The Musicians' Law of Supply and Demand
Let me share with you a dilemma I have meditated upon for many months.
As I gradually turn to the matter of live concerts and ViolinMP3.com, I leave in my wake a peculiar knowledge of matching musicians to performances, recordings, background events, and to each other.
We all have to earn a living, and whilst starting out on this precarious, exciting journey, one of my staple fares has been bringing together at very short notice high-quality quartets for informal private performances and events, and more seriously, Court Lane Strings, for the recent recordings we've been doing for Virgin and the BBC.
At the start, the vision is utopian. Everyone creates a happy democracy, performances and people are parcelled out fairly, everyone gets a share of the cake. In this performance heaven, everyone is part of a big happy family, everyone is content, the conditions for music-making are idyllic.
But between the conception of a fresh performance and its realisation, there are... the variables. The dreaded variables. For a regular group, like my and Daniel's duo, or an established string quartet, the variables are mundane, but predictable. Traffic. Weather. Weird acoustics in the performance venue. Ticketing problems. Cold or humid performance space. Spider in the piano (I'm not joking). You get used to it; establish a rhythm, work around things, make it happen.
But of course with a flexible last minute group of people, the variables also include the performers themselves.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not talking about 'headline' concerts - those are planned and booked months in advance. But when one of the Big Companies phones and asks Court Lane to record in 5 days time with some Big Artists, how do I do it and keep true to a Court Lane Strings sound, bearing in mind that not all the friends I'd usually call on are available, whilst keeping everyone happy, making sure the right people are in the right places, and doing it quickly enough that I don't lose any precious time with my violin?
The first thought goes to the front. What kind of sound do we need for this? Who can anchor that kind of sound well at the front? Are they available? Immediately, arbitrary decisions have to be made. Agonised over for hours? No. Judgemental? Possibly. Whimsical? Often.
And then the social niceties. Because he couldn't do it last time, we asked her, so for this one, do we ask her again, because she did it last time, or him, because originally he was on this project first... BLAH. Primary school. Shut up. Go away.
Sound Sound Sound Sound Sound.
The truth is that at a certain level, and in times of haste, who does what often has more to do with whether Mr X has a driving licence than how mellow his bass sound is, and more to do with whether Ms Y is teaching on Tuesday evening than whether she is a virtuoso in the Paganini mould. Because within the range of the ensemble sound you're looking for, there are many different configurations in which it can work, and they're all fantastic, if different. Really. With good people you'll always end up with something that sounds very alive, very real.
One thing is for sure, my respect for promoters, orchestral managers, and other such heros - great as it was - has just shot up a further hundredtimesfold. To misquote a certain Trump; it's nothing personal... it's just art.
Cor, look at those words. I think I may be suffering from a bout of Denkitus.
As I gradually turn to the matter of live concerts and ViolinMP3.com, I leave in my wake a peculiar knowledge of matching musicians to performances, recordings, background events, and to each other.
We all have to earn a living, and whilst starting out on this precarious, exciting journey, one of my staple fares has been bringing together at very short notice high-quality quartets for informal private performances and events, and more seriously, Court Lane Strings, for the recent recordings we've been doing for Virgin and the BBC.
At the start, the vision is utopian. Everyone creates a happy democracy, performances and people are parcelled out fairly, everyone gets a share of the cake. In this performance heaven, everyone is part of a big happy family, everyone is content, the conditions for music-making are idyllic.
But between the conception of a fresh performance and its realisation, there are... the variables. The dreaded variables. For a regular group, like my and Daniel's duo, or an established string quartet, the variables are mundane, but predictable. Traffic. Weather. Weird acoustics in the performance venue. Ticketing problems. Cold or humid performance space. Spider in the piano (I'm not joking). You get used to it; establish a rhythm, work around things, make it happen.
But of course with a flexible last minute group of people, the variables also include the performers themselves.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not talking about 'headline' concerts - those are planned and booked months in advance. But when one of the Big Companies phones and asks Court Lane to record in 5 days time with some Big Artists, how do I do it and keep true to a Court Lane Strings sound, bearing in mind that not all the friends I'd usually call on are available, whilst keeping everyone happy, making sure the right people are in the right places, and doing it quickly enough that I don't lose any precious time with my violin?
The first thought goes to the front. What kind of sound do we need for this? Who can anchor that kind of sound well at the front? Are they available? Immediately, arbitrary decisions have to be made. Agonised over for hours? No. Judgemental? Possibly. Whimsical? Often.
And then the social niceties. Because he couldn't do it last time, we asked her, so for this one, do we ask her again, because she did it last time, or him, because originally he was on this project first... BLAH. Primary school. Shut up. Go away.
Sound Sound Sound Sound Sound.
The truth is that at a certain level, and in times of haste, who does what often has more to do with whether Mr X has a driving licence than how mellow his bass sound is, and more to do with whether Ms Y is teaching on Tuesday evening than whether she is a virtuoso in the Paganini mould. Because within the range of the ensemble sound you're looking for, there are many different configurations in which it can work, and they're all fantastic, if different. Really. With good people you'll always end up with something that sounds very alive, very real.
the herd is not always wrong. but it is always changing
And so I leave behind my utopia with not so much a rueful glance as a knowing wink, and say: friends first, those whose playing I know and trust, the people whose boundaries of spontaneity I know, and they mine, welcoming yet always flexible, like an old coat that always delights. Then follow the players that friends also know and understand; together we create a triangle of new connections, opening up possibilities now and for the future. Then come those with whom we are acquainting for a first time, us with them, them with us. And so the cycle begins. The connections come and go, ebb and flow, and they do the same to us in their worlds, as we do to them, and that's all it is, as we move in and out of each others lives, and nothing more.One thing is for sure, my respect for promoters, orchestral managers, and other such heros - great as it was - has just shot up a further hundredtimesfold. To misquote a certain Trump; it's nothing personal... it's just art.
Cor, look at those words. I think I may be suffering from a bout of Denkitus.
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