Busking can be a good source of income?

Thanks for the link!
Chato & Qamal (the first link) are so good that their expensive sound system was actually sponsed by one of their fans! Their sound system cost up more than 1k and plus plus. It was donated by one nasi lemak boss at Nan Da (Jurong west). They are very nice people... really. Most buskers are nice people i guess. haha
 
Wow, I have always been interested in busking but dont think people will be interested in bass solo performances, might call police instead hehehe :P
 
Stringcast said:
On a good day, i collect more than $150 in less than 6 hours of playing.
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How do you spread your materials over 6 hours?
Most classical pieces will last at most for 3 mins, there are exceptions of course where in some pieces the ends never seem to come, so given each piece plays for 3 mins, in an hour you would need to play 15-20 different pieces. This is on the assumption that you do not repeat any piece that you play.
If you do not repeat anything over the course of 6 hours, the repertoire volume that you must prepare would be staggering to say the least.
Based on the above, I think you would definitely need to repeat the pieces that you play, so how many pieces do you prepare for the 6 hours performance and in what order?

Thanks for the input.
 
Stringcast said:
Chato & Qamal (the first link) are so good that their expensive sound system was actually sponsed by one of their fans!
Click to expand...

Qamal was my band 1st keyboardist in 1988 - and I have worked with both of them on & off ...

Once we even formed a band 2 guys & 2 girls called Guys & olls- at ABBA like set up ..

super nice ppl ... heard that Qamal was sick .. lost touch with them though
 
Morlock said:
in my opinion, a 1 hour performance is enough? 12- 20 songs?
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You need to play for more or less 6 hours as alluded by the originator of this thread in order to bring in decent income. Inferring on the author's input, on a bad day you might get pittance for your 1hr effort. So at the minimum you need to do close to 6 hrs in order to get some income but I am not really interested in the monetary side of it in this discussion, I am more interested to know from his experience how does one spread the performance materials over the course of 6 hours.
 
I know a few buskers .. they saidid that income depends on the number of hours you put in as well as location. Location is prime.

The average guys can score maybe $20-$30 a night if they are lucky

The dude who busk at the Orchard MRT allegedly score alot .... according to my busker friends ....

Busker tend to be very protective of their turf too as it seems the locations they are allowed to busk is stated intheir licence ... remember the police case between buskers trying to get that lucarative orchard mrt spot?
 
Tomo said:
How do you spread your materials over 6 hours?
Most classical pieces will last at most for 3 mins, there are exceptions of course where in some pieces the ends never seem to come, so given each piece plays for 3 mins, in an hour you would need to play 15-20 different pieces. This is on the assumption that you do not repeat any piece that you play.
If you do not repeat anything over the course of 6 hours, the repertoire volume that you must prepare would be staggering to say the least.
Based on the above, I think you would definitely need to repeat the pieces that you play, so how many pieces do you prepare for the 6 hours performance and in what order?

Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

Recuerdos De La Alhambra
Lute Suite no 4 prelude, BWV 1006a
Romance De Amor
Prelude in D JS Bach
La Cathedral 1st movement only
Tango La loveloveloveparsita own version
Sakura Theme & Variations
Prelude in G CP guitar method
Interlude CP guitar method
French Lullaby by David Brandon CP guitar method
Fur Elise (simplified) CP guitar method
Packinton's Pound CP guitar method
Waltz in Em Ferdinand Carulli CP guitar method
Ode to Joy & Theme from symphony no.9 CP guitar method
Winter from the 4 seasons ABRSM Time pieces for guitar
Senhorinha ABRSM Time pieces for guitar
Gran Vals (Parts of it)
La Paloma
Rosita Tarrega
Cavatina
Etude in E minor Tarrega

Take short break between pieces. Sometimes its good to have a short period of silence. Sometimes i sight read very simple ones. Sometimes you just have to lengthen the piece(repeat some parts, take your time for rubato, retardando) and i dont follow in sequence. Some pieces listed here i seldom play also. Have to repeat la... or else only the professionals can busk for 6 hours liao haha.
Don't have to play fantastic... Just enjoy what you're playin can liao. No need to think so much one. Just play only haha
 
fgl said:
Qamal was my band 1st keyboardist in 1988 - and I have worked with both of them on & off ...

Once we even formed a band 2 guys & 2 girls called Guys & olls- at ABBA like set up ..

super nice ppl ... heard that Qamal was sick .. lost touch with them though
Click to expand...

You can pm me for their contact. He's now ok liao but still smoke alot haha. He's memory very limited now. So he look at the chords when he plays.
 
Morlock said:
Wow, I have always been interested in busking but dont think people will be interested in bass solo performances, might call police instead hehehe :P
Click to expand...

Don't worry about police la... They will just come and ask you to pack up and go only. They come only when people call and complain. I also got chased away by police twice because i continue to play after 1030pm at Redhill Mrt haha. They know nothing about NAC licensing one. They just see you have a license but they dunno the license only permit certain places. So you must act like you are doing the right thing at the wrong time then can liao haha
 
Thank you for your reply.
Just curious for Recuerdos, do you need to warm up your tremolo?
When I was still very ambitious in my playing, I used to spend months trying to master this difficult piece. Usually I would need to get through the first passage before it would become somewhat fluid. Anyway I have given up this endeavour a long time ago. Good for you that you could perform the Recuerdos in public, I would never have been able to pull it off if my life had depended on it.
 
Tomo said:
Thank you for your reply.
Just curious for Recuerdos, do you need to warm up your tremolo?
When I was still very ambitious in my playing, I used to spend months trying to master this difficult piece. Usually I would need to get through the first passage before it would become somewhat fluid. Anyway I have given up this endeavour a long time ago. Good for you that you could perform the Recuerdos in public, I would never have been able to pull it off if my life had depended on it.
Click to expand...

I need to warm up for tremolo. Before you play pieces with tremolo, play something that have similiar motion like romance de amor and sakura theme and variations. Sakura contains a small part of tremolo towards the end. If you feel you play badly for the tremolo part, play something else first or simply just drop the song. Another way is to use lubracation. Anything you can find. If you have string conditioner then use that. If you really need to play tremolo at all cost and dun have conditioner, use your tremolo fingers to touch your face. That is wat john williams do at one of his concerts when he have to play tremolo cold.
 
Just to keep the thread up-to-date.
Last busking session outside bukit batok Mrt:
Started playing around 630pm
Ended playing around 11pm
Total playing time: about 4.5 hrs
Received a total of $190. It was a friday night.... 15 Jan
 
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