English from Playford Dancing Master including Sharp, Apted, Fallibroome and Maggot Pie to Community Dance Manuals and modern dance composers including Pat Shaw, Fried de Metz Herman, Charles Bolton and Colin Hume.
Currently we especially enjoy playing for Gary Roodman dances - we especially enjoy the wide variety of good music used and the way the dances fit that music.
Contras and Squares (including Quadrilles, Singing Calls and Patter Calls) -
we have experience of dancing and playing for contra dances in the USA as well as the UK with both American and English callers.
In all these we think it very important to phrase the tune to fit the dance and so we talk with the caller beforehand and watch the dancers carefully so the dance becomes ‘music made visible’.
Eight channel mixer amplifier with stereo output for clarity and sound placing, and mono foldback system. Mike always available for callers who are welcome to use their own mike if they prefer.
Notes for guidance when sound system is being supplied.
Connections DI Box for accordion |
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2 DI boxes for keyboard |
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Power (240 AC) supply for keyboard |
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Accordion needs enough treble lift to give musette tone an edge, and mid and bass lift to give a full sound especially when on single reed. |
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Keyboard may require bass lift. |
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In each tune/set, fiddle, accordion and keyboard take the lead in turn (often in that order). Sometimes one instrument will start solo. |
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When not taking lead, instruments play a subsidiary accompanying part. |
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Level settings for each need to allow player to be able to take the lead or drop back. |
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Keyboard often plays in split mode and changes voices.Balance and relative levels are set at the keyboard. |
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The two outputs are not the split on the keyboard left and right or bass and treble. |
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Keyboard has no on-board sound and relies on foldbacks to hear own sound and overall balance. |
Stage Layout
(Table) |
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(Chair) |
(Chair) |
(Chair) |
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Caller |
Fiddle/ |
Accordion; |
Keyboard |
Mandolin |
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(Mike) |
XLR |
DI |
2 x DI+Power Supply |
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STAGE FRONT