Windy Acres Spring Racing Carnival Comedy Performance

[Ice Weasel]

I can get those to her... I'm sort of waiting for all the files so I can send her one archive, with a breakdown of what to play when.

I can make cue calls to her, but I'd suggest we use the "/joinchannel backstage" thing to coordinate with her during the event. She'll need to be in her own FS/Raid to play, and we'll likely be in one of our own for cues. 

Did we have decisions/final versions of the other music to send to her? 

[Ehn Farad]

The only thing I am really set on is the three circus/carnival songs that we ran through yesterday, for background during the tumbling. I was thinking that maybe the Bombasto one could play when we first hit the stage for the tumbling act, where I was thinking there could be a bit of dialogue, hype and banter leading up to the tumbling, and then there could be a slight break in the music for any instrument changes, and then the Calliope followed by Circus-Renz. I was extremely tempted to append these last two into one file so it would run uninterrupted.

There are actually 3 versions of the Calliope song, here in the Sore Thumbs Possible folder. We should probably decide which one, or else let her decide based on which instruments she will have available. (What are your thoughts on that, Kro? Which should we send, should we append the two?)

If she wanted to play any other music in the background of other parts of any of the performances, that would be totally fine with me - the only clear exception being the times when we are playing songs solo. I have no preference for what might be played during those in-between times, nor am I at all attached to there being music during those times - just open to it if people wanted it.

[Ice Weasel]

 I can certainly send all three and let her pick, or we can narrow it down... I'm on my way to lunch right now, but I'll give a look at the files when I get back.

Abby's a good sport, and she's made sure her alts and so on can play any instrument. Her jazz usually takes multiple players on some instruments, but she uses everything in the book.  (She is one of a handful of real musicians I'm in awe of... she does a TON of her own midis... While I get frustrated playing the radio in real life. LOL)

 

[Ehn Farad]

I know, I'm a bit of a fan! Excited that she is willing to do this for our humble little show.

What are your thoughts on appending the two files, or getting her to? I was thinking it would be ideal if the music played semi-continuously so that there was no interruption during the Calliope/Circus-Renz bit. I'm kind of timing the tumbling to take up the duration of those two songs.

Also, if you have any ideas for banter/hype during that first song (Bombasto) in the lead-up to the tumbling, that would be a big help. I think that's something in your wheel house a bit - you are good at the "showman" type stuff. I was thinking the sort of ringmaster "extravaganza" "Prepare to be amazed!" "Death-defying spectacular spectacle the likes of which you have never seen and will never see again!" type stuff. I was planning on breaking that into 3 separate Lyrical files so that the 3 of us could alternate on the lines. I was thinking it would need to fill up the entire length of the song. Perhaps there could be some character stuff in there, too, with Bri being the foil for our hyping by interjecting a bit of ho-hum in her parts. hehe

[Ice Weasel]

Looking at the three versions, I think the best thing is to send them all to her, and let her use whichever works best on the day for her present members.

As for appending them into one file, I wouldn't. It's a simple matter to precue the sync on the second file, and hit the "sync Play" button when the first one is done if they are separate files, if, for some unforeseen reason, we need the second piece to play RIGHT NOW.  In other words, no way to start the second piece early if we need it, if the files are concatenated. (It's an old trick with lighting or sound in theatre...  multiple cues are better as early trigger of one is possible if needed. With early computerized light boards in the 80s, it used to be a "cool thing" to have a "sunrise" or "sunset" cue, where light changed over 10 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever. The problem was, without a "bail out" cue on the override, you were stuck with the timing. If the actors were nervous that night, or any one of a billion things happened on stage or back stage... well, the timing was shot to hell, and you were stuck shrugging at the Stage Manager who was whisper-shouting "MORE LIGHT!  NOW!") 

What would help me immensely would be a list breakdown of segments.  The time for each would be great, but even just a listing like:

(for example)

1. Sore Thumbs Entrance - Rho gives Music Cue: Oom-Pah-Pah Mama.
2. Rho's Bits - Music: Rho''s solo piece, no band
3. Bri's Bits - Music: Kissed a Horse (on Cue)
4. Kro's Bits - Music: Solo stuff, no band
5. Tumbling: Rho gives Music Cue: This Songname; SEGUE INTO That Songname (on verbal/chat Cue).

 

 

[Ehn Farad]

That would help me immensely too.

We will definitely have something like that for Abby for the third performance with the tumbling, etc. but maybe not in time to send with the files. She will definitely have it in her hands early enough to ensure she is comfortable with what she needs to do.

As for the other two performances, I'm still a bit unclear on how those are going to take shape. Initially my plan was: You do one of the 3 segments solo, I do one of the 3 segments solo, and the last segment is for the group performance (tumbling, maybe a skit). As discussed last night, that doesn't make sense with everything we have in mind, and it might be more fun to share the stage to some degree for all 3. So those first two performances still need to be sorted out.

Here's a rough outline of what I have in mind for the third performance:

Sore Thumbs Entrance - Music cue "TBD" from Rho, song Bombasto - scripted circus hype banter for duration of song (2:19)
Tumbling - Music cue "TBD" from Rho, song Calliope* leading directly into Circus-Renz - tumbling performance for duration of both songs (about 6 - 7 minutes)

That puts us at about 10 minutes for that performance. I keep going back and forth on whether I think we should do something before or after that tumbling set - I'm open to ideas. My initial plan was to do a sketch but maybe it would be easier if we came up with a group silly song to do - just 3 instruments - to close it off. Or, since Abby will be on the stage, we could sing and dance while she plays.

The other two performances I will address in a separate post, to keep things a bit more organized and separate.

*One of the versions of Calliope is about a minute longer than the others, so I will need to know which one Abby chooses, so that I know whether I will need to pad the performance by a minute. I don't foresee any problem with doing that, so it's really up to her and which instrumentation works best for her band layout.

[Ehn Farad]

For the first and second performances, this is a lot more open so people feel free to step in and say what you'd like to do. Also posting how much time you will need for each segment of what you have planned will be a big help.

I am going to be doing a Johnny Cash tribute performance, with a few Johnny Cash songs reworked to humorous racing themes and a bit of classic Johnny Cash banter reworked to fit the setting. I think altogether it will be about 7-9 minutes in length. I can perform this in either of the two earlier slots. I would also be able to break it up into smaller chunks if need be, to intersperse with other stuff and mix things up more.

I have a couple of minutes of jokes and limericks I can throw in somewhere, too - potentially with some background music if anyone wanted to do that.

Let me know where you guys are at with your bits, and we can start slotting out the times for the two performances.

Thanks!!

[Ice Weasel]

I'm about dead on 10 minutes.

• Tune-up one-liners: 2:54  (can be stretched with timing)
• Take this Goat (song) 3:30
• Segue banter: 0:30
• Brown Eyed Goat (song) 3:09

Total: :  [10:03]

[Ehn Farad]

OK, here's how I envision things going:

First set of the day

Krohkur solo performance - 10 minutes long
Rhovanael "On the Sidelines" lute solo - About 4 minutes including intro, bows, etc.

Second set of the day

Rhovanael solo performance - 11 minutes long
Bri solo performance - 3 minutes plus bows, etc

Final set of the day

Sore Thumbs Entrance - Music cue "TBD" from Rho, song Bombasto - scripted circus hype banter for duration of song (about 3 minutes)
Tumbling - Music cue "TBD" from Rho, song Calliope* leading directly into Circus-Renz - tumbling performance for duration of both songs (about 6 - 7 minutes)
TBD group song with Abby playing and us all singing/dancing as the finale

Any thoughts on this? I think it would be pretty quick to get a group song with funny lyrics together for the finale and I think it would be a nice way to include Abby in the main final moment...

 

[Ice Weasel]

I'd sent those song files to Abby... I'll talk to her at her concert in Bree tonight. (9:30 Server).

I think time is not on our side. I'm working on the announcements for the concert, then I have some other things in the hopper, in and out of game.  I've still got the "circus hype banter" to write. I don't have time to do any new lyrics, though. 

I had thought our sets were 10 minutes each, but if 15... I can do some other songs, or something.  I've got some older ones, that I've had "resting"... I try to hold songs so people don't hear the same ones all the time from me. I can look through my lists.

 

[Ehn Farad]

Ah, you are right - I don't know why I thought it was 15. Juggling too many things, I guess.

OK, then that makes it easy:

First set of the day

Krohkur solo performance - 10 minutes long

Second set of the day

Rhovanael solo performance - 11 minutes long

Final set of the day

Bri - I Kissed a Horse (about 3 minutes IIRC)
Tumbling - Music cue "TBD" from Rho, song Calliope , tumbling performance (about 4 minutes)
Finale Group dance/singing to Circus-Renz (3 minutes including bows)

Bombasto gets cut, which is fine because it's all horns and will spare Abby the instrument changes. The tumbling gets cut down which is fine, too, because it's not easy doing these coordinated files!! Although I will need Abby to play the Calliope-Band version of the song that's 3.23 min. long to fit everything I want into the tumbling act. I can write lyrics for us to sing for that final song.

Does this work for everyone? Also, Krohkur, do you know the /juggle emote?

[Ice Weasel]

Works for me...

Yeah, Juggle and Firebreath... and Jazzhands. LOL

I'm likely heading into the game earlier tonight. Vanimor disbanded, leaving Abby in the lurch. 

If you can't get to me here, I'll be in Bree, most likely.

[Ehn Farad]

K - working on finalizing these tumbling bits. Taking forever. Perhaps if you're on later we could do an impromptu run-through. Would also like to see Abby - where is she performing? Let me know if she needs anyone to step in, I'd be happy to help out.

[Ice Weasel]

She might... it's... ugly. 

She'll be at the Garden that gets used for Inn League things during some festivals.  Heading to the Pony from the South Gate, take the road to the LEFT of the Town Hall, and straight on to the Garden.

[Ehn Farad]

I know the place. If you can get the songs to me I will get ready in case she needs me.