Category Archives: Rehearsal Reports

2026 Rehearsal Report 03

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Portland Megaband 2026
Rehearsal Report #3
February 1, 2026
Announcements:
Facts about Megaband:
  • Venues: Six different venues (Multnomah Arts Center, St Andrews Church, Scottish Rite, Smith Ballroom, Tiffany Center, Oaks Park), plus Folklife and Zoom gig.
  • Dancers: Conservative estimate is 10,000 plus another 6000 if you count Folklife crowds.
Advance Admission is now live on the MB web site. Band members do NOT need to purchase admission. Family, friends, everyone else does. Checks made out to PCDC. You’ll be able to get advance admission for people next week at rehearsal. The MB flier has a QR code you can use to reach the proper website (https://www.portlandmegaband.com .
Swag: Mug and Tote Bag procurement and sales will be managed by Norman, who stood up. Sign-up sheet on stage to order MB swag. Contact Norman at designedforlife@me.com if you would like to order swag and didn’t sign the sheet.
T-Shirt signups next week. Samples and design will be here at next rehearsal.
After Party: Signup for that will begin next week as well. See Lori, who heroically stood up with her very bad knee).
Mike Voss: Home and doing much better. Thanks for all your good wishes.
Doughboy Rag / Old Joe
Doughboy: Played very slowly with swing emphasized. Keep practicing that at home. Bar A8, lift of that first half note, shorten it a bit. In A2 bars 5-6, pay attention to the ties
– Switch Dough to Joe: Pop off that last G half note, leave a hole and land solidly and with alacrity on Joe. Be careful not to drag the tempo at the switch.
– Ending: Add a tag onto the end of the tune. No ritard. In the tag, backups play a G, then C chords. Melody players play a B and a C half notes. Pop off the C in bar B8, then B and C. So it sounds like C!, Beeee-C! (notation is attached.)
Fatal Bert / Rumblestrip
Returning set from last year.
A variation of Fatal Bert was to have only mic’d backup and horns play. May add percussion to that variation.
Rumblestrip sounded great at the slow (84) speed. We’ll pick it up. There’s a variation on Rumblestrip: Mic’d backup play only every-other bar. Play bars 1, 3, 5 and 7. Percussion play through. We also tried having the whole band playing only B 1, 3, 5, 7. When we do that, everyone come in the last two bars of B1 and B2 to keep it from getting too repetitious.(Notation for the variation is attached—both regular and easier versions).
  • Switch Bert to Rumble: Pop off the A half note in B8 and land with confidence on the G# or Rumblestrip.
  • Ending: There’s a coda at the end of the written music. To get there, leave off bar B8 and play the coda instead.
Kitchen Jig / Scatter the Mud / One-Horned Sheep
First two tunes are carry-overs from last year. Keep them crisp and lilty.
There are options for what to do with the staccato high G that starts each phrase of the A part.
  • Everyone leave those out except backup
  • Fiddles, pizzicato those G notes. Everyone else play everything other than those G notes.
  • Percussion play that G, etc
  • Flutes play that G way up high, etc
  • Plectra strum that G note, etc
  • Everyone leave those notes out, including backup
  • Everyone bleat like a sheared sheep on those G notes, etc
How will we ever choose what to do? Don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.
  • Switch Kitchen to Mud: Pop off the second G and leave a hole.
  • Switch Mud to Sheep: Pop off the A and leave a hole.
  • Ending: Add a bar as a tag and hold out a G after a slight ritard in B7-8.
 
Pirate Cat / Old Wife Behind the Fire / Dance of the Demon Daffodils
On Pirate, for everyone but Piano and mic’d guitar, don’t play off-beats in bars A1 and A9. Piano and guitar do play those off-beats at your discretion. Last bar of B1 should be an E chord.
Do play the quarter note pickup to Old Wife.
  • Switch Pirate to Wife: Pop off the last A half note of Pirate and get to the C pickup to Wife in time for it to sound good. Backup out on the last beat of Pirate so that the C pickup is heard well.
  • Switch Wife to Demon: Pop off the G half note, leaving a bit of a breath into Demon.
  • Ending: Note the four-bar coda that we play instead of the last four bars of the tune. Everyone respect the rest in the fourth bar of the coda.

2026 Rehearsal Report 02

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Portland Megaband 2026
Rehearsal Report #2
January 25, 2026

Announcements:
Advance Admissions. Purchases are about to go live online. Let your friends and family know. Purchase at https://portlandmegaband.com. Advance admission helps the folks at the door streamline entrances and guarantees admission, even if the hall gets full.

T-Shirts. Doug Cummings will be heading up the t-shirt crew.
Conductor Signals. Photos of many of the signals are posted on our member page.
Harmonies are posted in the music part of the web site. Play them if you want to, we won’t focus on them until a later rehearsal.
MB swag (tote bags and mugs). If you are interested in purchasing a Megaband mug or tote bag, contact Norman Farrell, designedforlife@me.com , who has volunteered to coordinate these items this year. We will also have a sign-up sheet for swag and the next rehearsal.

Close-up help. At end of rehearsals, please help by closing the window blinds as well as all the other help you provide.
Mike Voss has been pretty ill, and there is a card for anyone so inclined to sign for him. [A recent update from Bonnie has the good news that Mike will be able to return home later this week. If you would like to contact Bonnie, her email is bonniev3@mac.com. She says that Mike may be able to respond to texts soon.]

The Music…

Baker’s Favorite / Gondolin / Baker’s Favorite
There was a question re whether the eighth note A at the end of measure A3 is tied to the eighth note A at the beginning of measure A4. These two notes are not tied.
Variation for when we come back to Baker’s after Gondolin, we will copy the Louie Louie (for lack of better term) riff that is on the recording mentioned earlier. We’ll work out just when and who will play that rhythm. Maybe everyone (except percussion who are needed playing straight to glue the whole thing together).
Switch Baker to Gond: Leave a little breath between the two tunes (respect the rest) and land well on the low A of Gondolin.
Switch Gond to Baker: Last time through Gondolin, the B2 ending, leave off the last three eighth notes to leave a hole. In other words, pop off that fifth eight note (D) to leave a hole in the last bar before returning to Baker’s.
Ending: We’ll work on that next time we visit this set.

Out on the Road / Rising Sun
We sang Out on the Road first to get the lilt and rhythm. Lift off notes to get the proper lift. Try lifting off notes at the top of runs or arpeggios.
Rising sun. We played it slowly as a hornpipe to get the swing installed properly. Use that technique at home practice as well; it’ll really help. Added horn parts. There may be changes to those.
Switch Road to Sun: Last time through Road, play the coda instead of the last line of the tune. That will transition into the cut time meter of Rising Sun. Note that the coda is in cut time rather than jig meter. To get to the coda, in the last bar before the coda, pop off the E quarter note, don’t play the eighth note, then land solidly on the coda for four bars. Backups play off-beats during the coda except for the rest toward the end.
Note…play the coda at the end of Road ONLY at the switch. That’s the one and only time to do the coda.
– Ending: In B2, bar B6 pop off the E eighth leaving the rest of the bar empty. Then on bar 8 land on that D quarter note, leave a breath, and end on a D chord in the imaginary added bar. Backups block chords for the ending.

Honeylocust / Bogan’s Reel
Remember to play the pickup notes to Honeylocust. Those lead in to the tune really nicely if we all play the with confidence and alacrity. And once we get to Bogan’s be ready to play out with similar confidence to start that tune. No wimpy playing. If that arpeggio at the start of Bogan’s is hard, just play an A note, or an E and an A. As long as it’s clear and strong.
Switch Honey to Bogan: Pop off the last D of Honey, then launch into Bogan’s strongly. There should be a little hole between the two tunes. Melody players, on just the first time through Bogan’s, replace the first bar’s first four eighth notes (that first arpeggio) with just an A or E quarter note, and land on it firmly and cleanly. After that, play the first bar as-written.
Ending: Last bar, just play the B and G# as quarter notes (omitting the A and B) then simply hold out that last A until the conductor drops from exhaustion.

Winchester March / Menage a Quatre / Caps in the Air
Play these marches nice and crisp.
Switch Winch to Menage: Pop off that E half note in the second ending of Winch to leave a small hole.
Switch Menage to Caps: Last time through Menage, just fiddles, bass, guitar and percussion play. Everyone else drop out the last time. Then everyone in on Caps and make it strong and luscious.
Ending: Leave a hole after popping off the A half note in B6. Then last bar, just two D notes with block chords.

Next Rehearsal: February 1st: Rehearsal #3
2:00 – 4:00 pm
Doughboy Rag / Old Joe
Fatal Bert / Rumblestrip
Kitchen Jig / Scatter the Mud (Am) / One-Horned Sheep
Pirate Cat / Old Wife Behind the Fire / Dance of the Demon Daffodils

2026 Rehearsal Report 01

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Portland Megaband 2026
Rehearsal Report #1
January 11, 2026
Announcements:
Welcome everyone!
Introductions made of key personnel and new band members.
T-Shirts:  We have a designer. More about T-shirts later.
Parking:  Leave spaces out front for those with heavy equipment.  Use the parking nearby if you can carry your stuff.
Two entrances: Late-comer band members use Interstate Ave. entrance. Observers use Failing St. entrance.
Instrument Cases:  Put them along the back of the rehearsal space.
Seating:  Flutes and plectra, please sit in your sections. Other instruments can also look for their like kind to sit by. Fiddles will be spread out all over, although usually many fiddles are on the right-hand side of the hall as you are facing the stage.
Mic’d backup:  Refers to mic’d guitar, bass and piano
Bathrooms:  Up the stairs on either side of the stage.
Covid: Don’t come if you’re feeling sick or test positive for Covid. Your choice to test or mask.
Products to sell:  Bring stuff you want to sell or fliers for events. Put them on the front of the stage.
Advance Tickets:  Not in place yet.  Band members will be able to buy tickets for family/friends at rehearsal.
PCDC Grants:  Join PCDC and become eligible for grants to attend music/dance events.  Membership cards will be available at later rehearsals
Band roster. You may opt-out by emailing Sue that you don’t want listed on the roster.
Announcements:  No announcements other than Megaband stuff.
Label your belongings so when lost they can be returned to you. Binders, music stands, etc.
Rules:
                Be on time!
                No tuning or noodling while leaders are speaking
                Read your email and check the web site for much information.
                No unsupervised small children
                Observers are ok; no playing along.  Follow covid protocols just as band members do. Seating on the                                         stage.
Play and learn the tunes! Easier versions will be posted on the web site as necessary. Use the practice recordings or even slow them down more by using the Amazing Slow-Downer app.
No rehearsal next week on 1/18. Potluck and Jam at Sue’s. Look for info in emails.
Practice recordings…using the web site, you are able to slow down or speed up the recordings. You can also download the recordings and play them through the application The Amazing Slowdowner and adjust tempos there as well.
Baker’s Favorite / Gondolin / Baker’s Favorite
Baker’s Favorite: Some jumped notes and syncopation. Keep the swing going. Bars A8 and B8, don’t pay attention to those quarter rests.
Gondolin: Make sure you have the latest music. The last note in bar B2 should be a quarter note rather than an eighth note. Watch the syncopation and jumped notes. Don’t forget to swing the tune in addition to paying attention to the rhythmic stuff. One technique to get the rhythms is to play it first leaving out the ties, then add in the ties once that is well in hand.
 Doughboy Rag / Old Joe              
Doughboy: Keep the swing and lift as we did with Honey/Bogan’s. Same concept. After a reminder from Sue, the swing came back. Beginning of the B part, those four quarter notes, give those good punch. Same with each phrase in the B part. Be ready for that E at the start of the last line. Saxes, play off-beats rather than down beats.
Old Joe: Also very swingy. At 88 bpm we kept the swing. Don’t lose it when we get to higher tempos.
Eugène, Reel / Turlute à Lisan Hubert
Eugene (You jen’): The bars that start with a quarter note, lift off those quarter notes to give the tune a lot of lift. And pay close attention to the rest in the A part second ending. Leave a space there.
Turlute: The A part may be good for drones from backups and bowed cello. We’ll work on that more later on. We’ll probably go to drones right at the switch.
Honeylocust / Bogan’s Reel
Honeylocust: We sang Honeylocust with profound alacrity. Play it that way, with swing, dotted feeling. Watch the jumping of the beat in the B part.
Bogan’s: We over-exaggerated the dotted swing as an exercise. This is a great way to get the swing in your music; exaggerate to an absurd level in your home practice, then when you back off and play it in the band or otherwise without exaggeration, it’ll still be there. And some find the tunes easier to play with lots of swing. When we picked it up in tempo at rehearsal, the swing persisted very nicely. Good job!!
 
One-Horned Sheep
Last tune in the Kitchen Jig set which we did last year. The staccato G takes place at the top of the phrase three times in the A part. Those G notes are the reason to play the tune. In fact you could play just those notes and leave out the rest of the tune and it would be awesome (for a very short time). We played with really good lift and dynamic emphasis.
Pirate Cat / Old Wife Behind the Fire / Dance of the Demon Daffodils
Pirate: Whether to put the off-beats on bars A1 and A9…? First time through, play off-beats on A1 and A2. After that,…Hmmm…we’ll work it out. If we leave out the off-beats, everyone has to leave them out. No solos there.
Old Wife: Good to pop off the F in bars B2 and B6 and the G in bars B4. That’ll give the tune lift.
Daffodils: The coda is to be played only the last time through the tune when we’re going out. Bars B 7&8, backups play the Dm and pop off leaving those two measures for the melody players. But put an A chord at the very end of B8 to lead into the Dm at the start of B2.