Counting the band in...

haha..

When I was in a prog band, the songs would often start in 7, 13, or whatever. But the guitar player told me just count off everything in 4 no matter what, because it was just easier that way. And, I have to say, it was.

Well, I'd do that not even in time of the song being played....

Usually a nod should be good. I see those string quartets, and one of 'em just nods and they're off and running. Obviously, probably doesn't work well in a loud situation, but that would be cool.
 
I usually go for a 2 bar count... cos my lot are a bunch of meatheads..,
But Gregg Biss tells this great story on one of his videos about getting the whole band FEELING the count then dropping into this great great groove right from the downbeat... Go figure...
 
Like Meat, I usually do 2-bar counts. The first bar is very subtle, as much to get me centred as anything, and the 2nd bar is also quiet, more visual than aural, but a bit more explicit.

As an audience member, not hearing 1-2-3-4 helps with the illusion of "magic" but if the song that follows has a good vibe it's a very small issue ... unless it's a major show designed to take the audience on a journey. The most important - and difficult - part is that the count is accurate and clear.

For dance bands, an obvious count is a non-issue IMO. If anything, it provides a casual vibe (good for drinkers) and gets the dancers primed up.
 
I play to a click 99.9% of the time live, so I always have to click in every song unless the drums start the tune. All I do it flip to the next song tempo on my click track and make sure the band is ready for me to start. For that I just kind of feel it out or get a nod from the guy who is busy re-tuning his guitar, lol. No more than a second or two go by between songs unless the singer is going on about something, when that happens I let him go until he stops or starts to get long winded, then I cut him off, hahaha.

When playing with backing tracks the set is already in place, so unless the band has to re-tune or we pick a spot between two songs for the singer to talk I just let it roll and we have a 3 second gap between the tracks.
 
In my band it varies from song to song. Most of the time, I try to integrate an opening fill into the song, thus removing the need to count in at all. Many of these opening fills are very short, maybe a single flam, or a single beat on the kick. Of course, some songs don't start with drums. In these, I'll usually lay down some sort of tempo support. That may take the form of a little cymbal noodle or similar. Essentially, I try to keep the count in out of the equation whenever possible.

Balls out rock numbers are different though. A verbal 1234 can set the mood nicely.

We have a keys player. He's usually the last to be ready. Too much kit, & too many sounds. Ah well, it could be worse, imagine a bagpipe ensemble filling their bladders before they're ready to go!
 
In my band it varies from song to song. Most of the time, I try to integrate an opening fill into the song, thus removing the need to count in at all. Many of these opening fills are very short, maybe a single flam, or a single beat on the kick. Of course, some songs don't start with drums. In these, I'll usually lay down some sort of tempo support. That may take the form of a little cymbal noodle or similar. Essentially, I try to keep the count in out of the equation whenever possible.

Balls out rock numbers are different though. A verbal 1234 can set the mood nicely.

We have a keys player. He's usually the last to be ready. Too much kit, & too many sounds. Ah well, it could be worse, imagine a bagpipe ensemble filling their bladders before they're ready to go!

Yeah, my experience with pipers is that they do, indeed, like to keep their "bladders" full....
 
The worst is when you've got, say, a guitarist starting a tune by himself (imagine you were playing something like Sabbath's "Symptom of the Universe"), and he doesn't want a count-off, yet he has a very odd sense of tempo.
 
Haha--my last comment reminds me of an argument I got into with my high school band director once (we argued a lot, but were actually friends, too). Jazz band was first period (playing something like "Giant Steps" at 7 in the morning, yay!) and I was late. The band director was bitching me out, saying that I was the most important person to not be tardy, because I needed to keep time for everyone. So I said, "Woh, woh! If the rest of the band can't keep time, I need to not be here more often--that's an essential part of playing music. You can't just be able to play the pitches and not play the rhythms well or not be able to keep time. If they're having problems that serious, we need to work on some much simpler stuff where they're concentrating on keeping time on their own. It would be like me calling myself a saxophonist, but where I can just honk out the rhythms in time but not play any of the pitches--I wouldn't be much of a saxophonist".
 
My favorite count in from the Reel Big Fish song "You Don't Know"


ONE THREE SEVEN SEVEN!!!!

HAHA! I was thinking of that countoff the whole time while reading. Totally agree!

Also, whenever someone cant handle 2 clicks or fill intro or whatever, I make sure to be REALLY obnoxious and yell
"ONE TWO READY GO!" or "YOU ARE REALLY GAY!"
to both insult them and teach them to not want a long dumb click in.
 
What about 6/8 click ins??? the long version would be like 1...2(4).....1,2,3,4,5,6.

But what I do is usually 1,2,3 fill... Blam
 
As a listener of live music, I don't mind the count ins, but I am biased because I'm the one counting in usually. I don't trust anyone else to, I spend too much time thinking about tempo.

Bands like Jon (MrChattr) are in impress me in that they are able to go from song to song with no stopage of flow. It's usually the guitar players that are the holdup in my bands, different amp settings, tuning, instrument changes...

I think the count offs are cool, but sometimes they're better kept at a volume that only the band can hear it. Depends on what's happening.

I take pride in my counts, it feeds my ego to know that the audience see's that it's me that sets the pace, it's the one quick little ray of spotlight I get all night usually.
 
One band I gigged with I was still getting settled behind the kit when I heard the song start.
My ear plugs were on the floor tom, the song happened to start with a roll on the floor tom, so with a grimace I grabbed my sticks off the kick and said goodbye to my plugs.

In the covers band I'm in, most songs start with a guitar or drum intro although some eye contact would be good for some of them just so they know I'm not drinking my water as they ramp into ZZ top 'Tush'. Guitarists, whatever next.
 
Although i agree that counting in is indeed an important aspect of playing live, i don't think it's that difficult or warrants a 3 and a half minute long video on how to do it.

Thankfully, with the nature and genre of my band, i don't have to make the count in my 'time to shine'. The 160bpm drum intro to open the set often gets people watching me apparently.

I'm quite a show off behind the kit so a count in doesn't cut it for me. I just try and perform as much as i can and i have much more fun that way too.
xoxo
 
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