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 Getting Started w/ Street Performing 
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Post Re: Getting Started w/ Street Performing
Petary791 wrote:
I'd like to start busking when it gets warmer. I'm wondering what are the necessary steps to begin busking.

1. How many songs do you need normally?
2. Do you need a busking permit?
3. What kind of amp do you use?

I might have more questions in time.

Hi Peter,

I have an Anchor Liberty, which does a respectable job with The Stick outdoors, but I think th best battery powered amps I've heard for the money are th Crate Taxi amps.

When I lived in Santa Fe NM I used to perform on the plaza (not allowed), drew a crowd, and only played a short while, then came back and did the same thing the next day. Each day the same two cops would wait until I stopped, then tell me, "you now playing music's not allowed on the Plaza." They never made me stop. nice guys.

The worst tip I ever got was a dirty bratwurst wrapper in Ulm, Germany, and the best was when two German kids who were touring around America on a Greyhound bus pass begged the money to buy one of my tapes. I wanted to just give it to them, but they insisted. apparently they'd gotten quite good at it and whenever they needed some cash they just "went to work" as it were.

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Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:37 am
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Post Re: Getting Started w/ Street Performing
I've not busked in a long time BUT when I was a teenager in high school that was my main source of income. I busked till I was about 25. I spent one summer hitch hiking across Canada busking as I went.

Permits absolutely vary by location. In Toronto you need a permit to busk in Subway but not on street, in Montreal you need permit for the street but not subway.

My guide line was always play until I got asked to stop.

As for making money I can try to advise a little bit.

"Passer by tips" is money, "show tips" is more money. I always did what I could to make a crowd gather. Once a couple people stop ask them to make a lot of noise and other people close by will hear and stop too. Once there is enough people, go into show mode. Perform 10 to 15 mins, tell a few jokes, interact and then STOP. "If you did not like my show please right your complaint down on a (pause) ... $20 and I'll fix it the next time I see you." Put instrument down, lite a smoke, whatever but make sure you are done. IF one person puts money in the case then it's like dominoes. People do what other people do. Wait for crowd to go away and repeat.

Ever see a busker festival? The ones who make the most money have a short show, are very entertaining and show requires little energy so that they can do it 15 to 20 times in one day.

I always found people will give you more money if you have impressed, entertained and stopped them rather then if there are just passing by.

Always bait the case, never have no money in the case, need to show people that's where money belongs :)

For a while I used to take my cute dog with me too. Girls love puppy eyes and my dog had her own routine :)

In regard to # of songs... I'd say 10 minimum for a stick player maybe less... BUT a friend of mine busked in Europe at one point and told me he met another busker in some city who did very well and only performed 3 songs, one of those 3 was Brown Eyed Girl. urh



Marc

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Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:56 am
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Post Re: Getting Started w/ Street Performing
Good to see this thread resurrected and hope you're out there giving it a go on the street..?!

Crates were definitely the #1 busking amps around for a long time, but the new "LOUD Technologies" models are very bad. I've got an older US-made Taxi and it's fantastic. Just got rid of a newer-model Limo which was horrible.

Like everone else has pointed out, check the local regulations regarding permits etc. Europe is generally known as a great part of the world to busk, but a lot of people who work there have to deal with strict police regulations - e.g. Amsterdam, and aggressive competition from other buskers in other cities. (Check out my friends Carlos Vamos & Lindsay Buckland on YouTube as they flee from police in Holland!).

Busking is different, because the "invisible wall" between performer and audience doesn't apply. Be prepared for people coming up to you and talking to you while you play!

About 80% of my income for the past 20 months has been from busking. I have 2 CDs for sale which helps. This is technically illegal in South Australia, but as long as you don't advertise a price on the street you're ok. It's also a great way to get gigs. I hand out 20 cards a day on average. Personally, I don't approach busking as a "circle act". I like to find a relatively quiet spot and play for 1-2 hours and then move along.

Cheers,
Andy

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Sat Aug 16, 2008 2:25 am
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Post Re: Getting Started w/ Street Performing
Well I'm going to work on my repertoire some more and I'm hoping by this spring I can busk around downtown East Lansing and back in Grosse Pointe when I get home. Thanks for all your help guys.

I'm thinking about selling my Crate CA30D which has served me well but weighs too much and isn't battery powered. Methinks I'm going to go with the new Crate Limo. I've heard good things about it, aside from my Oz friend's opinion. :mrgreen:

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Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:18 am
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Post Re: Getting Started w/ Street Performing
Hi,

If possible, try before you buy. And read a few reviews:

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar+Amp/product/Crate/TX50+Limo/10/1

The two most recent reviews pretty much summed up my feelings about the newer Crate Limos. The power supplies (and subsequently battery life) is nowhere near as good as they used to be. The amp was slightly louder than my Taxi 30 when cranked, but the bass response was not as clean and very heavy in the low-mids. The effects section is horrible and noisy. I would suggest bypassing the DSP & using a cheap Zoom G2 or similar (run on rechargeable AA batteries) for effects.

Obviously, SOUND is subjective and much more forgiving when you're playing outdoors.

Good luck & let us know how you go.

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Tue Oct 21, 2008 3:04 pm
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Post Re: Getting Started w/ Street Performing
In some cities you need a permit (Chicago is one of those cities) and some cities you don't. Don't know about Detroit. See if you can find anything on your city's .gov website. Or maybe just call and ask. And here's another thing to look out for... Whether or not your city allows for busking you can count on the police NOT knowing what the rules are.

For amplification I use a Crate 50W Limo battery powered amp. It has 2 channels with FX, so I plug the bass into the "drier" input and the melody into the "FX" input. It does the trick and depending on volume you can go from 4-8 hrs. I understand Roland also makes a killer street performing amp.

http://www.crateamps.com/products/pindex.php?prodID=26

As far as songs go, just get out and play! If you have 30 minutes, great! If not, no worries. Play that 20-30 minutes and work on adding new material to your set. The point is, just do it! It's a great experience and I'm looking forward to getting back out there again this summer! My set was up to 3 hours.
During the day, people tend to want to hear songs they know (see the movie Once). I still played all my originals and got great responses! (And pretty decent money) If people like what you're doing and you have something to sell you can make a killing!!!

So go out and play (if the city allows for it), build up your repertoire each winter for the warm months, and empty the cash from your tip bucket that should be tied to your amp!

Good luck,
Matt

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Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:00 am
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Post Re: Getting Started w/ Street Performing
Lots of good thoughts here... I thought I'd resurrect this thread and put my thinking out there and ask some questions. I'm also a very shy person... Consciously I'd like not to be but something I can't control makes me that way - heck you should have seen how nervous I was for my first skype lesson with Greg! As is my character now that I'm comfortable with him I'm not nervous anymore. I'd love to be able to conquer that part of me and I think playing publicly would be a great way to do it. That day is still years away for me, but I like to think ahead. :)

I'm very much learning the Stick for myself, but I think doing it in the frame of mind that I'd be performing will also help my learning. I know there are things that, during practice, I've said to myself "well, I pretty much have that. Cool." but then I think "What if Greg asked me to play that for him? I better work on that some more."

On the topic of confidence, my grandfather used to say that if someone asked him at work if he could get a task done he always said yes even if he had no idea how to do it. Then he'd learn it and get it done.

Back to the topic of busking. It seems like a great venue to play for people since, as mentioned, you don't need to have a large set since people won't stick around for many songs. Also there's less pressure because they're not there for YOU. You can leave when you feel like you're done. Plus they may not know the songs. And since they've probably never seen a Stick, they're less likely to recognize flubs. On the other hand you're playing very much in public...


So since this thread is over a year old, has anyone done any busking since then? There was a little talk of equipment and I'm curious about that. I've seen those battery powered amps and stuff but has anyone tried running a true sine wave inverter to power AC equipment off a battery? You could power other equipment that way. How big an amp DOES it take to play outside? Assuming you've got a hand truck, is there any reason you wouldn't want to use something like a KC-350?

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Thu Feb 11, 2010 9:55 am
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Post Re: Getting Started w/ Street Performing
Hi,
Anyone interested in busking could try contacting Bucky Muttel at http://www.muttel.com. Bucky works busking in London and it's because of him I decided to buy a Stick. I saw him in Picadilly Circus tube station playing his SG12 in early December, stopped to have a chat and he rekindled my interest from years ago. He's a very nice, helpful guy from your side of the pond. Some of his performances are on the site.
Graham


Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:14 pm
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