I decided to create a blog to discuss the details regarding both being a musician as well as what potential clients should know about what it takes to be a professional musician, especially a flamenco guitarist.
As we move into the high season for booking weddings, I thought I would outline some things that would be helpful to coordinators, consultants, planners, caterers as well as brides and grooms and other potential clients to know.
As many of you are aware, I am a specialist in flamenco and don't often venture into other musical styles except for a few songs which incorporate jazz or classical to varying degrees. The reason I have focused on flamenco is because it is so unusually demanding. Not only must we work toward mastering the nylon string guitar (no small feat in itself), but we as well as flamenco dancers become percussionists, highly concerned with keeping within the various flamenco rhythms. Then add the modern additions of jazz concepts and a little bit of classical melodic notions and a musician has got a huge base of things to learn.
Many flamenco song forms have a 12 beat cycle of accents, performed in 3/4 time signature. 3, 6, 8, 10, and 12 being the most commonly accented beats. At least 1/3 of flamenco song forms have this rhythmic structure, and we need to make it second nature. We also break each beat into many different subunits and have to learn to use them artistically at very fast tempos, even upwards of 220bpm (beats per minute).
Then, as if that weren't complex enough, flamenco consists of 60 - 80 song forms, of which we need to master at least 20, both to play as solo, then to play for dance, and also to play for a singer. Playing solo versus playing for a dancer or a singer in each song form is considerably different, although there is some overlap.
Now, on to the things necessary to have in order to do events effectively.
To begin, we must purchase an instrument. For a flamenco or classical guitarist, prices for a good instrument begin around $3,500 and continue up to $30,000 for collector level instruments. Once a musician reaches a certain level of playing, he or she knows the kind of responsiveness and tonal palette he or she wants, and that is much of what guides them in buying the instrument they eventually choose.
Harpists will fork over $30,000 and more for a good harp.
I share this so you know the value of a good instrument and understand that your employment of us, in part, pays for this. There are several key factors that drive the prices of instruments upward. They are commonly in high demand, are made from rare woods and other expensive materials (which are often dried for years under certain humidity, and temperature requirements), and the time (often lengthy) it takes a luthier or other instrument maker to build one instrument by hand as well as the years of learning it takes them to reach their current level of proficiency.
For those of us needing to amplify (which is most of us), we must choose the proper microphones; condenser, dynamic, or ribbon being the most common. Good microphones start at about $250 and reach over $2,000 for high-end recording microphones. We choose based on our instrument and whether they are for live or recording purposes.
For acoustic amplification, we need a higher level of equipment than does a DJ, for example. The reason is that DJ equipment generally amplifies an mp3, which is a highly compressed file format, and it cuts out the sound frequencies, both high and low, outside of a certain range. Acoustic instruments, however, produce sounds on a much wider frequency range, and therefore need equipment which can faithfully reproduce the natural sound. If we buy cheap, it sounds tinny, distorts and eventually sounds annoying. So, we pay a higher price for the right equipment to do the job well.
The other route of amplification is to install a pickup device, not unlike those on an electric guitar. Although many improvements have been made in the last 20 years, most that I have heard change the sound of the guitar so much as to make it significantly different and regrettably, I have not liked them. There is also the option of using both a microphone and a pick up, but then the cost is double. Most pick up systems cost under $300 plus installation fees. Guitars one can buy with a pickup already installed are typically of lower quality than hand built, French polished instruments.
A good acoustic amp starts around $1,000. Cheaper ones tend to change the natural sound too much.
Most guitarists prefer a preamp, some extra equalization or effects, all of which cost upwards of $500, usually over $1,000 for any one of the three.
For trio, or a quartet a larger PA system is needed, not cheap either. Minimum of $1,500.
Then there are consumables, strings, nail care, reeds (for wind instruments), drum heads, sticks, picks (if using), cables, adapters, sheet music, stands, tape...The list is seemingly endless.
I am sure by now you are getting a clearer picture, but wait... That's not it.
There are many, many hours of practice required to not only learn the instrument, but also the music itself. I cannot speak for all of my colleagues, but I have chosen from among the most difficult music, from among the most difficult instruments and I have to practice 4 - 6 hours a day to cover the technique, maintain repertoire, and to add new music as well as to work on the dozens of musicianship things we all need to know well. So, you can be sure, I have prepared for your event.
We must also maintain a website, pay for print and other advertising to reach consumers as well as participate in bridal shows, all of which takes time away from musical practice.
So, when you contact a musician to perform at an event, please keep in mind the things I have outlined above. There are yet more, but I think I have gotten across what I wanted to say.
When a potential client comes to me with a certain price in mind, say $100 for a 2 hour event, unfortunately, that really doesn't begin to compensate for the cost of just doing business. If somehow, anyone thinks we're highly paid for the time we perform, they are completely neglecting the thousands of hours spent preparing for the 2 or 3 or 4 hours they might actually have us perform.
I hope this has given you a better idea of what we must have just to do business. Please never think that we just show up and play music that we make up on the spot and that it is easy. It's not, and it takes a lot of preparation and investment to do it professionally.
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