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Re: NABBA CONTEST XIX

To start, many thanks to David Buckley for his very insightful
comments about the NABBA festival just completed. I think he hit most
of the nails right on the head. I too yearn for our US bands to find
those ppp's and those ???'s.... and be able to present them in
adjacent measures!!!
To refresh the minds of "listees" here is one point I'd like to take
a bit of issue with.

>David wrote:
>"The one thing which disturbed me and many others greatly was the
>proliferation of subs during bands' presentations. The concessions made
>to the rigidities of the British contesting format were undoubtedly
>necessary to get the contest off the ground in North America. Brass
>Banding is a great participation sport and in early days, anything which
>encouraged participation was important. However with the current level
>of activity and the seriousness of the contesting element, surely the
>time has come to rethink the use of subs. At the least, among other
>things, the stamina required to play thirty minutes of music with no
>break at a high level is an important part of the contest. When a band
>subs about one third of its players after each piece, they make a
>travesty of the contest. Had the judges been aware of this, thye not
>only would have been shocked but their decisions would undoubtedly have
>been quite different..."

It was my first NABBA and I too was a bit surprised to see the
subbing. But I've decided it is well justified for the moment and may
be for quite some time. There are a few major differences between the
UK and US that need to be considered here.
First there are not near the number of bands in the US and each is
geographically isolated to a degree you in the UK would measure in
countries NOT counties. Players and instruments are not as readily in
supply and fielding a second band is not yet a practical option.
Keeping one of our bands with a perfect complement of players is
almost a full time job in itself, so having extras on parts is very
necessary to keeping the band healthy.

Second, there is only the one competition yet for our entire county.
Again, you in the UK must remember that it is only 2400 km from
London to Athens but it is 3700 km  from Los Angeles to Washington
D.C. It could have been cheaper for a Brit band to compete at this
year's NABBA than for our band from Las Vegas or any of the others
west of the Rocky Mountains. Please note that there were NO bands
from our West in Washington. Many American bands simply cannot afford
to travel half or more the distance across this huge country to
participate in the NABBA festival. To my knowledge the contest will
travel its furthest west, yet, in 2002 when it will be in Little
Rock, Arkansas, still a two day trip, ONE WAY by bus, from EITHER
coast.
 To tell the "extras" in the band that they could not participate in
the contest because they were not one of the "first band" might
destroy much of the progress David noted.

NOT to make an issue of stipends but the system does not exist in the
US to anywhere near the degree that it does in the home of this
passion of mine (if at all) and there are not even a half dozen
qualified players to jump into the void if a chair becomes vacant. We
are very much the traditionally amateur organizations to which the
brass band movement has always aspired so until there are many more
US bands--much closer together than they are today and have MORE
opportunities to compete--I think subbing is a well thought out
difference between our two sets of rules.

To the stalwarts of NABBA, If I've missed the mark terribly please
don't worry about stepping on my toes. Just be kind when you set me
straight. I too enjoyed every minute spent in Washington.

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