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RE:Questions questions!

Matthew Booth wrote

> Dear all,
> 
> Although this subject may have come and gone, I thought that I would 
> send the following in anyway.  At a recent 'entertainments' contest, 
> our band plus the others competing were graced with the specific adjudication
> of band deportment.  Here are his comments on the band:
> 
> -----------------
> Good entrance - but - for contests leave the music covers off stage -
> less messing around - you gave the impression of not having music in
> order to start with.  Avoid putting music on the floor it's untidy. 
> If covers have to be on stand, clear plastic is better than a mixture
> of pink and blue.
> 
> Posture
> 
> Not many sitting up straight, if players need to lean forward their
> chairs are too far away.  Feet should be together and flat on the
> floor, not locked under chairs or crossed.
> 
> Smartness
> 
> Good level throughout - co-ordinated drum console even.  I find the
> pink spots on the conductors shirt distracting - perhaps good for
> making musicians look up at you, but an adverse effect for the
> audience.  Good to see percussionists in jackets.
> 
> Solo Cornet
> 
> Good position on stage and good posture.  Body movement in keeping
> with his enjoyment of the piece.  A lower stand would help his
> audience see him better, he's good enough not to need a 'barrier' - no
> stand would be much better.  Very nice I enjoyed that a lot.
> 
> Stand Discipline
> 
> Good overall, a foot tapper in the cornets needs to exercise control
> (2nd row).
> 
> Patience band, don't start moving around until the conductor has left
> the stage.  A nice performance overall just some points worth putting
> right.
> --------------
> 
> I'll let people pull there own conclusions of these remarks.  I'm 
> sure that we are all in banding for different reasons, I think that I 
> can safely say that I'm in it for the music.
> 

>
I can agree with most of your comments on the adjudication but feel that 
we shouldn't neglect the visual aspects of our performance.  After 
all, we may be in it for the music and comradeship and the odd jar 
later but the paying punter might not be, and so won't necessarily
want to pay to see/hear twenty or
so guys in ill-matched, badly fitting jackets shambling onto a stage and 
shuffling their music; audiences these days expect a much more slick 
presentation, and fortunately in the couple of decades (since the 
Granada Band of the Year), most bands have vastly improved their stage 
manner.   Like it or not, we're part of show business an in
competition for audiences with some very polished acts.

Although your adjudication does seem somewhat single minded, it does 
touch upon many useful points which I've seen in other comments - for 
example it should be obvious but if your music stand is too high, the 
audience won't see you...  I've just been to a piano recital (between paragraphs!) 
in which a very experienced performer started to change her music 
before releasing the damper pedal to end the piece - only a small 
thing but one which several members of the audience commented on 
afterwards - an unnecessary distraction. 

Some other thoughts: if you are going to attend an entertainment 
contest with a percentage of marks for deportment it's common sense 
to spend some time getting that aspect of your performance right - 
its easy compared to playing and might be the difference between 
first and second place.

Most importantly though, what kind of sad conductor wears a pink spotted 
shirt?

David


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