I'm going to respectably disagree with some sentiment expressed here. As a caller, I view my job as a facilitator, not the main act. I structure the dance, certainly, but I don't create the dancing. The musicians are, as far as I'm concerned, more important than me. A dance without a caller may not be a contra dance, but it's still a dance.
Before working with any musicians, I take a bit of time to find out what kind of music they play. I don't ask Irish bands to play Old Timey, I don't ask Southern bands to play Klezmer, and I wouldn't ask a technocontra or looping bands to play without the thing that defines them. Now, I absolutely acknowledge the weakness of the inability for the latter to slow down. Hopefully I've spoken with the band and agrees upon the feel and speed of a medley of tunes, but I can definitely think of times a band has played something too fast despite asking for something easygoing. Crap happens, we keep smiling and do the best we can. At the same time, that band was hired by the dance organizers, who know full well what kind of band they are. I'm hired by the same people to serve them. Lastly, I want to clearly and openly say that I read the email by Tom as having, intentional or not, a mocking tone. There is no good reason to be not mentioning the band names, when we all know full well that there is only a handful of looping and techno contra bands. There is no reason to refer to their art as "this thang" - it comes across as condescending. I will, though, give the benefit of the doubt and assume that this was meant in a jovial fashion, not the more cynical one that I might read it as. Best regards, Ron On Feb 26, 2014 8:50 AM, "Tom Hinds" <[email protected]> wrote: > I've come to the conclusion that in an effort to please and wow the > dancers the contra movement may at times change in ways I don't feel > comfortable with. > > Several years ago I called with "the latest rage band". At one point I > asked the musicians to slow down. "No can do" was their reply. Turns out > they were doing this thang called looping. This country boy ain't never > heard of no loopin'. > > How about warning me ahead of time? > > > My wife recently called to a band where, after several times through the > dance she asked them to slow down. "No can do" was their reply. Turns out > they were using a metronome to keep a steady beat. And they have a > drummer!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????? > > How about warning her ahead of time? > > A couple of months ago I was doing sound for a band that has copied "a > couple of the latest rage bands" and they handed me a cord. "This is our > mix" they said. For years we've been balancing the volume of the monitor > mix independently from the house mix. Not that night. So what if the > guitar is louder than the fiddle. > > In the future will the role of the caller (and sound dude) change for the > worse or the better or will it just be different? Maybe you've had > similar experiences. > > Tom > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers >
