Why?????

[BigTallG]

So, we auditioned another horrible singer yesterday....third one in a month....I'm starting to feel like Simon Cowell on American Idol, I swear.....if you can't hit the side of a barn with a basketball, you wouldn't try out for the team, right? So what is it about the music world that attracts so many freaks and "wannabes"???? I'm replying to ads that state "experienced vocalist/frontman, yadda yadda...." (key word : EXPERIENCED)...then they show up, and they're HORRIBLE!!!! I sing also, and I feel (as well as my bandmates) that someone who is solely a singer better be damn good at it....these guys we have auditioned thus far, I am a WAY better singer than any of them.....oh well, I guess the search continues....

[METAL DRUMMER]

Just keep your nose to the grindstone..... I'm sure there's a few of us here that have felt your pain. It's tough to find a good singer! Keep at it, and you'll find him/her. (Just keep your vocal chords warmed up...)

[amputechture]

ya we still have a crappi singer and im better than both of him, but like u said sometimes they are just so thinking that they are amazing that they cant how they really sound

[1DrumBum]

I know exactly where your coming from BTG. My previous band held auditions for a singer and a bass player. We got a bass player in about a week. 2 months later, we were still auditioning singers and trying to figure out what is wrong with the world today. We found a couple of great voices, but they had HUGE ego's and attitudes attached to them. It just floors me that people say they are good and experienced, yet can't sing a single note on key or time!

Unfortunatly, the same can be said for all instruments. I met this guy that lives down the road from me that has a lot of experience playing and has gigged a lot. He and a bass player had an alternative/progressive/metal project they were working on and wanted me to play with them. I thought it might be a good side project away from the band I play in, so I decided to jam with them a while ago. I could'nt believe what I was hearing. I gave him a solid 4/4 and these guys can't stay in time for more than 20 seconds! 2/4 was no better. 6/8...forget about it. Unbelievable! Needless to say, I stuck around for about 30 min. and packed up and went home. Oh well......

Don't get discouraged man, you'll find the right person. You may go through 100 people before you do, but when it clicks, you'll be glad you endured all that pain and suffering.

[METAL DRUMMER]

You may go through 100 people before you do, but when it clicks, you'll be glad you endured all that pain and suffering.

Exactly!!

[BigTallG]

Well, I guess I'm a little jaded...my last band, I played with the same guys for 8 years...but these auditions lately, they're giving me flashbacks....the last band I was in, we looked for a bass player for about 8 months before we found the "right" guy...(actually, we kinda settled for him)...but anyway, we had all kinds of wannabes and idiots and what have you auditioning...guys talking like they were Les Claypool, then they show up, and don't even know their own instrument....you other experienced guys here, you know what I'm saying....it's enough to make you want to commit homicide, I swear!! lol

[Roaddebris]

Why? Because singing is such a rare talent. Some guys have good tone but bad pitch, or visa versa. Real singers are few and far between.

Here have them watch this and ask, "can you sing like that?". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvC5tTTaogI

[Drum_Fiend]

Its been so hard for my band that we're thinking about letting the bass player sing.If you knew him you'd know how desperate that makes us.

[lhebs0]

I'm an ok singer, and in my band every now and then ill pick up the guitar and jam in a song (and sing), and i get a lot of somments, but then our guitar player is a HUGE drum fan, and he plays drums when i don't, and then he gets carried away on the drums and i feel terrible because i'm the drummer and it's hard to show everybody a really tough song that i thought of, and then him not being able to play it so me having to take the guitar..... i don't know.... bad explination....lol... my advice would be to just have no singer, and just the guys in your band sing... the guys who are looking for a frontman postotion r, as u pointed out, usually terrible, or egotistical. So i would just have some guys sing on some songs, and other guys sing on other songs. It will add some varitey to your music... but as always it's your call my man!!

[funkymcstain]

man i feel ya, i had a country gig for some pretty big dough friday night. it reqired me to learn about 30 songs in less than 2 weeks, the singer that hired me really stressed how important it was that we nail it. he was ok for the 2 rehersals... but showtime you would have thought he swallowed a turkey leg sideways... ive never seen anybody choke so bad in my life. i myself handled the cheese with ease. the bar only payed him half of the money agreed. i made him pay me in full out of his pocket. the singer in the cover band i play in fulltime is pretty good, he has to be 30 dif. people in a night. but, like many has not really found his own voice and really has no writing ability.
good luck in your search.

[BigTallG]

Well, problem is, I'm the only one with any vocal ability, but I don't want to be the "lead singer".....I will absolutely sing lead on a dozen songs or so, but some songs I just want to play, ya know?

[BigTallG]

Also, I think singing is a natural talent....you're born with it....you can either sing or you can't, period. Granted, a decent singer can become better with vocal training, but a horrible singer will always be horrible...then there are the people who can absolutely wail, with no training whatsoever...go figure.

[jackdrums]

So, we auditioned another horrible singer yesterday....third one in a month....I'm starting to feel like Simon Cowell on American Idol, I swear.....if you can't hit the side of a barn with a basketball, you wouldn't try out for the team, right? So what is it about the music world that attracts so many freaks and "wannabes"???? I'm replying to ads that state "experienced vocalist/frontman, yadda yadda...." (key word : EXPERIENCED)...then they show up, and they're HORRIBLE!!!!...

Why don't you just have them send in a tape first? That would save you some time and agony.

[TIMPANIST09]

he has a very good point

[BigTallG]

not everyone has a tape handy......but I think I may have to insist on it for future auditions.

[bongobro]

Unfortunately, BTG, there's just enough ego in even the worst singers to make him or her feel like the next Taylor Hicks or Carrie Underwood (why do ya think karaoke nights are so popular, especially with those wannabes who can't carry a note in a moving van?)...

No different than auditioning for a radio station gig (most stations insist on an aud tape with examples of news reading, commercial copy, an aircheck of their DJ or talk show)...

not foolproof, but if someone has the stones to give you an aud tape, chances are he could be more disciplined than the one who doesn't...and if he has examples of his best work from different types of music, you'll have a better idea about his chops...

and to borrow your sig, you "don't have to mess with less than the best."