Am I playing for the laziest band ?

[stevetrom]

We are in the very fortunate position of owning our own club/pub. The income from the club pays for conductor, contest fees, buses to contest(mostly), music, instruments, uniforms, rehersal room, etc, etc.

This is all great but it does mean that the neccessity to do jobs to bring in money is almost non-existent and our engagements this year are as follows :-

4/5 concerts
4 contests
1 trip to germany(subsidized but not entirely paid for by the club)

Are we the laziest band ?

 

[Keith's right hand man]

Certainly seems like you might be up there,

Although, it would be really nice if we could have more income from other places, just to make life that little bit easier!

 

[Naomi McFadyen]

:shock:
4/5 concerts isn't much... :?
:shock:

 

[Bob Childish]

Bone idle?

 

[Australian Euphonium]

Used to be in a band of similar standing - if you've got it going for you then wa-hey, thats the way banding should be, well maybe more concerts for enjoyments sake, but not having to worry about paying the bills is great.

 

[satchmo shaz]

maybe do some charity work or set up a training band :wink:

 

[Roger Thorne]

I would imagine (and please correct me if I'm wrong) a lot of bands are in this position especially if they have received a Lottery Grant. Not so many years ago my band used to do loads of fund-raising, concerts etc to raise the much needed cash to buy instruments, pay the insurance etc. Every year we set a target, and achieved this by sheer hard work. We then received a 'substantial' lottery grant, purchased a complete new set of Brass and Percussion instruments, extended the bandroom and basically were given everything all at once. I think it is true to say the band, as an organisation, have since become very lazy in their ways.
Long gone are the Summer Fayres, Saturday Morning Stalls in the Market Hall and those horrible Jumble Sales which used to raise a few hundred quid towards our targets. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for the Lottery Award as musically, it has helped to improve the band, very quickly, but it definitely took away a part of the 'social' side of banding.
We now only perform a handfull of concerts a year which is more than adequate to pay all the bills, buy loads of new music and still have a healthy bank balance at the end of the year.


:wink:

 

[stevetrom]

We already have a junior band (about35 players) and a training band (not sure how many)

If anyone is in the area (South Northamptonshire) on 3rd July we are having our 3rd annual Brass Bonanza where all the kids from the training band, junior band amd any local school bands have a day together followed by a concert by all the bands/groups involved and the senior band - i think we have had upwards of 80 players in the past ranging from 7 year olds who have been playing for 1 school term to senior bandsmen who might think they are quite good - now that is a massed band !

 

[ploughboy]

I;d be bored to death doing so little, We try and keep it balanced at emley not too many jobs but enough to keep us running! Keep you're lazy band thanks!

But yes you are lazy!

 

[satchmo shaz]

We already have a junior band (about35 players) and a training band (not sure how many)

If anyone is in the area (South Northamptonshire) on 3rd July we are having our 3rd annual Brass Bonanza where all the kids from the training band, junior band amd any local school bands have a day together followed by a concert by all the bands/groups involved and the senior band - i think we have had upwards of 80 players in the past ranging from 7 year olds who have been playing for 1 school term to senior bandsmen who might think they are quite good - now that is a massed band !

well that doesnt sound toooo lazy then, but I know what Roger means! My band has had to start vitually from scratch in 2000 with most of the instruments 30 or more years old!! we have had to replace them and raise money for uniforms and 2 National finals! so that has kept the band extremely sociable Its been hard work but well worth it!!
Our next projects include new uniforms instead of second hand ones and renovating our bandroom as well as Pontins and maybe a CD.......phew!! :wink:

 

[stevetrom]

I can't take any of the credit for all the stuff with the kids other than acting as a taxi service for my 2. Sue Bennett, our flugel player, takes care of all of that stuff.

One of our few engagements is at Pontins so maybe I will see some of you there

 

[Okiedokie of Oz]

When I first started banding, we'd go through periods. We'd have a good run, a quiet run, then we'd do a concert, busy up a bit, have a hectic christmas, and finish the cyclle to start it again next year. It was comfortable, but you could tell when the band had something coming. The music was exciting, the excitement was thick as musk, and the band worked hard.

When I moved to my 2nd band, it was a different environment, but mainly because it was an A grade band. Anything we'd be doing ourselves, we'd pour our heats and souls into and do 2-3 concerts a year, plus the Annual St Peter's Christmas Concert. We'd also do the usual annual outdoor gigfs and a couple of irregular ones. The most noticable difference, one that I didn't pay any attention to however, was the players who made themselves readily available.

Now I am back with band #1 in charge of the whole show. We're starting to get busy again, as I feel we had a period of 2 years where we just sat there waiting for the gigs to fall into our laps. But still, it's going to be hard to organise anything bigger and better for one simple reason.

It's near impossible to get everyone to any particular place[/p]

even our contest this year was hard work, and we NEVER had a rehearsal with an entire band, even if we rule out permits (aussie equivalent of deps).

So as a conductor, I do feel that yes you do need to get out more. But the question is Can You?

 

[satchmo shaz]

you could always do your bit for your local association, or hold a local solo contest and sponsor the event, or why not have concerts with other bands in your club, say once a month or even promote brass bands in general! and do some free concerts for charity :wink:

you wouldn't feel so lazy then 8)

 

[lynchie]

you could always just send me a big wad of cash...

to be honest I wouldn't want to be in a band where we weren't out as often as possible trying to earn a few quid and get ourselves known. Even when we have 2 concerts on in one day, it's always good to get together and moan for a bit, then play your stuff and find out how much people have thrown in the hat!

 

[NAS]

Im conducting a 3rd section band (2nd locally), and over the past year we've managed to do...

7 concerts.
6 contests (my band also organise the Wilkinson Northern Open Contest).
4 marching jobs.
Village Carol Service.

&

Whit Friday .

At the moment the band are in the process of organising a slow melody and want to do a cd.
The best bit about it all is... None of the above is anything to do with me. Im told when I need to be where, turn up, and wave my arms and the committee does the rest.

 

[ScrapingtheBottom]

We're just about to start contesting so we've been doing a lot of jobs recently. I think we've done at least 15 since I joined (less than a year ago). Contest wise, who knows what the future holds?

 

[Raspberry]

.......and we're busy socially aswell as we tend to socialise after every rehearsal and concert! 8)

 

[stevetrom]

.........and we're busy socially



we do manage the social bit, somwhow more enthusiasm for an evening watching england with a couple of barrels of Hook Norton ale than there is for another concert !

 

[Sharpy]

To be honest if you have the funds to keep the band going and the players are happy with doing that amount of jobs then I really wouldn't worry about it. My band went through a period with a certain conductor who pushed and pushed for more contests. This led to the band working constantly and a lot of people left and became disillusioned. The morale of the band was pretty poor and its taken nearly a year and a drastic reduction in the amount of jobs to get the band happy again (I hope!).
As the saying goes "If it ain't broke, dont fix it!!".

 

[jambo]

Last year having recieved sponsorship we had a quiet year for concerts but did loads of contests which the band really enjoyed. This year we're striking more of a balance, well, having a busy june july then little else at the moment..
The thing is, I think that unless you are performing regularly and have targets to aim for the band stands little chance of improving. Nerves can set in on stage etc so getting out once a month or there abouts can only help.