8 Oct
2015
8 Oct
'15
2:15 a.m.
We¹ve done a couple of marathon medleys where there was continuous music
for 3 hours! We did it by having four 3 or 4 person bands playing about 40
minutes each. We overlapped bands by swapping out one player at a time,
which meant we needed to prearrange a swap tune everyone knows for each
band switch. The last 20 minutes all the musicians piled on stage and
played as a megaband. It was a real hoot! I think your melody players will
have more fun if they can play off book and be comfortable handling
changes on the fly - long medleys are bound to have a few surprises and if
they're glued to a book they have a harder time making adjustments. Also
you have to have a sound crew who is up to the challenge. We are fortunate
to have pretty good equipment and generally cheerful sound people.
Sarah
On 10/7/15, 4:06 PM, "Musicians on behalf of Susan Rachel Lorand via
Musicians" <musicians-bounces(a)lists.sharedweight.net on behalf of
musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I'm curious about other musicians' experiences
with contra medleys,
especially in relation to their length.
I've played for quite a few 6x6 medleys (6 dances, done 6x each) and
consider this a manageable length in a 4-person band (piano + 3 melody
players), provided I remember not to play the entire time.
Do any of you have experience with longer medleys?
Have you played one that goes 30 minutes or longer? If so, how many
musicians were in your group?
What are your personal limits?
Any experience alternating bands (or alternating individual musicians) in
longer medleys?
Thanks,
Susie Lorand (fiddler), Ann Arbor, MI
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