On Thu, Feb 13, 2014, rich sbardella wrote: > > Watch some MWSD calling on youtube with the volume off. You will find > that in most of the videos, neither the dancers or the caller get the > timing right. It is stop and go dancing. Contra dance is most often > a steady flow. The MWSD have come to expect this as the norm.
Sorry, I should have been more clear: I was referring to singing calls, and IME that's much closer to a contra experience for flow (assuming the caller isn't playing tricky) and hitting the phrasing. You are correct about patter, of course. > On another point you made previously, MWSD callers are generally > easier for me to understand as well. This is by necessity. There is > no walkthrough, and the list of basics, coming at you randomly, can > number into the hundreds. The Hilton sound systems have also been > engineered to emphasize the vocal range. There are callers who don't use Hilton, they still tend to be easier for me to hear than most contra callers. The question then is, to what extent should contra callers learn from square dance callers about being easier to hear? Side note: one of the key points that keeps getting drilled into me as a new square dance caller is that even full-out hash-style calling should *NOT* be "random". Consider R&L thru followed by men allemande right. -- Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/ <*> <*> <*> Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html
