Read This If You Are An Event-Planning Professional

If you are planning to organize a corporate event or any special event like a birthday or a wedding then you should consider hiring Rossi Music. Also, if you are an events planner or event-planning professional, you can look into that music agency as well. You may even need to hire them for your next event. Though you may have heard about the music outfit because they are well-known and respected in the music agency business. Moreover, they have been in the music industry for over two decades. 

Rossi Music is owned by Rick Rossi, a Grammy-award winning woodwind expert. Rick is equally a specialist of saxophone and he has trained many notable saxophonists. Also, he has performed with a lot of celebrities and successful acts in the music industry. 

One awesome quality of Rossi Music is that when you engage their services for your event, you can leave the equipment logistics to them; from music instruments, high definition cameras for lighting and stage effects, and other equipment that can create a successful musical performance. Rossi Music is a highly-experienced music agency with a track record of fulfilling musical contracts as well as providing extremely entertaining, exciting, and talented music bands. 

Again, Rossi Music is reputable for providing music bookings and management for clients. This simply means that they can help you to reduce the stress and challenges of organizing events. And as you know, delivering successful events planning and management is a daunting task. Proper arrangements and logistics need to be put in place. Music is also an important part of the event that you are planning, so it is recommendable to contract that to a reputable music agency. 

It is equally worthy of note that Rossi Music is behind the success of most themed events and parties. As mentioned earlier, Rossi Music handles stage effects and lightings. In addition to those, Rossi can provide you with the regalia for the theme you want. As a matter of fact, if you are organizing a 1980-themed event, Rossi Music will go the extra mile to provide the 1980 full regalia to create an event exactly as it were in 1980. This is one of the reasons why Rossi Music is different from other music agencies. More so, the outfit has carved a niche for themselves in the industry, so it is extremely difficult for them to disappoint clients now after building a positive image and coming this far. 

Rossi Music is best known for providing live music. Nevertheless, other areas where their specialty lies include the provision of entertainment with various live bands across a wide spectrum of jazz, creating excellent themed events, and the creation of soundtracks for every event. Furthermore, based on the professional and reliable services that Rossi Music provides, they have been able to build trust and loyalty among clients. 

There are so many expenses involved when planning a wedding. From the wedding gown to the cake. From the choice of venue to the entertainment. You want everything to be perfect without a flaw. One of the most important part of wedding is the entertainment. This is why this article gives some important tips for booking your wedding entertainment.

1. Consider your venue

It is either you choose the performers based on your wedding venue or choose a venue to suit the performer. Booking a live band with many musical equipment when the venue is a hall with few outlets may not cut it. In fact, nothing stops you from informing your musicians of the venue you plan to use. That way, they can align their preparation and performance to suit the venue.

2. You and your partner should decide on the kind of music 

While you may leave every other preparation up to your wedding planner, you and your spouse should decide on the kind of music you want. That will determine the caliber of musicians to call. Different people love different kinds of music so you may opt for genres that are generally accepted. Besides, you know many of your invitees and have better idea of the kind of music they like.

3. Entertainment is not only about music

In addition to good music, you can make arrangements for other acts like standup comedy or quick drama, or other interesting performance that will amuse and entertain your guests. Mixing such acts with music is simply awesome.

4. Hire a multitasking band

During the planning of your wedding, a thousand of ideas will be racing through your mind and this makes it a little difficult to stick to your budget. However, one way to cut cost on entertainment is to hire a multitasking band. If you are lucky, one of them will be the MC while another could also double as the DJ so you get a single bill for the three entertainment services.

5. Compare agencies

There are so many agencies and the quality of their services vary as well as their charges. Unfortunately, higher charges do not always lead to better services so you may contact several agencies before making your selection. To get a list of reputable agencies, seek references from friends and family and also do your own research. Compare their terms of service before making your choice.

6. Finalize things with your booking agency

After selecting a booking agency, it is important to discuss with them at length. When they have enough information about what you want and your plans, they will be of better services to you. 

7. Book your wedding entertainment early

Entertainers’ charges are usually higher during summer because that is when most weddings are fixed. You can avoid the period. In addition, it is important to book early to get wider variety of choices. Even if your preferred musician is fully booked, you will still have time to look for an alternative. 

Conclusively, what matters most is early preparation. You can only apply the tips above if you start the preparation for your wedding several months before the D-day. 

Event and meeting coordinators are some of the hardest working people across all industries. These expert planners and communicators are responsible for bringing their client’s vision to life.

Our latest eBook allowed us to dive into the ins and outs of modern event coordination. We discovered a few things that set top #eventprofs apart from the crowd along the way. These are the most crucial event coordinator tips that you were never taught in school.

1. Data Is Your Best Pal

If a decision is not backed by data, it should not be made. Identifying ways to quantify and learn from planning efforts is important. Experiment with NPS measurements and provide surveys that go beyond anecdotes and opinions. Quantifiable metrics can determine that the decisions you are making are having a legitimate effect.

Great data goes beyond having the ability to design and iterate better events every time. You are empowered to negotiate and push back against clients who have ideas that are proven not to work.

2. Creativity is pivotal

Event design requires a certain amount of time and effort. Experience is everything. Remain creative by taking the time to search for inspiration outside of the world of events.

A/V providers, designers and furniture suppliers, and designers are powerful partners to lean on when it comes to the visual appeal of the event. Be deliberate about all design details and challenge them when necessary.

3. Allow Your Inner Anthropologist To Shine

In order to manage events in various cities around the country or world, the planner must have a strong understanding for the culture and people in that city. Planning an event in NYC? You better have a solid understanding of the traffic situation. Consider the demographic makeup of the city and the nature of your target audience, so that serious oversights can be avoided.

Selecting a destination is easy but you will also need to be conscious about the message being sent. Contact to CVB in the region. This gives you the chance to tie the local culture of the community into the themes of your event.

4. Pics or It Did Not Happen

A memorable event is not truly memorable unless the attendees are compelled to post photos, videos and use your event hashtag on social media.

Design the event in a manner that encourages social media interaction. Pop up photo booths are a great choice and you can use the Instagram logo as a call to action.

Everything at the event can serve as a backdrop for a photo. Keep this in mind during event design. Put yourself in the shoes of the attendees and incorporate the visual elements that would get you to stop and take a picture.

5. Make Lists

Anyone who is reading this probably loves thinking in terms of bullet points, action items and checklists.

This may not be the case for those who are involved in these planning processes. Be sure to ask your team to rephrase their tasks in list format. This keeps misunderstandings from potentially taking place. 

6. Grow Your Network and Locate Trustworthy Properties 

Site visits can be time consuming for event planners. They do not always have access to venues or trustworthy contacts in any given city. Vetting various meeting spaces with your own eyes is fine but exploring new human connections is better. They will already have the answers that you need. Find a trustworthy mentor. Connections are everything in this industry so don’t shy away from making introductions.

7. Be As Proactive As Possible 

A role reversal is in order here. You may be accustomed to fulfilling client requests as quickly as possible. However, you will need to be sure to ask your partners to go the extra mile on your behalf as well.

For starters, ask A/V providers to take part in the decision making process. They should participate site visits and may even catch on to certain details that you are overlooking. 

8. Resting Equals Rusting 

Invest in the learning process. You are going to spend a lot of time bringing others together to make connections, educate themselves and celebrate. How are you going to improve the quality of your events?

Learning takes place when we step outside of our comfort zones. Don’t fall back on tactics that have worked in the past. Volunteer with industry organizations. Sign up for trade shows and events that are going to make a difference for you.

9. Going Green

It’s 2019, so do your part and be sure to inquire about sustainable alternatives and green event programs that are available at venues that you are considering. These are huge selling points for any event. Promoting this fact is helpful for appealing to modern audiences.

10. Be A Hero and Think On Your Feet

Experience is the best teacher in this regard. Top modern planners are able to think on their feet. In most instances, the one thing that we did not plan for is the one thing that is going to go awry. 

The best planners can turn disasters into victories. Mitigating risks can be challenging. An accountability partner must serve as your check and balance system – someone who serves as a second pair of eyes on your plans.

The most exciting part of these jobs is the unknown. There is a great deal of that goes into the planning of an event of this nature. Modern meeting plans stay ahead of the game and are able to save the day.

The event coordinator pointers you’ve read today are easily achievable with the proper technology and collaborative tools. These tools and technology will not only save time but also provide the best event experiences by coming together to work as a group. After all, it’s what they do best; bring us together, so that we can achieve greatness. 

What Is A Jazz Band And What Will They Do At My Event?

In addition to providing a refined form of evening entertainment and a perfect backdrop for a night of dancing, Jazz bands also offer the perfect accompaniment to a fun filled reception over drinks. Jazz bands can cover a wide range of music beyond the traditional, with a head bobbing, toe tapping sense of ‘cool’ that stretches far beyond the sort of music provided by a harpist or a string quartet. For an upbeat reception over drinks that truly swings, be sure to take a closer look at our varied selection of Swing Jazz bands below.

On the other hand, jazz performances can also offer a much more sultry and mellow vibe. Those who wish to enjoy a more ethereal, bluesy feel at their next event can also take the time to check out a few of our fantastic cocktail singers and jazz duos, who can bring their own unique brand of sophisticated charm to your proceedings with their spirited Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole renditions.

Jazz is a rather broad term that is designed to cover various incarnations of the form, from jazz blues to Dixieland. Acid jazz, free jazz and modern jazz are also included underneath this umbrella. Because there are so many different styles of jazz to select from, the instrumentation and lineup of our many jazz bands will also come with the same sort of variety.

When it comes to the booking of private events and weddings, these are some of the most popular types of jazz bands:

Traditional Dixieland Jazz bands 

These wandering musicians will typically offer lively Charleston/New Orleans old school jazz rags.

Swing Jazz bands

These bands tend to have a lead vocalist and often play Frank Sinatra, Rat Pack, Jamie Cullem and Michael Bublé.

Jazz Standard bands 

These bands do not offer jazz in the classic sense but take their inspiration from Middle of the Road jazz classics and the Great American Songbook. These bands can be vocal and instrumental.

Pop music in the style of jazz bands

This is a fairly new addition to our roster. Now, our clients can enjoy an awesome selection of quirky and fun bands offering contemporary and classic pop and rock tunes, but with a swing/jazz twist. Perfect for customers who but who want that jazz sound but may not know Fitzgerald from Gershwin!

In most instances, jazz bands for events and parties are comprised of 3-6 members. The most commonly utilized instruments are drums, bass, double bass, guitar, saxophone, plus a singer. To get more for your money, you can hire a jazz trio with a singing pianist.

Jazz bands who are fronted by male vocalists tend to focus on the “Rat Pack” repertoire and are also adept at providing “swing” music and jazz standards. 

Jazz bands who are led by female vocalists will favor play smoother styles, performing songs by the likes of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.

A number of jazz bands also provide cover versions of modern songs from artists such as Norah Jones and Michael Bublé, in addition to other songs currently on the pop charts. 

A musician’s brain is different to that of a non-musician. Making music requires a complex interplay of various abilities which are also reflected in more strongly developed brain structures. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) in Leipzig have recently discovered that these capabilities are embedded in a much more finely-tuned way than previously assumed—and even differ depending on the style of the music: They observed that the brain activity of jazz pianists differs from those of classical pianists, even when playing the same piece of music. This could give insight into the processes which generally take place while making music and which are specific for certain styles.

Keith Jarret, world-famous jazz pianist, once answered in an interview when asked if he would ever be interested in doing a concert where he would play both jazz and classical music: “No, that’s hilarious. […] It’s like a chosen practically impossible thing […] It’s [because of] the circuitry. Your system demands different circuitry for either of those two things.“ Where non-specialists tend to think that it should not be too challenging for a professional musician to switch between styles of music, such as jazz and classical, it is actually not as easy as one would assume, even for people with decades of experience.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) in Leipzig demonstrated that there could be a neuroscientific explanation for this phenomenon: They observed that while playing the piano, different processes occur in jazz and classical pianists’ brains, even when performing the same piece.

“The reason could be due to the different demands these two styles pose on the musicians—be it to skilfully interpret a classical piece or to creatively improvise in jazz. Thereby, different procedures may have established in their brains while playing the piano which makes switching between the styles more difficult”, says Daniela Sammler, neuroscientist at MPI CBS and leader of the current study about the different brain activities in jazz and classical pianists.

One crucial distinction between the two groups of musicians is the way in which they plan movements while playing the piano. Regardless of the style, pianists, in principle, first have to know what they are going to play—meaning the keys they have to press—and, subsequently, how to play—meaning the fingers they should use. It is the weighting of both planning steps which is influenced by the genre of the music.

According to this, classical pianists focus their playing on the second step, the „How“. For them it is about playing pieces perfectly regarding their technique and adding personal expression. Therefore, the choice of fingering is crucial. Jazz pianists, on the other hand, concentrate on the “What”. They are always prepared to improvise and adapt their playing to create unexpected harmonies.

“Indeed, in the jazz pianists we found neural evidence for this flexibility in planning harmonies when playing the piano”, states Roberta Bianco, first author of the study. “When we asked them to play a harmonically unexpected chord within a standard chord progression, their brains started to replan the actions faster than classical pianists. Accordingly, they were better able to react and continue their performance.“ Interestingly, the classical pianists performed better than the others when it came to following unusual fingering. In these cases their brains showed stronger awareness of the fingering, and consequently they made fewer errors while imitating the chord sequence.

The scientists investigated these relations in 30 professional pianists; half of them were specialized in jazz for at least two years, the other half were classically trained. All pianists got to see a hand on a screen which played a sequence of chords on a piano scattered with mistakes in harmonies and fingering. The professional pianists had to imitate this hand and react accordingly to the irregularities while their brain signals were registered with EEG (Electroencephalography) sensors on the head. To ensure that there were no other disturbing signals, for instance acoustic sound, the whole experiment was carried out in silence using a muted piano.

“Through this study, we unravelled how precisely the brain adapts to the demands of our surrounding environment”, says Sammler. It also makes clear that it is not sufficient to just focus on one genre of music if we want to fully understand what happens in the brain when we perform music—as it was done so far by just investigating Western classical music. “To obtain a bigger picture, we have to search for the smallest common denominator of several genres”, Sammler explains. “Similar to research in language: To recognise the universal mechanisms of processing language we also cannot limit our research to German”.

https://www.cbs.mpg.de/brains-of-jazz-and-classical-pianists-work-differently

There’s lots of great answers to the question here, but I would like to add that, it’s the same reason that there are a lot of Rock songs in sharp keys! Why? Because it’s about who is composing the songs. Guitar players generally write rock music and they like to use keys where they have more open strings. It’s simply easier to play with open strings so that’s what they gravitate to. G, E and A which are probably the most common rock keys.

Similarly, the reason jazz is mostly written with flats is because jazz often uses horns and it’s easier to play a horn in flat keys because they are transposing instruments (pitched in Bb and Eb). So, as an example, if a song is written in Concert F (one of the most popular keys), then Bb instruments (like trumpet and tenor sax) are playing in the key of G, and a song in the key of Bb would put a horn in the key of C, etc. Those are easy keys to play for horn players so those are the keys that jazz writers tend to gravitate to especially if they’re writing for horns as well as the tradition of flat keys.

One of the favorite keys of guitarists is E and that puts a Bb horn player in the key of F#. Not at all a friendly key for most horn players. But, even if you’re a horn player and you are forced to play with guitar based bands you will become more adept at playing in sharp keys. There are some horn players which actually PREFER sharp keys especially for blues based songs because the blues scale adds flats to the key.

While some may prefer an ensemble violin rendition due to its unique warmness and mild tone, there are those who would prefer to go solo on the violin because it’s loud and edgy. But in the real sense, it goes beyond these attributes as there are various factors that could influence the type of violin rendition to choose. 

When it comes to rendering instrumental performances, there are various musical presentations that are better suited for ensemble work and some for a soloist. However, not many audiences understand how these work. Solo violinist vs ensemble has been a common debate among many professional musicians for quite a long time. 

Solo violinist vs ensemble, here are some common aspects of playing that these styles are associated with. 

Projection 

Despite being seen as a loud and edgy instrument, playing solo on a violin can project a desirably sweet tone that can sound both intimate and brilliant to a large extent. While some may argue that it depends on who is playing the violin, what actually makes all the difference is the way a violin is played. When it comes to ensemble playing, rather than using an instrument that would project a sound, most instrumentalists will prefer something versatile that is capable of losing itself into the sound of several other violins. 

Technique

Depending on the skill or style of the performer, there are different tones that can be created with the violin. Some folks believe that since it’s only the violinist that can determine how the instrument should sound then there is no such thing as a solo or ensemble violin. For master violin player looking to create a sweet sound, it doesn’t matter how the violin looks. Basically, it all depends on the technique applied to create sounds. 

Blend

Solo violinists do not need to worry much about blending except when accompanied by other instruments. However, it is imperative for ensemble violinists to understand what it means to blend with an orchestra. Without blending, it will be difficult to enjoy an ensemble of violins such as a quartet as there will be conflict in both sounds and tones. For most of the repertoire, it is the blend of expressive sounds that makes an ensemble rendition. 

Balance

Generally, it is difficult for a bad instrument to create a balanced sound. And without proper balance, an ensemble effect cannot be established. A single violin can create a tone of its own without any form of disparity. But it is very easy to recognize some disparities when different violins combined in an ensemble work lack balance. Even when different voices are being created, what matters most is the ability to effectively and practically establish a balanced tone.