# Anyone doing a 2-pc?



## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

I've been without a band since April and am getting the itch to perform again. With many venues paying $500 or less per gig, thinking that a 2 pc might be fun to try while still having the potential to pay something more than gas money. 

Here's the pros/cons as I see them:

The good - easier/quicker load in/out and setup, stripped down arrangements that offer lots of space/flexibility, logistically easier to rehearse and choose material, less room for prima donnas. 

The bad - more ground to cover including all vocals, nowhere to "hide" if you're having an off-night.

To extent possible, would try to do everything live/in real time without backing tracks, samples or loops. What other issues do I need to consider before engaging something like this? Any/all experience here would be most helpful/appreciated bros...


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## urko99 (Mar 30, 2009)

I'm anxious to see what this thread goes. I'm contemplating the same.
As far as vocals are concerned, I consider myself fairly strong in that category. I recently purchased a vocal harmonizer and I have to say it can certainly help cover those harmonies pretty well.

Too bad you didn't live closer or I'd hook up with you. Having trouble finding the right partner myself, but then again I haven't been looking all that hard. I know what you mean about the "Itch" and It's prevalent to say the least. Might be time to get my a$$ in gear!


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

I,ve been doing a duo for quite a long time now. The pro's are: more pay, less people to argue with, easy to get evryone together for practice, show-off your vocal and instrumental talent.
The cons, moving the equippement around, thats about it. I do miss playing with other musicians sometimes but i go to jam sesions and it does the trick.
I would highly recommend you get a female singner as you can cover a lot more songs and people seem to enjoy the variety a bit more, bonus if the girl is good looking !!!
I play in 2 duos, one is female fronted, and we get more gigs just because of that. Be aware that its not always easy but very rewarding. If you can get someone thats the right fit with you, 
its worth going duo. Its so hard to find 3-4 musicians that have the same passion and energy. It took me a while to get used to a duo, coming from a 4 piece band in the 80's, but i'm glad i did.Good money is so hard to come by nowadays. Its not for everyone but worth a shot. Hope this helps out a bit and good luck in your quest.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

I've been involved in an acoustic duo for a couple years. The upside to me is the setup/teardown and the ability to go where you want with a song - there's few expectations to sound like the record. I haven't found the money to be any better really but there's a whole new marketplace that opens up as long as you're fine being "part of the wallpaper" in many instances.

I do have a friend that teams up on an acoustic with a percussionist on a cajon and they get some interesting work.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I've had duos with fiddle players, singers, singer/guitarists, a concertina player, and others. My current fiddle/guitar duo works well as we have tons of material, work stuff up fast (we both read), and we get along well. The duo I had with a singer/guitarist morphed into a full out band with 2 drummers and brass, but the tunes started out stripped down.

I like duos. They're easier to schedule, easier to play and improvise parts, no toes to step on, switching instruments is easier, relationships are easier.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Although a duo doesn't seem likely for me, I think if I was to do that I would want to do it without tracks, sequencers or drum machines.

I don't mind stripped down arrangements, in fact, sometimes it's refreshing.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Thanks for the feedback all - very encouraging. 

WRT to the female singer - been there, done that and had terrible experience going down that path. That particular situation unfortunately tore three guys apart that were previously great friends and very compatible musically before the singer was brought into the fold. We arrived at a point where we'll likely never be able to undo the damage that ensued, all on account of prima donna behaviour that some pandered to, while others didn't.

Started out a rhythym guitarist and always got on fine with drummers. I had to sing lead vox in our last band - don't particularly like it or particularly adept at it, but I'll do it out of necessity. Am currently looking to recruit a like-minded, dynamic drummer with decent vocals to share the vocal "burden" and maybe do a bit of harmony stuff too. My wet/dry rig is huge sounding, very versatile too, so I think it's up to the task. Probably strip arrangements down much as the Black Keys and White Stripes do (might even cover a couple of their songs for fun, also). Have a boatload of cover material I want to try with that format and some original stuff to finesse also, so could be a lot of fun - get the old juices flowing, as it were...


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

gtone said:


> Thanks for the feedback all - very encouraging.
> 
> WRT to the female singer - been there, done that and had terrible experience going down that path. That particular situation unfortunately tore three guys apart that were previously great friends and very compatible musically before the singer was brought into the fold. We arrived at a point where we'll likely never be able to undo the damage that ensued, all on account of prima donna behaviour that some pandered to, while others didn't.
> 
> Started out a rhythym guitarist and always got on fine with drummers. I had to sing lead vox in our last band - don't particularly like it or particularly adept at it, but I'll do it out of necessity. Am currently looking to recruit a like-minded, dynamic drummer with decent vocals to share the vocal "burden" and maybe do a bit of harmony stuff too. My wet/dry rig is huge sounding, very versatile too, so I think it's up to the task. Probably strip arrangements down much as the Black Keys and White Stripes do (might even cover a couple of their songs for fun, also). Have a boatload of cover material I want to try with that format and some original stuff to finesse also, so could be a lot of fun - get the old juices flowing, as it were...


Yeah, the female signer can create a lot of friction in a band. What's up with that.LOL It seems that a lot of guys i talk too have had the same reaction when it comes to girls in a band.
I have been very accomodating so far ( 15 years) so it works for me but our last drummer did leave the group because of her.I had played 32 years in the same band with him and it did stress our relationship to the point where we did not talk for years.Hope you find someone to share your passion and have a good time playing.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Milkman said:


> Although a duo doesn't seem likely for me, I think if I was to do that I would want to do it without tracks, sequencers or drum machines.
> 
> I don't mind stripped down arrangements, in fact, sometimes it's refreshing.


I refuse to use backing tracks live, I find them restricting, but I use jam tracks at home often to practice with. I've seen a lot of small acts fail due to tech issues involving drum machines, backing tracks, sequnecers, etc. Looks and sounds unprofessional. I have one friend who uses them successfully, but he's an exception.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Chubba (Aug 23, 2009)

I've been hoping to do something like this as well, as a bit of a side thing to the band I play in. As you say, easier to schedule 2 people, and a little less stress...

I played an open stage a few months ago and by chance was paired with a percussionist, and worked out pretty good...I found it added a lot to just me singing and playing guitar... I've had one jam with a drummer friend and we want to try a few more jams to see how it goes. The first one worked out quite well...in this case the idea is to play some greasy loose rock music, and arrange some originals in that way. I like the idea of some garage rock type stuff, but I don't want to go too much into the White Stripes / Black Keys area, though I love both bands, and would likely pick up a cover or two from each. It's amazing when you start stripping it down, and want to make sure the guitar fills enough of the right kind of space, and to let the drums drive it, how you get a feel for how they may have come about their way of playing (as in Jack White and Dan Auerbach) for their bands. 

The other thing that I'm getting a feel for is that on top of thinking about arrangements, you don't necessarily get to play any song you want, you have to play songs that work (but I guess that applies to any assortment of musicians) in that context. Something as simple as moving a riff or guitar line down an octave can give a line a little bit of fullness - I try to push the bass setting on my amp up quite a bit, and have to put a little more thought into the bass/root notes of chords and following the bass drum (in a 4/5 piece, I tend to follow the snare a lot more)

I did the 2 guitarists/vocalists pub duo thing for a while too, and that was kind of fun. I got along quite well with my partner, and I think it helps that we were good at different things - he was a better vocalist, so took most of that on, and played a mean harp, and I was a more....versatile (not so much better lol)...guitarist. I think in any band, it's the right combination of personalities that make it worthwhile. There's a certain level of ability required, depending on your goals, but I'm playing with the best drummer in the world and he's a jerk, I'm not going to look forward to jams.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Mooh said:


> I refuse to use backing tracks live, I find them restricting, but I use jam tracks at home often to practice with. I've seen a lot of small acts fail due to tech issues involving drum machines, backing tracks, sequnecers, etc. Looks and sounds unprofessional. I have one friend who uses them successfully, but he's an exception.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Make that two who use sequenced tracks succesfully. Been doing my own tracks since 1992 and they are basic drums bass and sound real cause they have been created by myself, my son on drums etc... I agree, a lot of crappy backing tracks out there but i take great pride in making my own.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

marcos said:


> Make that two who use sequenced tracks succesfully. Been doing my own tracks since 1992 and they are basic drums bass and sound real cause they have been created by myself, my son on drums etc... I agree, a lot of crappy backing tracks out there but i take great pride in making my own.


Interesting, that's what my friend does too, records his own. They at least sound human. Glad it works for you. Do you always use them or just selectively?

I do however, like looping when it's done well.

Peace, Mooh.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Mooh said:


> Interesting, that's what my friend does too, records his own. They at least sound human. Glad it works for you. Do you always use them or just selectively?
> 
> I do however, like looping when it's done well.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Use them all the time. We play corporate gigs, weddings cocktail etc... no bars so we need to get people dancing. I really dont like all the midi, back track stuff out there cause it all sounds the same. The tracks that I lay down on my old MC 50 sequencer sound completely different cause i'm also using a old Yamaha TG33 sound module from the early 90's,no General Midi.
I have created a bank of instruments that I use and then drop them on my Mac laptop and voila !!! Works for me.


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## Mr Yerp (Feb 24, 2006)

In the 80s :sSc_eeksign:, I did a duo with bass and drum tracks done by myself onto a Tascam 244 4 track cassette machine. I can't remember which drum machine I used ( Roland 707 I think), but would build the song on it, then play bass to it as the tracks went down separately. a few tunes had BGs, but not many. We were both guitar players, and my partner was the better singer, and strictly a meat n' potatoes rhythm player. Lots of work was to be had, but like others have mentioned, the trax restrict you to the format that is laid down, and after a few years of that, I was really missing the full band interaction. Off the cuff acoustic duos are a lot more fun I think. I fully agree that those midi trax all sound the same, no life to them.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Have a session planned for this weekend with a new drummer that I know very little about. Prolly gonna feel each other out a bit and guage the fit, as it were. Sounds promising though - has good gear, some space to rehearse at and likes a lot of same material that I do. Here's hoping there's some chemistry here and enough interest to move forward...


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

good luck!


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