Band/Group Concertina Competitions

[Alan Day]

There seems to be a revival of the Concertina Bands with new groups popping up all over the country.

I wonder if the old Band Competitions will ever take place again.

I wonder how much notice is required to book Belle Vue Manchester one of the old venues ,the other being Crystal Palace.

What crowds there must have been to watch the bands compete against each other.

Those were the days.

Al

[John Wild]

There seems to be a revival of the Concertina Bands with new groups popping up all over the country.

I wonder if the old Band Competitions will ever take place again.

I wonder how much notice is required to book Belle Vue Manchester one of the old venues ,the other being Crystal Palace.

What crowds there must have been to watch the bands compete against each other.

Those were the days.

Al

 

Kettle Bridge Concertinas is a small ensemble with 12 players of mixed abilities. Approximately one third each of experienced, intermediate and relative beginner. So far we have not thought seriously about competitions. Our 2 main points of focus are - having fun, and developing the playing of those with less experience. As far as playing in a band is concerned, that does include myself.

 

We are organising a concertina band workshop, led by Paul Barrett on Sunday 14th November in Maidstone, Kent.

Paul has led workshops at Kilve, and Squeeze East at Stamford.

 

More details are on the announcements forum, or email me for more information.

 

regards

 

John

[Alan Day]

The playing for fun is the most important aspect.

I seriously think that competitions now need to be done over the Internet. Each player/ group or band could submit a yearly recording of their playing for scrutiny by a judge or judges and a diploma sent to the winner (s). This overcomes the past problems the ICA had that only local players could attend meetings yearly and it became almost a London based club. It is now truly International and this would be a way of reintroducing a "for fun" yearly (or three yearly) competition.

From the work I have done with players for Anglo,English and Duet Ints I am certain that something to aim for, sharpens the mind, improves performance and capabilities of the player (s)

If it is kept as a bit of fun for everyone then we can all enjoy the results.

Al

[Robin Madge]

The idea of using the internet rather than a live concert gives the possibility of a band recording itself repeatedly until the desired performance is achieved.

 

They might even splice together parts from several recordings.

 

Would you have a class for people who can manage to multi-track themselves to create a one man band?

 

I offer these musings as an expression of interest in what you would consider "fair play" rather than trying to quash the concept. I don't think that cheating is likely to happen, particularly if you allow for the possibilities mentioned by having special classes for them.

 

Robin Madge

[Theo]

We have a "tune of the month" over on melodeon.net which has attracted a great deal of interest. You could do something along the same lines here and it need not be restricted to bands. There is no overt competitive element, but it does seem to have been an incentive for many players to improve.

[LDT]

We have a "tune of the month" over on melodeon.net which has attracted a great deal of interest. You could do something along the same lines here and it need not be restricted to bands. There is no overt competitive element, but it does seem to have been an incentive for many players to improve.

 

Yeah its fun. Plus its made me learn tunes I wouldn't have considered before. And its nice to see all the different interpretations.

[Alan Day]

The idea of using the internet rather than a live concert gives the possibility of a band recording itself repeatedly until the desired performance is achieved.

 

They might even splice together parts from several recordings.

 

Would you have a class for people who can manage to multi-track themselves to create a one man band?

 

I offer these musings as an expression of interest in what you would consider "fair play" rather than trying to quash the concept. I don't think that cheating is likely to happen, particularly if you allow for the possibilities mentioned by having special classes for them.

 

Robin Madge

 

I would think anything could be a possibility provided there was enough interest and sufficient numbers of players wanted to enter such diverse elements.

I take your point regarding the use of over dubbing to remove errors. In theory such a practice would appear to be cheating, but a good examiner would still be able to select a band performance listening to the total package, ie tightness of playing, timing etc.

My final suggestion would be that "The Best Recordings" could be issued as a CD or free download to members of the association and a bit of dubbing here and there would make it a far better listen.

The whole thing could create World Wide interest to participate ,it would enhance performances and a bit of fun, not to be taken too seriously. I would particularly like beginners to have a separate chance to enter. In fact my original idea was to offer all the old ICA Competitions in name only for players to enter. This would include small groups, bands and individuals. As the bands are in formation, a minimum number of players to be agreed for the competition.

I look forward to your comments and particularly from committee members of the ICA.

Al