Re: [Callers] Calling without a band?

I call about a dozen dances a year with no live music, just me and my iPod. My preference is to work with musicians there, but as you say, there are some whose budget just won't allow for that/ Tina, there are CDs available with longer pieces of music on them. One of my favorites is called "Any Jig or Reel," with wonderful music by BEcky Tracy (fiddle), Andy Davis (accordion), and Keith Murphy (guitar and piano and foot percussion.) Other albums from New England Dancing Masters also have longer cuts. If you're calling New England style squares, then your typical pattern is 7 times through a tune, so you'll find plenty of cuts on other albums that are that length, about 4 minutes. Yes, it will take time at first, listening to your collection and notating each album more carefully, but once you've done that, you're good to go. I used to work from CDs but now MUCH prefer the flexibility and portability of my iPod. I have friends who use a different sort of mp3 player... it's bulkier but it has the advantage of variable speed control, so they can slow down a cut if need be. David Millstone Lebanon, NH