SELECTING THE RIGHT SIZE OF BAND

This page provides useful information to assist you
in selecting the right size of band for your event.

"The SIZE (number of musicians) of the band
has very little to do with the volume of the band,
nor the amount of space needed
or the number of people in attendance."
- Bill Sargent

SIZE has nothing to do with VOLUME.

Jimi Hendrix had 3 musicians in his band and
could blow the windows out of any auditorium in the country.
3 musicians.

In Milwaukee, in our big concert hall,
the "band" could have as many as 72 musicians in it . . .
and if you sat in the balcony and sneezed at the wrong time in the music,
everyone in the hall would hear you.
72 musicians.

Back to the Top

SIZE has nothing to do with SPACE.

Our Big Band has played in places only intended for 3 or 4 musicians.

Our big bands have the same minimum depth requirements and
only require about 4 more feet of minimum space, width-wise, than our small bands.

(And folks usually don't use that extra 4 feet saved for
anything useful like another guest table.)

Back to the Top

SIZE has nothing to do with NUMBER OF GUESTS in attendance.

OK, so you aren't having a larger event . . . a select few guests . . .
but you still like to hear great stuff . . .
and your guests have excellent tastes also . . .
REMEMBER - it is the music you HEAR that you are hiring a band for . . .
and what you HEAR or your guests HEAR
does NOT change due to the number of folks who are there.

Back to the Top

HEAR & SEE THE DIFFERENCE

The bigger the band -
the more musical choices and variety available to make things more interesting . . .
more "voices" for the ear to listen to during the evening,
a male vocalist, a female vocalist, a piano, a trumpet, etc. . . . . .
and can provide a higher quality of experience.

When a smaller band "imitating" a BIG band plays "In The Mood",
it sounds like a small band playing "In The Mood".

When a BIG band plays "In The Mood", it sounds like "In The Mood".

This is due to the fact that in many cases, it is the "arrangement" for a larger band that is in and of itself the "HIT" that everyone is accustomed to hearing.

The bigger the band, the more "arrangements" there are available to play.

Back to the Top

TO SUM IT UP . . .

REMEMBER, you band is your "INSURANCE POLICY" on your event.
It is the ONE thing that will, in many cases, make or break the party.

And it is the one thing folks remember the most, for the longest time . . .
THE BAND.

If someone were making choices based on budget, I have a couple of observations:

You could get married at the Justice of the Peace at the County Courthouse,
and you'd still be married.

You could wear a nice suit and dress,
and you'd still look great!

You could send out invitations on the back of postcards,
and your friends would still show up.

You could pass out disposable cameras to your guests,
and you'd still have great memories.

The flowers? Well, there are flowers, and then there are flowers . . .
and some are more expensive than others . . . and they look great . . .
but they don't contribute anything functional to
your celebrations other than atmosphere.

People aren't going to complain about the food.
For them, it's a free meal and they've been hanging out all day.
(Did you ever notice that most folks can't remember
what they had to eat last week Tuesday . . .
let along at someone's wedding last year?)

BUT . . . whether or not your family and friends stick around AFTER the meal and actually celebrate in party fashion is ALL dependent on how GOOD the band is.

In my years in this business . . . one of the more foolish errors I have witnessed is for someone planning a wedding . . . spending a ton of money on all the above things . . . then they'll get down to the band (the one thing that makes or breaks the party) and they'll consider hiring an inferior band to "save" themselves a couple of hundred bucks.

Bad economics.
A couple of hundred bucks saved . . .
a multi-thousand dollar party down the tubes. Bad memories.

What I am saying is this . . .

do what you want to do with regards to the band
BECAUSE it is what YOU WANT to do and what you want to HEAR . . .
because it IS one of the MOST important things you will do . . .
past saying "I DO."

Back to the Top

Home

______________________________