I know I asked before a long time ago, but I'll ask again.

On ITT - Can't we follow the rehearsals, music choice and so on for the band and singers for a week so that we get to see what they have to do in advance of Saturdays? Or do they just turn up and "step up to the mike" ?

NW

yea I would like to see the band, also I would like to see more on the pro dancers, not just the celebs

I would too!

One thing we're always discussing is the music choices, so I'd love to see how the selections are chosen for which dance, and the band and singers rehearsing, that would be fab!

Less about the celebs - those on the show and guests - and more about SCD the show and the people behind the scenes!

....who's that fat guy sitting behind the bandleader... he is there in the shadows every week!... beard, moustache, pork pie hat.... looks like one half of a blues brothers tribute act .....

Well they definitely don`t just turn up on Saturday.......They`ll have 12 celeb songs to rehears plus at least one piece for the pro dance and they will probably back up the quest performer.The band seem to come in for a lot of stick on this forum(well they did last year) but I think they do a fantastic job......and lets not forget it`s all live so no chance for the music to be electronically perfected prior to broadcast.......as is done for so called Live music DVDs or CDs. I wonder how much the BBC pay them as they seem to pay every other professional on the show a pittance.

its not much help but... they probably get agreed 'standard union rates'.. whatever that is.. probably in the 'mid hundreds' per person per week. they do a fantastic job!.. ... they probably know nearly all the songs in the back of their minds...then they get given the sheet music for their particular insturment..and then they set about rehearsing in time for the show ... 12 songs perfected in 5/6 days ..awesome !

I'd be all for seeing more about the how the band put things together and the music. I don't think they've ever featured the band only the singers.
Think it'd be a damn sight more interesting than a day in the life of CRH from last series.

A day in the life of the band would be great...so would another SCD CD, come to that.

If the band are on Musician's Union rates they won't be hugely well paid but probably better than a lot of other musicians. Which reminds me, I need to renew my membership!

They used to have a short feature in the SCD website about the singers last year. It would be nice to feature them in ITT.

We did see the singers in the ITT studio in series 3, I think it was, or series 2. They sang live.

Here's a good view of them in SCD-O's pic from tonight's show.

http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p...0-18-07018.jpg

Hi all, I thought i'd drop in to let you know what happens from the bands side of things. We get to the studios for around 1.30pm. We see the music for he first time then, we then run the songs to make sure there are no wrong notes etc, while we do this the dancers do there routines with us for the first time, as you can imagine its a mad day and everyone, all the departments are working at the same time to get things ready, sound, lights, cameras etc, So the dancers get at least a couple of run throughs with us before we go live.
The day is full on for everyone on the show, but also alot of fun. We all get caught up in the show and want every one of the celebs to do well, we all boo and hiss the judges when we don't agree with them.

I hope this may be of some interest to you all.
And as the great Brucie and tess say.......Keeeeeep dancing.

By the way Geoff, i'm the fat guy in the hat! I also play Bass.

Best wishes

LOL! Thanks for posting, and telling us about your day on Strictly. Great to hear about it.

Your very welcome. As i said we don't see the music at all until the day. Wish we did. It's all done in around 4 hours.
Any other questions about the band i'll be happy to help.
Best

Thanks for dropping by, Ncorners, and thanks for all the lovely music on the show! Have a question about the singers - I notice they sing the songs lwithout any obvious autocue-type thing but with up to 12 songs, surely they must have the lyrics taped somewhere? And I'm sure unlike you, they have more than a few hours to learn the songs!

Oh my God..........Respect.(bows head).. This thread needs to be bumbed up the board as I`am sure many members are unaware that you manage to pull it off with only 4 hours of practice......True professionals. I always thought the band did a fantastic job and now I think some of your critics owe you all an apology.....and I`am sure they`ll gladly give it. I have to ask though..Why don`t you have more time to rehearse ?

Can I ask who actually chooses the music for the contestants? I'm sure you've heard how controversial some of the choices are, here's a great article from the Telegraph last year if you haven't.

Is there a dictat from above that pop tunes have to be used and more traditional music shouldn't be?

Did you enjoy playing the authentic Astor Piazolla Tango music for Erin & Willie last week? I thought it was fabulous!!

Thanks in advance for your answers and for being so kind to post on the forum. I do agree with you and sympathize that to learn so many songs in 4 hours is hardly ideal, and I feel a bit rotten now having criticised the band and singers sometimes....

I've mentioned elsewhere that the band probably don't get a lot of rehearsal time. I accused the BBC as being "penny pinching" for this.


Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

The "band" ain't a band, it's a number of session musicians possibly chosen by the musical director, brought together for this programme. They've been given a bit of stick each year by some, but every time they improve week by week.
They can't be compared with the "big bands" of yesteryear as those were playing pretty much the same repertoire night after night and there were more of 'em.

The tunes will probably be chosen by the BBC production department, (or maybe a donkey chooses some). Don't forget the BBC want to "engage" with the younger generations, to boost ratings, that's why there's some naff tunes selected.

The key selected for each piece will have to be suitable for the individual singers. I've noticed quite a few different keys used each week. The singers get a bit of stick, but some of the tunes used (usually the naff ones) were originally written for specific artists whose range can cope with them. You'd have to be a "vocal athlete" to sing some.
Sinatra had a comfortable range of only about an octave and a half and look at the wonderful tunes he sang which could be used for ballroom.
At the other end of the scale, Irving Berlin said he wrote a lot of "show tunes" for Ethel Merman "around her best three notes." The human voice can't cope well with three octaves as most musical instruments can.


The MD will usually be responsible to write out the arrangements for each individual instrument, though these days much can be done on a computer. I don't know if he gets help with this, they can't use stock arrangements every time because the music is usually shorter in length to accommodate all the dances.
They can't be considered a "big band" there aren't enough of them from what I can see of them hidden in the shadows. So they do very well.

I'd much rather they were brought into the light as was the band on the old "Come Dancing" programme which Ray McVay led for ten years. (he's now "Glen Miller").

I think the band makes the show and I wish they were allowed to play more suitable tunes for dancing than things like Eleanor Rigby.

This thread deserves to be bumped...... Check out posts 12+14

To answer a couple of your questions.

The singers, who i think do an amazing job, have a music stand each in front of them, you may see the eyes dart down every now and again. Also they get mp3's during the week and get together on Saturday mornings to go through the harmony's. They sing them for the first time with us as we rehearse. Incredible stuff.
The pro dancers choose the music but of course like everything to do with the show it has to be signed off by the production team.
I did love playing the Tango music last week, although when i came to hear it on Sunday the accordion was very quite.
One of the great things about SCD is we get to play so many different styles of music.
Dave, the MD, does hand pick all the musicians and does all the arrangements, when his finished he sends them to a copyist who turns the scores into the parts we get on the stands on Saturday.
We have a core band of 3 Trumpets, 2 Bones, 3 Saxes, Perc, Kit, 2 Guitars, Bass, Pno, keyboards, 4 Singers and of course Dave Arch. We also have a couple of floating chairs for when strings, harmonica, accordion or any other kind of instrument is called for. A big band in the traditional sense, 5 Trumpets, 4 bones, 5 Saxes and 4 rhythm would not be able to cope with the different style of music. But when it's big band time the floating chairs comes into play, extra Brass and woodwind etc. Dave has to arrange everything to work with the set up we have that week. (I love a swing shuffle, best groove known to man)
I would like to add, we are very much a band, we have been playing together for years now on all kind of studios, tv and live gigs, in one form or another. I am very proud of being a sesstion/studio musician.
Thanks for your support it really does make it worth while.

Thank you for that Ncorners. We are so grateful to have any insite into what happens to put the show together.

I totally respect everything you do, session musicians/singers don't get enough praise for their talents/skills in the music world, and lets be honest you have to be top of the league to do what you all do!! I think your all amazing and wondered if you could post something about yourselves over on the message board on strictly's home page, cos quite frankly they have'nt got a clue!!! and your all getting quite a slagging!!

And do so brilliantly in my opinion!! The range on last week's show was stunning. I know some people complain about some of the more 'unusual' choices, but so long as the dance works I don't mind at all. (For what it's worth I thought Karen's Eleanor Rigby tango last year worked well; it was interesting to get a new take on a familiar song so to speak, and (obviously) the string players did an ace job of recreating the Beatles record.


Hear hear! My brother is a full time jazz double bassist, and he plays in a six-piece jazz band (bizarrely they've featured on Songs of Praise twice - don't ask!) as well as having his own trio (Humprey Lyttleton played their CD on his Radio 2 show). The constant playing means that they do work out their own arrangements of pieces which evolve as they play them frequently, but I'm always amazed at the ability to play new material with musicians they've never played with before and it sounds like they've rehearsed it for ages! The trio played a gig with Tim Garland guesting on sax recently, and they played some new songs for the first time actually on the stage at the gig with no rehearsal at all, yet they sounded fantastic. Similarly, Dave Arch's band continue to impress me each Saturday!

THANK YOU so much for your answers! Fascinating to hear and so kind of you to give us an insight into the behind the scenes preparations for our fave show!

I'm really looking forward to this week's music, which was announced on the website. It's American Smooth week, so we have some lovely classics and standards to look forward to, like Top Hat, White Tie & Tails, YAY for a touch of Fred Astaire!

Wishing you Good Luck for Saturday, give my best to all the lads and lasses, and a special hello to the tall chap who sings so smoothly, don't know his name but he's brill.

Thanks for this, Ncorners - I'm just as amazed and impressed by what you do as I am by the pro dancers and it's a shame there isn't a segment, perhaps when there are fewer couples, where we get to "meet" the band and singers. I think this was done at least once in DWTS. In fact, I'm going to email the Beeb about this!

Best of luck for saturday - will look out for you!