Members pink floyd cramer Posted November 6, 2008 Members Share Posted November 6, 2008 Anybody here ever play in the show band on a ship? I'm curious about what kind of chart-reading is required, for the audition and the shows themselves. Is it only doable for say, a Berkeley grad who can nail every Michael Brecker/Wayne Shorter chart in the New Real Book? (that would most definitely NOT be me). Any enlightenment would be appreciated, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted November 6, 2008 Members Share Posted November 6, 2008 If you can read chord charts with some fast tempi, irregular meters and quick key changes, which feature some iterated licks, you'll probably be OK. Believe me, they rehearse the asses off those musicians before they ever perform in a show. When I did cruise ships, all the theater bands' members I met were British, Polish or Filipino. I didn't meet any Americans in those jobs... I think bands approach the talent managers already put together; ie., I don't think the ships' talent managers assemble theater bands made of disparate members who do not already know each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johnny-Boy Posted November 6, 2008 Members Share Posted November 6, 2008 Although I never played on a cruise ship, I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted November 6, 2008 Members Share Posted November 6, 2008 Anybody here ever play in the show band on a ship? I'm curious about what kind of chart-reading is required, for the audition and the shows themselves. Is it only doable for say, a Berkeley grad who can nail every Michael Brecker/Wayne Shorter chart in the New Real Book? (that would most definitely NOT be me). Any enlightenment would be appreciated, thanks! I haven't visited the sites lately, but down near the bottom of the page on the provided link, there are links to listings of career opportunities on cruise ships. Most of them spell out their criteria for employment, as well as projecting salary and benefits if you dig a bit. http://musicbizbuzz.net/business/careers.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted November 6, 2008 Members Share Posted November 6, 2008 If I were going to do cruise ships again? I probably would not do solo piano/voice again. Talk about a grueling gig. I'd do a poolside reggae (Caribbean) band gig. Now THOSE guys have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Sayers Posted November 6, 2008 Members Share Posted November 6, 2008 If you're not good at reading, the lounge pianist would be the best direction to go. Just build-up your repertoire. You should have 150-300 songs to start your career off with. and be able to play them in any key Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cooterbrown Posted November 6, 2008 Members Share Posted November 6, 2008 There are some ships that will still contract a standard oldies cover band(as per their demographics - lately that leans heavily on music from the seventies) for the ship's night club areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pink floyd cramer Posted November 6, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 6, 2008 I don't think the ships' talent managers assemble theater bands made of disparate members who do not already know each other. From my "digging" I think that may have changed. New members rotate in and out but management tries to have in place a core group that has worked together- in otherwords, don't replace everybody at once. Another development seems to be reliance on pre-recorded tracks as the "glue" of the performance- so someone dropping out in spots is not a disaster. I have even read accounts of performances where smaller groups taken from the showband had to use their sight-reading ability to mime their instrumental parts- without even being in the PA at all. Joy..... From what I have found, I'm NOT up to the sight-reading standard required- which I am thinking is equivalent to charts in the New Real Book (Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, etc). But those who are can start working much sooner than a solo pianist, from what I have found (from a conversation with a cruise line hirer). There seems to be a shortage of qualified musicians for the showband positions-especially bandleaders. But I plan on putting my name in the hat for the cocktail position, and busting my butt for the next 6 months shoring up my reading ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members russrags Posted November 6, 2008 Members Share Posted November 6, 2008 Jump over to the GTR forum and ask "Fantastic." He has several years experience booking talent for the cruise ships. I'm sure he'd answer all your questions. RussNashville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pink floyd cramer Posted November 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 8, 2008 ship audition involves setting up your own video recorder and jambox, starting the video recording, opening up a sealed packet with charts and backing tracks CD, and playing along (2 readings of each chart). Then sending the 1-take unedited video to the ship line (or posting on YouTube or MySpace). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stomias Posted November 8, 2008 Members Share Posted November 8, 2008 Don't do it they're AWFUL. Here's some practice.....play a gig then go home and spend the night in one of your smaller closets.....repeat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted November 8, 2008 Members Share Posted November 8, 2008 Don't do it they're AWFUL. Here's some practice.....play a gig then go home and spend the night in one of your smaller closets.....repeat This is not entirely untrue. The cabins can be exceedingly small. The assumption is that you are going to be so goddam elated to be in Virgin Islands, Caymans, Bahamas, Jamaica, etc., that you will use your cabin only to sleep in, and will spend your every waking hour either performing.... or snorkeling/shopping/boozing/scuba-ing/sunbathing...etc., etc. The TRUTH of the matter? At your gig the night before, you probably got just as tripsy as your audience members. You and your bandmembers are so revved up after your gig that you cannot get to sleep before 4, 5 or 6 am. Then, you are going to need every hour of the day to sleep off your hangover. Then? Before you know it? it's "time to make the donuts" again. Also.. the islands seem like every man's definition of Paradise, right? Sure. At first. After about three weeks of them, they're bloody boring. There's just so much boozing and sunbathing you can do. Psssst: And unless you have brought your S.O. with you, you are going to have to be creative in figuring out ways to get the old knob polished from time-to-time. I'm just sayin'. Entertainers' cabins-- except for your big-name headliners-- are all below the water's surface... or just at water level. I always had a porthole right at water level... I just sat and watched the water spray across it for long periods of time, listening to Kitaro. A solo pianist gets a bigger cabin than the individual band musicians do. And a Queensized bed. Just sayin'. And may the lord in his heaven help you if your cabin is next to that of the asshole entertainers who are doing live animal acts in the big auditorium... they keep monkeys, dogs and wild birds in their cabins with them. BELIEVE it. Your entire cabin floor stinks of animal {censored} and you have to listen to those goddam birds all the time. And I'll let you in on a BIG secret: often the Cruise Lines OWN the little stores in the islands you're visiting. Think about it: they're fleecing their passengers indoors on booze and gambling...... and then fleecing them again in all the little widget and souvenir shops in the islands (which look like they're being run by cheerful, brown-skinned "natives".) Dig THAT one. Oh, and dig THIS: all the ship's sewage (just stop and do a mental calculation of quantity and content in your mind) gets dumped, untreated, willy-nilly, into the waters that are being sailed. I'm just sayin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted November 8, 2008 Members Share Posted November 8, 2008 Anybody here ever play in the show band on a ship? I'm curious about what kind of chart-reading is required, for the audition and the shows themselves. Is it only doable for say, a Berkeley grad who can nail every Michael Brecker/Wayne Shorter chart in the New Real Book? (that would most definitely NOT be me). Any enlightenment would be appreciated, thanks! Absolutely not you! They play only Brecker Brother, Chicago Transit Authority, Blood Sweat & Tears, Miles Davis, Hank Jones Trio, Allan Holdworth and V.S.O.P. tunes on cruise ships. Sorry, but someone had to tell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted November 8, 2008 Members Share Posted November 8, 2008 Monsieur Rudolf is being bitterly ironic here. What the passengers REALLY want is "Memory (Theme From Cats)", "Who Let The Dogs Out?" and "The Macarena" played about one million {censored}ing times in succession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pink floyd cramer Posted November 9, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 9, 2008 A big LOL and thank you to Rasputin and Rudolph- and Stomius and Russ too! But I know that passengers undoubtedly have chee-Z tastes in muZak. It's a different issue as to what kinds of hoops you have to jump through, to earn the privelege of delivering that cheeZ, night after night. Sounds like alot of the ship scene sucks with a vengeance, though. Knob corrosion, endless boozing and sunbathing, etc. - egads! Don't know if I would be willing to go thru that just for money. PS what the HELL are "light classics"? Fur Elise, Chopin's Prelude in E minor etc (and hopefully Scott Joplin) etc., I assume. I'm actually having a great time at the Ramada Inn, guess I should stay there.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Sayers Posted November 9, 2008 Members Share Posted November 9, 2008 I really admire great pianomen aka Bily Joel's song. There's a pianoman I know who plays in a bar in Cremorne in Sydney. One night I observed a drunk wander up to him and sing "yesterday", and the pianoman continued in key as he sang the first line. The drunk then sang the second line in another key, as they do, and the pianoman stayed with him. This continued throughout the song. The drunk thought his performance was fantastic. I thought the pianoman was fantastic. It's an amazing skill, the pianoman IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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