do it A LOT more. I tend to love using the looper as well for solo gigs.
The following is NOT a good example for a JAZZ forum, but something I had quickly recorded to explain to a friend how the whole looper thing worked, and thought that I'd post it here just in case it gives anyone any cool ideas.
YouTube link using a looper for both vocals and guitar:
And one more of my just noodling over a static progression (People Get Ready):
So taking the above examples I just do some of the same things with some basic Jazz tunes that repeat.
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I use the Arena. It's rebranded version of the HOF that they did for GC and MF. It has a few different settings than the HOF with identical mechanicals. I like it a lot. I'd probably be just as happy with the HOF but I got a good deal on the Arena when they first brought it out.
Originally Posted by Skip Ellis
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I attained a 'wallpaper' gig at a couple of retirement homes through a community college district. This means that I'm paid consistently, except for when holidays occur. Obviously not a real high-powered gig, but I get to play and get paid a reasonable amount of money for it. I rarely see people posting about these types of gigs on JGF. Guess it's a little embarrassing LOL.
Last edited by srlank; 10-25-2014 at 05:54 PM.
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Not embarassing at all - I've done my share of retirement home gigs and feel good about doing it. I get the impression that those folks enjoy hearing some music from their past and you'd be surprised at how knowledgeable some of them are about the big band era. I had a sweet lady in her 80's talk to me for the better part of an hour one time about big band girl singers - she knew her stuff! Around here, they pay $25-$50 an hour for that type thing but you usually have to bill the parent company and wait for your check. Never was a problem to me. Originally Posted by srlank
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I use a HOF. Assuming it continues to work, it'll be the last reverb pedal i buy. Its great. Originally Posted by Skip Ellis
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My favourite kind of gig. Solo, as close to acoustic sound as I can get. No effects but on some numbers I prepare my instrument and get a wide variety of sounds against strings left open for regular playing. Challenging, people do notice from time to time, no pressure, always something different, and it's just me, guitar, volume pedal, amp.
I've considered using a looper, but the challenge has been for me to keep it interesting with bass lines, rhythms, repertoire and reading the room. That challenge has expanded my own playing a lot.
Good luck, have fun
David
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I aspired to doing them, but they don't fly in my area. Restaurants near me want singers. A couple coffee shops ask you to do it for free. They say they can't afford to pay for entertainment. It's been very discouraging. If I want to drive 40 miles for $25/hr for 2 hours I can maybe do that. But I digress.
I have used a couple rigs and like to go stereo. The amps are a Vox AD30VT, about 10 years old now, and either my ZT Junior for a real small place, or a 1x15 Polytone bass amp that is nice for clean tones. I use a Line 6 M13 multi-effects unit (overkill for such a gig) and a DigiTech JamMan Stereo. My guitars are a PRS semi-hollow or an Ibanez AFS75. I added an Epi Joe Pass to the arsenal but haven't gigged with it yet.
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Any flat-pickers doing solo gigs? I never hear about it. I make a mistake doing chord-melody and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
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What do you mean steve?
I play with a flatpick and fingers. Solo guitar ain't just for fingers only.
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My teacher was a soloist- wallpaper, jazz-classical guy. He told me not to play with my right-hand fingers like him! Weird. I don't know what else to do so I started singing again. That's been strange. I used to sing a lot of falsetto. I mean a LOT. Long hours. It stuck with me all these years. It's not very useful except for certain songs. Not much use on standards.
I'll do Nat Cole and just knock out the Freddie Green thing on guitar. Anyone want to hear that? Probably not.
I haven't received my looper yet so the jury is out on that. Just got rid of an RC 300 and decided to go with a Boomerang. Looping is what's happening but the most creative stuff I hear revolves around vocals. Kawehi Wight does pop but she's the best looper around I think.
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I can only use a pick. I'm too lame playing finger-style. I've tried to learn but I'm just not comfortable. There's no way I could come up with enough material for an all instrumental solo gig. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Last edited by Stevebol; 10-25-2014 at 07:06 PM.
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I love those kind of gigs. I get to play exactly the music I want to play. Someone gives me money for it and usually a bunch of people, none of whom play music, tell me how relaxing it was. Occasionally a guitar player comes by. I can tell because they usually give me these weird nasty looks but they never talk to me and never look me in the eye. Originally Posted by srlank
I attained a 'wallpaper' gig at a couple of retirement homes through a community college district. This means that I'm paid consistently, except for when holidays occur. Obviously not a real high-powered gig, but I get to play and get paid a reasonable amount of money for it. I rarely see people posting about these types of gigs on JGF. Guess it's a little embarrassing LOL.
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Almost all of the restaurants offering live music of any kind in my neck of the woods are the ones that go out of business the quickest, because the clueless owners do the same things the last 50 failing owners did.
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i usually stand in the back with my arms crossed, telling people i can play way faster and have more expensive gear. Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
as a "soloist", i never got past the busking vagrant circuit, because i'm not the kind of person turn to for brightening their day, musically or otherwise.
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I have done it in the past and would love to find that kind of gig again. Just me and a guitar. I used a nylon string and played chord melody standards but also did light classical pieces as well.
Every now and then somebody, usually after a few too many, would request Free Bird or Sweet Home Alabama, but aside from that, it was very enjoyable and a great way to tighten up my solo style.
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I have done lots of these types of gigs. I use a Boss RC-300 looper with a number of saved loops that have I pre-recorded with a seven string guitar. I don't have anything on the tracks except guitar, so it doesn't sound like karaoke. On the gig, I usually play a mixture of chord solos without the looper and songs where I use the looper as a backing track. Often, non-musicians don't even realize you're using a looper because your tracks have only the sound of your own guitar, which sounds the same as your live playing. The advantage of using a looper, as opposed to a recorded track, is you can play as few or as many choruses as you feel like, more like a real band. With a good looper like the RC-300, you can also switch instantly from the pre-recorded loops to laying down a live loop on the fly and vice-versa. I do this if I feel like adding a vamp or short chord sequence for an intro or ending. You can even create new songs on the fly by laying down the chords once through and then playing over top. This works for songs where the form is short, like a 12 bar blues, blue bossa, etc. looping makes solo gigs much more fun and allows you to deliver a more complete package. And it's all your own music. Originally Posted by Skip Ellis
Keith
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I like to bring a laptop and solo over full band arrangements in all styles, jazz, country, metal, hip-hop, bluegrass. The crowd has no idea what is going on and the restaurant owner knows it's a great bargain that I can sound just like five musicians for only $50 and a meal.
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I do tons of these gigs. I bring my guitar and an amp. I'm not sure what else you'd need.
I sing, too, so I always have a mic+stand. I just run everything through my Polytone. Not the best possible sound, but when you're up against clinking plates, coffee grinders, chatty crowds, I think worrying too much about nailing the perfect tone is sort of silly.
When I want to impress more or am going to have a more observant crowd, I bring my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Vocals actually sound really great through tube amps. Must be the compression.
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I had a great gig for 13 years playing Easter and Mothers Day brunch at a big venue (800-1200). Piped in to the various dining rooms and outdoor spaces, I played what I wanted with the occasional request. It was pretty lucrative, as well, but alas, I was replaced by recorded music. The thing was, though, I played 5 hours, so it was like a marathon.
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