Versatility in music business

tubeast · Post by **tubeast** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:07 pm

A few years ago, our community band had a contract for a gig and found out too late that ALL THREE leading trumpet players were missing. So they decided to hire an pro from an orchestra to sub for that gig.

During brakes, sheÂ´d tell about her everyday life as a pro and said she was paid more for playing piccolo trumpet parts.
She also commented that she should be awarded extra pay for playing literature beyond the usual orchestral stuff (whatever that means). I forget whether or not such payment for unusual styles (imagine Big Band stuff) was actually granted or not.
The reason she gave was that sheÂ´d have to put in extra effort to master the instrument and/or musical styles and should get paid accordingly.

Does this match your everyday pro experience ? When you have an orchestral gig, do you have contracts as to the type of music youÂ´ll be expected to play ? IÂ´m not talking about freelance gigs here. Just imagine you played in an opera and the stage director decided he wanted to have a streetband interlude with blasting funk tuba from the pit instead of some other number that would be left out.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:30 pm

None of the contracts I ever negotiated nor even signed EVER specified a type of music to be performed.

I suppose that one can assume that if you sign with a ballet, you're liable to be playing ballet music, opera, opera, etc., but I have never seen such a stipulation, and I have always encountered exceptions to that rule...

All I can attribute it to is someone so insecure that they feel a need to impress the "locals", espescially if they are afraid that they MAY not be up to performing the part they were hired to do. Such a person, in my opinion, should never accept such a gig. Orchestral musicians often forget how demanding band parts are. This is the reason I turned down the orchestra while I was in school, and opted to play in the wind ensemble, because there is so much more playing, not counting rests (much to the chagrin of the orchestra conductor...)

But then again, remember that it was a trumpet player, and leave it at that...

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:16 pm

Consider the source and move on. Another reason why I retreated to the trenches.

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:39 pm

A substitute player that campaigns for extra pay by whining would quickly leap to the top of my "never hire again" list.
A group with the right instrumentation or effective substitute instrumentation to get a good job on any arrangement should be able to do it if it's classical, hip-hop or country. You're professionals, right?
You didn't ask her to memorize 50 pages or learn new playing techniques.

Donn · Post by **Donn** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:19 pm

tubatooter1940 wrote:A substitute player that campaigns for extra pay by whining would quickly leap to the top of my "never hire again" list.
A group with the right instrumentation or effective substitute instrumentation to get a good job on any arrangement should be able to do it if it's classical, hip-hop or country. You're professionals, right?
You didn't ask her to memorize 50 pages or learn new playing techniques.

Not that it matters one way or the other, but the way I read it, she wasn't asking the band for extra pay, just speaking in general about orchestra jobs, probably in ill-considered responses to a lot of questions.

I guess the notion that it's trivial for an orchestra musician to play in any style, on demand, may have something to do with how well orchestras typically do when they stray outside of their usual domain.

brianf · Post by **brianf** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 pm

This reminds me of the violin player in Germany who sued the orchestra because she played more notes than the winds and wanted more pay. What ever happenned to that suit??

tubeast · Post by **tubeast** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:59 pm

Well read, Donn. She wasnÂ´t begging for extra money, those were just remarks as to the way things work in public-funded orchestras. She did comment on the way the band concert required more stamina than her usual work, though...

Ours was a 45 piece amateur "Youth band" with an age limit of 25, by the way. We performed three open-air 30 min sets with 20 minutes in between. Being on your own on principal trumpet in that setting is not a piece of cake, I believe.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 5:00 pm

Wade, though, reminds me of a good point: doubling, and being told you'll need the extra equipment; what I was talking about just considering musical style.

If you had asked this person to play Eb Soprano, then it could well be that Eb may have been considered a double wherever this person normally worked. Doubling would bring more pay, and you need to tell the person in advance so that they can at least get the proper equipment and prepare.

If the orchestra exepected an ophecleide (which they did, on occasion, when I no longer had access to one) they would at least have to tell me about the upcoming need; they couldn't just hand me one, and have me ask "C or Bb?"