respect to my busking friends

ripock

ripock

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I went to the market to buy some white stock for fondant potatoes because I was feeling too indolent to make my own. There was a guy out front, with an electric guitar, with two amps, playing arpeggiated chords to accompany his recitativo versions of Christmas music...and I wanted to punch him in the face.

However, it did make me think what a tough gig that is and that it does take some gumption to put yourself out there. And I find I have a lot of newfound respect for you public performers, although I do resent to an extent you vaporizing the neutrality of public space.
 
I, too, have great respect for buskers. However, I'm at the other end of the spectrum. Whenever I encounter a street musician, it makes my day. :) Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
 
Not easy to put yourself in front of complete strangers who aren't even there to see you and try to win them over. I've seen some wonderful buskers, some terrible ones and some who were terrible but so fun and enthusiastic it was hard to dislike them.

Anyone using electrical amplification though… no, I can't support that and don't give them any cash. It's as bad as shops that play music into the street.
 
Funny story. We were in London years ago, and we went to an Easter service in one of the big cathedrals. There was a full orchestra, with musicians dressed in formal wear. After the service, we found ourselves walking a little ways behind one of the violin players. We were heading for a tube station, and as we approached, we saw him setting up to play his violin at the entrance.
 
I like busking. It is why I took up the ukulele. To me it is all about sharing the music, and busking is just pure sharing. I don't like to do it in front of the entrance to a store or business though. That just doesn't fit my vibe. You can't appeal to everyone's tastes. You really have to be willing to do your thing and not worry about it. I just go out there and give it my best and so be it. Like I said, my music is my gift to the people passing by. They can do with it as they want, enjoy it, or if they think it isn't good enough not enjoy it. Makes little difference to me if someone doesn't like it, because the next person that comes by will.
 
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I too have great respect for buskers. I spent a lot of time with a friend of mine, who is a very accomplished guitar player, at the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade. He played blues with a singer/guitar player (I sometimes sat in on harmonica) and with a jazz trio of clarinet and snare drum. It's three streets that were converted to foot traffic only and specified as an official busking area that requires a permit from the city. On weekends it's loaded with all kinds of performers, but there are many rules and regulations about how close you can be to another performer or a business or residence entrance, how long you can stay in one spot and how loud you are, amp or not. I found it to be great entertainment and would always tip good ones, of which there are many.

This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 13 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 37)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
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The travails of busking certainly forces the performer to hone their craft very quickly. Not only do they have to be a good musician, singer, performer, they need to be able to interact with people. Both individually and collectively as an audience. They have to entertain to be successful.

I have great respect for buskers. Not only the experienced pros, but also the new ones just starting out. Some are wonderful. Others are dreadful. Most are somewhere in between.

It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there and perform in such an exposed way. With nothing between you and the audience. Their response is immediate and very personal, but can be very rewarding.
 
BigJackBrass said:
Not easy to put yourself in front of complete strangers who aren't even there to see you and try to win them over. I've seen some wonderful buskers, some terrible ones and some who were terrible but so fun and enthusiastic it was hard to dislike them.

Anyone using electrical amplification though… no, I can't support that and don't give them any cash. It's as bad as shops that play music into the street.
Click to expand...

Jack, I'm not trying to "stir the pot", but I'm interested in your view on amplification as it pertains to busking. Do you feel that busking should be a totally "unplugged" endeavor? In other words, if folks would like to hear what you're doing, they're welcome to gather 'round closer to you, thus making it a more personal experience? I guess I'm so used to "amplification" being part of the busking equation that I hadn't thought much about the amplification being a negative. I kind of like the idea of going totally unplugged, although the electric players might have something to say about that!
 
We've just been asked to busk in front of a Main Street Museum on World Ukulele Day. You'd better believe we'll have an amp for the bass, or an awfully big acoustic bass out there!
 
Bill Sheehan said:
Do you feel that busking should be a totally "unplugged" endeavor?
Click to expand...
Honestly, yes. In particular there's been a trend towards singers and musicians busking with backing tracks and excessive amplification which I find rather inconsiderate. The high street is not a rock concert.

It's only my view, of course, and probably a minority one, but I don't think buskers should be clearly audible hundreds of yards away.
 
BigJackBrass said:
Honestly, yes. In particular there's been a trend towards singers and musicians busking with backing tracks and excessive amplification which I find rather inconsiderate. The high street is not a rock concert.

It's only my view, of course, and probably a minority one, but I don't think buskers should be clearly audible hundreds of yards away.
Click to expand...

Since I started this curmudgeonly thread, I feel that perhaps I should clarify my stance. I don't dislike musical performances. I merely like to be able to choose when to partake. I feel the same way about dogs. I like animals, but I don't want to see them at a restaurant or the pub.
 
ripock said:
Since I started this curmudgeonly thread, I feel that perhaps I should clarify my stance. I don't dislike musical performances. I merely like to be able to choose when to partake. I feel the same way about dogs. I like animals, but I don't want to see them at a restaurant or the pub.
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I agree with that and it is the reason that I don't plant myself by the entrance to a store or a business where people can't avoid me if they want. I do have a nice pitch on a stone wall where there is a lot of tourist foot traffic. In Old San Juan the buskers are a community and most have their own territory that each respects the others. There is a lot of communication and cooperation. It is much the same in NYC. I like to busk Washington Square when I go out to visit my son. They are very territorial there and it behooves one to make an effort not to interfere with someone else's pitch. As far as amplification, I prefer not to amplify, but some venues it is unavoidable. One example is Circo Fest in San Juan. All of Old San Juan becomes a circus. There is an act in every plaza. It is hard to compete without amplification. I don't like backing tracks either. I might note here that I am not a dazzling singer and ukulele player. I always think of myself as not being great, just good enough. I just really like busking.
 
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We generally don't have any buskers around here.

There's been a guy in the back of the wallyworld parking lot late at night a couple of times playing sax. Something soft and jazzy. He was pretty good and I wasn't offended.

Then once or twice I saw a kid in the median that might've been a marching band dropout spouting a couple of rifs on his trumbone. It was a little funny, sad, annoying.

Seen a couple of really good buskers amped up on utube.
 
When I was in Taipei, I decided to practice on my new ukulele at a little park. I tried to sit in a place without foot traffic so I wouldn’t bother anybody. I was tinkering around and when I looked up a couple people had stopped to listen to me! :p I’m not going to say I was bad...I was terrible. I tried to politely shoo them away, I don’t speak Chinese. I was able to say I was Boo How—No Good.
 
I have to agree, it depends upon the venue. Location, other buskers, repertoire all affect what I'm wiling to listen to. Outside a pub vs. in a large outdoor park. Folk music vs. rock 'n' roll. Singing and playing vs. only-instrument. Solo vs. duo, trio etc.

I don't want to have walk through a wall of sound to enter a store or pub. I also don't want to have to strain to hear a performer playing to a crowd with an audience 5 deep in a park. There all kinds of permutations in between.

I usually enjoy solo players on the subway platforms. Even if they are not experienced and polished performers.
 
Kimosabe said:
Louis Armstrong busked as a child.
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I did not know that! Trumpet was my first instrument, when I was a kid back in the early sixties, and I was crazy about Louis Armstrong. He always seemed like such a cool guy and a genuinely nice person. I don't want to get too far afield here, but I would say it's a fair bet that Louis had to deal with a significant amount of prejudice growing up, and yet he never seemed bitter about it. Your very brief post, Kimosabe, has inspired me to find a good book about Louis and learn more about him.
 
Bill Sheehan said:
I did not know that! Trumpet was my first instrument, when I was a kid back in the early sixties, and I was crazy about Louis Armstrong. He always seemed like such a cool guy and a genuinely nice person. I don't want to get too far afield here, but I would say it's a fair bet that Louis had to deal with a significant amount of prejudice growing up, and yet he never seemed bitter about it. Your very brief post, Kimosabe, has inspired me to find a good book about Louis and learn more about him.
Click to expand...

The first few episodes of the Ken Burns Jazz video series does a great job of showing Louis Armstrong's early life from New Orleans to Chicago to New York.
 
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