Thanks for any help you can offer,
Natasha
brass band history
brass band history
Hi. I'm a music student at the University of Sheffield and I'm doing a project on the changes in brass banding from the 1970's up to today. There isn't really much literature on recent changes (from the 1980's onwards) and I would really appreciate anyone's accounts of any changes they have experienced, for example changes regarding sponsorship, womens' roles, contesting, concerts, audience views etc.
Thanks for any help you can offer,
Natasha
Thanks for any help you can offer,
Natasha
Hi Natasha,
I have written up the history of the Hanwell Band on my web site at;
http://www.euph9.freeserve.co.uk/Hsb.htm
It dates from 1891 and there are extracts from newspapers of that time as well as concert details and programmes. I thought it might be of some use.
Best wishes,
CB
www.euph9.freeserve.co.uk
I have written up the history of the Hanwell Band on my web site at;
http://www.euph9.freeserve.co.uk/Hsb.htm
It dates from 1891 and there are extracts from newspapers of that time as well as concert details and programmes. I thought it might be of some use.
Best wishes,
CB
www.euph9.freeserve.co.uk
Aspire & Be Inspired
survey
Hi,
Firstly thanks CB for the addresss, Ive used it.
As part of my essay I have created a questionnaire. If any players at all could spare a few minutes I would be so incredibly grateful. Its all about changes in banding. Ive been reading a wonderful book called 'Labour and Love - An Oral History of the Brass Band Movement' by Arthur Taylor, its real and fun, Id recommend it to others.
So heres the questionnaire:
Dear Sir/Madam,
This project is entirely anonymous and confidential. Your answers will be used only for this project, which is part of my course at Sheffield University. The purpose of this questionnaire is to analyse the changes in brass bands from 1970 to the present day.
1. What brass band/s do you play in?
2. How old are you?
10-19 ٱ
20-29 ٱ
30-39 ٱ
40-49 ٱ
50-59 ٱ
60-69 ٱ
70+ ٱ
3. How long have you been involved with the brass band scene?
Less than 1 year ٱ
1-3 years ٱ
3-5 years ٱ
5-7 years ٱ
7-9 years ٱ
9 years + ٱ If so, roughly how many years?
2. Taking when you first encountered the brass band scene as a starting point, please give as full a description as possible of any changes you have experienced up to present day:
· Instrumentation (for example with regards to the introduction of percussion on the contesting scene, instruments, alteration in section balances, introduction of mutes, loss of ‘high pitch’ instruments and of the saxhorn family)
· Uniform changes, including your opinion of why these changes occurred.
· Repertoire (choice of works for concert and contest programmes, works rehearsed, popularity of certain styles with audiences etc.)
· Concerts (number each year, outdoor/indoor, charity concerts, music festivals etc.)
· Contesting (entertainment contests, audiences, frequency of participation etc.)
· Financial situation of the band (fees, expenses, instrument prices, subscription/ sponsorship, whether band has been profitable etc.)
· Support from the government/ local authorities/ Performing Rights Society etc.
3. Is your banding year broken up into segments or is there a structure to your banding calendar?
4. Were you aware of any effects on the band of the closure of the mines in the 1980s? (Unemployment, fall of many colliery bands, loss of players, reforms etc.)
5. If you have seen the 1996 film ‘Brassed Off’, did you think its portrayal of brass bands was accurate? Please explain your response.
6. Do you think ‘Brassed Off’ affected society’s view of brass bands? Do you think that the public image of brass bands is accurate?
Any responses would be great!
Natasha
Firstly thanks CB for the addresss, Ive used it.
As part of my essay I have created a questionnaire. If any players at all could spare a few minutes I would be so incredibly grateful. Its all about changes in banding. Ive been reading a wonderful book called 'Labour and Love - An Oral History of the Brass Band Movement' by Arthur Taylor, its real and fun, Id recommend it to others.
So heres the questionnaire:
Dear Sir/Madam,
This project is entirely anonymous and confidential. Your answers will be used only for this project, which is part of my course at Sheffield University. The purpose of this questionnaire is to analyse the changes in brass bands from 1970 to the present day.
1. What brass band/s do you play in?
2. How old are you?
10-19 ٱ
20-29 ٱ
30-39 ٱ
40-49 ٱ
50-59 ٱ
60-69 ٱ
70+ ٱ
3. How long have you been involved with the brass band scene?
Less than 1 year ٱ
1-3 years ٱ
3-5 years ٱ
5-7 years ٱ
7-9 years ٱ
9 years + ٱ If so, roughly how many years?
2. Taking when you first encountered the brass band scene as a starting point, please give as full a description as possible of any changes you have experienced up to present day:
· Instrumentation (for example with regards to the introduction of percussion on the contesting scene, instruments, alteration in section balances, introduction of mutes, loss of ‘high pitch’ instruments and of the saxhorn family)
· Uniform changes, including your opinion of why these changes occurred.
· Repertoire (choice of works for concert and contest programmes, works rehearsed, popularity of certain styles with audiences etc.)
· Concerts (number each year, outdoor/indoor, charity concerts, music festivals etc.)
· Contesting (entertainment contests, audiences, frequency of participation etc.)
· Financial situation of the band (fees, expenses, instrument prices, subscription/ sponsorship, whether band has been profitable etc.)
· Support from the government/ local authorities/ Performing Rights Society etc.
3. Is your banding year broken up into segments or is there a structure to your banding calendar?
4. Were you aware of any effects on the band of the closure of the mines in the 1980s? (Unemployment, fall of many colliery bands, loss of players, reforms etc.)
5. If you have seen the 1996 film ‘Brassed Off’, did you think its portrayal of brass bands was accurate? Please explain your response.
6. Do you think ‘Brassed Off’ affected society’s view of brass bands? Do you think that the public image of brass bands is accurate?
Any responses would be great!
Natasha
Hi Natasha
This response is probably late....but here we go.
I was a kid in a brass band, in a mining community, in the middle of the miners strike.
The miners strike and subsequent closure of access to the national coal resource did not affect 'the brass band world' as much as it affected the order of the nations economy.
Brass bands although a proud figurehead of any given mining community were not dictated to by politics. 'The band' was held above such nonsense in the eyes of men, women and children alike. All knew the brass band, 'their brass band' was simply a beacon of beauty within a hard, cold and dark world.
The world is still hard, cold and dark.
A brass band still brings beauty.
And so the movement continues, not only for the memory of the mines and the men who worked them but for the celebration of life. as it always was and still is.
Any man can join a brass band.
To create music.
Well, thats the Catherine Cookson bit out of the way.
Funding.
Brass bands were never money making machines.
never!?
"whether band has been profitable" profitable? .... I just don't get it?
With some exceptions, the majority of bands are probably subsidized by their own members to a large extent weather they are successful or not.
"Performing Rights Society etc. "
....as I see it any man has the right which is fundamental to the movement. If anything is immune to the categorization and red tape lock knots imposed on what we hear in this repressed audio world its a Brass Band.
‘Brassed Off’,
????
In my opinion accurate on all levels except one...... Ewan McGregor's valve combination miming was pathetic.
This response is probably late....but here we go.
I was a kid in a brass band, in a mining community, in the middle of the miners strike.
The miners strike and subsequent closure of access to the national coal resource did not affect 'the brass band world' as much as it affected the order of the nations economy.
Brass bands although a proud figurehead of any given mining community were not dictated to by politics. 'The band' was held above such nonsense in the eyes of men, women and children alike. All knew the brass band, 'their brass band' was simply a beacon of beauty within a hard, cold and dark world.
The world is still hard, cold and dark.
A brass band still brings beauty.
And so the movement continues, not only for the memory of the mines and the men who worked them but for the celebration of life. as it always was and still is.
Any man can join a brass band.
To create music.
Well, thats the Catherine Cookson bit out of the way.
Funding.
Brass bands were never money making machines.
never!?"whether band has been profitable" profitable? .... I just don't get it?
With some exceptions, the majority of bands are probably subsidized by their own members to a large extent weather they are successful or not.
"Performing Rights Society etc. "
....as I see it any man has the right which is fundamental to the movement. If anything is immune to the categorization and red tape lock knots imposed on what we hear in this repressed audio world its a Brass Band. ‘Brassed Off’,
????
In my opinion accurate on all levels except one...... Ewan McGregor's valve combination miming was pathetic.
00
|_|
\_iii__,
/(___)
|_|
\_iii__,
/(___)
Dear Natasha,
It may be worthwhile looking at this from a historians point of view; I am a second year student on the M.A. in social and cultural history at Leeds Met.
1) a definition of gender would be helpful
2) What is your Concept ie Gender, class, etc
3) What methods are you going to use ) read up on micro history!!!!
4) Secondary sources are weak However think about oral sources and diaries and private letters.
Think concept, method and sources
Hope this helps
Steve
It may be worthwhile looking at this from a historians point of view; I am a second year student on the M.A. in social and cultural history at Leeds Met.
1) a definition of gender would be helpful
2) What is your Concept ie Gender, class, etc
3) What methods are you going to use ) read up on micro history!!!!
4) Secondary sources are weak However think about oral sources and diaries and private letters.
Think concept, method and sources
Hope this helps
Steve