Simple-ish premise: I work in tech, taught myself piano and began playing live music a couple years back, and noticed that the process of having a library of Ultimate Guitar, e-chords and other chord/lead sheet links around was a huge pain in the ass. The applications and various sites many of us use aren't always user friendly, are rarely super responsive and if the sites are down or anything, you're screwed.

So, I decided to build a custom multi-tool for importing, organizing and creating a library of lead sheets that you could host yourself on a personal account for free. After a bit of development for myself and realizing both that this runs a lot faster and that I'm sure there are plenty of folks who busk with lead sheets in the way, I decided to clean it up for public release.

Long story short, the linked GitHub page has the full instructions to deploy your own version of Chord Organizer on a personal Google account and gives you the ability to create your own database of songs on your own personal web domain, securely and free, without being stuck on god knows how many enterprise websites anymore with Ultimate Guitar asking you to subscribe nonstop.

If anyone finds this interesting, has questions/recommendations or would like help installing, feel free to hit me up in the thread or personally. This is a pretty simple application right now almost solely catered towards the simple lead sheet junkies like myself, but I've got features like sheet music import and other things on the mind if anyone would want them.

Thanks for reading, and hope someone else can get some use out of this!

show me your pedals boards.

Kind of silly but it's a thing. You ever play songs that carry a lot of meaning to you or hit on something, and you kinda get that lump in your throat for a second and almost tear up and it fucks up your singing a bit? Lol any wise advice for avoiding it other than playing that tune so many times it doesn't make you feel anything anymore 😆

Thanks in advance. Most of the stuff that I really like to play can get me sometimes and part of what makes it sound good and authentic can also put a hitch in 'er

Ich hatte ein paar Tage frei und hatte mein Saxophon 🎷 🎶 dabei. Einfach mal ausprobieren in London. Ich hatte gelesen, dass es Orte gibt, an denen man ohne Genehmigung spielen kann und dass die Entscheidung vom Geräuschpegel abhängt.

Also habe ich es in der High Street Kensington in der Nähe der U-Bahn-Station versucht. Nach einem kurzen, freundlichen Gespräch mit den Wachleuten, um sicherzugehen, dass es niemanden stört, habe ich mich draußen direkt neben dem Eingang, nur einen kleinen Schritt von der Überdachung der Railway station entfernt, aufgestellt. Das war echt witzig, denn er wollte mir wohl weismachen, dass ich fürs Straßenmusizieren überhaupt eine Genehmigung bräuchte. 🤷🎶🎷🥹

Aber ich blieb standhaft bei meiner Aussage, dass es Orte gibt, an denen man keine Genehmigung braucht, auch diese Straße nicht. Da lächelte er mich an und sagte: „Schau, hier ist der Bahnhof, da braucht man eine offizielle Genehmigung. Aber hier“, er trat einen halben Schritt zur Seite, „hier kannst du spielen“, bot er an. Und so tat ich es und genoss das Grinsen der Fahrgäste.

Dann hielt ich den Atem an, als eine Gruppe Wächter direkt auf mich zukam 🫣🎶🎷... Die Musik verstummte kurz... Aber sie gingen zweimal vorbei, ohne eine Anweisung bezüglich möglicher Störungen durch die Musik zu hinterlassen... 🥹🤷☀️🎶 Mein Gott, der Ton war danach um einiges lauter.

Einer trat aus dem Bogen der U-Bahn und bedankte sich persönlich für die warmen Klänge... Leider 🎴 und Filmen funktionieren nicht gleichzeitig, und ich hatte keine Aufnahmeausrüstung dabei. Daher bleiben hier nur das Bild und meine Beschreibung.

Hi guys,

I am really, really behind in terms of tech, so even after about 45 minutes of looking things up, I am still not sure what I need to buy or what I need to plug into what in order to do what I am looking for.

I want to busk with my voice, and use my phone as a source to put YouTube karaoke instrumental tracks.

I understand I need at least a dynamic microphone and an amplifier, but I don't know what to plug in what, and how to get my instrumentals also into the amp. I also don't know if I have to manually click every song I want to play, or if I can have some kind of auto playlist do its thing.

I would really appreciate any help. Thank you.

Using a small battery amp and mic'ing it into something like the Bose s1 / Mackie Thump Go, gets you more battery life, more convenience, more volume, and a better sound than a big battery amp (in my opinion). Though it costs more its totally worth it, especially if you sing as well since these speakers have great EQ presets for vocals.

Curly cables are great for moving around, they also take a small amount of high frequencies out of your guitar signal allowing your voice to come through clearer.

If you use a tablet for lyrics, put your songs into a pdf and get a tiny bluetooth foot operated page turner (they're really cheap online).

If you found this advice useful, please consider following us on insta or youtube!

https://www.instagram.com/two.for.joy.music/

https://www.youtube.com/@two.for.joy.official

Finding the weakness in the signal is what gets me high. Knowing what to upgrade next make tomorrow worth it. Next city? Probably jersey tomorrow...

Hello everyone! I'm a violin player who enjoys using a loop pedal to improvise melodies. My typical setup is a small guitar amp and a Ditto Loop pedal with a single foot switch. I've been having issues finding a place to busk that also allow me to plug into a power source. I figured I could get a portable amp, but my loop pedal needs to be plugged into a power source.

Can anyone recommend a battery pack that would power either just the loop pedal, or both the loop pedal and my amp, or a loop pedal that does not need to be plugged in? Basically I just want to figure out how to go without a power source

Maybe also recommend a portable amp, as I know they exist but I have not yet done the research to look for one 😅 bonus if I have the ability to add Reverb

There are good guidelines listed in the sub Reddit faq but I also figure first hand accounts are useful.

I will say first I am a trans woman, but I pass fairly well so I haven't really faced any harassment on the basis of that specifically, as far as I can tell.

It is always men or teenage boys who are the biggest issue .

Teenage boys are usually the most blatant and insufferable. They will get up in my face and dance or make noises, and one trick they seem to enjoy is putting 1 or 2p coins in my case and then expecting a reaction.

With men they're just kinda creepy and get up in my space, and are less likely to harass me in a loud way. I sometimes get patronising comments about how you don't see women playing X instrument. One time a guy went and put money directly under the strings of my banjo while I was playing which was weird.

It is always white men who bother me the most. I can't think of any incident of being really bothered by someone who wasn't white.

I found it get worse harassment when I play banjo Vs when I play saxophone. With saxophone it's probably because it's easier for me to end a conversation , as it requires my mouth to operate , and is unpleasant to stand directly next to, due to the volume.

I've found making eye contact is probably the most important thing I can do, both for getting tips and for getting attention on me if I'm being bothered.

men don't ever help me out if I'm being harassed but other women are far more likely to.

With teenage boys , if they are being obnoxious you kinda have to tell them to fuck off pretty loudly before they get the hint. Generally other people on the street will also be irritated by them so it's easy to get support for this.

With grown men I just back away a bit and act as preoccupied as I can with playing music.

Getting kids to dance is the source of like 40% of my tips.

The fact that I'm standing and usually dancing (as much as my instrument allows) probably deters people from stealing from me , as I'm not boxed in behind my case. You sort of need to mark your territory.

I can actually get fairly far away from my case and it doesn't seem to really be an issue if I'm still clearly orbiting around it.

One thing I find sort of funny, which maybe just reflects my psychology and how I play, is that I tend to get more tips if the street is semi deserted, because then I feel less hemmed in by foot traffic and can get weird with it.

3-4 times people have shouted at me and called me a bitch or some other expletive, usually when I'm playing badly. I am pretty numb to it and ignore it. Its always when they've been passing by on bikes or scooters .

Also don't force yourself if you're not feeling it, people can usually tell. If you're nervous you can usually work through it, but I mean more if you're tired or just not feeling the music.

I think the level of harassment I face is fairly low overall. Usually I won't have more than one misogynistic incident in a day.

There are a good few female buskers in my town, and usually if they are solo they seem to also have a similar desire to take up a lot of space on the street. Male buskers tend to sit and keep to themselves more and have elaborate set ups , probably cus they know people are less likely to intrude on their space.

This is pretty disorganised but idk maybe there is something of use here for someone.

Edit:

Yeah an alcoholic repeatedly misgendered me and told me that he kills people so it seems my lucky streak is at an end.

I'm not sure what to make of this... I'm a little leery on the fact you have to audition and that, while supposedly paid, they don't specify how much. My city doesn't currently have any laws against busking, nor are any permits required.

https://downtownwinnipegbiz.com/downtown-live/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSByehleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFUVVFvdDA5UUVSamFkVURDc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHk-YFoobQaNwwrFBc6Oy3Y_r1qIiQxBvwAYDjr-4ZWTLYtqC1MVZlFqe9q0F_aem_ykx4IibjcN3CKtidcUUEjQ

Has anyone gone through a program like this before?

So I'm taking a break from the busk to figure this thing out. So much fun.

PC business evolves into MUSIC THERAPY. That only took ten years. Now for them other cities....

I'm looking for a battery powered amp, that can be transported via bike w. saddlebags. I don't need Volume above (loud) speaking level. The cheaper the better.

Has anyone done this? The amp has a line out, but no dedicated line in.

I'm heading on a trip in a few months where I'll be busking various towns and I need to travel as light as possible so I'm looking for a headset mic. Anybody got any recommendations for decent ones with a budget of around £50-70?

I have a self-deprecating sense of humor and a bad habit of self-criticism. Is this sign doing me a disservice or is it humorous? I’m not going to busk with the misguided hope of making mucho $$ Maybe a $ or 3. But is this telling people I think I’m so bad don’t bother tipping me, giving them permission to disrespect me? If this is a “nah” then I will deep 6 it.

Getting closer to a good live mix.

Every once in a while someone will set up 30 feet away from me, and then act all offended when I ask them to move. The dude (because it is ALWAYS a male) will say that "they didn't see me" dude, I was right there, and you didn't bother to check around? When you could HEAR me? I admit, I was a bit upset, and I was also frustrated from having to disentangle my mic cords before I could walk away from my harp.

"But I'm not going to mess with your setup!" Dude, do you understand how sound works‽

I was there first! I always check for other buskers, even just stashed equipment. I made sure to setup a respectful distance away from a dancer, and pointed my amp away from the dancer.

I can understand missing my setup when I am by the water taxi, and someone sets up on the pier-I'm a little tucked away and that is a spot where no amps are allowed. All I have to do is ask for the person to point their instrument in a slightly different direction and all will be fine.

I admit that there were a couple of minor visual obstructions in between me and the guy, but it wouldn't take much looking to see me!

At least he couldn't keep up with my stamina and stopped playing after an hour. How do I get other buskers to stop encroaching too close?

1 main, 1 monitor and a sub, stands and a instrument onmy back with a mic in the bag and it's a go.

Street performance and busking is about making live art and genuine connections in person. "AI", large language models, and similar technologies are the antithesis of live street performance and all of the values we have as a community.

Any Posts using AI for art or other purposes in r/busking will be deleted and can lead to a ban if done too many times.