The Case for One Person Calling the Shots in a Chamber Group

I have been in chamber groups with one person calling the shots artistically. I’ve also been in chamber groups where everyone had an equal say in what was played and how it was played.

It’s seems to be a common belief that a true artistic democracy is the more desirable of these two models. That everyone putting their vision forward will always end up with a richer artistic product.

But in my experience, each model has benefits.

Jeff Curnow, former member of the legendary Empire Brass and current member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, talks in the clip from TBJ182 below about the benefits of playing in a group where one or two people are calling the shots.

It’s just food for thought if you’re ever considering starting a group.

Artistic democracies are good! But so are groups that are formed to realize the vision of just one or two people!

For episode 182 of The Brass Junkies, come for thoughts on how to set up a chamber group artistically and stay for the Empire Brass road stories. This interview was one of my favorite hours in quite some time.

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It's Not About You

"Blend towards the ticket buyers, not each other."

—Marty Hackleman

I have seen countless chamber ensembles fail to grasp the vital principal behind the above quote. The audience experience is everything.

Don't sit in the easiest possible configuration for your group to interact with each other. Sit in the configuration which makes it easiest for the audience to feel like they are interacting with you.

Don't just make sure something is balanced on stage. Make sure it is balanced in the hall.

Don't lift your stand up higher than it needs to be. Put your stand at a level where the audience feels like they are a part of the experience and not just allowed to peer over your shoulder.

Don't just check for dynamic contrast on stage. Make sure that contrast is reaching the last row of paid seats.

Don't match articulations on your side of the bell. Be sure they are matching at the back of the hall.

This list could go on and on...

I couldn't believe how much left edge I had to put on notes when I first joined Boston Brass. Like, I was dumbfounded. What my colleagues were asking me to do sounded stupid on my side of the bell.

But guess what? Those comments were coming from a rehearsal technique that we frequently used. One player would go out into the hall and listen from out there (ie the only place where it matters what it sounds like!) They would then ask for adjustments until it sounded right out there.

They would ask for so much attack that I thought it sounded stupid. But I trusted them so I did it.

Then I would listen to a recording of the performance from later that evening and I'll be damned they were always right. I had to very gradually adjust what I thought it "should" sound like on my side of the bell.

I have yet to find anyone who will pay me to in an orchestra, band, quintet or as a soloist based on me sounding good on my side of the bell. No one cares.

Literally your only job is making sure it sounds (and looks) good in the audience.

Who Should You Partner With?

"Find like-minded, bright, hard-working people that you think share a core set of values and a core vision of what you are trying to do and where you're trying to go.  That makes it substantially easier to realize whatever that vision may be."

-Kevin Browning, Creative and Business Development Manager for Umprhrey's McGee

If you are a musician looking to form a chamber ensemble, don't simply go for the best players.  Find the best players who also fit the description above and great things will happen.

Chamber groups, whether they be brass quintets, string quartets, jazz trios, barbershop quartets, or rock bands, rarely fail to stick around because the music making isn't good enough.  It is almost always a result of visions not lining up or of people not working equally towards attaining that vision.

This two sentence quote can save you a whole lot of time and money if you start there and then worry about the rest of it.