[Dixielandjazz] Ride cymbals

[David W. Littlefield]

At 01:21 AM 9/12/2004 -0400, you wrote:
>It sounds to me as if you are describing a "pick up band", that perhaps
>hasn't played together before. If not a throw together group then I wonder
>how they got the gig in the first place, as we usually have been hired
>because the group attracted  someone's attention.

Whether it's a "pick up band" is relevant to the discussion only because
the leader either isn't gonna worry about the sound of the band except if
something/somebody is drastically wrong, or he has more instructions to
give. Of course, he should have explained himself when he booked the musicians.

In Greater DC, there are a lot of corporate gigs, and they usually come
through booking agencies; the booker may or may not give them a sample of
the sound. 99% of the time the client couldn't care less about the musical
details, so they get what they get, and as long as the vibes are good, it
just doesn't matter. 
 
>
>I've been playing professionally for over 40 years and I've NEVER had anyone
>tell me how to play, as I have been hired because I CAN play. My volume
>level is adjusted accordingly, that's all.
>Dave Hanson

Shoot, if you're concerned enough to adjust accordingly, maybe you're being
so right that no one has to say anything.

Not to put you on the spot, but do you ask in advance what kind of music
you're gonna play, eg 4/4 music or 2-beat music, etc.? Or object if the
leader tells you as some point? 

Or if he tells you to start and stick with 2-beat, and not go into 4/4 on
the out chorus? Or always play 4 beats in the last measure?

What I'm getting from some of the other folks, rightly or wrongly, is that
they'd go so far as to be offended by such instructions.  

--Sheik

>----- Original , ----- 
>From: "David W. Littlefield" <dwlit at cpcug.org>
>To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>Sent: Saturday, September 11, 2004 8:07 PM
>Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Ride cymbals
>
>
>> At 10:23 AM 9/11/2004 -0500, Patrick Cooke wrote:
>> >There is another problem...On the same gig, one guy will want me to
>> >crank it up, and another will want me to turn it down.  I don't have an
>> >answer for that one!
>>
>> The answer is that only the band leader has the right to give the orders,
>> you take your marching orders from one person only.
>>
>> >     I guess you have to be a bass player to understand it fully.  I
>> >sometimes go on a gig, and before I'm even unpacked, the leader will come
>> >over and say "Don't crank up the amp, in fact you really don't need
>> >it...it's a small room."  I know I'm in trouble, because I do need it and
>> >tell him so.  As a drummer, I'm sure you have been told to keep it soft
>> >before you have even set up.  Its in the manual titled "How to be a band
>> >leader."  Bass players and drummers are always being told how to play by
>> >people who don't play either instrument;  yet I don't remember having
>ever
>> >told or even suggested how a horn player should play.
>> >     Pat Cooke
>>
>> It's the band leader's *job* to determine the requirements of the gig and
>> client preferences, and then to instruct the band as to what these are.
>> When a leader tells you to play softly, he's not telling you HOW to play,
>> but WHAT to play, and that *is* his prerogative. If he tells you to play
>> straight 4/4 or 2-beat, that's telling you what, not how, to play. Same
>for
>> telling the drummer to play mostly brushes, and percussively rather than
>> soup-stirring; or hi-hat rather than riders, and simple straight 4/4 swing
>> rather than 50s Count Basie style. It's the leader's job and right to
>> determine the sound and feel of the band, which means manipulating the
>> individual pieces. You don't like being told what to play, ask the leader
>> how he wants it played before you accept the gig. And if you haven't
>asked,
>> then play it with a smile, and when you get your pay, tell the leader not
>> to call you again...
>>
>> --Sheik
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>