So you're going to a band audition...

Otto said:
Auditions are hard.

Have a bad day and both the auditioner and auditioned lose out.

I am beginning to think an audition should last long enough for people to get to know each other and for the honeymoon to wear off...and see how conflicts are dealt with.

Determining playing ability is easy...determining if the person is a right fit is FAR harder...and the crux of a working project.
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+1. Personality is huge.

larryace said:
Since no one has said it before, if possible, invite all the drummers you can to one of your gigs and then afterwards, see who is most interested in being in the band. Let them do some self weeding. Then start real auditions

Or provide them all with live recordings and see who is really into it if there aren't any gigs in the near future.
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Great advice Lar except if, like our band, it's just a startup and we don't have live recordings to provide. However I do make it very clear in both our ads and when we first talk to them on the phone that it's a startup. Still you'd be surprised how many guys come in and get upset we aren't gigging yet. Just can't make some people hear what they don't want to hear.
 
In the event you find yourself needing to throw the audition, here's a couple good one-liner's.


1: You guys have such great equipment, you must be rich!
2: Work release won't let me work two jobs, so I figured I'd look for something that pays under the table.
3: Would you guys mind playing something by Oasis? I really love Oasis! (Proceed to tell them everything you know about Oasis till they wrap it up).
--- 3a... Start singing the words to Wonderwall, as if you really think you're helping them learn the song to play it.
4: Mind if I toke up first?
 
MaryO2 said:
Curious...what would be your ideal audition situation?
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The audition should give the prospective drummer a good sense of what the band is all about.

Try and create what you expect a good rehearsal sesh/gig to be. Let him see your prospective set list and you and he each pick 1,2,3...n songs from the list.

If possible, spend some time on a 'social' audition. Of course, 'shut up and play music' should be the band mantra as a way of preventing feelings on Those Issues spoiling things, but if you have a choice between a drummer whose views are different to yours and one whose views are similar, similar will prolly win.
 
Wally Young said:
Question to ask before you decide to invite them for an audition:
—Ask them to tell you about their cymbals.

You should be able to glean a preponderance of information from reading those bones.
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THis is a good point. Very good point.

We drummers can play any kit but cymbals are what tells the tale of what kind of drummer/person a drummer is and the way someone describes them, what they do with them, why they chose them etc. would probably offer a good snapshot into how they do things.
 
I appreciate it when people send me links to their music because most bands, to me, sound like crap and I don't want to play with them anyway. So why waste my time? Plus, if you're not 420 friendly then I wouldn't want to be in your band anyway.
 
1. Bring your drums.
2. Bring your drums.
3. See the first two above.
 
I just went through the process of auditioning for a band. It took a couple of weeks and three different practices with them before finding out yesterday that I was in.

They first sent a link, and later gave me a CD of their original songs and I spent some time at home learning the material before going to meet with them to play.

What I really liked about their process was that they weren't expecting perfection right away and they were able to effectively walk that fine line between telling me to stick to the script and to find my own voice. That made me comfortable knowing that keeping it simple wouldn't make them think I was too much of a dullard, but also because I knew I could try things that might not work without getting too much stink eye.

Oh, and this was me auditioning as a bass player, which wasn't something I'd done before so I was pretty nervous about it!

So that's my feel-good audition story!
 
Record the audition.It dosen't have to be pro quality,just a cassete tape with a decent mike,with the levels not going too far into the red:).You may hear something you don't hear in the spontanoius live performance of an audition.

Don't expect perfection and mark the performance on a curve.The drummer may just be having a bad day,or is just nervous.I remember ,one of last bands I auditioned for,I was really nervous for absolutely ,no reason,and it showed.I got a call back,and nailed it the second time.

Playing in front of people,and doing a practicle job interview are two different things.And like Jim said,ask open ended questions,which may lead to other questions,and that may just make everybody, more comfortable.

Steve B
 
Having just auditioned for a band, I found that having the right sound system is very important for the drummer. The first time with these guys, the only thing I could hear was the rhythm guitar player (extremely loud and terrible rhythm). He was all over the place. It was so bad I never expected to be invited back.

The second time, we were at the bass player's house where he has a nice studio setup in his basement. Professional sound, comfortable space, etc. It was an entirely different experience. We played several songs from their list, and then just jammed some. Everyone seemed to know exactly what the other guys were doing. At times the singer was just staring like WOW!
 
Agreed,

You have to decide whether the band is right for you just as much as the other way around. The main thing I look for are tensions in the existing line-up, it's very common for rock bands to blame/sack their drummer as a way of avoiding the root of the problem.

I test the technical and creative limits of bands that I audition with. Again you would not believe how many bands are limited in musical vision and originality. So many clone bands (not covers acts but really doing nothing new either) out there. I avoid these like the plague. Bottom line for a non pro but competent drummer is, is the music good, is the general scene they inhabit good, will I enjoy this in 6 months time, are they clued up in terms of gigging and recording. Again there are a lot of talkers out there who are totally deluded about there music, skill level and audience appeal.

It's a two way process.
 
Its just a shame you are so far away Mary, I'd happily play with you. Cincinnati is a bit of a commute from Scotland though!
 
bigiainw said:
Its just a shame you are so far away Mary, I'd happily play with you. Cincinnati is a bit of a commute from Scotland though!
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Actually, somebody from this forum must know somebody who lives near Mary. A referral seems quite possible. Who here is near Cincinnati?
 
larryace said:
Actually, somebody from this forum must know somebody who lives near Mary. A referral seems quite possible. Who here is near Cincinnati?
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Wouldn't it be great if DW had a map, that pinpointed where everybody is, if they chose to list their coordinates? I am almost certain we have many near Cinci, Boston, NYC, Chi, Detroit and St Louis....and nobody from Iceland or Greenland.
 
bigiainw said:
Its just a shame you are so far away Mary, I'd happily play with you. Cincinnati is a bit of a commute from Scotland though!
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Oh that would be so fun! But, yes, the commute would be killer!

larryace said:
Actually, somebody from this forum must know somebody who lives near Mary. A referral seems quite possible. Who here is near Cincinnati?
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Hmmmmm....


We are setting up auditions the right after the new year. I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for all if the great advice!
 
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