Adapted from an article in Early Music America 2(2), 1996.
George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, adapted.
It all began a decade ago in a sweep of syncronicity that occasionally overtakes us. A Friday morning lecture at Imperial College was followed by a furtive exit, a trip to the Early Music Shop, and the acquisition of a new alto recorder. Saturday afternoon found the two new friends at King's Cross Station waiting for a train to Sevenage, the environs of Smith-Kline's Research labs at "The Frith"- a unique lab in an old manor house complete with resident ghost and a 300 year old arboretum. But our informant had mangled the train schedule, and there were 90 minutes to wait. The July day was warm, the station hot and noisy, and the pillars at the front inviting. Setting down my carry-on luggage with its removable back-pack straps, and spreading my coat out on the sidewalk at my feet, I tootled away on well remembered Baroque pieces. Enthusiasm waned as the temperature rose, and a segue to the Blues began. The music became intoxicating, and I returned to awareness to find a few coins thrown onto my coat. Fascinating -- the hotter the music, the greater the shower of coins. Before the train left I was richer by some £20, and I had become a busker.
The name perhaps derives from the boots that certain actors wore that distinguished their role in early plays. Buskers and busking is part of the European culture, and has found a home in some American cities. It's fun for the player and the audience, and it has some unique rewards. Since that first time you might have found me in the main pedestrian mall in central Frankfurt, along the Museum Mile in Bonn, in the Freie Strasse in Basel and the rue de L'Aspic in Nimes, or all over the Brussels' streets during the Jazz Festival weekend.
For a professional who earns his bread by lecturing to audiences that know his work, the butter is busking -- an anonymous activity whose success depends solely on pleasing an audience that doesn't know who you are, and doesn't care. The listeners are rekindling the lost days of town-fairs and -squares where jugglers and musicians performed, and competed, for a few proffered coins. For a time you can escape your normal identity, and join a free, festive crowd!
It is an environment quite different from your usual consort. Sometimes a license is needed. Certainly respect the sound radius of other buskers, particularly if you don't speak the local language well. Don't try to compete at close distances with someone who is technically superior or who has a repertoire that is more attractive. It's essential to match the wants and needs of the audience, not just play your own preferences. Older audiences will enjoy well known Baroque pieces, but younger audiences may require the Blues, Jazz, or something even harder. Old favorites go well, and songs from the turn of the Century bring back memories to certain age groups, and can keep your audience from drifting away. That is the key; when the audience starts to fidgit, that's the time to switch it.
Selecting a venue is an art. It must be legal, you have to be able to assemble a crowd without blocking traffic, and you have to be heard. The recorder doesn't have much dynamic range, and its sound level is low compared to a full piano-accordion. Find a good hard surfaced backdrop, or, even better, a small shallow alcove that can help with acoustic projection. Be patient when you start, it takes a while to get an audience to stop, look and listen. Saturdays are the best time, when folks are out walking and relaxing. Subway tunnels are acoustically interesting, but the stream of people have other things on their mind. Outdoor pedestrian malls, nearby museums and cultural centers, or train stations where people have to wait are all good. You'll be sharing your audience with many other interesting artists. Accordionists performing Bach organ music, flautists marching to military music with a tape accompaniment, and violinists switching from classics to czardas.
Talking tactfully with other performers is an educational experience- frustrated music students, ardent amateurs, a surprising number of professionals, and often the unique eccentric. Many augment their living this way, and you are the stranger. Respect, diplomacy, and clear conveyance of a common interest will open new doors. You and the audience will have fun in music together. You have the unique experience of carrying away a satisfaction that is yours alone.
Ray Dessy
Chemistry Department 0212
Virginia Tech.
Blacksburg, VA 24061
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