I don't really have any moves but i'm working on some.

I like to put my foot on a chair or something high to try and look cool (pretending it's a monitor or something). I've tried to widen my legs for an ultra low stance while playing but it is not comfortable and my feet slip. I try to lean back when i'm doing a descending bass line because it feels like that's what your suppossed to do.

I cannot do the Gene Simmons side to side head thing yet but soon, man, soon.

You guys do any moves?

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heh just to look cool? air guitaring but actually playing something? hha yeah i do that. i spin sometimes like the fuckers from Testament do when they play simple riffs. I tilt my body back and tilt my head forward when i have to hit 2-3 frets on 2 different strings in a short period of time. I lift my leg up on my kickback amp too sometimes either to get leverage and such.

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Sorry not being rude but the coolest/best musicians don't usually look cool. . . referring to Victor Wooten. . . Seriously as long as you get the job done and keep the fans happy who cares. . . sling the hair and have a good drunk time

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Just do what feels natural, what you feel like when playing, its not about looking cool its about feeling confident and comfortable.

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Sorry Bill, but your wrong. Music is all about getting pussy. That's why it was invented

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Take your bass and spin it around your body. I'd practice the move with a really cheap guitar.

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Haha, who said doing your own thing doesent get you pussy?!

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Bang your head and slam on the bass. \m/ That's all I do, and it looks cool.

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Or if your truly gr1m and nekro you will play slap bass with your cock.

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but its kvlt as hell to do tremelo picking with your eyelids

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Do tapping with your nose.. and alternate picking with your teeth..??

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I wasn't implying to look cool when it's outta your playing comfort zone, and for the sake of looking cool.

Yeah, I can play in my comfort zone no problem, but when it's time to kick out the jams, that's when you need some of these moves. It just feels right. You know, when it's flowing and it just screams for a move. That's when it gets cool, and it's out of necessity.

I'm not one for the punk "jump up and down" move. My strap would definately unhinge.

I am for the "turn your bass in front and between your legs and use the headstock to point to people/things" move. That's cool. Works with open string tremelo.

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Mine is basically to do the big "metal stance" (legs spread far apart) and play my bass in an almost upright position, while headbanging non-stop. I've been trying to get the "windmill" happening lately, but find that I get too dizzy!!!

Cheers.

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Yeah I got a move: Play.



Actually I really don't do much but play onstage. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing things onstage, but it's not really my style. Plus I find that it hinders my concentration and makes me slightly less tight for playing. Plus I keep my bass rather high so it's a little difficult to do some of the abovementioned moves. I think the Megadeth style that Subsonic described is awesome (the legs far apart) especially his addition of playing the bass vertically, but I don't do it myself really.
I guess I'm just not a good enough musician to be able to do that stuff comfortably while playing, and the other reason is that is just don't feel like I want to. I guess it all depends on the music style too. In one of my bands (well more like ex-bands ...) I did some of that stuff, but only when I felt compelled to do it-ie headbanged only on riffs that I really liked instead of on all fast/thrashy riffs.

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As cheesy as it sounds, it's something my guitarist and I plan out, not that we actually practice head-banging in unison in rehearsals or anything. lol. We find that during certain parts of songs, we will both not headbang, or will do so at a certain tempo, then at certain key parts in the songs, we'll both kick in at the same time. It makes for a more pro and more intense live show. Chris (Father Death) caught our show in Ottawa a few weeks ago, so he can attest to how it all comes together.

A lot of the time, people will comment on how the show seemed more "pro" than some of the other bands on the same night, and the only difference, really, is our cohesiveness onstage. It gets the crowd headbanging and drives the energy level up. Afterall, if you just go to shows to listen to the music, stay at home and put on the CD, it'll ALWAYS sound better. We go to shows to be entertained.

Cheers.

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That's actually a good point. But I actually do go to shows mainly to listen to the music. That is, most show I go to are of bands I don't know, so I'm kind of there to discover new bands, without downloading or buying anything. I figure if I like how it sounds live, then I'll surely like the record, so if I'm adequately impressed, I buy an album.
But many (probably most) people do go to a concert just to have fun and headbang and mosh since well, if you're not a musician, it can be pretty hard to tell what's going on (musically) at a metal concert since everything is so damned loud and usually not mixed very well (especially at smaller concerts).

Actually that's something I've been meaning to bring up. Why the hell do they play metal show so damned loud. At the levels they play it, the sound of the band is compromised. It would sound clearer and better if it wasn't so loud. I just don't understand it. When you go see a jazz band or a symphony, you can tell pretty much exactly what their album will sound like because their live sound is very good and thus similar to their recorded sound. But when you see a metal band you can only guess what they sound like in the studio, since they are almost never reproducing the sound they get while recording. Of course there are some exceptions, but it seems to me that metal concerts could be better if they were done differently ...


Oh yes and back to the point, ... well I guess if you consider the type of concert I envision then you can see why I don't see as much of a need for moves onstage: a better overall sound would allow more people to go just to listen to the music, they wouldn't have to mosh or headbang to be entertained (though they could) they could just sit back and listen and absorb, dude.

I wonder if I'm going to be criticized for this post ...

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lol...maybe that's why!! If you could actually hear every nuance of your favourite band live, you might not like them very much anymore!!!

From personal experience, though, I find it usually has to do with stage volume. If the band has their amps cranked (as is usually the case) the soundman has to pump the levels even higher so the crowd is hearing the mixed sound instead of the stage sound. Most soundmen that I've worked with have asked for a low stage volume, and sidewash the amps. I've seen other bands' shows where the guitar is so loud on stage that the soundman has taken them right out of the mix!

When we toured with Cannibal Corpse, the soundman told me on the first night how he mixes Alex's bass: Alex plays with a lower stage volume and the eq set for all mids ( _/\_ no lows or highs). It sounds like shit on stage, but he can hear it perfectly. The soundman then fixes his sound at the board, adding tons of bottom and top, and dropping out the mids a little, and his sound KILLS out front. Granted, though, they use the same soundman for all their tours, so it's much easier. I've used this method myself when I was confident the soundman knew what he's doing, and it is amazing!

Cheers.

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I somehow doubt that ...

What does sidewash mean?


You toured with Corpse?
When I jam with my band, if I try EQing for all mids, I can't hear myself very well at all, so I have to crank myself which doesn't give a good overall mix. I guess if you get used to listening to yourself that way it is worth it because of the improved out front sound.
I guess part of my earlier complaint about loudness comes from the fact that I've been to mostly small shows with horrible sound systems so the bands relied alot on their amps. I have heard some ridiculously horribly mixed shows given the available equipment though. A Gene Hoglan (damn, how do you spell his name?) concert comes to mind. Oh yeah, and Strapping Young Lad was playing in the background too ... I almost forgot about that part.

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"Side-wash" means to put your amps on the side of the stage facing the band instead of the crowd and have the sound from your amps "wash" the stage from the side. This way, the crowd and the soundman don't hear the tone coming from your amps, but instead hear the sound from the front-of-house (P.A) system instead.

Cheers.

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One thing I once thought of was having some high tech system where each musician, rather than having an amp, has earplugs in their ears that block out all external sound and also play the music in tiny speakers. Each musician would have the option to EQ their own headphones exactly how they wanted them, so that they could hear the rest of the band perfectly and with all the right proportions of volume. Obviously then there would be no problem for the musicians in terms of hearing themselves, and there would be no need for amps or monitors! Well there would but only to produce the sound, not so that the musicians could hear themselves. That would eliminate the up front sound problems alot too ...

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About 10 years ago, I saw Queensryche in concert, they were using the earpiece monitors. It was quite cool, very clean stage front, right up until they somehow managed to get a squeal of feedback from something...then I got to see all the band grasping their heads in pure agony.

It would be a good thing, though, to have a system like that, it'd make sure I hear the guitars for a change, anyway.

Cheers

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Quite funny indeed.
They toured Winnipeg (my city, in Canada for those who are lost) a couple of weeks ago ... I would have liked to go .... but I was busy and it was like 50$, so I didn't go .... from what I've heard they're pretty progressive.


Hmmm this thread is making me have all sorts of funny ideas ...
Wouldn't it be cool if the band was, instead of on a regular stage, in a big glass box in the middle of the arena or venue, and the box would be soundproof, so that they could basically have a regular jam session in there but the fans would be hearing a loud concert outside.

Or an even better idea! You put a meshed metal fence around the stage so that fans can climb on and band their heads 'till they bleed. Wait ... wasn't that already thought of?

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Make kickass music

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that's a pretty cool move.

the windmill is fun if you come across a fast part or something like that. Otherwise I just go with the music. If it is happy than i dance and groove. If it is angry/dark I headbang the crap out of everything. If its fast then im all over the place. If its slow im rooted and intense. let the music tell you what to do.

lol subsonic and rattlehead......definitely not men of little words or the strong silent type lol

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My sincerest of apologies.

*writes a ten page essay apologize*

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