Rehearsal Starts At 1400H...

But when is the first note played?

Talk some about your experience with rehearsals. Me? If the rehearsal starts at 1400, the first NOTE is played at 1400, which means everyone is there at least 30 mins earlier depending on the amount of preparation. I'm pretty annoying in that regard, but I take care of all the logistics if I have to (including actually driving my musicians across the country for a festival, lolol.)

Good work ethic for a composer is to often take care of everything that isn't actually playing the music, so it's your job to set up the venue, transport/accommodations if necessary, plus the musical things like have the scores properly printed out (with spares if you're on the way) and all sorts of other junk. Also don't forget to carry on you a decent CV as well as scores of your other music/CDs and cards you can hand out (if you do that.) You never know.

As for the actual setup, I often have the first rehearsal dedicated to questions (technical and artistic) and no actual note is played, so it's pretty chill (and short). I also see if I'm actually able to work with the people I'm going to be working with, since a lot of my stuff requires specific types of personalities (specially the stage work stuff.) From that first meeting we make a rehearsal schedule (if possible, sometimes we can only set the immediate next rehearsal.) I also then explain what exactly we'll be doing next rehearsal, so that people can get an idea what they should prepare (measures, segments, minutes, whatever.)

And then it's pretty much on to the rehearsals themselves, which for my last work lasted 3 hours a piece. The main thing to watch out for is to have a good clear idea of what you need rehearsed when, so it's important to note technical difficulties on the first meeting so that you can fit them into the schedule. If necessary you can also meet in private with individual players to review some sections as to not take time from the rehearsals with everyone.

After you have your thing down and everyone knows what they're doing, there's usually 2 or 3 (depending on the size of the work) rehearsals that are the entire concert played through with no stop, usually with critique at the end of the whole thing. If it's a stage work with costumes and scraggy, this is the time to actually have the whole production setup with costumes and all, as it should be in the actual concert. The critique should lessen as the concert draws near, as last minute corrections only make people nervous and gently caress scraggy up unless they're something massive that needs to be fixed (but then why didn't you fix this earlier??) This is also the moment to look out for and fix any possible last minute issues (where to leave the doublebass on stage during pieces that don't need it?)

After those are done and nobody's fallen into despair and panic, there's the "main" rehearsal before the actual concert. Often the same day if possible. This is more of a warm-up than anything, since by now it's too late to change anything or give corrections. This is also the only rehearsal that SHOULD be at the actual venue of the concert, so you need to pay attention to sound/acoustic issues if there are any and pay attention/tend to the organization of the event if necessary. You don't get much time, sometimes you're lucky to get an hour before the concert itself, so make it count. This means making a plan for your venue rehearsal plus any other things that need fixing. IF you need to take care of costumes you should already be familiar with the place and where people can dress/undress and tend to their makeup, etc etc.

Always always always plan for whatever mishaps can happen and be prepared. Sometimes you need to actually make announcements to the public before the concert due to a problem (the program says there's a piece for cello but the cellist was involved in a bank robbery(!?!?!) and can't come!) and you should be ready to give an explanation that's short and professional.

And then there's the concert and by that point it's out of your hands for the most part and you let people do their jobs.

Anyway, here's a few tips I've found useful to remember during the entire process:

1: Rehearse your applause routines. No seriously, do it. Plan how the musicians need to react, if you're coming on stage or not, etc. It's amazing how many people don't do this.

2: Depending on the professionalism of your musicians, you may not think about things such as your guitarist having extra strings on-hand, or things like that, but you should still keep an eye for possible logistic problems (where to store instruments, etc etc.)

3: If your piece requires specific physical objects or things found only at the actual venue, attempt to schedule as many rehearsals or trips to the venue as possible. Again, seems obvious, but people forget this. Even going there on your own will help you look out for possible problems and so on.

4: Corrections are only worthwhile during the first stage of rehearsals, afterwards either your musicians learned the thing wrong (ugh) or you'll be running the risk of making people nervous the closer to the concert you give corrections. Again, YMMV depending on how good your musicians are.

5: If you're working with costumes/dance/whatever, PLEASE have spares. Have extra cloth for the scraggy that could possibly tear, if not entire replacement costumes if you need to perform again with no chance to buy stuff in between (a festival with daily repeat performances for example.) Also have on hand supplies to repair costumes if you need to, and make sure you have someone who can do it (or learn to do it yourself. I did.)

That's all I can think of from the top of my head, so what are your tactics?

SSC, what kind of piece is this rehearsal sequence you described intended for? Also, isn't the first rehearsal a bit short, considering it is usually a feat to get several musicians in the same room together?

SSC, what kind of piece is this rehearsal sequence you described intended for? Also, isn't the first rehearsal a bit short, considering it is usually a feat to get several musicians in the same room together?

The sequence is just a mashup of my experience organizing both ensemble concerts and performances that involve dance/acting/?? along with music. It's not set in stone either, just a general guideline of how stuff tends to work best for me.

As for the first rehearsal, yeah it's short on purpose. That way I can fit it into people's schedules much easier (most people can spare 30-40 mins, specially if they don't have to play anything) and it helps to have everyone see eachother without instruments to hide behind, which I think helps group cohesion. Exceptions are of course when it's people coming from different cities, etc etc, at which point I often do just meet with them either in private or we skip this part altogether. Sometimes the first rehearsal if everyone has time actually has some reading/whatever, depends on the group/piece.

The whole deal is, if the piece is something that I need to explain and give instructions in person, then naturally that first rehearsal is necessary. If it's just something that uses classical tropes then it can be much shorter or just included in the first proper rehearsal. In opera it's basically the "conception" meeting, where everyone in the ensemble gets to hear what the main gist of the whole thing is, before the real rehearsals start. Also a good chance to show costume designs, etc etc. It's pretty standard for that kind of thing, not so much for "pure" music, which again since it often uses a lot of classical tropes there's not much need to have an entire rehearsal explaining anything.

SSC -

Sounds like you are taking on too much. First off, costume designers should have extra cloth - unless this is purely a concert performance. Then if for some reason you require a scrim, YOU need to talk to the people at the concert hall.

In your first meetings I find a card is sufficient with a link offering samples of a few of your works. I think presenting scores and recordings of other pieces than what is being rehearsed can seem pushy.

Good point about applause and who should come out for what. And when should everyone come out at the end of a work.

Also, yes corrections ONLY after the first rehearsal. With ONE exception, if the performer is doing it one way that sounds better and is not a drastic change, let it be and notate in your score.

Unless you are doing double task of music/dramatic director as well as composer, best to be quieter and quieter with each rehearsal and save commentary for something which is only necessary to say. Be supportive too but do not sound out any qualms which simply will be solved as the musicians rehearse more.

That's my 2 cents.

PS. Oh yeah, rehearsals NEVER start on time. Unless, of course, you are on a tight budget and it is settled that performers will be paid ONLY for the time they are at rehearsals (which means a sign in sheet for times there and not - this will be rather unpopular). Exception - you are dealing with unionized musicians such as an orchestra - in that case better damn well be punctual because they will charge once you are a few minutes over rehearsal time ... and if late, you've just pissed away money for musicians to sit around.

I have to disagree - in my experience even amateur rehearsals should and generally do start the moment they are scheduled to and this tends to be enforced. Several reasons for this, not least bein paid by the hour and rooms being booked by the hour, but also that if the conductor or administrators show a relaxed attitude to timekeeping it can demonstrate a realaxed attitude to the business of making quality music. If the players learn that they can roll up ten minutes late, they will start to arrive later and later and eat more and more into rehearsal time.

If a rehearsal is scheduled for 2pm, the tuning A is taken at 1.57pm and the downbeat is two. Any director worth their salt will have made a schedule for what needs to be looked at in what order at what time, allowing extra for any delays or unforseen problems.

Also, it is not really the composer's responsibility to be in charge of logistics. If the venue has staff, they should do any setting up that falls under their jurisdiction. If not, appoint a stage manager. Musicians should be responsible for bringing their own instruments and accessories (except if the venue has music stands or percussion of their own). All the composer should have to do is write the music and possibly print and prepare the parts.

If there is more than one rehearsal, the first one should start with a read-through. Players like to just get through a work to gauge its length and character, and unless it is very complex, chances are most competent players will sight-read to the end with few or no restarts. After this you can start to rehearse things. One of the comductors at my university simply didn't understand how much he would annoy players by continually stopping and going into tiny details before we had even had a chance to get a feel for the piece. Some directors like to play through the whole piece again in the last rehearsal, but others do not and just go over selected passages before the final performance.

Finally, I always try and get the music to players in advance, and if they are likely to have a poor work ethic I accompany this with a message suggesting what a douche they're going to look like on concert day when they're the only one who hasn't practiced.