TubeNet

Hello, dearest TubeNet,

Recently, the youth orchestra I am in sent out an e-mail to the players and their parents asking if any were interested in playing background music for some dinner event going on in more ritzy part of Miami next Saturday. It is not a paying gig, with regards to money. We will, though, receive community service hours as well as some good exposure (the orchestra claims, and I imagine so). I called up the man in charge of putting the music together, and (it appears that I was the first to call him up) he asked me to put together a group of guys I know that would want to play this. I believe I know more than enough guys that would (What are high school kids expecting?), so I accepted. The requirements of the group are very lax. It is not to be a large group, five/six players to play for at least one half-hour. He opened the tunes up to virtually anything, too, and I think I can prepare enough music by then.

My question to you: In similar situations, what did you do? What should I caution for or pay special attention to? Anything that is worth keeping in mind?

I would surely appreciate any help anyone would offer!


Cheers,

Jackson

The Jackson wrote:My question to you: In similar situations, what did you do? What should I caution for or pay special attention to? Anything that is worth keeping in mind?

When you ask people to play for free, you get what you get. That should be your understanding and also the client's.

I put together a brass quintet for a wedding. The others were paid--I was a friend of the bride and refused payment. I got my community symphony buddies to fill in the other seats, and now I regret it. They resisted direction from me, and in general acted like prima donnas. Two of them didn't have black suits, and I was the only one with a tux. One showed up late (which I had fortunately built into the call time). They kept looking around wide-eyed (this wedding had over 500 attendees, and occurred at a very large church). I should have gone out and hired real pros, with a deal sounding like this: The good news is that you get paid X. The bad news is that you have to play with me in the group. I think with that approach I could have done it with one rehearsal, and I wouldn't have had to endure any stress other than over my own playing.

You can't do that here, but the point is that when you hire young amateurs, you'll have to deal with the associated lack of professional training and discipline (and I'm not talking only about musical skill).

Be very clear about what you expect, including how many rehearsals and when, attendance requirements at rehearsals, dress requirements for the gig, behavior requirements at the gig, and so on.

Rick "who can't play like a pro but can at least act like a pro" Denney

Dale has a good point, in that you and a group of your friends are going to play a gig---free---for a probably well-off group of people. If it is for people trying to hold something for charity [eg-someone was burnt out of their home, or was suffering catastrophic medical bills, or the like and they were trying to help any way they could], no budget, well, I'd be the first one volunteering to play for free and help out in the way I can. If, OTOH, this is a country-club type affair that they are trying to get kids to play on the cheap, I'd have to say:Why should I do that? If I play that type job for free, I'm putting other musicians out of their bread-and-butter work.And, as Dale also pointed out, whatever "exposure " you get out of it is most likely another freebie.
That being said, if you must do this, or the circumstances are different than we imagine, then go with a standard brass quintet [I assume you are a tuba player?] There is an almost infinite amount of readily-available rep for this configuration [2 trp, horn, trb, tuba] and you should be able to pull it off. Some group of eclectic instruments will almost certainly be a major pain trying to get music for, not to mention causing major blending issues, too.

.

LJV wrote:Regarding paying gigs. I am a firm believer in "no loot, no toot." BUT, not in this case. Get out there and do this "gig."

I agree. Wait until you are older to ponder the ethics of competing with pros. Just make sure expectations are out in the open with all concerned, and then do it.

I also agree with the advice to play music a notch easier than you can handle. You'll appreciate the headroom in the heat of the moment, and so will the audience. They will NOT know that you are reading from the Canadian Brass book of Advanced Quintets, which are aimed at good high-school quintets. I have happily played pay gigs out of that book. The Intermediate book also has peformable tunes.

Rick "who quintet is probably not better than decent high-school groups, at least in some ways" Denney

Wow, thank you all very much for the input!

To answer a few questions:

All the players I will be calling will be other high school students like myself. Some of them are somewhat used to "gigging" as they are in a pretty busy high school jazz band, but I do not believe they are familiar with being payed for their services. This kind of request by the orchestra is not one that I've seen or even heard about before, so I don't think this will be an on-going "freebie call" to the heads of the orchestra. The organizer told me that, if another group showed up, we would only have to play for a half hour, but one hour if no other group.

The youth orchestra has a quintet that I am a part of, but I have not given that much thought as I do not believe that any of the other members would be interested in this (and, quite frankly, if I'm creating the group, I would prefer them out). I do not know enough other brass players to form a quintet, but I do know three saxophonists who I believe are good musicians and good team players. I also know a trumpeter and a clarinetist I could also call. It could be a weird group, but I think it could work. Regarding music, myself and maybe one of the other guys could be doing arrangements. Would this be a good situation to use tunes from a "Real Book"?

I will also definitely put together some pro-looking cards. My mother dealt with stuff like that for a long time, so I think she could help me make something really nice.


Many, many thanks!

Jackson

If this is for the ultimate benefit of the youth orchestra, then the director (or someone) of the orchestra should put things together, not push it off onto you.

Including music.

If this is something you will want to pursue as a business as such, then you will have to put out some capital $ to get started, such as music, stands, etc. Be sure to contact the person in charge of the event (assuming it is not the person who contacted you from your orchestra) so that they know you are coming and have chairs and an appropriate place to play. Get there early so you have time to survey the location and situation. Get at least one rehearsal in so you sound good (I will agree to get easier music than you think you will need). Make sure your associates know exactly where and when to arrive and what to bring and wear. you may even want to type up all the details in writing so they have no excuse. You may also want to get something in writing from the organizer of the event, sort of like a contract, that spells out where, when and what you are to play, just so that everyone is on the same page as it were.

Treat it like a real gig and you never know you may get a real gig out of it.
good luck
ken k

If something like this took place at my previous high school, that is how things would have gone down. My band director would have everything squared away at least a few weeks beforehand. but the orchestra is not as structured and this request sounds like it was pretty last minute. There are chamber groups in the orchestra that would be suitable for this event, but there are no scheduled rehearsals because of the spring break. O think that is why interested parties have to organize things themselves and why the orchestra director let me choose any players that I knew (not just from the orchestra).

I just called one of my good buddies and he is very enthusiastic about it. He is not sure about his schedule then, but he and I will contact our mutual associates for interest.

I do plan to, once I speak again with the orchestra director (and maybe the organizer of the dinner event), formalize the terms for the night. I'm making very sure, though, that I am not contacting "flakes" or guys that aren't serious.

Hey, Id' bet your folks are proud of you. I hope I'll someday have the opportunity to support my children in this type of activity. I'm often reminding them that educational opportunity doesn't lie only within a classroom's four walls . . .

Whether or not you plan to pursue music in college, if you do intend to continue your education beyond high school, I'd conjecture that a university admissions board might look favorably upon a prospective student with the social, organizational, and overall leadership skills to produce an ensemble.

Rick Denney wrote: 'snip'

I also agree with the advice to play music a notch easier than you can handle. You'll appreciate the headroom in the heat of the moment, and so will the audience. They will NOT know that you are reading from the Canadian Brass book of Advanced Quintets, which are aimed at good high-school quintets. I have happily played pay gigs out of that book. The Intermediate book also has peformable tunes.

Rick "who quintet is probably not better than decent high-school groups, at least in some ways" Denney

We use the intermediat book for incidental BQ music at church all the time. people love it.

Eight days? is not a lot of time.

Keep us posted, it will be interesting to hear what works with your instrumentation (whatever it turns out to be.)

Donn wrote:Eight days? is not a lot of time.

Keep us posted, it will be interesting to hear what works with your instrumentation (whatever it turns out to be.)

Donn has included the most serious concerns I might have, here. Eight days is a very short time to have to write arrangements for 30 minutes of performance time, and to get it rehearsed sufficiently. This is without addressing any of the other details of the performance. An earlier post recommended a brass quintet, or similar instrumentation. This had the advantage of easy availability of music, but also a greater likelihood of a good sound. Working with an odd instrumentation presents its own challenges.

I echo the sentiments of others, however. I am pleased to see that you are taking this initiative. Good luck!

TubaRay wrote:An earlier post recommended a brass quintet, or similar instrumentation. This had the advantage of easy availability of music, but also a greater likelihood of a good sound. Working with an odd instrumentation presents its own challenges.

Brass quintets can sound pretty awful - I speak from personal experience here! In one week, with no pay involved, I think you have to go with your judgement, aim for something that will be fun, and hope that the enthusiasm compensates for the inevitable weak spots and minor train wrecks.

Among repertoire possibilities that come to mind, polka, klesmer and other European stuff might work for the mixed winds / no drums format. The Hungry Five books are somewhat classic. Dixieland books can be found with all the parts written out; I would recommend no more than one (1) such tune on the set list, and only if most of the players seem to have some feel for the style, but it could be a good for some variety. Who's in the mid/low range - is there a baritone sax? Tenor can cover some trombone parts better than bari, but reading bass clef is more of a challenge.

With such odd instrumentation, a few tunes from the Real Book may be your best bet. If nothing else, the head, a few solo choruses, repeat head and out formula could work. I'd go with that, adding in backgrounds where possible.

Nick Pierce wrote:With such odd instrumentation, a few tunes from the Real Book may be your best bet. If nothing else, the head, a few solo choruses, repeat head and out formula could work. I'd go with that, adding in backgrounds where possible.

This is probably what we'll do for most of the tunes. I think these guys are good jazz musicians, though, and I believe can "go with it", whichever way "it" is going.

Because we can play whatever music we see fit, I'll definitely mix up with different styles. "Smooth" will be the main feature, though, as the main attraction is not "Jackson and The Trolls".

The Jackson wrote:'snip'

"Smooth" will be the main feature, though, as the main attraction is not "Jackson and The Trolls".

Though I sense a tuba based group in your future with that name....

rocksanddirt wrote:

The Jackson wrote:'snip'

"Smooth" will be the main feature, though, as the main attraction is not "Jackson and The Trolls".

Though I sense a tuba based group in your future with that name....

Haha, imagine the business cards...


Well, things are looking good. School starts up again tomorrow, so one of my friends is going to ask some of our mutual friends if they are interested. I have a trumpet player definitely on board. When I get at least two other guys, I'll schedule the rehearsal date and get cracking on the music.

Things are looking on the up-and-up!

I just got a sax player down for the gig. He will talk with one of our mutual friends to see if he is interested. If that one agrees, then I will call the rehearsal date. One of the other saxophonists that expressed interest has had a pretty nasty asthma attack, so he is probably going to be no-good for this one.

The orchestra organizer called me back and said he would send me an e-mail sometime soon with the details of the event. He did say that tuxedos are the expected dress, so I'm telling the guys that.

I've looked at the different tunes we could do, and they definitely look appropriate and very easy to work with. I anticipate good things, I do.


EDIT:

Oooh! I just received that e-mail from the orchestra director and found out that the gig is taking place at one of these! Swanky!

Through a little bit of cut-throat tugging and a less-than-healthy case of CDD (Compulsive Dialing Disorder), the three dudes and I had a nice rehearsal yesterday, and a cool performance tonight.

As could probably have been expected, there was a screw-up with the orchestra as to where the event was actually at. It was not at the ritzy Ritz, but at it's less-ritzy neighbor. It wasn't a huge problem, as an orchestra representative was there to help us out with our horns and stuff. There was a string quartet there, too, so we only had the floor for about 25 minutes, which blew by. We were playing during cocktail hour, though, so everyone (charity dinner) was well-focused on achieving inebriation before the hour was gone. Still, though, we played well, even if for no body (A D.J. was hired for the remainder of the evening... ). For some reason, we were not allowed to access the actual guest food, and were instead given ham-and-cheese sandwiches and some lovely empanadas. The bar was also free, too, so I got my orange juice on.

Tunes we played included:
-Take The 'A' Train
-The Flintstones Theme
-Girl From Impanima
etc. etc.

Unfortunately, we received no inquiries for future employment, but the orchestra program was given healthy promotion, so something big may come from that.

Thanks for all the encouragement, fellow denizens of TubeNet! I can faithfully say that I appreciate it all.

Jackson "proud to have $4 in his pocket" Parodi