Lights, camera, mixer mania!

Lights, camera, mixer mania!

While performing at a church as their musical guest Sunday morning,

our gospel group learned at the last minute that our sound engineer wasn't going to be there.

The music minister kindly offered the services of their light and video person to fill in on our 24 channel soundboard.

What seemed like a good idea at the time suddenly turned horribly wrong.

Here are the gruesome details...

Light and video people are used to constantly

changing the settings on the light board to keep the visual interest of the listeners.

They know that keeping a certain light setting on the stage too long can get boring quickly.

A good light technician will gradually change stage light settings about every three seconds.

(When I was playing larger venues, We also included a fog machine and flash pots.)

A sound technician does just the opposite. If the group is well balanced, the best thing to do is to

leave the board well enough alone. Adjusting the sound quality too often will distract from the song

and finally become annoying.

As you might have guessed, the performance was wrought with ear-splitting hums and squeals of feedback

constantly throughout the show.

Solos weren't heard, and lyrics were buried under backing instruments.

Solution?

1. Check with everyone the night before and make sure they can be there.

2. Sit out the first number and balance the sound myself as close as possible.

Then try and balance my instrument as best I can.

if you want something done right?

Larry Marra

www.musicteachers911.com

Don't shoot the wounded!!!

Everyone knows that every music ensemble has it's share of strong and weak players. Even the best players can make mistakes now and again. Todays tip will focus on what to do when one of our band-mates make a mistake.

Here is a quick scenario....

I was playing in the house band for a local radio show. All the musicians were accomplished and the guest vocalist heads our local college music department, so is very polished at his craft. We were handed a chart for one of his feature songs moments before the show was to go on the air live. The horn charts had printed part music, but no lyrics. I was playing the piano from a piano/vocal score.

Then.......... it happened.....................

The vocalist forgot to sing the chorus every time it came around. He just kept singing one verse after another.

Since I had the score in front of me, I chose to follow the vocalist and skip the choruses as well. The horns kept playing the chart as written. This means that they were playing the chorus horn lines over the vocalists verses. The bass player knew something was wrong and started playing by ear to follow the vocalist as well.

So, the score is, two rhythm instruments and vocalist against four horns with the drummer tapping a steady beat from the sidelines. No one stopped playing. Let me tell you, it made for some pretty interesting counterpoint!

When the horns ran out of measures, the vocalist sang a tag ending and conducted the rhythm section to a pretty nice finish. The studio audience enjoyed it.

After the show, the vocalist approached me and asked what happened. I simply showed him his sheet music, and he knew immediately what he had done. He apologized to the band, but we just figured that it was all in a days work.

So, when a band-mate makes a mistake, don't stare and point out to the audience who's fault it is. Just keep plugging along as if it is all part of the show.

I had lunch with the bandleader a few days later. (He is one of the horn players). We discussed in great detail this incident. He informed me that I was in the wrong by following the vocalist and not sticking to the chart. His premise is that the vocalist would have heard how wrong his lead line was, and it would jar his memory to sing the chorus.

So who was right?

Well, for this show, I will have to say that he was.

Why? Because it is his band and he is the one signing my paycheck.

What will I do if this ever happens again? If it is with the same band, I will stick to the chart and do whatever the director wants me to do.

If this happens while I am playing with another band? I must say that I will do exactly what I had done. My role as accompanist is to make the vocalist look good and not tip the audience off that he/she made a mistake.

So remember, when a band-mate makes a mistake, do not focus any attention on it as the audience might not have noticed. Just keep playing and encouraging everyone to play at the top of their game.

Larry Marra

www.musicteachers911.com

Drum Dynamics tip

Last weekend, while playing our local county fair, I learned about a neat little product that is a must for all working drummers. It is a hybrid drumstick made by Pro-Mark called "rods". I was on the piano and heard the drummer balanced with the rest of the band without being isolated in a plexiglass drum cage. He was using a new type of stick called, RODS.

They are ten small dowel rods the length of a drumstick and about the diameter of a telephone cords bundled with tape. This is a great tool for the percussionist who want to playlouder than brushes but softer than regular drumsticks. This product allows the drummer to play unrestricted but keeps the volume balanced with the other instruments.

Pro Mark makes six models of various woods and materials. They are all under $20. Log on to promark.com or take a trip to your local music store. I am not sponsored by promark, but couldn't find any other manufacturers that make a similar product.

I encourage all working drummers, band directors (especially elementary directors). To check them out.

Larry Marra

www.musicteachers911.com

Make sure to subscribe to the musicteachers911 podcast available for free from the iTunes store.

top five biggest mistakes

Here is the short list of the top five biggest mistakes that I have seen when performing with professional groups.

1. Do not play your instrument between songs. Practice at home.

2. Return from the breaks a little beforehand. Don't make the band leader chase you down.

3. Arrive early enough to be completely set-up and relaxed before the performance starts.

4. Assist the drummer and band leader set up and tear down their equipment. Even if you only take an extra trip with extra stands or the band library, the effort might be enough to impress the leader to call you more frequently.

5. Do not over eat (and especially over drink) at venues that provide free refreshments.

Larry Marra

www.musicteachers911.com

100 best music major online archives

Here are two websites for college music majors that I have found very informative.

One is a page from www.onlinecolleges.net called 100 best online archives for music majors.

Here is the link:

http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/08/05/100-best-online-archives-for-music-majors

The other is from, Andy Zweibel, a very ambitious student from Miami University of Florida geared especially for music majors.

It is:

http://MusicEdMajor.net

Yours Musically,

Larry Marra
Music Educational Specialist
musicteachers911 Consulting Services
Address: 2935 Robin Road
Dayton, OH 45409

email:
larry@musicteachers911.com

website:
www.musicteachers911.com


Be sure to subscribe to the musicteachers911 music education podcast available free from iTunes. Just search the iTunes store for "musicteachers911" and click subscribe. It's free!

Blind leading the blind.

Here's one that happened last night as I was sitting in at a local pub involving a trumpet, piano, bass and drums. Here is the way we were situated onstage. If you were in the house looking at the stage, from left to right, 1 trumpet, 2 piano/director, 3 me on electric bass, and 4 the drummer. This was the first time I was playing with them and I met them just as we were about to perform. The leader passed out a few fake books, so I was confident that this was going to be a good night. It didn't last long...

Early on, during the standard, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", I noticed that the band was playing the usual meter of 12/8, while the drummer was punching out a straight four beat pattern. It didn't take long for the tempo to wander to the point where it was all a jumbled mess.

I stopped playing, hoping that the drummer and piano/director could salvage the song to the point where I would jump back in a the head (top).

This is when I noticed that the drummer had his music stand facing away from the band! I tried to get his attention, but he wasn't listening either. He was in his own little world, unaware that he wasn't playing the same "feel" as the rest of us.

OK, so now I turn to the piano/director only to find that he has his head buried in the book so deep he doesn't see me either. Remember that I am standing next to him.

I tried to get his attention only to find that he wasn't listening either.

So now I glance at the trumpeter. He is a great musician and was very aware of the disaster happening, so he stopped playing as well. All he could do was shrug his shoulders as if to say, "Whatcha gonna Do?" The piano and drums didn't even notice when half the band dropped out!

Enough is enough, so I start yelling at everyone to stop playing. They do, and the audience is relieved. I tell them that we would now play one we actually know. They chuckle because there is no fooling them, and my comment showed a human side. Humor is great for relieving tension.

I invite the drummer to pass me his music stand, so that I could place it in line with the director so he wouldn't have to turn his head anymore to watch for cues. It would have worked to, if the piano/director was giving cues. He wasn't. I ended up watching the pianist hands to see when he was slowing down or adding a tag at the songs end. Then I would tell the drummer.

Moral? A good band consists of everyone watching and listening to each other, making sure that their part is blending with everyone else. If you can't hear every other instrument onstage, someone isn't playing properly.

Worst case scenario?

You have the bling leading the blind.

Yours Musically,

Larry Marra

larry@musicteachers911.com

www.musicteachers911.com

Be sure to subscribe to the musicteachers911 music education podcast available free from iTunes. Just search the iTunes store for "musicteachers911" and click subscribe.

I just called... to say.... you're too loud

Here's a neat little techno-trick using text messaging for balance purposes.

I was playing bass for a church luncheon with the University of Dayton's Big Band. They use a conductor and student conductor. I left my small bass amp in the car as I was hoping that the church would have a better one. It turned out that the church had a very nice 16 channel PA system that they were using to drive one mic to run a short business meeting before the concert. The PA volume was set and no one assigned to run the sound.

I plugged my bass into their system and it sounded very nice. They had two large main speakers on tall stands. One was by the band and the other was 40 feet away near the back of the room. I decided to leave my amp in the car. Because of there being no sound engineer, I would have no idea if my bass would be balanced with the rest of the group.

Just before the concert, I unplugged the speaker near the audience so that the only sound source would be the speaker near the band.

During the first song in which the Faculty director was conducting, I noticed the student conductor standing near me. He was to direct two songs near the end of the concert.

I motioned him to come over as I had an idea.

I asked if he would walk over to the back of the hall and text me as to the balance of the bass with the rest of the horns. I set the phone on vibrate and placed it on the music rack so I could see the message when it arrived.

He sent me a message that the bass was 20% too loud. I adjusted the volume from the bass guitar knob down two numbers. He then texted back, "PERFECT!"

The rest of the concert went well. I felt better knowing that the bass was not overshadowing the band.

In the old days before cell phones, I would have someone in the back of the hall motion with their hands if I was too loud. This works well unless the hall is dark and there is a spotlight on me blinding me from seeing into the house.

Text messaging would elevate this problem.

Larry Marra

larry@musicteachers911.com

www.musicteachers911.com

Be sure to subscribe to the musicteachers911 music education podcast available free from iTunes. Just search the iTunes store for "musicteachers911" and click subscribe. It's free!