Alright, back from a little hiatus. While I wanted to continue to write here, my priorities were definitely elsewhere while the super typhoon came through our region. The relief efforts are still ongoing and rebuilding is just beginning and the process will take months, if not years, especially in the harder hit areas. When I went to the island of Leyte just days after the storm, I have never seen such destruction in my life. I am so proud to watch the news and see so many cruise lines step up and donate to help those in need.
Now, back to where I left off a few weeks ago...
The Bands
One more area of musicians that I have not covered yet is
the area of band musicians. Bands
have different responsibilities than both the orchestra musicians and the solo
entertainers. I will use the term
band, but can be referring to duos, trios, and quartets.
Unlike orchestra musicians, the bands are hired as a
complete unit and not as individual musicians. This means that usually the musicians in the band are
familiar with each other and have performed together before. The bands will sign on and off from the ship on the same dates and will perform together for the whole contract. Sometimes a band will change out members in between contracts, but for the most part the bands have experience performing
together. Another exception is
that sometimes musicians are put together by an agency to form a new band.
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| A band entertaining at the pool deck on a Royal Caribbean ship |
Speaking of agents, bands will typically go through an agent
to be hired by the cruise line.
While a band is hired as a unit, each musician has a separate
contract. While there is always a
bandleader for each band, the paperwork and business side is usually handled
through an agent. As almost every
band I’ve worked with is from outside of the United States, the agency usually
helps with paperwork and visas needed for each contract. The agent will also help the band in
securing another contract after the current one.
The role of bands on ships is to provide entertainment for a
particular setting. They provide
the ambiance and entertainment in each venue. In addition to providing the entertainment, they function to
keep people inside the venue and order drinks. Drink orders account for a large portion of cruise line
profits. The longer a guest
stays in the lounge, the more drinks they order, the more drinks they order means the more they spend, the more they spend means the more profit for the ship, which
all means the happier the cruise line will be. Each band is hired for their particular strength. Each ship has different needs and bands
are usually hired because they are a match for that ship’s specific needs. For instance, on a ship based out of
Miami, Florida it can be nice to have a Latin band onboard to entertain the
guests. But it wouldn’t make as
much sense to send that same Latin band if the ship was based in Alaska or Scandinavia. When a band is hired and placed on a ship, the cruise line is thinking about a lot of things such as the itinerary and the typical passenger demographics.
The status of band musicians is different from ship to ship,
cruise line to cruise line, and even within the same ship. Make sure you ask the cruise line or
your agent about your onboard status before you accept the contract because it
will make a big difference once onboard.
Some band musicians are considered as contract musicians (see previous
post on Contract/Solo Musicians for definition) and will have shorter
contracts, higher pay, and some guest privileges. Other band musicians might be employee musicians
with the normal 6-8 month contract and will have regular employee benefits
onboard.
Classical Ensembles:
Classical ensembles, either duos or trios or sometimes
quartets, are hired by nearly every cruise line. The classical groups are to provide entertainment in more
“classy” settings and provide ambiance to certain venues on the ship. Classical ensembles provide a nice
contract to dance bands or DJs.
Classical duos and trios are also easier with logistics around the ship,
in terms of setup and space required in a venue. It is much easier to move a keyboard, amp, and a couple of violin pickups than a full band setup.
It is good for the classical ensembles to have a repertoire
of different styles. It is important to think about the average guests. I’m not suggesting that you have to sellout
and play only pop music, but variety can be a good thing. While classical musicians are good at educating their audience, also remember that the guests are on their vacation. You don’t
have to play Lady Gaga, but then again the audience may not understand a Bartok
string quartet. Knowing a little bit of musical theater, soft pop, ballads, and even jazz can go a long way in keeping the guests entertained.
Dance Bands:
The purpose of dance bands is just as the name suggests: to
provide dance music for guests on the ship. The dance bands are usually in the form of trios and quartets. While bands will typically have an
assigned lounge, they will oftentimes perform in other venues around the ship
as well.
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| A dance band onboard a Carnival ship |
Dance bands can be used in many different situations around
the ship. On larger ships, they
will perform in the important parties and events (i.e. receptions, special events, etc.). They can also be used in cruise
staff events in the lounges when music is needed as a support. That can be in the form of a rock and
roll night, live karaoke sessions, or other events.
They are also used to provide dance sets before and after dinner. On most ships there is a dress code for
the dining room. Since the guests
will dress up for dinner, many times they will like to go to a lounge
beforehand to get a drink and many also like to use that time to dance to
live music. Then after dinner there is usually some downtime before the show starts in the main theater,; this is also time when guests might stop in to dance. These before dinner
sets are more traditional ballroom and lighter dance styles, saving the Top
40/Rock/R&B sets for later in the evening.
While a band might have preferred genre of music to perform,
they will be asked to cover a wide range of styles during a contract. Rock and R&B styles are obvious
when it comes to dancing, but it’s also important to include ballroom dance styles
as many guests like to show off the result of ballroom lessons they might have
taken. Many ships will offer
ballroom lessons while onboard and then the guests enjoy the opportunity to
show off their new skills by dancing along to a live band. When it comes to ballroom styles, be
sure to know the basics of the most common styles (English waltz, Viennese
waltz, cha-cha, rhumba, swing, etc.) and also some variations. A word of caution, legit ballroom
dancers are very picky with how the band plays, so they will be listening to
everything the band is playing. For each ballroom style, there is an accepted tempo, so make sure you do your research. It
is also important for the dance bands to also cover other styles such as jazz
and Latin as there will be times when they are needed.
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| A band from Trinidad that I worked with while onboard a ship. |
It is vital for the bands to have an extensive repertoire,
but it’s also important to be able to learn songs quickly as a band. As discussed in previous posts, for orchestra musicians it is most
important that they read sheet music as that is a daily requirement for their
position. For the bands that is
not necessarily the case. It is
good to be able to learn by ear as sometimes they will be asked to cover songs
that may not have sheet music. Since
some bands’ contracts are 6-8 months long, demographics and popular music will
change over that time. Some ships will change itineraries depending on the season (i.e. Europe in late spring, summer, and early fall and then the Caribbean during colder months). With the change in itinerary usually comes a change in guest demographics and the band must be able to adjust. Also, what might be Top 40 in January can easily drop off the charts by August. A way around that is to make sure there are a lot of classics (Standards, Motown, classic rock) mixed in that will entertain a wide range of guests and won't go out of style. Bands
should be able to cover simple song requests. Learning to play by ear is also important because even if
sheet music is available, it can be difficult to get while at sea. Sometimes the band can get specific
requests from management for songs for an upcoming event. It is very common for the Captain of
the ship to want a certain song to be played when introduced at their events
and it is important for the band to learn the songs and quickly. The Captain doesn’t really care
that there is no sheet music!
Specialty Bands:
There are some bands that are hired because of their
expertise in one particular genre.
This will be based on the needs of the specific ship and decided in the
corporate office of the cruise line.
It can be good for the band because they can focus on their specific
style and the management onboard will usually ask that band to remain in their
specific genre. But just remember,
the more specialized you may get with your band, the less versatile you may
tend to be. While it may be fun to
play only your favorite genre every night, remember that it may not make you a
good fit on all ships and your potential for work may be affected.
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| The Latin band I worked with on my first contract. The dance floor was packed every night. |
On my first contract, I worked on a large ship based in
Miami, Florida. Consistently there
were a large number of guests from Spanish-speaking countries and the ship had
a dedicated lounge for Latin music.
Nearly every night, the Latin band was the last band to finish for the
night because the guests would always be dancing and asking for one more
song. On New Years Eve, we even
had a separate Spanish countdown lounge with the Latin band performing. Because our itinerary was Eastern and
Western Caribbean, the ship also had a band with a steel drummer that played
during the daytime while guests relaxed around the pool. While both bands were popular for the
demographics and itinerary, they might not have been good choices if the ship
had been doing an Alaskan itinerary with cold weather and older guests.
Other Lounge Groups:
In addition to the dance bands, there are also small ensembles
to entertain the guests. Many
ships have duos and trios that will also perform. On smaller ships, duos and trios may be in place of a larger
dance band. Smaller ships also
have a smaller number of crew onboard, so the shipboard management may not want
to allocate as many positions for musicians. Remember that ships only have so many beds available
onboard, so each department is allocated a set number of positions and berths
(beds).
The difficulty of smaller groups, especially duos, is to be
able to perform and do the music justice with only a small number of
musicians. Unfortunately, many
resort to using a lot of backing tracks and having very little of the
performance done by the live musicians.
Backing tracks can be a dangerous route to take. Done well, they will fill out the band
and make the song sound closer to the original. Done poorly and it comes off as overly processed and similar
to a bad karaoke track. Backing tracks are kind of a slippery slope where once they get used, they have a tendency of taking over.
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| A quartet onboard a Carnival ship |
I worked with one particular Musical Director that told me
about a trio that used lots of backing tracks and he also noticed that their
instruments sounded exactly the same every single night. Consistency is good, but it was a
little too much. After a couple of
nights he went to inspect a little closer and it turned out that EVERYTHING was
being tracked, including the instruments that they pretended to play. The trio of keyboard, bass, and drums
all used electronic instruments and faked their way through every set. The only thing live was the keyboardist
was singing the melody. Needless
to say they were sent home at the end of their first cruise and a replacement
band was sent. My recommendation
is to only use backing tracks to fill out the band if there is something that
needs to be covered. And also,
make sure your tracks are high quality; nobody wants to listen to MIDI sounds
all night long.
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