20 Feb
2013
20 Feb
'13
12:05 p.m.
Good suggestions.
I also ask the band if they do roll-ins or if they can vamp. If they don't
do roll-ins we can sometimes plan to practice a couple of roll-ins before
the dance begins. That really helps to build the confidence of the
dancers. Some musicians have a specific way they roll-in the music during
the walk-through. It helps to get our signals straight before the dance
starts.
I give the band a printed program of dances I'm planning for the evening
with a "mood" column that some use as a guide for selecting tunes. Some
bands want to see my cards as well.
- Greg McKenzie
Santa Cruz, CA
*******************
On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 8:12 AM, barb kirchner <barbkirchner(a)hotmail.com>wrote;wrote:
hey ron - some good points! i think what we're coming up with here is that
it doesn't exactly matter WHAT you ask the band, as long as you set up some
good communication with them. take the time to talk, to ask who is in
charge of what, what they reallly like to do most, etc., etc., etc. ron -
i have a slightly different approach if the caller doesn't give me good
clues. i watch the walk-through. seriously, i program the music like the
caller programs dances (start out easy and straightforward, kick up the
energy, change the tempo, up the energy again, change the tempo again, big
ending number). i USUALLY know what i want to play next, or at least have
it narrowed down to two or three sets (ie, i have three different sets that
i could use to "change the tempo"). if the walk-through goes well, i play
whatever my first choice was. if not, i'll pick a more laid-back set :-)
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Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:59:14 -0500
From: david.j.casserly(a)gmail.com
To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] What to ask a band before the gig?
Hi Ron,
When I was first learning to call, Becky Hill suggested that, instead of
simply telling bands what kinds of tunes you want using the wide
vocabulary
at your own disposal, ask bands what kinds of
adjectives they'd find
useful. As a musician, hearing that the caller wants a "marchy" or
"slinky" or "driving" tune set is very helpful, but hearing that they
want
a "bubbly" tune is really not all that
helpful. Ask what language they'd
like to communicate in, and it can go much smoother.
I agree with Barb that simply sharing the dance card isn't the best
approach. In dances where I play, apparently unlike Michael F.'s
experience, this is an extremely common practice. But, in my view, it's
the caller's responsibility to decide how the dance should be. Many
dances
work well either with smooth, flowing reels, or
bouncy jigs, and the mood
of the dance should be something the caller selects to fit in with the
evening's program. That said, if the caller isn't giving me helpful
adjectives, I'll ask to see the cards, just so I can at least make sure
we
won't be playing the bounciest set ever when
there's a hey into a gypsy
meltdown, etc.
Also, I would echo other people's suggestions to find out which band
member
you should be communicating with, and at the very
least, what style of
music the band plays. Getting a recording or two is even more helpful.
You should know ahead of time not to ask an old-time band to play a
polka,
and you should also know not to ask a band with
no strings in it to play
an
old-time tune. It's a particular pet peeve
of mine as a musician when a
caller asks for an old-time tune with every square dance, regardless of
who's in the band. It might require actually looking at the moves and
figuring out what other music would work best with that particular dance,
but it's always going to be a better experience for the dancers if the
band
plays music that they're good at playing.
-Dave
On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 10:58 PM, Ron T Blechner <contraron(a)gmail.com
wrote:
>
>
> What sorts of questions do you ask bands prior to the dance,
especially by
> e-mail / phone?
>
> A couple I like are:
> - Do they have particular music sets they like to play at certain
times,
> like, to end the night, etc?
> - Especially if I haven't heard them before in person, what overall
types
of music
do they enjoy playing the most?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Best,
Ron T Blechner
contradances.tumblr.com/ron
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--
David Casserly
(cell) 781 258-2761
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