Tips for playing in a musical pit?

[nolan]

Hello,

I was offered my first paid pit gig and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. I will be playing Keyboards 2 & 3 and there is so much overlap between the parts. I'm trying to condense the two parts so I can actually play it. I have two books (one for each part) and I'm thinking of using two stands side by side. One thing that has made it difficult is that the pages do not correspond. I've been trying to go through and flag where I need to play in each part (I'm using little post-it flags). I also have to write in voice-changes (my synth uses a 3 digit number). I'm kind of nervous about the whole idea of having to change voices so often...like there are some places where I might have 1 measure to change the voice or even have to play one hand and change voices with the other. I just hope I don't mess it up and play an Orchestra hit instead of a Harp, for example. OK, so maybe I won't mess it up that bad, but you get my drift .

Anyone have any experience?

Thanks,
-Nolan

[timothy42b]

Which musical are you playing?

I've done several, am halfway through a run of Bye Bye Birdie right now, but never on keyboard, just on brass.

It's tricky, there's never enough room  or light, the music has mistakes, there will be many confusing cuts added, etc.  (It's still the single most fun thing I do in a year.)

It seems to me the keyboard parts are pretty obvious about which are really essential and which are nice-to-have extras.  I assume you're covering mostly string parts while the piano player handles most of the workload.  Given that, it isn't all that critical which you play.  I would mostly play one book, and try to identify (maybe by listening to the soundtrack) where you might have to add from the other book, and do this by inserting photocopies as needed.  I wouldn't assume you will have room for two stands.  Pits are cramped, and everybody is in the same boat, no prima donnas, so any room you take is stolen from somebody else who needs it too.  If you are new to this, proving you are an easy person to work with is really more important than demonstrating virtuoso keyboard skills.  One will get you hired again, the other will not.  Put tabs in your music to help page turns, copy as necessary to cover impossible ones. 

And know the show.  It is not always possible to follow the director (if you have one) or the beat, and actors screw up and blow lines, skip verses, etc.  Some of it you have to just feel and follow. 

[nolan]

Thanks for the advice. We are doing Elton John/Tim Rice's Aida. This is probably a really broad question, but in most cases is it better to double a chorus part on strings or play another (different) part which no one else plays?

[timothy42b]

Thanks for the advice. We are doing Elton John/Tim Rice's Aida. This is probably a really broad question, but in most cases is it better to double a chorus part on strings or play another (different) part which no one else plays?

I don't know that one, sorry.  I am not an expert on musical orchestration, but here is my opinion anyway.  The strings are much more important.  Anything else really important will be covered in trumpet, trombone or reed.  Only if you are missing one of those would I play cues.  But you have to be careful, strings on chorus parts can throw the cast off if you don't stay with them, you need to be alert. 

[Bob]

Practicing switching sounds like you would practice the piece.  Practice typing numbers until you're confident.

Bring an extra light.  Maybe an extra extension chord and power splitter.  A lamp with plenty of turning ability so you can position it just right.  There's nothing like having the curtain go up and you sit there realizing you can't read the music becuase it's too darn dark.

[timothy42b]

Bring an extra light.  Maybe an extra extension chord and power splitter.  A lamp with plenty of turning ability so you can position it just right.  There's nothing like having the curtain go up and you sit there realizing you can't read the music becuase it's too darn dark.

Or what happened to me Saturday night.  The curtain went up and I thought, "that music looks a little fuzzy."  Then I realized I'd brought the wrong pair of glasses.  There was nothing I could do but struggle through - lean closer on each set of rests and try to memorize ahead as far as i could.  Fortunately I knew most of it pretty well. 

[nolan]

Bring an extra light.  Maybe an extra extension chord and power splitter.

Good points...I will do this. Thanks!

Then I realized I'd brought the wrong pair of glasses.

Ouch...sorry that happened to you! I'll have to remember to double check mine before I go.