Four weeks in the pit

[CamMcIntyre]

Congrats on playing a theater gig! They're my favorite kind.

Here's a list of what i bring with me/keep on my stand:

Pencils [at least 3-a backup, plus seems like at least somebody leaves theirs in their case....which is in the other room/down the hall]
highlighter
tuner
rosin [i double]
cough drops if i have a cold.
Next to my amp-i keep a bottle of water just in case my throat gets really dry.

In my bag [not on stage/in pit]-i'll keep spare batteries, cables, strings, redbull if i haven't been sleeping well, and occasionally a spare bass. I've got an extremely high tolerance for caffeine-so i can drink one without getting too wired rather it just refreshes me.

A volume pedal does come in handy. If you double, an AB box is needed.

As far as tips go-learn your music fowards and backwards.

If you don't have a copy of the Original Cast album-get one whether it's buying them [my preferred method] or burning one from the music director. Look for places where the line written varies from what is on the recording-those are typically the spots where you can add more of your self into the part. I need to credit Tom Mendel for getting me to take notice of that. Great teacher, amazing player.

This next part i learned from Jo Ann Daughtery-a really killer piano player & a great mentor. If i'm allowed to-i make a copy of the book so that i can mark it up and destroy as needed & then i put the pages into anti-glare plastic sheet protectors. Anti-glare is important so that when your stand light is on, you won't have spots that are near impossible to read. I would not modify an original book ever as they get returned to the rental company. Erasable pencil marks ONLY.

If you have really odd page turns-make copies of certain pages and create a fold out so that you have 3-4 pages visible vs. just the two. Fold out = taping 2 sheet protectors together so you can literally fold it out.

Go through the OBC album and get tap tempos for all of the tunes. This will give you an idea of where the song will be performed and thus where you need to work the part up to. Easy example-i'm working on "the Wild Party" and the tune called "i'm here" was giving me some trouble. Up to tempo it's 80bpm = quarter note. I slowed it down to 40 and worked it up. Much easier.

Write out the changes above the part so that if someone says "go back to the turn around" or they opt to change keys-you can transpose that much quicker.

The big thing is just know the music extremely well. If you have that down, everything else is just gravy.

take it easy.

[Ozonbass]

Pit jobs can be a lot of fun. Especially if the rest of the band are good people (not just players, but fun folks). One of the hazards of the pit is that some inocuous little ditty can turn into one of the songs you put on your "Top five songs I'll never play again" list...if I hear Beauty School Dropout one more time, I may choke the life out of someone.

[mellowgerman]

I played for a production of into the woods back home in western new york. though I usually like to just jam with a normal band setup it was pretty fun i must say

[Chebass88]

I've been lucky to do several theater gigs. The pay isn't what I would like, but it is exceptionally easy playing & low stress, so it can actually be quite fun.

I have a couple of suggestions:
1. If there an entire page is cut, make a single line diagonally across the page (in pencil). This enables to you to see instantly that there is nothing to play there.

2. The last night of the show, after you know the show backwards & forwards, use the downtime to erase your markings on the previous pages. Just make sure not to miss the cues! You'll get to know them by the dialogue onstage.

3. Follow up with your money!!! In my experience, schools are pretty bad for being responsible & getting your money to you on time.

4. Leave your ego at the door - there is nothing worse than a musician playing a local theater gig who thinks his S doesnt stink. No one cares that you can play jazz at 300 bpm or that you know what scale to play over some fancy chord. Read the part perfectly & show up on time, & you'll be called back.

Best story: I was a senior in HS playing my HS' show (How to Succeed in Business), and there was a kid on winds. He played several instruments (trumpet, clarinet, sax, bari sax, etc.). His brain to mouth filter didnt always work, and he could occasionally be very rough. He didnt have stands for all of the instruments, so he had them precariously balanced over several chairs. During a quiet part of the show (dialogue), he went to switch instruments, and managed to upset the previously balanced ones. The bari sax & the clarinet fell onto the floor making a huge racket. The kid immediately began cursing really loud, oblivious to ihs surroundings. F! S! GD!! F-S! The director was mortified & I thought it might have been one of the funniest things I'd ever witnessed.

[CYoung]

Thanks again to all for the helpful advice!

Well, this week is the final week of my stint with this play and it has been 100% fun.

A definite +1 to the pencils and highlighters. Thankfully, the music director provided me with a copy of my part bound in a binder and I was given full reign to mark, fold, spindle, and mutilate my sheet music to suit my needs. In future I will provide my own no-glare sheet protectors.

The music has been challenging, that is certain, but I have been blessed to work with some very excellent musicians.

Some humorous events so far:
- Realizing the annoying persistent feedback was not from the main PA but from the drummer's hearing aid.
- Singer got about 3 beats ahead of us and we had to quickly adjust to catch up to her.
- Popping out of the pit only to hear someone say "The music was live?!?!?!"
- Having bad gas in the pit and having to wait so I did not kill everyone.
- Being informed that I was the first bass player they ever had that could read music!

What fun. I have already been informed I will be first call for the next musical. This could blossom into some real money-making opportunities!

Thanks everybody. If I can, I will post some pics later.

[mkandolf]

CYoung, glad to hear you had a blast like most of us here! I am extremely glad I'm back to doing about 4 of these a year now. Nothing like the experiences and the fun!

The humorous events I remember:
- Director accidentally flinging her baton on stage. Thankfully it went behind a block. The cast managed to return it by someone during the next scene dropping it in the pit. Both were in darkness but the director never knew her baton had been returned until the end of the performance.
- Everyone coming to the audience edge of the pit and looking down. Felt like we were an exhibit in the local zoo. After the first night of one show I decided to put up a sign "Please feed the musicians!"
- "The Hand from Hell" We didn't see this when it happened but as some of the pit had gathered together to watch a DVD of the last show, during the overture and entre'act while the performaing arts center was dark, our director's hand appeared in the bottom of the screen during a couple swells in the music lit only by the lights on the music stands. In the poor lighting the video turned her hand kind of red and being like in her 60's or 70's it really looked freakish.

[yuujin]

deleted. got the wrong person.

[IAmTheDood]

i played bass trombone in pit in high school for a few years. it was fun!

definately an experience you'll remember!

[davecheng]

Don't mean to resurrect an old-ish thread, but what did you guys have for sound reinforcement down there?

Yesterday, I was sound checking at a high school production of Footloose. The theatre is small (300-400 seats) and the acoustics of the pit typically don't require FOH support as long as the instrument volumes are balanced.

Well, thinking small, I have a single Aguilar GS112 and Little Mark II head down there. I had the volume at 12 o'clock, which is usually enough to keep up with a drummer and band.

Supposedly, I'm still not loud enough!

I still have lots of room to go on the amp, but I'm now ridiculously loud down in the pit. Out in the theatre, I'm apparently barely audible! On the other hand, the sax in front of me is not miked, and has no problems being heard.

Anyone know what the heck is going on? I though low frequencies traveled really well. Does it make a difference that the pit floor and walls are concrete? My cab is pointed about 45° out of the massive hole into the audience.

[obaka-san]

your cab might be projecting the sound over the heads of the audience, probably easiest to ask the sound guys to mic you up or if they reckon there's somewhere better to put your amp. pits and theatres can have some rather peculiar acoustics and your FOH guys should have a good idea of how the theater works

[CYoung]

davecheng,

Well, I just wrapped up the bass gig that started this whole thread and I had one problem that I think is the same as you are having.

For the last weekend of the show, they moved my position so that I was playing with my back to the long wall of the pit and my amp was firing at the opposite wall. As soon as they did this, my volume was screwy - some notes way loud, others too quiet.

I figured out later that my amp was bouncing sound off the opposite wall and would either cancel or reinforce according to what note I was playing!

Solution: angle the amp such that you are not playing directly at a flat surface. In my case, I turned the amp so that it was about 20 degrees off axis from the opposite wall. With that change and a smidge more volume, I was able to get a consistent audible bass tone without completely overpowering the pit.

Thanks to everyone for the help and advice. My pit gig went very well and it looks like I am on the short list with this venue for future shows!

[shawn-o]

Congrats man.

Kinda found this thread alittle late but I loved doing the pit band thing back in highschool. I ended up playing all three years and did No No Nanette, Footloose and Grease.

Sometimes it was boring running through dress rehersal or pulling all day rehersals on the weekend before but it was a blast.

Glad to hear it all went well for you.

[mkandolf]

The only thing we had feeding into the PA system was the keyboard primarily so the cast could hear it through the stage monitors. My bass combo was loud enough, but it was angled to the walls in the pit.