So I wrote this speech and took it to class. When I got up there it was a little nerve wracking to see all of those faces starring at me, waiting for me to start talking and hoping it would be something interesting that wouldn't make them fall asleep. The speech only lasted like 4 minutes I think, but it seemed to last FOREVER. When I finished, I didn't think it was all that interesting, but then I realized just how many people really didn't know what went into putting on a concert. Everyone's faces were in awe as I stood there and talked about unloading a trailer and sitting in a car with your crazy family for hours and hours. I decided that if my small class was interested in this speech then maybe someone else would be too.
Here is my Speech "Elements of a Concert" :
Elements of a Concert More goes into a concert than just getting up and playing a few songs
For those of you who don't know my family plays in a bluegrass band called Rusty Nail Crossing. Our Band members consist of My dad on mandolin, mom on bass, my sisters Emma and Maggie on banjo and fiddle, Gabe on guitar, and myself on guitar and lead vocals. today I'm going to explain the step by step process that is completed when we put on a concert.
While the main fundamental of a bluegrass band is obviously the music a lot more goes into playing a concert than just picking up a banjo and strumming a couple chords. It takes time and practice to be able to give a concert that people will really enjoy
New music is always something that we are working on, we are always looking for new songs and new breaks to play, but once a song is picked out harmonies, kick offs, intros and breaks all have to be formed to fit cohesively in a three minute song that also tells a story in itself. And while having one instrument is always good when you start to layer different instruments and voices you really start to create a sound that helps tell the story that the words are trying to convey.
After music and songs are picked out, the practice time must be put in regularly to learn and perfect each break and verse. and because we like to make things complicated practice is separated into three different times. The first is individual practice where you focus souly on your part. The second is group practice every night when each persons practice is put together to perfect the sound of the whole group, and the third is Rehearsal before a show. That means the smiles the laughs when to look at each other during a song, that's all in rehearsal.
So now, not only do we have songs and music, it actually sounds good because we have put all of the practice in, that's all there is to a show right? Very wrong, we are just getting started. Compared to the rest of the preparation the practice was easy.
Now comes the outfits, and if your mother is anything like mine you just cringed inside because you know as well as I do that mom has to make sure every color coordinates perfectly, but doesn't actually match because we don't want to look like that matching home school family. Clothes must all have the same color and same style but not actually match. and I'm sorry boys that I have bored you with this information, but if you just learn to grin and bear it things will go a lot better for you in life, so just put on the tie that matches your sisters dress and be done with it.
So we have good sound and we look good, lets get up on stage and play music...not quite yet.
Close your eyes and imagine a 2 hour car ride with your family, yes your crazy hectic family all excited and nervous because we are getting ready to get on stage in our perfectly unmatched matching outfits. you reach your destination and step out of the car only to realize that you can't just walk up on stage. Instruments must be gotten from the trailer. Easy enough right? Just go open the trailer and get the guitar. The only problem is that your guitar is behind the 15 mics and mics stand that are at the door of the trailer and no I'm not exaggerating. So in order to get to the instruments we must unload, unpack all 15 mic stands, monitors, speakers, and instruments racks, including wires and sound system. This takes about 2 and a half hours to properly set up of which I won't bore you with the details. Once everything is set up and you tap on the mic to see if its on its time for sound check.
Now this is when you sing the exact song over and over and over again until dad says ok sounds good to the audience, even though there isn't an audience yet, and it doesn't seem like anything has changed, but dad knows best right, and that sound check just made you sound even better than all of your practicing did.
FINALLY after all of your preparation is coming to an end, you look good, you sound good, and the audience can actually hear that you sound good.
You walk up on stage and step to the mic, only to remember that you need to introduce yourselves before you start just playing a song. You take a deep breath and a sentence that is so well rehearsed flows out of your mouth "Hi, we are rusty nail crossing, its great to be here tonight and we are gonna play a couple songs for you". That's it! The banjo kicks to high gear and your perfectly practiced song is sung.
The next hour is filled with singing and laughter, jokes that you taught your brother back stage and Emotion filled songs that are filled with sappy words that you know will make the audience cry. Everything has come together, everything from the wardrobe, to the instruments, to the words that you are singing have come together to create a story that will captivate your audience and leave them sitting at the edge of their seat waiting to see what will happen next.
_____________________________
I hope you enjoyed reading about what goes in to putting on a concert, not just in our band but I'm sure for a lot of bands everywhere! :)
Have an incredible day! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment