Ollie tunmer - drums & percussion

As the leader, or ‘mestre’ of the band, you have the overall responsibility of how the music sounds, how the band looks as it performs, and how enjoyable the experience is for the band and audience alike.

You will develop a mestreing style, which will involve the ways of communicating to the band. This can vary depending on the confidence and experience of the band as a whole and how reliant they are on you for the structure of any given piece. You could choose simply to count in and leave the band to play a prearranged and rehearsed structure. It may be more beneficial to be permanently at the front giving calls as you go, possibly resulting in a different version of a piece each time you play it. Try different methods out to see what works best for the band.

Band set up

You will need to decide on how the band is physically arranged. There are many factors to consider here –
- Producing the most balanced sound
- Being able to see and by seen by everyone in the band
- Playing confidence can be gained from having each instrumental section grouped together – bands are often arranged with surdos at the back, sections of caixas and repeniques in the middle and then lines of hand percussion in their sections at the front. This, however, dictates a certain sound balance.
- Allowing the audience to see everyone in the band.
- A particular musical style might place musical or visual emphasis on a certain section.

Using a circle formation during rehearsals can be beneficial as it allows everyone to see everyone else – this can produce good communication and confidence.

Calling signals

There are a variety of different ways of communicating to the band. Mestres in Brazil uses hand signals and whistles. However you choose to communicate try to stick to it. A band’s confidence will often be affected if the communication from the mestre is vague. My preferred method is this –
 
- Whistle to get the band’s attention and signal the break you want with your hand using a different signal for each break.
- Cue the break by whistling and signalling the four beats of the bar before the break e.g a break on the 4th bar of a pattern will need to be counted in on the 3rd bar.

You’ll need to decide exactly where the band should stop playing the main groove before playing a break – on the last ‘a’ beat? Should everyone play the ‘1’ of the break? As long as you and the band all know, it’s your choice.

Using a stop for four beats is a useful tool for when the band is learning a new piece or groove as it gives a pause to gather collective thoughts before starting again.

It can be useful to design signals to address each section of the band. Signals can be mimes of playing the instrument involved or totally unrelated signals that are agreed upon by you and the band – clarity is the key. Using this you could, for example, get one section to stop or play a break while the rest of the band carry on with the main groove.

Remember that breaks can last longer than a bar but as most music generally works in cycles of four (having a section that last 3 or 5 bars may feel rather awkward), be sure to count in accurately– if you have a two bar break that covers bars three and four of a four bar cycle you will need to count in on bar two.

Try bringing in one and two bar breaks in at different points in a cycle.
e.g - to play a 1 bar break on bar 2 of a 4 bar groove
 - count in on bar 1
 - they’d play the break on bar 2
 - carry on with bars three and four of the groove, not start the groove again. Experiment with this; it may produce some pleasantly surprising musical results.
 
It is important that you allow time for the music to grow naturally- be sure to give the band time to settle on a groove rather than calling break after break. It also looks better in performance if a band looks like they’re getting into a piece rather than just staring at the mestre waiting for the next call.

Now try-
C+R breaks

- Devise a series of C+Rs with the band whereby the band, or sections of the band, respond to specific calls with specific different responses.
- Keep part of the band playing a groove and play a C+R over the top with the rest of the band.
- Try using C+R to vary the tempo. If the band is playing at a fast tempo bring in a slower call so that the band respond and carry on the groove at the new slower tempo. Try increasing the tempo using the same method

However you do it, using C+R can be a great exercise and a nice ‘break’ during a piece.

 - Vary the texture (which sections are playing). This is great as an exercise as well as part of a piece, as it can highlight how different patterns fit together, which aids the understanding of the patterns involved.