Hello
I play bass in two bands (Rockband and Jazz/classic-band)
I had very "strange" reactions in both bands from guitarrist and keyboarder when i brought my stick to rehearsals.....
and the reaction was worse when i started playing....
It seems that i hit the ego of both instrumentalists with the stick, because i play in their region of sound.

Q: Did you have similar reactions?

I looked around other stickplayers and most of us play solo; some duetts, a handful in jazzbands or progressive/experimental/worldmusic style (sorry for this description *g*)

Q: Does anyone play the stick in a rockband? Which reactions did you get there with other bandmembers?

All answers are welcome

Greetings
Gerald

Great question and this could make for a very interesting discussion.

Unfortunately based on stories I've heard, your experience is not uncommon. I'll let some of the other folks who also experienced this chime in.

For me ... I play solo now but I played Stick in a band for many years. I was very fortunate (although I didn't know it at the time but after exchanging stories with other players I realized it later). Our guitarist was also the main writer. While a very good player, he considered himself a writer who plays guitar and not the other way around. When I pulled the Stick out and showed it to him, I could see the light bulbs going off. I told him if I practiced hard enough, I might be able to used it on one or two tunes in about six months (this was back in 1999). He said "No man ... bring it back for tomorrow's rehearsal. I have some ideas." That was a huge challenge actually and pushed me to get better just so I could keep up.

I've told that story many times and more often than not, the reaction I get from other Stick players is "you were lucky".

I guess that's part of the reason most stickist play solo

@gpoorman
What instrument were you playing in this band before the stick?

First thought that came to my mind was, "I don't see the problem...there are plenty of bands that have keys and two guitars in the lineup."

Playing devil's advocate, though, it IS entirely possible that any band member with any instrument, be it Stick or guitar or keys or whatever, could step all over other instruments in the band rather than fitting into and being part of a good mix. Maybe they fear you could be one of those guys?

In my limited band experience, which is mainly in a three piece so isn't quite the same as your situation, it's been bass only on roughly half the tunes, 'rhythm guitar' stuff on the rest, with occasional solo moments on maybe 10%.

I've played stick in several rock bands. However, some bands are more open than others.

It's harder to play in a jazz situation than a rock one. I don't think there has ever been a major jazz player who has hired a stick player instead of a bassist or keyboard player for an entire album.

Well ... ... I had revolved through a couple of roles by that point.

When the band first started, I played keys and rhythm guitar. After a few serious personnel changes, we lost our bassist. I switched over to full time bass supposedly only until we could find a replacement as I knew all of his bass lines. We became a little complacent with that lineup and it was showing no sign of changing soon. That's where we were at when I picked up my first Stick. I think Dan felt like this was a way to get some of our lost sound back without having to deal with another new member.

I still think personality plays a role though. Dan was never a guy who felt like he had to be Jimmy Page. When I was on guitar, I took solos as often as he did just because he liked that our approach was different. When I became more proficient on Stick, he loved to throw solos and melody parts my way when he thought they sounded cooler tapped then picked. For him it was all about his tunes and not about the notion of being a "front man".

Guitar players and keyboard players are quick to defend their territory. Keyboard players have a tough enough time finding a frequency entry without overlapping the bass and guitar too much. Many guitar players come with economy sized egos, and don't want anyone stepping up to their plate.

Two talks come to mind about this topic. One of them from our very own Greg Howard talking about making musically appropriate choices when playing with DMB. The other talk came from Tony Levin about choosing appropriate frequencies on the mixing board to create a clean sound so that the guitar peaks, bass peaks and keyboard peaks are separate from the Stick peaks.

I think you may just have to show them that you can keep your sound appropriate for the situation.

I play stick in a rock band setting, though that was not my original intention when I took up the instrument. We are only a three piece band (drums, guitar, stick/bass) so there is plenty of sonic real estate to work with.

I would say it does require some extra thought and planning every once in a while to give everyone the space they need. I do like the idea that people can't always tell what is stick and what is guitar on some of our songs. However, we brought in a session keyboard player to sweeten up the last song we laid down in studio, and the melody side of the stick got buried a bit, but the organ part really makes the track.

One of our regular contributors here, Mike Kemp, plays in a larger band (Liquid Nixon), and he has a less traditional approach where he adds some midi flavouring to the songs rather than use the "stick as a guitar/bass" approach. So it all depends on what role the band members want to play at any given time. I can understand how some musicians can get bent out of shape sometimes when they have to re-imagine their place in an established group. Hopefully, you will be give the opportunity to work through it.

I regularly play Stick in a number of worship bands playing vaguely rock and roll music. I have found that the key to fitting in is to play very simply and only bass. In the band context, I'm expected to provide a bass part -- that sounds like a bass being played by a bass player. So that generaly means playing very un- stickly parts, except for occasional fills that have a Stickly character.

cheers,
Marty