ubuntu-allstars team mailing list archive

[Barry Warsaw <barry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Apr 07, 2011, at 09:44 AM, David Henningsson wrote:

>If that is our goal, I think we need to split: more than one rehearsal room,
>every band can only play x songs, and so on.
>
>A little more structure, a little less ad-hoc: rehearsal times on the
>schedule, a formal playlist on the party night, etc.
>
>More rehearsal rooms could also help in getting different kinds of music (i e
>not just american rock classics ;-) ) on the jam.

I have to be honest, I think there was *too* much structure in Orlando. ;)

I totally get the desire to want to put on a good show, rehearsal and have
everything Just So.  OTOH, I personally fall more to the improvisational side
of things.  I like mixing it up, jamming, seeing what happens, and not
worrying so much about the results.  The latter tends to work itself out if
everyone's having fun and the alcohol is flowing. :)

I'm probably in a minority, but I think with charts downloaded ahead of time,
a big display, and a *little bit* of organization (i.e. sign ups for who wants
to play what songs, lists of instrumentalists to rotate in and out), we can
have a fun and inclusive musical evening.  Also almost as important, fun and
inclusive rehearsals, which would be less strict rehearsing and more about
just playing.

I do like the idea of limiting each "group" to 3 songs or 20 minutes or
something.  Then rotate in a new group of folks.  That ensures everyone gets
to play something, and one rotation may be enough for some people, while
others may want to or need to play more (say if there weren't enough
tamborinists for every group).  Often in open mics I've played at, you don't
even know who you're going to be paired with or what you're going to play, but
we don't have to go that far!

I really want folks to have fun, get involved, get a chance to play a song or
two they really want to play, and be less of a performance and more of a
participation (in the spirit of Ubuntu after all!).  I think if we do that,
and get lots of smiles, the audience will have fun too.

-Barry

Attachment: signature.asc
Description: PGP signature