This reminds me of some advice I heard about choosing gigs/groups as a musician. Ideally you want a gig that:
If a gig hits 2 out of 3, go for it. 
At least, thatās the advice as I heard it.
Thatās an interesting idea. Zoom has a āmusician qualityā level that still kinda sucks. I guess we could just deal with the sound quality issues as a given or maybe just all show up and draw lots to see who has to share one of their covers first. Sort of a like a virtual open mic but with us playing existing videos.
Iām looking into a local open mic night here and their schedule is like this:
6p - show up and whoever wants to play signs up
6:30 - draw lots to see who plays and in what order
7p - 10p show
That first setup block could also include chatting. 3hrs is pretty long so maybe folks could float in and out or maybe it could be shorter.
I guess all youād need is someone with a legit zoom account. Whoever is hosting would also control mic muting except for whoever is presenting.
Time zones might be a little tricky for this group.
Sorry Iām an IT guy (or at least I was one up until recently). I think this is a cool idea through.
If you have a profile up there youāll probably find some folks. I think paying makes sense if you have a band and you want to organize through there but otherwise I guess itās like a classified ad.
The bigger problem than sound quality is latency. In my experience it is nearly impossible to play with other musicians in real time online because nobody hears the beat at the same time. Add the latency before I hear your downbeat to the latency before you hear me play in time with the downbeat when I heard it, and it becomes noticeable, and frustrating.
Yea but I think what @Al1885 was thinking is each persone performs their cover live like a virtual open mic. That way you would hear the song and bass from one feed.
Working bands who play a regular schedule of gigs typically require more of a commitment than youāre prepared to obligate yourself to. But there are also what might be called āGarage Bandsā or āDad Bandsā who seldom gig but still get together weekly or semi-weekly just for the experience and enjoyment of playing together.
My suggestion would be very specific. State both your ability and your interests as far style of music and your limitations time wise. What you want to do is to eliminate situations that wonāt fit leaving you with only those that do. Thatāll save you a ton of time and frustration in the process of finding a group of players.
Use CL and FB Marketplace. Reply to some listings and create ones of your own. Hit up some jams and open mics so you can network with others who have like goals. Above all be active in the process but also be patient. The opportunities are out there but timing is also gonna impact your results. Needs come and go.
By that I mean that a group may have all the players it needs but suddenly a member has to leave due to a job change or family commitments. Now thereās an opening with an opportunity for you to slide into. In my experience thatās how it usually happens. So you try to be in the right place at the right time and voilaā, youāre in.
Latency is indeed an issue for anything IP, especially in a ānon controlledā network (= anything internet!).
I was responsible for video streaming on cruise ships, and we used SDI for real latency free video, as no IP solution could provide real low latencyā¦
I think it would be nearly impossible to have a proper synched session with other musiciansā¦
Update: After a few initial frustrating or āmehā interactions, I had a very positive response last night.
Had a local DRUMMER respond to my post on a local FB group who seems to be in a complementary situation to me. Another guy in his 40ās or 50ās. He used to play a lot, but took a break being a dad. Heās easing back into things now.
Our music tastes have a lot of overlap in 80ās New Wave, Post-Punk, and 90ās Grunge/Alternative.
Weāre going to put together a list of 3-5 songs we both like. Practice on our own, and then meet in person in a couple weeks. See if itās a good fit, and then we can start hunting for others to fill out a practice group.
Iāve also got a couple one-off jam dates lined up with a guitar player in my neighborhood, and later a friend from the dance community who plays keyboard and whose partner plays guitar. I think that will be fun, but I suspect theyāre less likely to want to devote the kind of practice time that I want to.
My Spotify play-along list has helped me a lot. Really easy to let people see what kinds of music I like, and let them know what songs Iāve learned, what is in progress, and whatās slated to learn later.
Love it! Keep in mind the songs we like best are sometimes technically really hard.
It might help to check out popular cover band songs from those genres and see if anything makes sense. Cover band songs are popular because they get people moving but are usually fairly easy to play.
That way you can focus on playing together rather than grinding.
No kidding there. Something Iām definitely going to watch out for. Also several of the bands we mentioned use non-standard tuning, and not even the same tuning scheme.
He mentioned The Pixies, and I think Iāll try to steer things a bit more that direction. I really like Kim Dealās bass lines. Very much my speed of moderate tempo, simple notes progressions, but interesting rhythms.
āCannonballā was my first suggestion.
Thatās a good one. Radioheads creep is easy too for everyone except the singer 
Looking like our starting lineup is going to be:
Pixies āWhere is my Mindā
Breeders āCannonballā
Nirvana āSmells Like Teen Spiritā
Bowie āLetās Danceā
Bit of time to digest that, but strongly favoring next up being:
Echo and the Bunnymen āLips Like Sugarā
Hollies āLong Cool Womanā
Weāve also discussed The Police āMessage in a Bottleā, but heās hesitant on committing to that one because Stewart Copelandās drumming is such a unique style.
Nice list!
Thatās a key to scoring a band. As I posted, be specific about time and material and remain focused on it. Then just put yourself out there in the musical universe and see who and what you attract. Sounds like youāre having some success.
Really good advice here. By keeping the material you attempt relatively simple and familiar to all members youāll find that you make progress with each get together. Youāll get tighter as a unit as members learn each others styles. Spending hours of time trying to learn and get tight on more complex stuff isnāt gonna get you where you want to go initially. Save that for later on if at all. Use the K.I.S.S principal.
Case in point. I have a friend who was in a band that covered Jethro Tull exclusively. They were quite good at it but it took hours of time individually and collectively to learn the kind or complex progressive rock Tull played and play it accurately. As a result it was tough to keep the band together when other obligations interfered. Not everyone can continually commit the hours needed to play complex tunes.
Another rule Iāve found that always helps keep things rolling is that each player is responsible for learning their part on their own prior to a rehearsal. A scheduled get together with four or five players is not the time to be teaching one member his or her parts instrumentally. Itās time to play what youāve all learned on your own into shape as a band. Learning vocal harmony parts is the only obvious exception to this.
Great band. Superb material. But talk about some rhythmically complex stuff with all kinds of lots of syncopation and less common time signatures in a trio format. Theyāre a bold endeavor for a group just starting out as a hobby kind of thing. Plus whose gonna cover Stings vocals? Gotta have a very broad vocal range.
I will say this much though. If as a bassist you can cover his bass lines AND sing his vocals on top of them my hats off to you. There are few who could do it. I know because when they first became big I triedā¦and failed. Itās a lot tougher than it may seem. McCartneyās later stuff can be a real challenge with that as well.
Heās the more experienced player and put more of the ball in my court to pick what we were going to do. I tried to make a point of simpler but still interesting.
I tried to pick stuff that would challenge me a little bit, but that would have likeā¦ one challenging element.
Truth.
My drummer and I talked last night about the difference between being a cover band vs a tribute band.
In a tribute band you need to stay super true to the original song.
In a cover band folks are there to hear the songs but based on your singer and other band mates there should be more stylistic flexibility.
Accuracy is important but whatās more important is the cohesive sound of the group and the flow.
In other words if you accidentally jump into the chorus for a 2nd time you just roll with it and play vs shutting down and being rigid.
You are there for the groove.
Or at least thatās the theory.
Nothing wrong with that if all are in agreement and it can be done. And in many cases a bassist can be a focal point in a bands choice of material especially if he or she is also a main vocalist. Iāve had that experience many times.
Good luck with your plans and with this band.
I was a vocalist first. Sting and Bowie are both neatly in my range. If this ends up panning out and turning into a proper band (itās just two of us for now), Iām pretty sure weāll find a dedicated vocalist, because I want to focus on playing bass.
I think I could manage bass and vocal on Police tracks with a reasonable amount of practice. My first crack at it, I figured out the verse line for āWalking On the Moonā and was managing to sing along pretty quickly.
Iām able to play and sing along with The Church āUnder the Milkywayā (although thatās at the low end of my register).
Iām not intimidated by complex rhythms. Iām a very experienced dancer. I found Iāve taken very well to lines that are medium paced with simple note progressions but lots of rests and synchopaction. Which is very much Stingās style.