I think, for a successful rehearsal, one of the first things needed is a person, or people, with even the slightest bit of experience in that sort of environment. Without this experience its's likely that a rehearsal won't even be able to happen; the mixing desk can be quite confusing to a beginner, I even still struggle with it now and I've been using them for at least a year now.

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Even with experience you may as well not even think about rehearsing without the right equipment. This is a list of the equipment needed for a rehearsal:

• instruments - obviously without them you're going to struggle to rehearse anything, unless there are no instruments in the song you've chosen.

• microphones - this is another very obvious one. Of course, for a rehearsal you don't need everyone coming through speakers but it certainly helps and provides a much better environment and listening experience.

• XLR cables - these are the cables used to connect the microphones to the mixing desk, and obviously from the mixing desk to the speakers.

• mixing desk - this is the glue between the microphones and the speakers. This is also what is used to control the volume levels between the different instruments/vocals connected. You can also add effects with the mixing desk but I haven't really tried that at the moment.

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Something that isn't completely necessary to have, but is extremely useful when you do have one, is a rehearsal plan. From experience; it seems that when without a plan nothing productive gets done. On the other hand, whenever I have went into a rehearsal with even a very vague plan; whoever I'm working with and I come out proud of what has been achieved.

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As with many other things, for a successful rehearsal, you need good communication within your group. It may be the most obvious thing ever but you, and your group, will really struggle to rehearse well if you can't constructively criticise your other bandmates. If there is tension between the group and people aren't getting on; it can really slow you down and you probably won't enjoy rehearsing. 

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As a list I think the most important things to make a successful rehearsal process is:

• experience

• equipment

• a rehearsal plan

• good communication

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Although these are, in my opinion, the most important things to consider; there are also other things that help make a successful rehearsal process, like:

• Punctuality, reliability and attendance -  if you start to show up late, or maybe not even show up, too much then your bandmates will start to grow impatient. As well as this, saying you're going to do something and then not doing it is also something that will get on your bandmates' nerves. Both of these problems lead to falling behind.

• Health & safety procedures - these are important because if you don't follow them; you risk damaging the equipment you're using, yourself or others. I have went into more detail about this subject at the top of this page (scroll up).

• Preparation - things like practising and coming up with chords are a great way to further you and your band's progress. I believe that it is not crucial to have so much planned beforehand, as many good ideas often come from nothing and just jamming together, but it does help a very big amount. Things like tuning your instrument and having a set list however are essential to a successful rehearsal process.

• Team roles - assigning team roles from a fairly early date will make everything in the future much easier. For example; in my group we have established that Sonnet is the lead vocalist, Aaron is the bassist, Kieran is the drummer and I am the pianist, meaning that we can smoothly progress as we all know our roles when it comes to rehearsing and creating new songs. On the other hand it's important to be versatile and open-minded. Sonnet is a multi-instrumentalist, Aaron can also sing, Kieran plays the guitar as well as drums and I produce music as well - with these individual skills we're able to mix them up and be ready for change whenever we need to be.

• Reflection and evaluation - whether it be on your own work or someone else's, reflecting and evaluating can show you what you need to do in order to reach the next step. I believe that letting someone else give you constructive criticism can open your eyes to a whole new idea. The reason behind this is that you're essentially letting someone else's mind play the instrument, or do whatever it is you're doing, with your own hands (or voice). This can give you a different outlook on your work and show you new opportunities. It can also help the person critiquing you in the same way and this is the same when you give constructive criticism to someone else

• Setting targets - setting targets will greatly help you and give you an actual vision of what you want to achieve. I believe it's important to set 1 ambitious long-term target first, and then break it down into a few short-term targets. The short-term targets should be easier and less time-consuming to reach than the long-term target. It's a bit like dominoes; once you knock down one short-term target, you're onto the next, and then the next, and before you know it you've reached and completed your long-term target. It's important to be ambitious but it's also important to be realistic.

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