Artist busking is a topic with many opinions, pros and cons. The legalities of busking differ greatly from city to city.
I live in Prague. Just yesterday, there was a big public demonstration to legalize busking. I didn’t attend, and I don’t know how successful they were. I’ve seen musicians busking at various places in Prague, usually very low key, and in places not likely to be noticed too prominently, until moved along by authorities. They are generally regarded as being one step above beggars.
In Tokyo, where I lived, if you busk in the wrong place, you can get shooed away by the yakuza (mafia). The most successful busker I saw there was a Scottish bagpiper in full regalia. His sound echoed far and wide and drew huge numbers.
In Vancouver, where I also lived, in order to busk, you have to apply for an audition once a year, which is juried by some panel who decides whether you are good enough to get a license. If you are one of these fortunate few, you must display this license in full view when you busk. There are signups for time slots at the most prestigious locations.
In Galway, Ireland, busking is highly regarded. Especially during the Galway Arts Festival in July. The only drawback is trying to find a spot where you won’t get drowned out by your neighbors. Lots of these buskers use battery operated amps.
And there are the buskers with huge shows (a lot of magic tricks, juggling swords and flaming torches on unicycles, etc.) They recruit audience members to embarrass. These folks can make a lot of money. Often you will find this type as signed on with various fringe festivals and the like.
On the topic of financial rewards, buskers have the potential to make way more money than so-called professional musicians at clubs. In the old days, a professional musician used to be paid by the owners of such clubs. Throughout the years, this gradually shifted to “You get to collect at the door”. They refuse to pay for the privilege of having entertainment attract people to their establishment who buy their food and drinks. Don’t get me started. Oh yeah, you even stand a better chance of selling CDs if you busk.
One can come across a lot of undiscovered gems in the busking world. Definitely not mainstream, which is precisely the reason you will find them on the street. Maybe they play really unusual instruments, or very avant- garde stuff. Diamonds in the rough. I’ve even hired a couple of these players right off the street into the studio.
An experiment took place in a Washington CD metro station in 2007, where one of the best classical violinists, Joshua Bell, played Bach on a Stradivarius during the morning rush hour. Most hurried by. This may be a common attitude among the public, who are in their own worlds or don’t want to feel obligated to donate.
The whole story is here.
With technological advancements has come the age of online busking. It was only a matter of time. There is TheStage.tv, where a friend of mine takes it very seriously. Even makes money at it. But to make it worthwhile, he has to spend enormous amounts of time at it. Which he enthusiastically does. It does bring with it a great deal of freedom of self-expression.
In my own experience, the only time I ever busked was in Galway during the Arts Festival. I met a Czech acoustic guitarist a couple of hours prior to setting up. We decided to do a completely improvisational act with me overtone singing. Well, this was highly unusual for Irish pedestrians. Generally, they didn’t know what to make of it. I’d say that most of the acts along the street were quite conventional. But I managed to bring tears to the eyes of a French woman, who bought both my CDs. And a group of four Swiss men, who also bought my CDs. An interesting experiment.
I’d like your opinion of busking. Do you approve of it? Should it be regulated to weed out the tone deaf and talentless? Is location a factor?
Are you a busker? I’d like to hear about your experiences.
CommentIn the late 80′s, someone gave me a cassette with examples of overtone singing around the world at the time. I’d only just heard of overtone singing myself, so none of the names were recognizable yet. Julia Heyward was one of them. She began her career in the 70′s, very early for this type of music, which was minimally seen in those days. She combined performance art, multi- media events which included working with Laurie Anderson. Her latest activities seem to be centered around giving presentations and lectures, most recently November 2010, with new media works.
It is truly avant- garde and over-the-top. The piece of music I have linked here is the only one I had access to at the time. The various textures she created proved to me the vastness of flavors the voice is capable of. Some of it, (third section) I didn’t even realize was a human voice (this might be done along with the nose flute, but I’m not sure). Anyone know for sure? There was no electronic trickery involved. She manages to combine yodeling, overtoning and lyrics simultaneously. She demonstrates not only amazing technique and improvisational ability, but a certain silliness that tends to endear yours truly. It’s in the spirit of child-like innocence and experimentation. Her sheer lack of inhibition is truly inspirational to me. I think that from that point on, my life purpose altered somewhat to include this scope of “I don’t care what anyone thinks!” What freedom!
This attitude has led me down a sideways path of performance opportunities. There are some I’d describe as ‘shamanic’ for lack of a better word. When I’m on stage, whether it’s solo or unrehearsed guest spots with other musicians (particularly percussionists, but the most gratifying has been a few occasions with Tanya Tagaq, Inuit throat singer), I go into a more or less trance state, and the audience barely exists. The body moves of its own accord. Usually this dance like activity only happens in my living room. Every now and then, I’ll poke my head up and remember the wisdom of connecting with your audience. Which seems to shake them up even more.
So, if vocal improvisation is a calling in your life, I highly recommend Julia Heyward as a leaping off point. And BTW, if you ever get the chance to study with Bobby McFerrin, go for it. I’ve been trying for years.
blog post about Julia Heyward from Nov 2010
The most well known track from Julia Heyward- Mongolian Face Slap
A fantastic gigantic resource for avant- garde artists of all descriptions is ubuweb.com
