At the Montpelier Contra Dance run by the "Contra Dance Umbrella", we don't
offer an official price drop part way through the dance. However, after
the ~9:30 break (dance runs 8:00 to 11:00), we often close up the money box
(after taking out almost all of the cash, usually in one of the
pants-pocket of one of the male committee members). A few people may come
in after that; some of them will make change out of the box.
We've discussed this at our committee meetings; one of the responses to
"can I get in for less if I'm not staying the whole time?" is: "Well, the
band plays all night, so we prefer to have you pay--most of the money goes
the band and the caller, and the rest to rent the Grange Hall".
I think all of us are somewhat flexible about this, and responsive to
dancers who say they don't have all the admission price. I usually tell
them to make it up the next time if they can; we like to have people keep
coming. Our price is $8.00 for 16 and up, $5.00 for up to 15.
Similar approach is used at the Traditional series--there, we offer 1/2
price admission to new-comers.
--Tim Swartz
Thanks for the replies thus far. Nice to learn what some others are doing and why.
I suspect our committee discussion will get philosophical, so I especially love Paul's offer of logical inquiry on that front. (Indeed. If we give discount to late arrivers then why not give discount to early leavers too?)
A similar question: what else in our culture do you get for a discount if you arrive after the start time - concert? movie? baseball game? college course? yoga class? childcare? lap swim at the Y? massage? (I'm coming up empty. Are there any such things?)
I've heard people say, indicating it was problematic, "Some people (who arrived late) paid full price for only 4 dances." Any perspective on that?
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
What is your dance's admission price structure?
Does that admission price drop at any point in the evening?
If so, when (at what point)?
What is the rationale for either (a) dropping the price or (b) keeping the same price in effect for duration of the entire dance? (Why do you do what you do?)
We're having a committee conversation about our practice, and I'm curious what others do and why.
Thanks,
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
I sent the first part of the thread to some organizers in Maine (prior to Bill Cowie weighing in on NEFFA's approach.)
ASCAP has been a hot button topic in our state. As Bill mentioned, a dance organizer was approached by the town (which owns the hall used by the dance) after the town had been approached by ASCAP.
At the annual meeting of DEFFA we talked about it briefly, including mentioning that Larry Unger's tunes are registered with ASCAP, and others are registered with BMI. Below is what DEFFA president John McIntire emailed me.
Here's to sharing info and specific details for the good of all!
Oh, and on that note, I wanted to request that if others are willing to share more details of their specific knowledge or experience, the do so, even if it seems like 'extraneous info.' I think we'd all benefit from having it out there in the knowledge base. (Even if it's not an issue for a given dance series now, it might come up later, and having some of those details in the SW archive would save both re-inventing the wheel and repeatedly making separate individual requests for more info.)
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
> From: circleleft(a)uninets.net
> Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2012 23:04:37 -0400
> Subject: Re: ASCAP on Organizers Digest, Vol 36, Issue 1
>
> Chrissy & all,
>
> Thanks for the info from the organizers list.
>
> I believe that the approach taken by CDSS & NEFFA have been the most
> successful & and adaptable. That is, in NEFFA's case, to own what they know
> they use.....i.e. the Beatles sing-along, and make a token payment. CDSS has
> taken the issue away from the local agent by asking the national ASCAP for a
> list. Since the local agent gets a commission, they lose interest and the
> national doesn't respond. Being defensive doesn't look to me to be a good
> idea. I expect most bands don't have a clue if they play music covered by
> ASCAP (or BMI). And I'm not certain that public domain music puts them in the
> clear.
>
> I expect to be working on this for the next few months on DEFFA's behalf in
> order to put out a statement that Maine organizers & bands can use. It will
> likely mirror the attitude that CDSS exhibits. If someone wants to pass all this
> along to other lists, so much the better.
>
> cheers, John
>
Fellow organizers,
I'm writing as a board member of the Santa Barbara Country Dance Society.
Our Treasurer received a formal letter from ASCAP, trolling (?) for money.
The subject ASCAP uses is "First Offer."
Has anyone else received this and how did you deal with it? And if no one
else has, why are we so special?
Dear dance organizers,
We're wrapping up final details from the Puttin' On the
Dance<http://www.puttinonthedance.org/>conference, and so here's one
*final *update from us. :)
*ARCHIVE:*
The POTD Post-conference
Resource<http://www.puttinonthedance.org/post-conference/>is full of
notes, handouts, resources, photos, video, blog posts, articles,
and inspiration. Please share the link with your organizer comrades.
*POTD-2:*
To catalyze the 2nd Northeast Dance Organizers Conference (sometime in
2013) or otherwise help in this effort, contact Linda Henry <linda(a)cdss.org>
.
*CONTRIBUTE TO ORGANIZER CONFERENCES:
*CDSS <http://www.cdss.org/> provided the core underwriting for POTD, and
we need some funds to tie up a few loose ends (for ex, to continue hosting
the POTD website & archive). This fundraising effort will also support
CDSS's efforts to spearhead *other* regional conferences (see below).
Whether you make a gift online www.cdss.org/general-donation.html or send a
check, please indicate that it's for *conference support*.
*UPCOMING ORGANIZER SESSIONS:
*Maine POTD conferees are presenting at DownEast Country Dance
Festival<http://www.deffa.org/festival>this weekend - March 31,
Chrissy Fowler is leading a session at
NEFFA <http://www.neffa.org/What_is_Festival.html> in April, there's a Midwest
Leadership Event <smithra(a)twirlyshirts.com> August 10-12 in Cincinnati, OH
and there's a Southwest Conference <linda(a)cdss.org> in the planning
stages. (Click links for info or contacts.)
*NOT USING THIS EMAIL:
*This email is effectively temporarily defunct. (Still live, but seldom
monitored.) If you want to reach us, do so directly.
Happy Organizing!
Linda Henry - linda(a)cdss.org
fiddlersgreencontra.org (CDSS Outreach Manager)
Mary Wesley - marystilleywesley(a)gmail.com
marywesley.com (CDSS Youth Intern)
Delia Clark - deliaclark8(a)gmail.com
3rdFriWoodstockCommunityDance <http://www.facebook.com/oldsampeabody>
Confluence Associates
Chrissy Fowler - ktaadn_me(a)hotmail.com
belfastflyingshoes.orgchrissyfowler.com
--
2011 POTD Resources (including Archive) at http://www.puttinonthedance.orghttp://www.facebook.com/PuttinOnTheDance
Had an email exchange recently with another dance organizer, who was one of my buddies from POTD. We were discussing various aspects of dance series management. He noted that every dance is different (as in 'all politics are local') which reminded me of lyrics in a Billy Bragg song, North Sea Bubble:
"I went out drinking with Thomas Paine.
He said that all revolutions are not the same.
They're as different as the cultures that give them birth.
For no one idea can solve every problem on Earth.
So don't expect it all to happen in some prophesied political fashion.
For people are different, and so are nations.
You can borrow ideas but you can't borrow situations."
I refer to this general concept often when thinking about dance organization.
Thought I'd pass it on to the larger group for entertainment and rumination.
You know, since no one idea can solve every dance organization problem on Earth. And because, uh, you know, a dance is sort of like, uh, a revolution. Right?
:)
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast ME
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
website www.westbranchwords.com
website www.chrissyfowler.com
dance series www.belfastflyingshoes.org
telephone 207-338-0979
Last year's Splash Dance weekend everyone really enjoyed the music and it's
all open bands and open mic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_KflHcq84M
We've had more success with our open bands at our regular dance as well.
The formula we've been using, both for them and Splash Dance, is to make
sure we have two good musicians to lead each of the open bands, one rhythm,
one melody.
Here's a clip from one of our regular Thursday dances -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NotY1Zavyw
For our Thursday dances, we compensate the two band leaders as we would any
band. We also compensate the leader of the open mic as well.
In our announcements of the open band nights, we usually point out that an
open band provides a 'big band' sound that you simply can't get with a
normal 2-4 member contra band. It really is something unique and special,
we think.
Dennis
On Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 2:25 PM, <organizers-request(a)sharedweight.net>wrote:
> Send Organizers mailing list submissions to
> organizers(a)sharedweight.net
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> organizers-request(a)sharedweight.net
>
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>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Organizers digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Open Bands (Jeff Kaufman)
> 2. Re: Open Bands (mreddig(a)theriver.com)
> 3. Re: Open Bands (barb kirchner)
> 4. Re: Open Bands (Merle Mceldowney)
> 5. Re: Open Bands (Jeff Kaufman)
> 6. Re: Open Bands (Michael Barraclough)
> 7. Re: Open Bands (Michael Barraclough)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:31:10 -0500
> From: Jeff Kaufman <jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu>
> To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: [Organizers] Open Bands
> Message-ID: <20120117173110.GA9908(a)melfpelt.swarpa.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Open bands have a reputation for being less enjoyable to dance to.
> I've heard dancers say they avoid open band nights, or that while they
> understand the role of the open band in fostering musicians they wish
> they weren't needed. Now that I'm helping organize them with BIDA,
> however, I'm not seeing this. In fact our attendance is higher, people
> have a great time, and I don't hear complaints. Afterwards a dancer
> wrote that they had "never seen that much positive engagement between
> the band and the dancers."
>
> A video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MENiFoiMq5Y
>
> I see two explanations: (1) open bands are not actually unpopular and
> I was just listening to the small number of people who don't like them
> or (2) BIDA is doing something right. I don't know which it is, but I
> figured I would describe what BIDA has been doing in case it's (2).
>
> (BIDA has had four open band nights. I've only been involved with the
> most recent three, so what I have below is about these three.)
>
> In scheduling the open band we first find a band leader. We've had
> Peter Barnes twice and Debby Knight once, both have been great. They
> both primarily played piano, but also can play other instruments if
> someone else wants to take a turn on piano. This is the only paid
> role; everyone else playing pays admission on a $0-$10 sliding scale.
>
> We have two rows, sorting people by experience. We mic everyone in the
> front row and most of the people in the back, though there are often
> some who don't want to be mic'd or who need to take turns with limited
> mics. It's helpful that we have a large stage. Everyone plays at
> once. At our most recent dance we had: (front row) caller, piano, 6x
> fiddle (back row) double bass, whistle, recorder, fiddle, octave
> mandolin.
>
> Reading through this, nothing sounds very different from other open
> bands I've been to. Which makes me think it's not actually about how
> we run the band and instead about the musicians who decide to
> come. Maybe what's going on is that we're drawing from a different
> group? I wonder if there's an effect where when an open band has been
> around longer many of the best musicians move on and you have mostly
> people who aren't interested in or aren't able to get booked for other
> dances? If this were happening I would expect that in general open
> bands that were newer would be better; are they?
>
> Jeff
>
> ( Also a blog post: http://www.jefftk.com/news/2012-01-17.html )
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:40:41 -0800
> From: <mreddig(a)theriver.com>
> To: "A list for dance organizers" <organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Cc: <organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Open Bands
> Message-ID: <20120117094041.D4903DF9(a)resin03.mta.everyone.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> I have two possible reasons for your success.
>
> 1) Open Bands can help build your community by bringing in new people
> (stakeholders) with enthusiasm.
>
> 2) Peter Barnes and Debby Knight are masters at creating dynamic music
> from an otherwise disconnected group of musicians. I suggest it is not the
> quality of musicians in the Open Band, but the quality of the band leaders
> that gives life to the band.
>
> Mike
>
> --- jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu wrote:
>
> From: Jeff Kaufman <jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu>
> To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: [Organizers] Open Bands
> Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:31:10 -0500
>
> Open bands have a reputation for being less enjoyable to dance to.
> I've heard dancers say they avoid open band nights, or that while they
> understand the role of the open band in fostering musicians they wish
> they weren't needed. Now that I'm helping organize them with BIDA,
> however, I'm not seeing this. In fact our attendance is higher, people
> have a great time, and I don't hear complaints. Afterwards a dancer
> wrote that they had "never seen that much positive engagement between
> the band and the dancers."
>
> A video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MENiFoiMq5Y
>
> I see two explanations: (1) open bands are not actually unpopular and
> I was just listening to the small number of people who don't like them
> or (2) BIDA is doing something right. I don't know which it is, but I
> figured I would describe what BIDA has been doing in case it's (2).
>
> (BIDA has had four open band nights. I've only been involved with the
> most recent three, so what I have below is about these three.)
>
> In scheduling the open band we first find a band leader. We've had
> Peter Barnes twice and Debby Knight once, both have been great. They
> both primarily played piano, but also can play other instruments if
> someone else wants to take a turn on piano. This is the only paid
> role; everyone else playing pays admission on a $0-$10 sliding scale.
>
> We have two rows, sorting people by experience. We mic everyone in the
> front row and most of the people in the back, though there are often
> some who don't want to be mic'd or who need to take turns with limited
> mics. It's helpful that we have a large stage. Everyone plays at
> once. At our most recent dance we had: (front row) caller, piano, 6x
> fiddle (back row) double bass, whistle, recorder, fiddle, octave
> mandolin.
>
> Reading through this, nothing sounds very different from other open
> bands I've been to. Which makes me think it's not actually about how
> we run the band and instead about the musicians who decide to
> come. Maybe what's going on is that we're drawing from a different
> group? I wonder if there's an effect where when an open band has been
> around longer many of the best musicians move on and you have mostly
> people who aren't interested in or aren't able to get booked for other
> dances? If this were happening I would expect that in general open
> bands that were newer would be better; are they?
>
> Jeff
>
> ( Also a blog post: http://www.jefftk.com/news/2012-01-17.html )
> _______________________________________________
> Organizers mailing list
> Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:08:32 +0000
> From: barb kirchner <barbkirchner(a)hotmail.com>
> To: <organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Open Bands
> Message-ID: <SNT134-W159A37EF753CDC992AEADDE800(a)phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>
> i think the point about strong leaders is the key. peter and debbie are
> great. sue songer does a great job with portland megaband. open band
> night at glen echo is amazing fun.
>
> somebody who not only knows HOW to play for a dance, but can TEACH a
> group, is a valuable resource.
>
>
>
> > Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:40:41 -0800
> > From: mreddig(a)theriver.com
> > To: organizers(a)sharedweight.net
> > CC: organizers(a)sharedweight.net
> > Subject: Re: [Organizers] Open Bands
> >
> > I have two possible reasons for your success.
> >
> > 1) Open Bands can help build your community by bringing in new people
> (stakeholders) with enthusiasm.
> >
> > 2) Peter Barnes and Debby Knight are masters at creating dynamic music
> from an otherwise disconnected group of musicians. I suggest it is not the
> quality of musicians in the Open Band, but the quality of the band leaders
> that gives life to the band.
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > --- jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu wrote:
> >
> > From: Jeff Kaufman <jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu>
> > To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
> > Subject: [Organizers] Open Bands
> > Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:31:10 -0500
> >
> > Open bands have a reputation for being less enjoyable to dance to.
> > I've heard dancers say they avoid open band nights, or that while they
> > understand the role of the open band in fostering musicians they wish
> > they weren't needed. Now that I'm helping organize them with BIDA,
> > however, I'm not seeing this. In fact our attendance is higher, people
> > have a great time, and I don't hear complaints. Afterwards a dancer
> > wrote that they had "never seen that much positive engagement between
> > the band and the dancers."
> >
> > A video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MENiFoiMq5Y
> >
> > I see two explanations: (1) open bands are not actually unpopular and
> > I was just listening to the small number of people who don't like them
> > or (2) BIDA is doing something right. I don't know which it is, but I
> > figured I would describe what BIDA has been doing in case it's (2).
> >
> > (BIDA has had four open band nights. I've only been involved with the
> > most recent three, so what I have below is about these three.)
> >
> > In scheduling the open band we first find a band leader. We've had
> > Peter Barnes twice and Debby Knight once, both have been great. They
> > both primarily played piano, but also can play other instruments if
> > someone else wants to take a turn on piano. This is the only paid
> > role; everyone else playing pays admission on a $0-$10 sliding scale.
> >
> > We have two rows, sorting people by experience. We mic everyone in the
> > front row and most of the people in the back, though there are often
> > some who don't want to be mic'd or who need to take turns with limited
> > mics. It's helpful that we have a large stage. Everyone plays at
> > once. At our most recent dance we had: (front row) caller, piano, 6x
> > fiddle (back row) double bass, whistle, recorder, fiddle, octave
> > mandolin.
> >
> > Reading through this, nothing sounds very different from other open
> > bands I've been to. Which makes me think it's not actually about how
> > we run the band and instead about the musicians who decide to
> > come. Maybe what's going on is that we're drawing from a different
> > group? I wonder if there's an effect where when an open band has been
> > around longer many of the best musicians move on and you have mostly
> > people who aren't interested in or aren't able to get booked for other
> > dances? If this were happening I would expect that in general open
> > bands that were newer would be better; are they?
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> > ( Also a blog post: http://www.jefftk.com/news/2012-01-17.html )
> > _______________________________________________
> > Organizers mailing list
> > Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
> > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Organizers mailing list
> > Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
> > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:12:55 -0500
> From: Merle Mceldowney <merle.mceldowney(a)gmail.com>
> To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Open Bands
> Message-ID:
> <CAK4w+gprKxrSx5B3bw5YYLs3TySwrvx_XnKNrJ85rtTg=mMw4Q(a)mail.gmail.com
> >
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> I am a very basic recorder player. I did a band workshop with Peter at
> pinewoods. It was an amazing experience. I believe we sounded really good.
> Beyond the basics that Peter taught us he was able to provide an
> inspiration that was really amazing. I had a great time, people loved
> listeneing to us, and wanted us to do it again.
>
> Peter is an extraordinary and unusual talent. He has a combination of
> musicianship, leadership and inspiration that wil make others sound good.
> The challenge to community bands is to be able to get it done with people
> of lesser talents.
>
> Can I ask the icky question. Is Peter paid to do this?
>
> M
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 12:40 PM, <mreddig(a)theriver.com> wrote:
>
> > I have two possible reasons for your success.
> >
> > 1) Open Bands can help build your community by bringing in new people
> > (stakeholders) with enthusiasm.
> >
> > 2) Peter Barnes and Debby Knight are masters at creating dynamic music
> > from an otherwise disconnected group of musicians. I suggest it is not
> the
> > quality of musicians in the Open Band, but the quality of the band
> leaders
> > that gives life to the band.
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > --- jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu wrote:
> >
> > From: Jeff Kaufman <jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu>
> > To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
> > Subject: [Organizers] Open Bands
> > Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:31:10 -0500
> >
> > Open bands have a reputation for being less enjoyable to dance to.
> > I've heard dancers say they avoid open band nights, or that while they
> > understand the role of the open band in fostering musicians they wish
> > they weren't needed. Now that I'm helping organize them with BIDA,
> > however, I'm not seeing this. In fact our attendance is higher, people
> > have a great time, and I don't hear complaints. Afterwards a dancer
> > wrote that they had "never seen that much positive engagement between
> > the band and the dancers."
> >
> > A video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MENiFoiMq5Y
> >
> > I see two explanations: (1) open bands are not actually unpopular and
> > I was just listening to the small number of people who don't like them
> > or (2) BIDA is doing something right. I don't know which it is, but I
> > figured I would describe what BIDA has been doing in case it's (2).
> >
> > (BIDA has had four open band nights. I've only been involved with the
> > most recent three, so what I have below is about these three.)
> >
> > In scheduling the open band we first find a band leader. We've had
> > Peter Barnes twice and Debby Knight once, both have been great. They
> > both primarily played piano, but also can play other instruments if
> > someone else wants to take a turn on piano. This is the only paid
> > role; everyone else playing pays admission on a $0-$10 sliding scale.
> >
> > We have two rows, sorting people by experience. We mic everyone in the
> > front row and most of the people in the back, though there are often
> > some who don't want to be mic'd or who need to take turns with limited
> > mics. It's helpful that we have a large stage. Everyone plays at
> > once. At our most recent dance we had: (front row) caller, piano, 6x
> > fiddle (back row) double bass, whistle, recorder, fiddle, octave
> > mandolin.
> >
> > Reading through this, nothing sounds very different from other open
> > bands I've been to. Which makes me think it's not actually about how
> > we run the band and instead about the musicians who decide to
> > come. Maybe what's going on is that we're drawing from a different
> > group? I wonder if there's an effect where when an open band has been
> > around longer many of the best musicians move on and you have mostly
> > people who aren't interested in or aren't able to get booked for other
> > dances? If this were happening I would expect that in general open
> > bands that were newer would be better; are they?
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> > ( Also a blog post: http://www.jefftk.com/news/2012-01-17.html )
> > _______________________________________________
> > Organizers mailing list
> > Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
> > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Organizers mailing list
> > Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
> > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
> >
>
>
>
> --
> *Merle McEldowney*
> *212-933-0290*
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:17:04 -0500
> From: Jeff Kaufman <jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu>
> To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Open Bands
> Message-ID: <20120117181704.GA11986(a)melfpelt.swarpa.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Merle Mceldowney wrote:
> >
> > Can I ask the icky question. Is Peter paid to do this?
> >
>
> As I wrote before, the band leader (twice Peter, once Debby) is the
> only paid role. They get $75 base plus $25 mentoring. Peter got
> another $25 travel. Then there's profit sharing, and because there
> are so few paid performers to split profits that tends to be more than
> usual.
>
> Jeff
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:13:16 -0500
> From: Michael Barraclough <michael(a)michaelbarraclough.com>
> To: organizers(a)sharedweight.net
> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Open Bands
> Message-ID: <1326827596.3329.35.camel@The-Beast>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> This is what we say on the (Glen Echo) Friday Night Dancers web-site
> about our Open Band, which plays every month on the 2nd Friday in the
> month. Band attendance is usually between 30-60 people. Dancer
> attendance is usually a little smaller than usual (say 25o instead of
> 275) on Open Band nights, in part because some of the dancers are in the
> band. My personal view is that the band sounds better (tighter?) when
> it is smaller, but it is always dance-able.
>
> Michael Barraclough
>
>
>
> Open Band
>
> On the second Friday of each month, the "Fabulous Glen Echo Open Band"
> provides the music for the dance. Both amateur and professional
> musicians are welcome to sit in and are admitted free. One of our Open
> Band members, penny-whistler Jim Stahler, has compiled an 18-year list
> of tunes played by the Glen Echo Open Band and how many times they were
> played. Newer members are encouraged to download the shorter list of
> recently played tunes so they can practice the most frequently played
> tunes. Both lists are Word .doc files. Here is a podcast that offers the
> sets of songs along with the page info in some of the popular books such
> as the Portland Collection and Fiddlers Fakebook. For more information
> regarding the open band, check out the Open Band FAQ or send email to
> Jim Stahler: jstahler at earthlink dot net. If you would like to play or
> call for a Friday Night Dance, send email to FND Booking at:
> fndgigs(a)petml.com
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:25:12 -0500
> From: Michael Barraclough <michael(a)michaelbarraclough.com>
> To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Open Bands
> Message-ID: <1326828312.3329.39.camel@The-Beast>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Ok - so the 'net police' turned my post into plain text and lost the
> links!
>
> The18-year list of tunes played by the Glen Echo Open Band is at
> http://www.fridaynightdance.org/OPEN_BAND_EIGHTEEN_YEAR_LIST_1993-2011.doc
>
> The posdcast is at
>
> http://www.openbandonline.com/Open_Band/Open_Band_Podcast/Open_Band_Podcast…
>
> The Open Band FAQ is at http://www.fridaynightdance.org/openbandfaq.html
>
> Michael Barraclough
>
>
> On Tue, 2012-01-17 at 14:13 -0500, Michael Barraclough wrote:
>
> > This is what we say on the (Glen Echo) Friday Night Dancers web-site
> > about our Open Band, which plays every month on the 2nd Friday in the
> > month. Band attendance is usually between 30-60 people. Dancer
> > attendance is usually a little smaller than usual (say 25o instead of
> > 275) on Open Band nights, in part because some of the dancers are in the
> > band. My personal view is that the band sounds better (tighter?) when
> > it is smaller, but it is always dance-able.
> >
> > Michael Barraclough
> >
> >
> >
> > Open Band
> >
> > On the second Friday of each month, the "Fabulous Glen Echo Open Band"
> > provides the music for the dance. Both amateur and professional
> > musicians are welcome to sit in and are admitted free. One of our Open
> > Band members, penny-whistler Jim Stahler, has compiled an 18-year list
> > of tunes played by the Glen Echo Open Band and how many times they were
> > played. Newer members are encouraged to download the shorter list of
> > recently played tunes so they can practice the most frequently played
> > tunes. Both lists are Word .doc files. Here is a podcast that offers the
> > sets of songs along with the page info in some of the popular books such
> > as the Portland Collection and Fiddlers Fakebook. For more information
> > regarding the open band, check out the Open Band FAQ or send email to
> > Jim Stahler: jstahler at earthlink dot net. If you would like to play or
> > call for a Friday Night Dance, send email to FND Booking at:
> > fndgigs(a)petml.com
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Organizers mailing list
> > Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
> > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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>
> End of Organizers Digest, Vol 34, Issue 8
> *****************************************
>
I agree with those who say that the open band leadership is key for danceability. It has to be fun/lively for the musicians too, and the quality of the leadership is part of that as well.
At our monthly Community Dance we have an open all-comers band (name taken from David Kaynor's occasional dances at the Montague Grange, and philosophy modeled on his and others', such as Lamprey River Band in Seacoast NH - namely anyone with an instrument is welcome to play, even 3 year olds.) We do not mic any of the musicians, partly for simplicity's sake in terms of the hassle of setting up sound for a huge band for a 1 hr dance, and partly to avoid any hierarchy. Works fine since there are usually more musicians than dancers. Two musicians on our committee anchor the band each month, giving stability and focus as well as suggesting some on-the-fly instrumental arrangements, and many of the musicians in a given night are part of another amateur group which plays regularly throughout our region (Belfast Bay Fiddlers).
Here's a local filmmaker/tv producer's video of our most recent dance, to give you a taste of the joyous mayhem that is the Belfast Flying Shoes All-Comers Band (39 musicians playing, and sometimes singing, for a bunch of happy dancers, ranging in age from infant to 70s.)
http://vimeo.com/34861499
I love open, ad hoc bands for a host of reasons, including the incredible wall of sound and unpredictability of it all -- am looking forward to dancing to the NEFFA Festival Orchestra in April, for example.
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
Open bands have a reputation for being less enjoyable to dance to.
I've heard dancers say they avoid open band nights, or that while they
understand the role of the open band in fostering musicians they wish
they weren't needed. Now that I'm helping organize them with BIDA,
however, I'm not seeing this. In fact our attendance is higher, people
have a great time, and I don't hear complaints. Afterwards a dancer
wrote that they had "never seen that much positive engagement between
the band and the dancers."
A video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MENiFoiMq5Y
I see two explanations: (1) open bands are not actually unpopular and
I was just listening to the small number of people who don't like them
or (2) BIDA is doing something right. I don't know which it is, but I
figured I would describe what BIDA has been doing in case it's (2).
(BIDA has had four open band nights. I've only been involved with the
most recent three, so what I have below is about these three.)
In scheduling the open band we first find a band leader. We've had
Peter Barnes twice and Debby Knight once, both have been great. They
both primarily played piano, but also can play other instruments if
someone else wants to take a turn on piano. This is the only paid
role; everyone else playing pays admission on a $0-$10 sliding scale.
We have two rows, sorting people by experience. We mic everyone in the
front row and most of the people in the back, though there are often
some who don't want to be mic'd or who need to take turns with limited
mics. It's helpful that we have a large stage. Everyone plays at
once. At our most recent dance we had: (front row) caller, piano, 6x
fiddle (back row) double bass, whistle, recorder, fiddle, octave
mandolin.
Reading through this, nothing sounds very different from other open
bands I've been to. Which makes me think it's not actually about how
we run the band and instead about the musicians who decide to
come. Maybe what's going on is that we're drawing from a different
group? I wonder if there's an effect where when an open band has been
around longer many of the best musicians move on and you have mostly
people who aren't interested in or aren't able to get booked for other
dances? If this were happening I would expect that in general open
bands that were newer would be better; are they?
Jeff
( Also a blog post: http://www.jefftk.com/news/2012-01-17.html )
