Communicating About Contra Dance Sound
This blog post provides some tips on how to communicate with sound technicians.
From Jeff Kaufman
A flyer that highlights what goes into playing for a dance in relation to what musicians get paid/dancers pay.
From Sarah Gowan
An article from Brendan Taaffe opening up discussion about money in the contra community, especially in relation to pay for musicians.
From the CDSS News
Road Trip! A Practical Guide for New Touring Bands
This article by David Firestine provides some tips on how to arrange a tour playing dances.
From the CDSS News
How to Play Contra Dance Percussion
Melissa Kacalanos explains how to play percussion for reels and jigs, using Middle Eastern rhythm notation.
How to make your own footboard, including a piezo contact microphone, from Jeff Kaufman.
In this blog post, Jeff Kaufman (Free Raisins) gives research-based suggestions for how to mic a mandolin.
In this blog post, Jeff Kaufman (Free Raisins) explains and gives audio examples of percussive mandolin playing for contra dances.
A series of videos from Jeff Kaufman (Free Raisins) about how he plays mandolin for contra dances.
In this blog post, Jeff Kaufman describes some basics of playing guitar for contra dances.
Thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support.