Re: [Harp-L] Wedding gig

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mike:
if you ever want to do weddings, Canon in D will come up time and again.  Mrs. Elk River walked down the aisle to it. It was a fair price. 
I played a wedding once. I played wedding songs on the mandolin. They had an envelope with money already in it.What concerns me is you didnt get paid there. That really concerns me. 
Remember: Don't take the law into your own hands. You take them to court. The People's Court. 

David
http://www.elkriverharmonicas.com



Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 15, 2012, at 23:30, "hazcon" <hazcon@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> You wuz robbed!
> But seriously you were working for absolute minimum wage.
> Music sheet and what 20$ petrol each way?
> = 50 ish dollars
> leaves 200$
> divided by 14 (hrs)
> = about $13.50 per hour.
> Of course you are going to pay tax on the net profit ;-)
> So gawd knows what you will actually clear out of it all.
> And this is after literally years of hard work to be even be competent enough to do what they wanted.
> I bet the wait staff at the reception probably got more than you in the hand
> Still i suppose we don't play Harmonica to get rich,but i don't think we should undersell ourselves.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "michael rubin" <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: "harp-l" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 14:45
> Subject: [Harp-L] Wedding gig
> 
> 
>> So about two months ago a student showed me a craigslist ad asking for
>> a harmonica player to play Pachelbel's Canon in D at a wedding. The
>> experience was interesting enough to share with you.
>> 
>> I emailed the bride. I asked her what I needed to know to quote a
>> price. It was an hour away from my house,each way. I would need to
>> provide amplification, I would need to buy the sheet music and learn
>> the piece. I would need to have another song for the wedding party
>> march and another for the walkout music plus 15 minutes of waiting for
>> the wedding to start music. I would need to wear a nice button down
>> shirt and slacks. I quoted $250.
>> 
>> "We didn't expect to spend that much on a harmonica!"
>> 
>> I asked what they'd be willing to spend. I said I wanted to help them,
>> but please remember it took years to learn the craft, plus how to read
>> music. It would be 3 hours away from home, where a wife and baby and
>> mortgage waited. The sheet music would cost money. It would take an
>> hour to buy the music. It would take at least 10 hours of rehearsing
>> to get ready. Amplification costs money.
>> 
>> I didn't hear back so I assumed it was lost. I told my top students
>> about the gig, maybe they could get it.
>> 
>> Two weeks ago, I got an email saying they were willing to spend my
>> price. Besides taking care of a baby, chores, 4 bands and around 30
>> students a week and a group lesson every Saturday, I also have taken
>> on 2 unusual music projects that perhaps I will share with you when
>> their stories are done. Plus I hadn't finished my taxes, which when
>> self employed doing by yourself is tough! Basically I was beyond
>> swamped and this would possibly sink me. Still, $250 is $250. I said
>> yes.
>> 
>> I rarely get nervous about performing. Now, I had 3 performance
>> situations that I was nervous about. I could feel stomachaches!
>> 
>> I bought the music. I listened to a video of a diatonic harp player
>> the bride sent me that she liked. The diatonic player was improvising
>> on the theme, it was nothing like my version of the music. The bride
>> said it was the speed she wanted.
>> 
>> Although Pachelbel's Canon in D is leagues easier than other classical
>> pieces I have learned, there is still a very complicated eighth note
>> passage in the middle that at her speed, I could only hit around 50%
>> of the time. One night, I played it for my wife who said that it
>> sounded uncomfortably fast. I agreed with her and slowed down that
>> section. We both agreed it sounded much better. I then decided to
>> screw the bride's tempo, I would play the entire piece with a goal of
>> comfort and beauty. That really was the turning point. I came up with
>> a nice version, in my opinion.
>> 
>> I chose 10 romantic songs out of the real book and read through each a
>> couple of times. I made sure I really had the walk songs down.
>> 
>> Today I arrived on time and the wedding coordinator acted
>> professionally with me. Although a beautiful space, it was very small
>> so my amp stayed in the car. After playing almost all my romance
>> tunes, they said it was time to start. After playing two verses, no
>> one had walked down the aisle. I stopped. Someone let me know they
>> needed 5 more minutes. I finished my chosen songs. Luckily I had
>> brought a real book with me. They whisper it will probably be another
>> 15 minutes.
>> 
>> A half an hour later I had read every romantic song I could find and
>> even a few where I was like "I cannot remember the lyrics. Is this
>> romantic or sad? Screw it, I'm playing it." When the wedding party
>> started coming out, I played the walk song until they stopped coming.
>> Then a minute later, they cued me that there was still lots more of
>> the wedding party to come out! I restarted the song again. Finally
>> they let me know it was time for the bride.
>> 
>> Remember it was a small place? I basically had gotten through the
>> first line Baa daaa daaa daa da da daa daaaa and the bride had made it
>> down the aisle. All that practice for nothing! Perhaps I will record
>> it for youtube this week.
>> 
>> Unlike normal gigs where you get to hang around the audience to get
>> kudos, only the preacher and the coordinator were left to talk to me.
>> The preacher took my card and asked if he could put me on his website
>> for recommended wedding players. The coordinator did not have my
>> money! Rather than run around the wedding trying to figure out who the
>> bride's father is and interrupt his picture taking, I went home and
>> sent the bride an invoice and said wait until after the honeymoon.
>> Hopefully this story has two happy endings and not a sequel!
>> Michael Rubin
>> Michaelrubinharmonica.com 
>