dead time

[bloke]

Typically, summer is (mostly) "dead time" for gigs...
There might be a 4th of July gig, a couple of June weddings (neither - as common as in the past), but that's about it.
So far, I'm slated to play (me: a scant-to-mid $1X,XXX-in-gigs-a-year guy) to play a couple thousand $'s of gigs, this summer.
(That having been said - and as we all know, the 2022 $2K is the 2000 $1K, so...)
Typically, I'm happy with "no gigs until August" (due to the mountain of repair work, which MUST be completed by that time).
...but - well - most gigs are (you know...) fun.

"A bad gig is better than a good job."
- Kenneth Spain, Memphis trombonist

[Mary Ann]

The local concert band that for decades played a 4th of July concert "up on the mountain" which has the silliest 4th of July parade on the planet every year, except of course last year -- has gotten only four people total to volunteer to come up. Historically it has been in the neighborhood of 30. I guess I'll volunteer because it is great fun overall, but I suspect it will not happen; people's habits have changed for the sorrier.

[bloke]

People may have reasons to not feel particularly patriotic. Patriotism isn’t just about lofty goals of the past - or about ways that people might hope things would be in the future. It also has to do with things as they are. Embracing the present, inevitably, involves embracing the truth.
I’ll be working on the 4th.

[bort2.0]

Orchestra concert on June 3 was my last thing until September.

Just learned about the Minnesota Pops... They have 10 concerts at the bandshell in my neighborhood, alone. I gotta get on the call list for them.

[Stryk]

I play a LOT in the summer, but I'm a $0.00 kinda guy.

[the elephant]

I thought this would be a discussion about contractual "Dead Time" on long, out-of-town gigs…

[bloke]

It could EASILY be...
How many times (ever...?? a funeral...??) have you been hired to play in YC, MS...or me in W, TN...??

Virtually every gig (for me) is just under, at, or just over an hour away (in three different directions, and - thankfully - I'm just about in the middle of the triangle)...and - unless there's a six or seven hour break - between the dress and the show, it's really not worth heading home in-between services (particularly not with these top-down orchestrated fuel prices), yes?

I DO have places, though, where nice people (in all three of those places) will allow me to crash for a few hours (with one of them actually supplying me with a damn-nice covitel room), which beats snoozing on a musty old fart-laden mezzanine couch - or in my car.

As I've said before, I very seldom play sans remuneration, but (in a sense) I'm (definition: "for-the-love-of-it") an amateur, because driving and between-services hours are wasted...though (well...) hanging out with my friends (who - candidly - I like much better than Mrs. bloke's friends) is pretty darn cool.

In a couple of weeks (and a few weeks after than - two different days), one orchestra's quintet is spending the better part of each of those days doing several frantically-scheduled nursing home gigs. I'm probably getting paid less than $300, but I'll be hanging out with my (super-nice, and fine-playing) buddies, one of them wants to break up the act with a couple of euphonium/trombone duets (perhaps an interesting diversion...though I've not been sent the duets, yet), and - maybe...?? - we'll be adding a bit of interest to a few hundred folks' somewhat bleak days. I don't even think there's time built in for lunch breaks. me...?? (Looking in the mirror, I don't believe there's any risk of starvation.)

Hey...
I do HATE struggling to save tossed-around-the-bandroom-endless-times YBB-321's...but (well...) compared to "teaching tuba lessons" (or teaching classroom or foobaw field instrumental music), to me YBB-321's are "heavenly"...and I DON'T MIND fixing most stuff, and I really do enjoy playing...even if some of the players (me...?? others...??) aren't all that hot.

I thought this would be a discussion about contractual "Dead Time" on long, out-of-town gigs…

[MikeMason]

The reasons to do a gig:the “hang”, the money,or the rep. At least one, two really makes more sense, all three is a really great gig. Thought 2, @bloke : when gas was recently 2.00 per gallon and oil/fracking rigs were shut down due to unprofitably, was that also top down orchestrated? If you mean top down by federal gov, then I guess so, but there were some legitimate fears about the pandemic death toll. If you mean by big oil, I don’t see it. If you don’t trust some research and statistics ever, then you are relying on your own personal anecdotal evidence, which is by definition, not really evidence. I’m a fan of bloke, of course,and consider him a great resource and source of edutainmen to our community,but I try to view the macro world through evidence, which means trusting someone some time, since I don’t have the ability to really conduct my own research.

[bloke]

response to a single post, and I'd prefer that this be the end of this sidebar:

The overwhelming majority of human inconvenience and suffering - throughout history - has been found (after all) to have been top-down orchestrated.
"Economies" - naturally/chaotically/nearly-magically (when left to themselves, and not interfered with by rulers) create products/services, compete for buyers, and devise ways to get those products/services to those buyers. Top-down management of economies has always resulted in disaster - even if (and please notice that I avoided the term "when") those monarchs and oligarchs had meant well.
Some people - regarding your (and I didn't bring it up, YOU did...) pandemic, still believe that it "just happened". I'm not here to attempt to convince those people otherwise, and - for that reason - REALLY try to avoid that topic. Moreover, may people believe many things. In more prosperous parts of the world, people can afford choose to embrace nonsense YET (due to there being plenty) still manage to obtain food, clothing, and shelter. In other places, the same nonsense is still purveyed - yet no one is allowed to question it, and far more die - due to the purveyance/enforcement of it. Dozens of millions of us stopped taking stock in "the news" decades ago. IF one is to watch/read/listen-to it, doing so should always include an implied homework assignment:
- Why did they choose to tell me that ?
- Why is it so very important to them that I believe it?
- Why are they avoiding telling me (whether truth, fiction, fictionalized, or within their narratives) about much more significant events?

[the elephant]

"Dead Time" is for situations where you have to be at a job site and not playing for more than three hours, I think. We regularly are contracted to drive down to the coast to play an a.m. recital at a library, play our educational program at two or three elementary schools, and then milling music at a formal party held by the sponsoring company (usually Chevron, in this case) from 7:00 tp 9:00. Between these, we are on our own, with no place to go to the bathroom or rest or change from our suits into our tuxes. "Dead Time" is a flat, hourly fee for the time we are trapped like that. We also charge per diem and are paid mileage (both "Driver" and "Rider" levels).

I have never heard the term "dead time" used for anything other than that in a musical context. So I thought you were going to tell us about some epic 20-hour road trip/multi-part gig.

Generally, we go bowling or see a movie to kill time, and we have a Hampton Inn we have worked with that allows us to sit in the lobby and use the power outlets, and bathroom and (thankfully) eat their cookies and drink their coffee. We also will sometimes hit a casino or look for restaurants with "local color" on these epic gigs.

[dsfinley]

There’s a local wind band around here that has around 3-5 concerts a summer. I lucked into being a first call sub. Sometimes I get to play all of these concerts, sometimes (like this year) I only get to play one. I’m lucky that one of the players is my father in law and I’m pretty certain he throws me a bone so that I get to play at least one of these. Is it borderline nepotism? Maybe. I’m not complaining. The concerts are fun and pay is GOOD.

[bloke]

There’s a local wind band around here that has around 3-5 concerts a summer. I lucked into being a first call sub. Sometimes I get to play all of these concerts, sometimes (like this year) I only get to play one. I’m lucky that one of the players is my father in law and I’m pretty certain he throws me a bone so that I get to play at least one of these. Is it borderline nepotism? Maybe. I’m not complaining. The concerts are fun and pay is GOOD.

The family unit is THE basic socio-economic unit. It needs to remain intact, rather than being obliterated. Good for you.

===================================================

Yesterday (though I'm running REALLY close to being "just in time" on school repairs deadlines) I spent the entire day an hour-and-a-half away doing nursing home gigs. I really need to be reminded about people such as those (whether of means or not - they're sort stuck, aren't they?), and to have the great privilege of engaging them. This was the second of two such outings. I have some big "bonus" (unexpected) church gig coming up in mid-August, but I REALLY need some time in August (after these mountains of school repairs are returned on schedule) to - quite literally - get my house in order. Some areas haven't been mowed all summer (heat has really suppressed aggressive weeds, and - mostly - only bermuda and zoysia...so: thank goodness...but still...and one of the pastures (the one with no critters on it other than a couple of pet dogs), needs bushhogging, lower limbs need to be cut [zig-zagging oaks, which I planted 16 years ago - along either side of our entrance road...they're finally covering/shading the road, and a few lower limbs are brushing against the tops of the UPS/FedEx panel trucks], and along the edges of the woods), I need to put the long-delayed finishing touches on TWO barns that Mrs. bloke and I built (one needs wiring, some metal trim and some animal-caused damage repairs [gates, of course]; whereas the other one just needs this scrounged-8"-cedar-fence-boards faux "veneer" completed, along with a 50' gutter - to catch dew and rain, so we don't have to fill up troughs as often), go back and repair some storm-damaged fences PROPERLY, finish the house-staining job (up VERY high - per previous pics), etc., etc...

In the winter, we're probably going to try to FINISH a "semi-barn" (sort of a "covered catch-pen" thing) that we started (but never completed) YEARS ago, and I'll be cutting more firewood from storm-fallen trees, etc...We're going to try to NOT use ANY natural gas to heat this place (though we're quite lucky to have natural gas available - this far from a town and this far off the highway), this winter.

If there ends up being a typical "dry January" (gig-wise) I might (or might not...??) decide that this year is the year I do the "cataracts" thing...
(I don't need any lectures about cataracts...ie. "bloke, just go ahead and get it done, etc..." Currently, I'm weighing "the ability to see up close and far away sorta-OK - though through a "dirty windshield" vs. having to sacrifice/choose-between one or the other. Eventually, I'll have to choose.) Yeah, once one approaches "oldhood" it's patch-patch-patch.

back to "arkestruh" gig-age...
Early in September, I'll be able to pull out FatBastard to play Márquez's Danzón no. 2 , et al
Later that month is an annual outdoor (free to the public) pops...so (probably) more FatBastard
...followed immediately by another pops (literature is a mystery, so...??)
and in November, Carmina Burana, so (once again: FatBastard)

...so - at least - my new-to-me toy (with minor August-scheduled upgrades..."tweaks" ) will get a few workouts.

This is one of those rare tunes where music directors look back at us and say "MORE !!!", but I'm already going to give "MORE !!!", so when he says "MORE !!!", FatBastard can give "EVEN MORE !!!!!"