Grime Scene

I have just been to a Brass Band Concert.

It is the first I have attended since my early teenage years as a Cornet player in a local band, therefore some 40 years ago.

I have many happy memories of those far off days although at such a relatively young age I am still not really sure where I actually played, be it in a competition, at a social event or doing the rounds of traditional band venues which was typically in a Miners Welfare Club somewhere in the English Midlands Coalfields.

I just got on the bus, ate my packed lunch within a few minutes, arrived at a practice room, waited nervously  to go out on the stage, huffed and puffed for a few tunes and then in a state of relief just waited around, feeling hungry, until the other competing bands had done their bit and the results were announced.

All of the above was experienced in a thick, tobacco smoke fug and odour of spilled beer.

The bus ride back was either raucous if we won or had a placing but in our lowly divisional status in the ranks of banding it was usually a hushed silence as if someone had passed away.

The Concert I have just attended was by one of the giants of the scene, formerly in the pre-Thatcherite era synonymous with a Colliery and a thriving community but now just known as Grimethorpe Band.

They were, to those movie goers amongst you, the core of the band in "Brassed Off" from 1996. Just three of that line up are still playing in the Grimethorpe Band of today.

More than that however they have an illustrious list of honours , most recently British Open Champions in 2015.

What struck me about the concert was that the seating plan of the different sections of instruments had not varied at all since my own playing days.

I hadn't really given much thought, back in the day, to where I had to sit in my role as a Third Cornet whether on the tuesday practice night in a room above a public house or at the competitions or concerts.

I was always seated on the left side of the Conductor, on the back row. In that my fellow Third tier players were a similar age to myself I suppose that I had accepted that they had just put us together on ability or just so that we had something in common and would get on with each other.

The trombone section was on the far right side of the seating arrangement which again I attributed to their need for a bit of space for the physical rigours or playing such an awkward instrument.

In between were the best cornet players who had an uninterrupted eye contact with the Conductor which I understood to be important for a musical score to be played properly.

Adjacent to them were the tenor and baritone horns, rather, to my mind, a small and delicate instrument and in our band the players were all women. They had a strong esprit de corps amongst them but understandable in a male dominated and, in those days, rather politically incorrect environment. They could give verbally as good as they got and were quite intimidating to us male youngsters but overall there was a respect for their musical skills. I always felt sorry for the flugel horn player, if male, who was always in the midst of this section. The euphoniums made up that row.

In the centre and rear rows were the huge booming basses or tubas. They took a lot of lung power and it must have been thirsty work as the players, the most senior and long serving band members always had a stack of pint glasses in various stages of activity at their feet. It was a honour on us youngsters to act as runner to and from the lounge bar to replenish the liquid refreshment of our heroes.

Of course there are underlying and very compelling reasons for the traditional seating plan of a brass band, typical comprising 27 to 29 members. These are very much embedded in the lores of banding. It is to do with the interaction of the different sections of instruments and how they combine acoustically in an auditorium and practicality. For example, the principal cornet and solo euphonium
face each other as they are often in melodic duet. The four main soloists all sit nearest the audience so that it is easier to perform and take the accolades. Flugel and solo horn also often play together and so it is logical that they sit together. The heavy basses, at the back, are able to project their sound in to the overall band giving better balance and tone. For all of their presence and uummpphh they are actually quite a weak output way down on the sound spectrum.

As for the Grimethorpe Band performance, well, it was masterful and emotional. Where they sat was, frankly, not important.