Thank you Ncorners for the feedback it's a great insight into an integral part of the show.

Did you enjoy the Andrea Bocelli and Katerine Jenkins song 'Time to say goodbye' on Saturday? It seemed the highlight of the evening and it's such a shame we do not hear a wider variety of music rather than the usual various pop artists.

Are there any songs you would love to perform on SCD?

Most respect to you and your team. Thanks also for taking time to answer the questions!

Thanks and all the best on Saturday!

This thread needs to be bumped at regular intervals throughout the day in order that all members have the opportunity the read Ncorners insight into the amazing job the band do with so little rehearsal time....Once again..RESPECT.

Thanks for that Ncorners, there's obviously more of you than we can see on our screens when the camera flashes across you.
I'm glad you've put the record straight, a few seem to think that it's as easy as getting up and singing Karaoke in a pub after a few pints.

Let's hope instead of the usual "guest artists" featured for the pro dance, they can for once let the band and the singers do a number under the spotlight

NCorners...thank you so much for the insights. Please pass on our respect and admiration to the band and the singers (especially the cute new singer on screen left)

I'm gonna be looking out for you on Saturday now, especially the hat!

I did not realise how little rehearsal time the band had, I am really impressed. I've always liked the "live" sound anyway but now I'm going to like it even more knowing about the background etc.
I wish they would showcase the band & singers, especially as now we know it tends to be the same group every year.
On DWTS Gloria Estefan could not turn up on the results show a couple of weeks ago & one of the singers had to step in & do a solo with apparently little notice & she was great.
It would be nice if our singers could do a solo song each, with the dancers nearer the end. They could do a little VT "a day of the life of" on the Thurs (Fri they'll be too busy) on ITT so we get to know them a bit & then they do their spot on the Sun SCD.
I'd much prefer that than some plonker celeb who obviously has n't even watched the previous shows/series coming in to flog their book/tour/tv show!

Can I echo a request that it takes two interviews Dave Archer about the musical set up.

Just love the fact that we get live music on a Saturday and Sunday night.

The DWTS results show is a bit like ITT, in that they can do extended features about things.

I thought the feature they did about the music/band a couple of weeks ago was one of the most interesting features that they've done.

I was surprised that the music is pre-selected with apparently no input from the couples (I'd always thought it was chosen by the couples - I remember Louisa Lytton seeming to make a poor samba choice - just because she like the track).

And I was very surprised by the impossibly short timescales that everyone was working to.


I thought that was terrific too.

[quote=Ncorners;18892411]To answer a couple of your questions.


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 staff.



So the couples do choose.

The pros choose on SCD in advance, with the approval of the BBC producers, but on DWTS it is the Band Leader who gives out the CDs at the end of the Results Show for the following week, and it seems to be pot luck who gets what!

That would explain why the band are sooooo much better on DWTS. Sorry correction not the band, the band are good on both however the singers on DWTS are so superior compared to ours, I would prefer sometime on SCD they would play the original....

Ncomers, I've only just seen that we have a genuine band member posting on this thread. Fantastic

Can please ask a few more questions? Were there really bagpipes there on Saturday or was it "electronic"?

If you don't get the music until the Saturday, do the dancers only have the original record to practice to all week? Considering that the songs are all cut down to 90 seconds, I was assuming that some sort of arrangement was recorded earlier, for the dancers to work with.

Do the singers ever look a bit worried - i.e. like on Saturday when it was a Michael Jackson song?

Thank you so much Ncorners for all your fascinating info in this thread ,i'm afraid i've only come across it today but in my defence i tend to have hectic weeks in the real world and then escapist weekend's in the SCD world.

Just to pick up the point about the MD doing the arrangement's..........how far in advance will he get the music from the pro dancers ?? and is it the first time on a Saturday when you rehearse with the dancers that the couples have heard that arrangement.??

Are you also allowed to tell us the name of the male singer ?? who looks like Andy Abraham,i think he is brilliant.

P.S,i'm going to keep an eye out for you now on the result's show

ditto. I would LOVE to see more of the professionals.
Also i wish Claudia would have some of the professionals in that have left the comp like karen and vincent in to discuss training rather then it always being Len, Arlene and Craig.

This question sort of follows on from that.......do the pro's themselves give the MD a 90 secs track for him to arrange (meaning they have cut it down and mixed the original song themselves) or do they give him eg a 3-4min track and say "i want that bit,that bit and that bit".

Thanks again Ncorners

[05 November 2007]

Coming up on Strictly... Behind the scenes, we'll be talking to the Strictly Musical Director, Dave Arch and his fantastic singers.

Do you have a question you'd like to put to them?

Post it over on the message boards and stay tuned for more Behind the scenes action!

from the BBC SCD website
Last edited by Stella Street : 11-11-2007 at 20:02

The singer's name is Tommy Blaize, A great friend and amazing singer.
Yes, we had one piper last week.
The dancers work with the original recording that is cut to the right lengths by the musical associate and Dave arranges it for the band from that. This is a very difficult thing to do as you must remember a lot of the tracks we do are taken from albums that take weeks/months or in some cases years to make and we play these live. No over dubs or double tracking. We run a click, whenever possible, to make sure that we play every song the right tempo. If a tempo changes it is because it was asked for. The dancers hear it for the first time when we play it for the first time on the saturday.
Dave works a week in advance, So after the Saturday he starts working on the following show on the Sunday, busy boy a. Changes do happen during the week so he has his work cut out.

I hope this is answers some of your questions or is of some interest.
Again thank you for the positive remarks.
Best

NCorners, fabulous to hear from you again. It's great to hear all the news from the "pit"

One quick question. Penny remarked that they'd asked for her last dance to be a slower tempo, but it didn't happen. Was that Dave's decision not to slow it down or the producers?

I think the singers get a really hard time on here. What are they being compared with? I can't think of another team that has to sing such a range of songs live every week. It's like slating a repertory company for not being like the cast of a West End production.

Thank you again,Ncorners........i find it all your info fascinating

As for the part that i have highlighted,when does the musical associate start cutting the original recordings to the right lengths ??
I'm assuming it's months before the actual training starts when the pro's submit the music..........and do the pro's tell the musical associate exactly which bits of the original recording they want ??

To the Band and Singers on DWTS - the equivalent show in America.

Though I'm sure ABC gives them far more rehearsal time than the BBC does, and ofcourse here the Pros can submit choices of music, rather than being given them by the Band Leader.

I submitted a question to Dave Arch on the BBC site, hopefully they'll use it.

Thanks again NCorners for coming on the forum, it's really great to hear from you, I think Arranging music is one of the most difficult and underrated skills, especially at only a week's notice. But good that the BBC allows the pro dancers to have most of the input into choosing the music that their celebs dance to.

Please give our best to Tommy Blaize - he's wonderful, and has alot of fans!

This wants bumping up to this year!!

Excellent info re the band and music

JJ

Agreed. Thanks to Ncorners for the info, and to Quizmike for pointing out this thread earlier today.


EDIT: I'd also like to backup the original request for ITT to feature more info on this section of the show. A week may be OTT, but I'm sure one or two VTs would be of interest.

Could be an alternative to putting animal noises over shots of the dancers pulling faces? Just a thought...