Please
provide
seating (the band will tell you how many). Chairs with arms make things
difficult for brass players, so it's best to avoid them. Brass bands
usually
sit in horseshoe 'formation' (i.e. 3 sides of a square), usually two
rows deep.
The
band will need
a back room or similar to congregate before playing, including
somewhere secure
to store their instrument cases.
Band
members will
often come by car and will need somewhere to park. Players of some of
the
larger instruments, such as tuba and percussion, will appreciate being
able to
get a car close to the venue in order to unload and load. Rushen
Band have a van that goes to each engagement. It is very helpful
to provide a reserved space for our van as close to the stage/playing
area as possible.
Light
refreshments
are a nice gesture half way through. If you would like to reward the
musicians
with more substantial refreshments, please do that at the end. It's not
good to
play immediately after eating and drinking well!
From a
practical
point of view, the ground needs to be flat. Not only is it important
for the
physical positioning for somebody who is to work sitting down for an
hour or
two, but music stands can get a bit top heavy and blow over in the wind
if the
ground is not good.
If you
want the
band to play on grass, please pay particular attention to the type of
chairs
you provide. On more than one occasion we have played on soft grass and
we have
been given chairs with thin circular legs that penetrate slowly but
surely into
the soft ground!
If
your space is
hard ground, make sure you tell us so we can bring something to protect
our
instruments when we put them down.
Please
pay
attention to what is going on around the band. For safety, don't place
them
right next to a fast road. Think also of animals; you could end up with
dogs
barking throughout the engagement! Horses particularly can be startled
by a
band if they are not used to them. So if you're having pony rides and a
brass
band at a summer fete, please don't place the two attractions next to
one
another.
The
band gets
booked up over a year in advance. Please book early. At minimum please
give a month notice. The band's busiest times are during the summer
season, with such things as garden parties and concerts in the park,
and also
in the run-up to Christmas.
Once
at the venue,
the band will require time to set up. If the band has sole use of the
space for
the duration of their engagement, so much the better, but if it's a
shared
arena, then at least 10 minutes will be required to get things straight
before the
band can play.
Percussion
is
always a challenge in this situation - it takes quite a while to set up
properly. A reduced percussion set may be called for if there is a lot
of
moving around. Even if the band has its own place to play,
percussionists
usually arrive first and will need access up to an hour before the
event in
order to set up.
It's
unlikely that
band members will be very enthusiastic about re-organising their day to
play
for 15 or 20 minutes. About an hour is usual, or two hours for a formal
concert. A suggestion for a typical concert is 45 minutes playing, 15
minutes break and another 45 minutes
playing. Please bear in mind that heat makes it more difficult for
sustained
playing without a break.
As
most brass
bands are amateur, you fortunately won't have to pay all the players
professional rates! However, you should be prepared to pay a reasonable
fee as
it costs a lot of money to run a band. For example, a cornet (the
smallest
instrument) can cost well over £1000. Music and rehearsal
facilities have to be
paid for. The funding for this comes from the engagements we do and
from the fundraising efforts of our sister organisation The Friends of
Rushen Silver Band.
A
brass band can
make an event really come alive, so they're worth paying for. For
public garden
fetes etc. families of the band members may also come and boost your
takings!