"What Goes into the Quire"
May. 5th, 2018 05:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tibicenThis is a document I wrote for the Quire, to inform the re-org of 2000(?). I may have written it in the early Fall of 2000. (Dear self: date your work.) I wrote it some time shortly before the Quire re-org meeting of Monday, September 25, 2000, at which it was distributed.
I'm enormously proud of it, because it did an enormous amount of work. It completely changed the discussion around how the Quire should function radically for the better in a way I don't think could have been otherwise accomplished.
Originally it was a hardcopy handout distributed at the organizational meeting, but then I put it in email for people who hadn't been there.
I got an enthusiastic and grateful private email back from a certain previous Quire director.
Here is the email edition; I've fixed a couple of spelling errors.
Quire --
This is the handout I made for last night's meeting. If you weren't there, read it -- it was the basis of the ensuing discussion.
If you've directed the group and see big gaps in this list, please submit additions *IF* they are mission-critical to the group. Understand this list is not meant to be thorough, it's meant to be a baseline.
A report on the meeting will go out tonight.
................
What goes into the Quire
From the point of view of someone singing in the Quire, the director is the person running rehearsal. By and large they are unaware of the behind the scenes work which goes into running a music group. They are much like young children who think milk "comes from the grocery store".
It is an unfortunate consequence of this that when the position of director comes open, the people who consider volunteering think of the job solely in that light. They in essence ask themselves if they are interested in being the person who runs rehearsals, and do not ask themselves if they are ready to take on the other responsibilities of which they have not been properly apprised. Obviously, this tends to result subsequently in the volunteer getting a nasty shock, and feeling like they've been snookered.
So, in the interests of full disclosure, I'd like to put forth a discussion of what precisely goes into running a singing group like the Quire, on a baseline minimum.
Furthermore, I think the job is big enough that the odds of finding some random musical megalomaniac to dump all the responsibility on are long indeed. After long thought, I have come to the position that I'd like to see the group run more collectively -- not only sharing the authority, but, more importantly, sharing the responsibilities. It is my hope that by explaining what needs to be done behind the scenes, as it were, Quiristers might come forward to do various parts of the job which intrigue them. Or at least, the Quire might, as a collective, decide to divvy up the work to make happen what is needful for the Quire to function.
Not only would this be more viable and merciful than expecting one person to do it all, some of the tasks would be helpful paths to deepening ones musicianship, and I highly recommend them for their educational value.
* Starting with the obvious: Running rehearsals
Probably, if you're reading this, you already know how a Quire rehearsal goes, and some idea of what the director does. However, in the interest of thoroughness, I'll start here.
The first rule of doing anything, as a number of philosophers have noted, is: you have to show up. The person running rehearsals can't do so in absentia. While the occasional substitute can be employed in theory (finding someone to do so might be tricky), this can't be relied on all the time. It also helps to show up alert and with sufficient energy to focus the group.
- A rehearsal needs the following things:
for warm-ups to be lead; for the agenda (what will be rehearsed, what will be discussed) to be set or lead; for sheet music to be distributed; for parts to be assigned and part balance considered; for initial pitches and tempi to be given; for work on the piece to be directed; for help to be rendered (e.g. playing lines, analyzing where people got lost, etc.); for remedial exercises to be lead (e.g. pinging, cued movement, etc.); for pronunciations to be given or arbitrated; &c.
Some person (an individual) needs to take responsibility for a piece or a group of pieces and come up with some artistic interpretation: tempo, dynamics, articulations, presentation, etc. While many people can contribute ideas, in the end, someone usually needs to take responsibility in coming up with a single cohesive concept of how the piece should come together. This person necessarily needs to be the person running the rehearsal of that piece, since it is their interpretation which they are, through the process of rehearsing it, communicating to the Quire.
It also helps to have someone responsible for noticing when people should not be pushed further (e.g. whether staying late would be welcome or a burden, useful or harmful).
Also, the state of the pieces being worked on in rehearsal needs to be monitored, so that the performance can be planned around what will be ready, what will be strongest, etc.
* All the rest of it
The sheet music has to be prepared, produced, distributed, and managed.
- Preparing sheet music is sometimes as simple as making a clean photocopy. However, it can be as involved as literal cut-and-paste to fit lyrics under notes.
- Producing sheet music means photocopying it. (Waytes have wound up getting bound books from time to time, too.)
- Distributing the sheet music means making sure everyone gets the sheet music they need. This can involve hauling lots of folders to rehearsal repeatedly.
- Managing sheet music means keeping the library organized, refiling the returns, keeping the Big Blue Book up-to-date.
* Homework: Music does not come from a photocopier
Quite a bit of the current director's job is musicological homework -- research and reading, sight reading new music and reviewing old music, looking things up in books and libraries. That's where music comes from.
-- The music itself
Music has to be provided to the Quire. There are two basic sources for this. The Quire has a library, from which pieces can be drawn. Alternatively, new pieces can be sought out by doing research.
Regardless of how wide the net is cast, someone has to figure out which music fits the voice parts and skill levels available, and is appropriate to the gig being planned for. This involves both having a good sense of who is likely to be involved (and what they can do), and having sufficient music reading skill to assess the music.
Finding music can be as simple as hitting the Quire library, or as involved as doing original editions from period notation (e.g. Sponsus) or thorough composing (e.g. Princess Anna Her Pavan).
-- Additional reference material
Other things which someone must research for the the Quire from time to time include pronunciations of foreign languages, and scholarship on period performance practice. In the past research has also be done on appropriate costume (for example).
Also in this category is finding (and bringing in to the group with appropriate equipment) example recordings to study. This involves not only finding the recording, but bringing in a play-back device.
Also, any tangential documentation or educational information the group desires (for programs or handouts, e.g.).
-- Directoral preparation
Generally, part of the job of "leading a rehearsal" winds up including spending time before rehearsal familiarizing oneself with the music. The extent to which this is necessary is wholly up to the director, their skill and comfort level.
* Gigs: How Performances Actually Happen
Arranging for gigs to actually happen has several parts: inventing a gig, coordinating with autocrats, and wrangling singers.
These three parts can happen in almost any order. Sometimes, for example, a director will come up with an idea for a gig, then sell it to the singers, and finally find an autocrat who wants the gig at their event (e.g. Sponsus). Sometimes, a director will come to an agreement with the singers that we should do a gig, then figure out what precisely it will be, then court autocrats (e.g. caroling in restaurants). Sometimes, an autocrat will ask for a gig, the singers agree to it, and then the director has to go figure out what they're going to do (e.g. Coronation). Sometimes, an autocrat will ask for a gig, the director will come up with an idea for the gig, and then the singers will sign on (e.g. the LadyDay concert).
- Inventing gigs
This means designing the gig, figuring out what kind of performance it will be, how long, what kind of music, etc. You might think autocrats tell you what they want, but you'd be wrong. Usually they ask *us* "what do you usually do? what would you like to do?". So: Is it going to be a concert? background music? processional? theater? serenading a damsel? what?
This can be as simple as "let's hang out and sing" and as involved as Sponsus or the Revel at KWA&S.
- Coordinating with Autocrats, Heralds, Royalty, whomever
The first part of doing a gig at an event is figuring out just who is in charge, and with whom you need to coordinate. The bigger the event, the worse this part is.
The second part is conversing (sometimes over the course of months) with the relevant party(ies), to make sure you're all on the same page. You spend time explaining what you have in mind, and trying to puzzle out what the people you're talking to mean when they try to explain what they have in mind.
You need to cover all the niggling details that you might care about (Is there a place we can warm up, out of the way? Can we check out the acoustics in advance? Will there be light? What do you mean 'wandering'? What will be on the schedule opposite us? Have you cleared that with Their Majesties? ).
The more important the music is to the event, the more involved this is.
- Wrangling Singers
One can't have a Quire gig without the Quire. This means that someone has to keep track of who can and can't be there, and either adjust the material as necessary or twist singers' arms. The Quire needs to be sold on the project, and individuals need to "sign on" to the project.
All of the things you figured out co-ordinating with the autocrat and designing the gig need to be thoroughly communicated to the singers. The amount of time and effort this takes is often underestimated.
Also, various decisions have to be made about call (time and place), attire, cues, and other coordination issues (should we all sit together during the feast? e.g.)
Technically one *need* not coordinate rides or disseminate directions. However, I have found that to have *such* a strikingly positive effect on attendance, that I prefer it.
* Administrivia
Then there's all the non-musical, non-gig-specific things which need to happen.
- Reporting to Council
- Keeping the web pages, Minuscule, and Liber up to date with current rehearsal and contact info (to say nothing of playlists, etc.) This includes composing directions every time the rehearsal room changes.
- Keeping track of money, turning in receipts, etc.
- The silly blue folders (purchase and distribution)
- Running the email list, and emailing rehearsal reminders
- Room scoping and room reservations (this includes wandering around MIT and looking in prospective spaces, because the people who do room res certainly won't do it for us.)
* Extracurriculars
Then there's all the things which people say "Gee, wouldn't it be nice if we...." These are things which we don't "need" to do, but which seem to keep cropping up.
- Listening parties
- Field trips to concerts, music shops, festivals.
- Sight sings (at events or not)
- Coordinating rides, potluck food, etc. at gig events
- "Bard Cards"
- Doing demos
- Offering classes at universities
- Guild party (its been what, six years?)
- Chairing organizational meetings :)
etc.
..........fin.........
I'm enormously proud of it, because it did an enormous amount of work. It completely changed the discussion around how the Quire should function radically for the better in a way I don't think could have been otherwise accomplished.
Originally it was a hardcopy handout distributed at the organizational meeting, but then I put it in email for people who hadn't been there.
I got an enthusiastic and grateful private email back from a certain previous Quire director.
Here is the email edition; I've fixed a couple of spelling errors.
Quire --
This is the handout I made for last night's meeting. If you weren't there, read it -- it was the basis of the ensuing discussion.
If you've directed the group and see big gaps in this list, please submit additions *IF* they are mission-critical to the group. Understand this list is not meant to be thorough, it's meant to be a baseline.
A report on the meeting will go out tonight.
................
What goes into the Quire
From the point of view of someone singing in the Quire, the director is the person running rehearsal. By and large they are unaware of the behind the scenes work which goes into running a music group. They are much like young children who think milk "comes from the grocery store".
It is an unfortunate consequence of this that when the position of director comes open, the people who consider volunteering think of the job solely in that light. They in essence ask themselves if they are interested in being the person who runs rehearsals, and do not ask themselves if they are ready to take on the other responsibilities of which they have not been properly apprised. Obviously, this tends to result subsequently in the volunteer getting a nasty shock, and feeling like they've been snookered.
So, in the interests of full disclosure, I'd like to put forth a discussion of what precisely goes into running a singing group like the Quire, on a baseline minimum.
Furthermore, I think the job is big enough that the odds of finding some random musical megalomaniac to dump all the responsibility on are long indeed. After long thought, I have come to the position that I'd like to see the group run more collectively -- not only sharing the authority, but, more importantly, sharing the responsibilities. It is my hope that by explaining what needs to be done behind the scenes, as it were, Quiristers might come forward to do various parts of the job which intrigue them. Or at least, the Quire might, as a collective, decide to divvy up the work to make happen what is needful for the Quire to function.
Not only would this be more viable and merciful than expecting one person to do it all, some of the tasks would be helpful paths to deepening ones musicianship, and I highly recommend them for their educational value.
* Starting with the obvious: Running rehearsals
Probably, if you're reading this, you already know how a Quire rehearsal goes, and some idea of what the director does. However, in the interest of thoroughness, I'll start here.
The first rule of doing anything, as a number of philosophers have noted, is: you have to show up. The person running rehearsals can't do so in absentia. While the occasional substitute can be employed in theory (finding someone to do so might be tricky), this can't be relied on all the time. It also helps to show up alert and with sufficient energy to focus the group.
- A rehearsal needs the following things:
for warm-ups to be lead; for the agenda (what will be rehearsed, what will be discussed) to be set or lead; for sheet music to be distributed; for parts to be assigned and part balance considered; for initial pitches and tempi to be given; for work on the piece to be directed; for help to be rendered (e.g. playing lines, analyzing where people got lost, etc.); for remedial exercises to be lead (e.g. pinging, cued movement, etc.); for pronunciations to be given or arbitrated; &c.
Some person (an individual) needs to take responsibility for a piece or a group of pieces and come up with some artistic interpretation: tempo, dynamics, articulations, presentation, etc. While many people can contribute ideas, in the end, someone usually needs to take responsibility in coming up with a single cohesive concept of how the piece should come together. This person necessarily needs to be the person running the rehearsal of that piece, since it is their interpretation which they are, through the process of rehearsing it, communicating to the Quire.
It also helps to have someone responsible for noticing when people should not be pushed further (e.g. whether staying late would be welcome or a burden, useful or harmful).
Also, the state of the pieces being worked on in rehearsal needs to be monitored, so that the performance can be planned around what will be ready, what will be strongest, etc.
* All the rest of it
The sheet music has to be prepared, produced, distributed, and managed.
- Preparing sheet music is sometimes as simple as making a clean photocopy. However, it can be as involved as literal cut-and-paste to fit lyrics under notes.
- Producing sheet music means photocopying it. (Waytes have wound up getting bound books from time to time, too.)
- Distributing the sheet music means making sure everyone gets the sheet music they need. This can involve hauling lots of folders to rehearsal repeatedly.
- Managing sheet music means keeping the library organized, refiling the returns, keeping the Big Blue Book up-to-date.
* Homework: Music does not come from a photocopier
Quite a bit of the current director's job is musicological homework -- research and reading, sight reading new music and reviewing old music, looking things up in books and libraries. That's where music comes from.
-- The music itself
Music has to be provided to the Quire. There are two basic sources for this. The Quire has a library, from which pieces can be drawn. Alternatively, new pieces can be sought out by doing research.
Regardless of how wide the net is cast, someone has to figure out which music fits the voice parts and skill levels available, and is appropriate to the gig being planned for. This involves both having a good sense of who is likely to be involved (and what they can do), and having sufficient music reading skill to assess the music.
Finding music can be as simple as hitting the Quire library, or as involved as doing original editions from period notation (e.g. Sponsus) or thorough composing (e.g. Princess Anna Her Pavan).
-- Additional reference material
Other things which someone must research for the the Quire from time to time include pronunciations of foreign languages, and scholarship on period performance practice. In the past research has also be done on appropriate costume (for example).
Also in this category is finding (and bringing in to the group with appropriate equipment) example recordings to study. This involves not only finding the recording, but bringing in a play-back device.
Also, any tangential documentation or educational information the group desires (for programs or handouts, e.g.).
-- Directoral preparation
Generally, part of the job of "leading a rehearsal" winds up including spending time before rehearsal familiarizing oneself with the music. The extent to which this is necessary is wholly up to the director, their skill and comfort level.
* Gigs: How Performances Actually Happen
Arranging for gigs to actually happen has several parts: inventing a gig, coordinating with autocrats, and wrangling singers.
These three parts can happen in almost any order. Sometimes, for example, a director will come up with an idea for a gig, then sell it to the singers, and finally find an autocrat who wants the gig at their event (e.g. Sponsus). Sometimes, a director will come to an agreement with the singers that we should do a gig, then figure out what precisely it will be, then court autocrats (e.g. caroling in restaurants). Sometimes, an autocrat will ask for a gig, the singers agree to it, and then the director has to go figure out what they're going to do (e.g. Coronation). Sometimes, an autocrat will ask for a gig, the director will come up with an idea for the gig, and then the singers will sign on (e.g. the LadyDay concert).
- Inventing gigs
This means designing the gig, figuring out what kind of performance it will be, how long, what kind of music, etc. You might think autocrats tell you what they want, but you'd be wrong. Usually they ask *us* "what do you usually do? what would you like to do?". So: Is it going to be a concert? background music? processional? theater? serenading a damsel? what?
This can be as simple as "let's hang out and sing" and as involved as Sponsus or the Revel at KWA&S.
- Coordinating with Autocrats, Heralds, Royalty, whomever
The first part of doing a gig at an event is figuring out just who is in charge, and with whom you need to coordinate. The bigger the event, the worse this part is.
The second part is conversing (sometimes over the course of months) with the relevant party(ies), to make sure you're all on the same page. You spend time explaining what you have in mind, and trying to puzzle out what the people you're talking to mean when they try to explain what they have in mind.
You need to cover all the niggling details that you might care about (Is there a place we can warm up, out of the way? Can we check out the acoustics in advance? Will there be light? What do you mean 'wandering'? What will be on the schedule opposite us? Have you cleared that with Their Majesties? ).
The more important the music is to the event, the more involved this is.
- Wrangling Singers
One can't have a Quire gig without the Quire. This means that someone has to keep track of who can and can't be there, and either adjust the material as necessary or twist singers' arms. The Quire needs to be sold on the project, and individuals need to "sign on" to the project.
All of the things you figured out co-ordinating with the autocrat and designing the gig need to be thoroughly communicated to the singers. The amount of time and effort this takes is often underestimated.
Also, various decisions have to be made about call (time and place), attire, cues, and other coordination issues (should we all sit together during the feast? e.g.)
Technically one *need* not coordinate rides or disseminate directions. However, I have found that to have *such* a strikingly positive effect on attendance, that I prefer it.
* Administrivia
Then there's all the non-musical, non-gig-specific things which need to happen.
- Reporting to Council
- Keeping the web pages, Minuscule, and Liber up to date with current rehearsal and contact info (to say nothing of playlists, etc.) This includes composing directions every time the rehearsal room changes.
- Keeping track of money, turning in receipts, etc.
- The silly blue folders (purchase and distribution)
- Running the email list, and emailing rehearsal reminders
- Room scoping and room reservations (this includes wandering around MIT and looking in prospective spaces, because the people who do room res certainly won't do it for us.)
* Extracurriculars
Then there's all the things which people say "Gee, wouldn't it be nice if we...." These are things which we don't "need" to do, but which seem to keep cropping up.
- Listening parties
- Field trips to concerts, music shops, festivals.
- Sight sings (at events or not)
- Coordinating rides, potluck food, etc. at gig events
- "Bard Cards"
- Doing demos
- Offering classes at universities
- Guild party (its been what, six years?)
- Chairing organizational meetings :)
etc.
..........fin.........
