Did I mention classical violin music?

In 2001 the IPE hosted the Festival of the Arts, an all classical, jazz and theatre venue in the heart of the fairgrounds. I’d honestly never been out to the fair before but was hired to emcee and play violin in the new event.

From the moment I pulled into the dusty parking lot full of pickups and horse trailers I knew I was in for an interesting five days. Dressed in a formal satin gown I entered Armstrong’s Centennial Hall as farmers and cowboys watched with curiosity and suspicion. Imagine a decked-out diva playing Mozart in the “Tumbleweed Saloon” and you get the picture. Though the carnies teased me that I’d "gotten lost on the way to the opera house" I smiled coyly: I had an ace up my sleeve.

In the past I’d gotten myself into all sorts of embarrassing gigs where the music did not suit the venue. As a relatively shy and inexperienced performer I was hired to play classical violin at the formal (and final) Royal Canadian Mounted Police Regimental Ball in Trail, BC in 1997. The evening consisted of over 100 less-than-sober Mounties and dignitaries who incessantly requested “Achy Breakie Heart,” a song I was certainly not prepared to play that night.

I was obligated by my contract to play all classical repetoire and it was with much effort I was able to sustain it to the end of my set. Just before packing up I surrendered to play a few fiddle tunes. The crowd went wild and I was thrown from background music to front and center entertainer, a place I was far to shy to want to be.

I left the party just as some resourceful officers at the nearest table discovered their wide-brim hats could also function as frisbees. I couldn’t have felt more out of place!

To keep everyone feeling comfortable in the concert hall each style of music has developed a distinct set of audience protocols.

For example, Jazz modus operandi requires we clap after the solos, whereas proper classical etiquette insists the audience hold applause until all the movements are completed. Folk and country music’s tradition has us clapping with the beat.

By stark contrast there was no clapping permitted in Baroque concerts held in churches during the 1600’s. Always looking for a way around the formality, Antonio Vivaldi’s inventive fans adapted a way of showing their appreciation for the music by shuffling their feet, coughing and blowing their noses loudly.

If stuffy clergy could bring themselves to blow their schnozzes in appreciation, I could modify my performance to make my classical music suit the audience. Along came a considerable challenge: I was invited to play British Columbia’s wacky “Streetfest” alongside fire-swallowers, stilt-walkers and sultry female impersonators.

I couldn’t be shy at this gig so I carefully developed a “circle show” that helped me fit into the zany antics while still doing what came naturally to me. Clad in an extravagant red sequined gown and combat boots I played the overstated role of “Virtuoso Violinist,” a direct poke at classical music’s stuffiness.

Keeping it simple I performed the same set of music I always played, but this time on my 5-string Zeta electric violin, and amused the audience with hilarious true stories about classical composers.

The result was an entertaining educational show that made classical music and it’s history accessible to people of all ages and music preferences. Analogous to protein-rich chocolate-coated ants, it was a sneaky way of making classical music more palatable! Disasters such as the infamous “Mountie Incident” would hopefully never happen again.

Though they squirmed in their seats at first, the farmers and cowboys at the IPE were pleasantly surprised to discover a hidden appreciation for classical music in each of my and other groups’ performances. One such ensemble, the “Stoney String Quartet,” earned the audiences’ admiration and respect for their musicality and familiar backround.

The group of siblings played superb classical music in addition to working on their parents’ farm building barns, haying and processing poultry. It was amusing to imagine the nimble fingers that plucked out delightful melodies under the bright lights of the stage also plucked chickens back on the family farm.

Thanks to receptive audiences the IPE had a Jazz and Classical festival that year where showing appreciation for a great saxophone solo, a magnificent Shakespeare sonnet or a Mozart masterpiece meant yelling “YEE HA” at the top of your lungs!

It sure beat blowing your nose for five days.

**Rhiannon Schmitt (nee Nachbaur) is a professional violinist and music teacher who has enjoyed creative writing for years.

She currently writes columns for two Canadian publications and has been featured in Australia’s Music Teacher Magazine. Writing allows her to teach people that the world of music is as fun as you spin it to be!

Rhiannon’s business, Fiddleheads Violin School & Shop, has won several distinguished young entrepreneur business awards for her commitment to excellence. Her shop offers beginner to professional level instruments, accessories and supplies for very reasonable prices: Visit http://www.fiddleheads.ca

Rhiannon is also Founding President of the Shuswap Violin Society which promotes violin & fiddle music and helps young musicians in need: http://www.violinsociety.ca

To do this, it is important to maintain a business ATTITUDE throughout all your stage shows, and when communicating with venue owners and staff.

1. Where possible, issue written contracts or letters of agreement in advance. Check with your employer or agent the week before the show, to make sure no details have changed.

2. If you are booked to play at a venue that you’ve not been to before, try and visit on another band night before your gig. This will enable you to check access for the equipment; where the stage or playing area is located; where to position your mixing desk and speakers; whether your cables need to be flown over fire exits; what volume levels are tolerated, and what kinds of music the regulars enjoy most.

3. Always arrive at the venue in plenty of time to complete a full soundcheck BEFORE the public arrive.

4. Always carry spares of things like fuses, cables, backing tracks, strings, or any other small item that could mean the difference between doing the gig or not.

5. Always take along an extra long mains cable in case the nearest socket is broken.

6. Safety first! – Buy yourself a mains power polarity checker (such as a Martindale Ring main tester) and a set of circuit breakers for all your backline amps. No matter how badly your guitarist played tonight, he didn’t deserve to die!

7. Always create a set list for every show. This can be tailored to the type of audience that you now know frequent this venue (See tip no. 2). If you have rehearsed well, you will know exactly how long your set will last. Don’t go on stage late and overrun your contracted time. The venue owner’s license will depend on all music ceasing at a certain time. You don’t want to be the one who gets the venue closed down!

8. Play your set without long gaps between songs. Only communicate to the audience what REALLY needs to be said. A slick presentation and tight performance shows how well rehearsed you are, and keeps your audience on the dance floor.

9. Rehearse a polished entrance and exit. There is nothing more unprofessional than a bunch of musicians meandering onto a stage carrying the remains of a sandwich or pint, then spending several minutes chatting to each other, tuning up, playing along with the record on the disco, jamming, smoking, adjusting their clothing, answering a call on their mobile…. The list goes on! Believe me, I’ve seen it all!
Use the dressing room to apply your stage clothes and make-up. Wait for your performance to be announced, then march briskly onto the stage and launch straight into your first number. At the end of your performance, the reverse should be observed. Don’t hang around trying to encourage the audience to shout for an encore. Leave the stage as quickly as possible and wait in your dressing room to hear whether the audience want more.

10. Never be seen on stage in the same clothes as you were wearing in the soundcheck, or whilst mingling with the crowd.

11. If you are hiring a PA system, take your own can of telephone cleaner/sanitizer. Rented microphones are rarely cleaned!

12. Rehearse in your own time, not in the soundcheck!

13. Practice, the show thoroughly, but always leave a breathing space of a few days between the last rehearsal and the gig. Over-familiarity can make you complacent.

14. Always be pleasant and business-like when dealing with staff at the venue. Especially with the person who is paying you! Don’t automatically expect gratuities such as free food and drink. These are bonuses unless stipulated in your contract, where they then become part of your fee.

15. Respect the venue’s fixtures and fittings. Don’t damage their furniture or wall coverings with your speakers and gaffa tape. Ask permission first! They will often be glad to fetch you some beer crates to stack your speakers on, rather than using their tables.

16. Don’t get drunk, or high on illegal substances before, or during, the show.

17. Don’t hang around the venue for longer than is necessary after the show.

18. Don’t stop playing a number whenever a small problem occurs. Never re-start a number if someone in your band makes a mistake. You should be sufficiently well rehearsed for these mistakes to go unnoticed by your audience.

19. Don’t play any louder than you absolutely need to. Not everyone in an average venue will be there to listen to you. Don’t try to fill the whole venue with loud music. Just the area or dancefloor immediately in front of the stage will do! People will want to be able to hold a conversation in other areas, such as at the bar.

20. If you know you have a good mix and a member of the audience wants you to turn down. Pretend to turn a knob in order to please. The chances are, he just doesn’t like that particular song. On the other hand, if the venue owner or bar staff tell you to turn down … DO IT!! They know when it is too loud, after all, they are there every night!

Finally… Your bonus tip No. 21. If you have released CDs. Make sure they are on sale at every gig you do. Employ a friend, or one of your fans to set up a table with your merchandise. It is also a good excuse to get new people to sign up to your mailing list. After the show, you can even go out front and sign a few autographs!

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Lynn Monk has experienced over 30 years in the music business as a musician, concert sound & lighting engineer, DJ and record producer; and is now the proprietor of Wobbly Music. An indie record company dedicated to supporting the Mature Independent Artist. Find out more about our artist services and recording contracts at http://www.WobblyMusic.net

DOING GIGS

In my opinion, there are two kinds of performers:

1 – Concert performers — who do well in front of a sit-down audience

2 – Club performers — who do well in a noisy atmosphere

Knowing which kind of performer you tend to be can help you a lot in deciding where to play. For a lot of people, it’s easy to be both types of performers but some people truly prefer playing in one atmosphere over another. If you want to be at your best, it’s smart to be comfortable. So if this is an issue for you, take the time to think about it.

Next you have to consider if you are going to be performing your own material or covers or both. If you decide to do covers, here are some good tips:

1) The song should really move you.

2) Make the song your own, otherwise after awhile you’ll just feel like parrot for someone else’s material (and to me there’s far less creativity in that – just my opinion mind you).

3) Cover Songs are great ice-breakers and shouldn’t be overlooked as great tools for any songwriter to use. Do covers, from artists who lend to your style in one way or another. Opening with a recognizable cover song really helps an audience relate to you and get an idea of where you’re coming from as an artist … and also helps them relate more to your originals, too.

Of course, to play at most venues, you’ve got to be prepared to sell yourself. Here are some tips on this subject:

Get your Bio / Demo ready for the Concert Promoters & Club Owners.

I’ve read a bunch of stuff about preparing demo submissions for venues, with bio’s and clippings and stuff like that – but I’m sure there’s more to it than that?

You don’t need much. No club owner or manager is going to want a twenty-page book on you, nor will he/she be impressed with elaborate artwork and/or printing. Just a single sheet of paper that briefly and concisely states what type of artist you are, what kind of songs you play, how you interact with an audience and where you’ve played or are playing … and a CD with either three or four whole songs, or six to eight songs that each fade after a minute. That, along with a congenial introduction and follow-up calls will be enough.

Performance anxiety can be an issue. Fortunately, most musicians overcome this in a short period of time – I’ve found that going to open mics, just getting up there and doing it has helped immensely. Find a supportive group of people in your genres’ scene.

Here are some more tips to help you…

1 – Know your material and your performances upside down and backwards. You have to be able to play your songs and not mess up under any situation, and the way to do that is to KNOW them well … memorization … playing a song and working out each and every measure of it until you know it blind-folded. Then, if something bizarre happens while you’re in the middle of a performance, muscle-memory and instinct will take over and you won’t be thrown.

2 – Know your strengths … know which songs are yours and which songs aren’t. In effect, build a really strong set list. When someone like Bruce Springsteen cuts a new album, he’ll record 50 songs … 12 of those wind up on the album we hear and the other 38 go to other artists to do.

3 – LOOK unique . Dress yourself in a way that makes a statement. You know from my previous posts that I believe in dressing the way you always dress; to not be pretentious or something you’re not … but that doesn’t mean that you want to look like the guy next door. You want to create an image … just make it an honest one. So you usually wear jeans and a t-shirt? Fine. Just add some accents that make it all yours. A unique pair of glasses (if you wear them), a very special vest, a wardrobe of scarves, purple boots or hand painted sneakers … whatever separates you from the average guy walking down the street and doesn’t make you look like you’re trying to be someone who lacks sincerity or who has lost all sense of reality.

With the above going on, you’re going to FEEL confident, because you ARE … and THAT sells.

Performance and Gigs by Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas

Managing Editor

Guitarz Forever.com

Guitarz Forever.com

Take some time to do this visualisation. It will only take a few minutes, but you can go on for as long as you want. Think about your performance, and imagine yourself performing somewhere. Now step back from that performance but remain in the venue. Look around, and absorb the setting, the area, the smell, the sounds, the size, the facilities. Is that the type of venue you want to be performing in?

Remember that a venue is very important. You may be so desperate to perform so you could just play anywhere, but what about performing when you?d really enjoy it?

Get a piece of paper and scribble down exactly how you want the venue to be, and what sort of venue you want. Then, from today, make a point to keep that list with you and read it over at several points in a day. Keep it safe with you, and keep it in the back of your mind when you?re doing something. Although you?re not focussing on it fully, it?s still there. Keep it there.

If you do this, you?ll begin to see all kinds of beautiful and superb venues in areas that you are in every day, but you just don’t open your eyes to it. You?ll immediately be attracted to it and may even work on getting yourself a gig there.

Remember, the Universal Law Of Attraction brings to you whatever you desire as long as you really get clear and decrease your resistance!

Kavit Haria is the Musicians’ Coach – a life coach for musicians. He is well-known worldwide in the music industry for his ability to work with musicians and help them achieve the results they wish to in their lives. Sign up to his free fortnightly newsletter at http://www.coachkavit.com

Subliminal was the one who amazed me and everyone else by doing what famous beatboxing legend Rahzel is known for, which is spitting out the chorus and the beat at the same time using only his vocals. Something that you would think is impossible but it came easily to Subliminal who started out his performance with a poem he wrote. This one-man wonder can do just about anything from beatboxing to architecture. His first time at the Launch Pad opened his eyes to all the great music hopefuls.

?It?s a good vibe, a place where stars are born. It?s got that real atmosphere that?s underground, where things happen, where people can get the most creative,? said Subliminal.

Subliminal is working on his first album that is near completion. ?Three years later I am finally going to have material. Finally people will be able to take home some of Subliminal,? he said.

Look out for more of Subliminal particularly this summer in and out of Toronto. A definite amazement and yet another divine addition to the Launch Pad.

Farris Green
farris@sugarcainentertainment.com
http://www.sugarcainentertainment.com

In order for you to do that, its essential for you to realise whats special about you and what makes you who you are and why you can share what you know.

Let me share with you a short story…

It was a Saturday night and Joseph went to see a play. The play was of the famous musical Grease and featured 1000 actors. He was in the audience in the big theatre consisting of over 700 people. It was a magnificent play, and as it came to an end, all the actors and actresses came onto stage. There were 1000 in total, but there was something in peculiar and that was that only one of them really stood out and only she was really remembered. Perhaps youd be drawn to the blue-haired man or green-haired child but Joseph was really drawn towards the misty-blue woman with the long black hair in the deep blue cape with half her face hidden, standing silently at the edge of the stage.

What Im trying to convey here is that to be remembered for your music and who you are in the music world, you must have something special to convey out there. What is it that will distinguish you from the rest of the musicians? For example, you may be a guitarist like the others out there, but whats special about you is the style you play, or the way you pluck a chord, or the way you dress, or perhaps the way you show yourself. The list and possibilities are endless and thats why you are remembered. A famous example would be our good friend Michael Jackson whose moonwalk was a famous branding identity and helped his music stand out.

Take some time out to write or think about whats important to you in your music and what would make you stand out from a 1000 people standing on stage. Think about why people would remember you. Why should they remember you? What can you give them? Ask yourself if youre being a strong enough version of YOU, or if youre just in the hideout not wanting people to experience who you really are and the magic you can produce.

Once youve understood what you want, its extremely useful to define your presence in the music scene as you would want it on a piece of paper so that you can get your thoughts clear. Perhaps even write it in big and stick it near your bedside or on a place where you can see it. Bring out all your quirks.

(P.S. The most memorable actor on stage might be the one that gets off the stage, walks up to your seat, and gives you a kiss.)

Kavit Haria, The Musicians Coach

Kavit Haria is The Musicians’ Coach. Kavit is the director of InnerRhythm, a company that prides on providing success solutions for musicians worldwide. Kavit sends out a musician development newsletter to over 2000 musicians in 16 countries every fortnight to help them achieve their desired results. Sign up now and experience the huge benefits from www.innerrhythm.org

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