Finally did it.
I know this is an old(er) thread, but it seems to be the one that's most relevant.
I am a jazz sax player with more than 44 years of gigging experience, and in that time have played with practically every imaginable combination large and small, down to guitar/sax duos. 3-4 years ago, I began to experiment with the notion of doing small solo gigs with BIAB, GarageBand loops, etc., but gave it up when I found that it was simply too kludgey to be practical, and it really didn't sound that good.
Since I grabbed iRealB (its predecessor, actually), I have found that it was potentially a better application for making music in a live setting under certain circumstances.
Long story short: after much trepidation, fear of "cheesiness", and soul-searching I took a background-music gig and did it as a solo with iRealB on the iPad. I spent a couple days tweaking changes, and adding intros and endings onto charts found on this forum over the past year or so, and added several of my own to fill out a set list. Then i took a deep breath and tossed my horns, small acoustic amp and iPad into the car, and hit the gig.
Bottom line: people dug it. The only "cheese" anyone noticed was on the hors d'oeuvres table. For me, it was no worse than being in the recording studio weeks after the rhythm section had laid down tracks, and actually was a little more dynamic than that since I could change things on the fly, including repeats, tempos, and keys. Not every tune I thought of would work with this app, since there are many with very set bass lines, drum hits, and other quirks, but for the more or less straight-ahead jazz and Latin stuff, this thing is the bomb, and I have played live with "professionals" who were less together than this rhythm section is.
No, it's not the same as a live jazz performance with the kind of communication and synergy that happens among skilled musicians, and I certainly would not consider doing this in a real concert setting (although I could see creating some clever performance art out of it!). But, for street playing or a little cocktail party or reception gig where you are not the main attraction, it's got some legs, and it was fun to stretch out on a few tunes and play with the time here and there without the fear that the drummer would try to follow and turn the beat around on me.
And just for the record: at this point in my playing life I am not at all interested in what the "jazz police" think about what or how I play; I am happy if the client/listeners are happy and I am having fun, and the JP can stuff it!
Nice work, Massimo. I sure can tell a serious bass player was involved in the making of this picture. Keep up the excellent efforts!
Now, if I can just work out how to get this thing to lay out for a bar or a beat here and there without the drum track...
)BOB
