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What's the largest event you've worked on?That depends on your definition of large. If you mean number of people in the audience, we've worked for conventions whose guest totals were in the thousands. If large is measuring the complexity of the event, we did a wedding in the summer of 1999 that had four components. The ceremony had an eight piece ensemble with custom arrangements for all the tunes. The cocktail hour featured a vibe/flute/bass trio. Solo piano accompanied dinner, and the dance portion had a ten-piece band with three vocalists. Finally, if large is in respect to the size of the band, we have done events with as many as fifteen pieces in the ensemble. What if I don't need your full 15 piece dance/swing band, or your full 8 piece classical orchestra?We can scale down either ensemble to fit your musical needs. What is the smallest event you've worked on?We have provided two hours of solo piano during dinner for eight. Should I tip musicians?In general, musicians do not expect tips. However, tips are appreciated and graciously accepted when given. You should only do so if you felt overwhelmingly satisfied or impressed with the music. Tipping in the music industry is not an obligatory action as it is in the restaurant industry. That being said, we have a better suggestion for you. If you want to show your appreciation and get a return for your money, consider putting the $20 (or other amount) per musician that you would have given in a tip toward ordering regular meals for the band (i.e., not sandwiches). The musicians will be extremely happy (since it happens so rarely), and because they'll still have more music to play, you'll enjoy the benefits of a band in an exceptionally good mood. Will the musicians be available to start early?That depends. If you have paid for early set-up, then yes. If you have not paid for early set-up, then they might be able to start early, but only if they have finished setting up by then. In either case, you would be billed for that early start time at our overtime rate. Many people make the following mistake. They tell guests to come between 6:30 and 7:30, and then they hire the band to start at 7, figuring most people won't come before then. While that may be true, it still can be awkward if a few people have arrived and the band is just sitting around waiting until 7. There are a couple of solutions to this problem. First, you could have the band members excuse themselves to a separate room until their start time. Or you could arrange in advance for one band member to play at 6:30 for the early arrivals. But if you ask the band to start early, you will be charged overtime. This is a very strict policy because the musicians' union is adamantly against having musicians play outside of their contracted times without compensation. Do you attend the wedding rehearsal?Our price does not include the wedding rehearsal. From our point of view, we are comfortable with performing at the ceremony as long as we know what songs to play and what the cues are to start and stop each song. From the wedding party's point of view, having live music at the rehearsal won't add much value, simply because people almost always make their entrances based on either visual cues or directions from a wedding coordinator. The only times music at the rehearsal would be advised is when the ceremony is very large, the ceremony events are unusual, or the musicians won't be able to see the ceremony from their positions. We bill at our normal labor rates for ceremony rehearsals. You may consider having only one member of the ensemble present for the rehearsal, as a way of saving money. What is an agent, and how are they different from you?Agents are musical contractors who represent or book specific bands. You should be aware that many agencies book the same bands. Gabe Lucas Piano Productions is a music design production company. Gabe leads two ensembles: a 15-piece dance band, and an 8-piece classical orchestra. Gabe plays piano for many though not all events. You cannot book Gabe Lucas Piano Productions through a music agency, nor can you book outside bands through Gabe Lucas Piano Productions. What are the advantages of Gabe Lucas Piano Productions over an agency?We customize our ensemble for every event, based on what each client needs. Whether it's adding trumpets to our string ensemble or additional vocalists to our dance band, we're totally flexible. Say you want a classical duo for your wedding ceremony, with one of the instruments as piano. We can add just about any second instrument: violin, flute, guitar, voice, and more. We will sit down with you and plan the band composition, just as a chef would sit down with you and plan the menu. Because Gabe is involved in the planning stages before the event, as well as being directly responsible for the musicians in the band, clients are assured that no musical details will be overlooked or forgotten. If you work with an agency to book a classical group for your ceremony, a background trio for cocktails, and a dance band for your reception, you will have to interface with multiple band leaders. With Gabe Lucas Piano Productions, you work with one musical director for all ensembles: Gabe Lucas. What are the disadvantages of Gabe Lucas Piano Productions over an agency?Agencies can accommodate most budgets, by offering bands of varying costs. Our prices are fixed and non-negotiable. Prospective clients whose primary concern is minimizing cost should probably contact an agency. Gabe Lucas Piano Productions does offer a variety of music styles. In addition to traditional jazz, swing, rock, and classical, we also have music arrangements for Dixieland, funk, and more. However, there are many types of music we do not offer, such as steel drums, bagpipes, and others. In those circumstances, you will want to call an agency. Do I have to give you a play list beforehand, or can you just take requests?What we prefer to do is to first finalize specific songs for specific moments (e.g., ceremony music and first dance tunes for a wedding). Second, we want to find out whether there are any songs you definitely want (or don't want) to hear. Ideally, this is a short list...perhaps 5 to 15 songs at most. The rest of the music can then be selected spontaneously based on the reaction of the guests. We find it is better to go with the flow than to stick to a preset play list. Please be advised that if you do have certain songs you definitely want to hear, we need to know what they are at least 30 days in advance, so that we have an opportunity to ensure we have an arrangement for the ensemble configuration. We will, however, always try to honor requests that day. Does Gabe play piano for every event?No. Why not?There are many reasons. First, we often have more than one event going on at the same time, especially on Saturday evenings. Second, as important as every event is, larger productions with bigger bands require more on-site supervision than smaller weddings. While we do not "prioritize" or "rank" events, the reality is that a two-hour solo piano cocktail party offers fewer complexities than a ten-piece band for a dinner dance. Third, believe it or not, Gabe sometimes does go on vacation! Who plays piano in Gabe's absence?Gabe has numerous excellent pianists who play when he is not available. If you listen to our demo CD, you will hear many selections for which Gabe does not play the piano. Are these pianists as good as Gabe?Of course! If they weren't, we wouldn't work with them. Think about it...would we risk our reputation on hiring a bad musician? Or look at it this way...they are just as good as all the other musicians who play in our ensemble. You can't hire Gabe to play the saxophone, so he hires excellent musicians to fill that role. Similarly, when you haven't hired Gabe to play the piano, he hires an excellent associate pianist to fill that role, as well. Do I need Gabe to play for my event?Not if your music needs are relatively small and straightforward. Is there a way I can guarantee that Gabe plays piano?Yes. He will tell you when you are booking the event whether he is available. With whom will I work to plan the music details about my event?At every step of the process, you will work directly with Gabe Lucas. Gabe believes that his involvement in the entire music coordination process, from start to finish, is the primary reason for our outstanding reputation of music quality and customer satisfaction. Can I meet with Gabe first to discuss my event?Absolutely. Gabe offers you a free consultation without any obligation. You must first schedule an appointment to meet with Gabe. If you are a wedding client, he will ask you to complete a preliminary questionnaire, so that he may have a better understanding of your needs prior to the consultation. What are the next steps after that?In order for us to send you a contract, we need to finalize the instrumentation, as well as the starting and ending times for all musicians involved. We need this information because we need to know whom to schedule and for exactly how long. Many of our musicians work multiple events per day, so we must know when they need to be available for your event. If you have not come to a final decision on instrumentation, we can put into the initial contract what you do know (e.g., piano with more to be added at a later date). However, once we schedule a musician, we cannot reverse that decision, for that musician will be told to turn down any other gig offers for your times. When is the best time to reach Gabe?Gabe is available Monday through Friday during regular business hours, unless he is out of the office with client appointments. What is the best method to reach Gabe?By far, email is the preferred method of communication. Although Gabe likes initial discussions to be on the phone or face-to-face, he definitely favors email for subsequent communication. Gabe checks email dozens of times throughout the day, and he likes having a written record of past communications, so that no detail falls through the cracks. |
