Thanks for sharing these guidelines. But actually, I have to disagree with #9 from a physics point of view.

9.) Be aware of other buskers/performers around you BEFORE you set up. Sound carriers, and "treble" (higher-pitched) sounds carry farther, and groups tend to be louder. If you find yourself "competing" for sound space: be courteous — either give way, or move on.

Volumes being equal, bass travels further than treble. In the distance often the only part of an ensemble that I can hear is the doums of the drums. Only as I get closer do I hear the other instruments, and the higher sounds from the drums.

Now, if the treble instruments just happen to be really loud, then of course they're going to travel far. But that's just because they're loud, not because they're high. But in general, I'd say that bassy instruments, such as djembes and doumbeks, have to be particularly careful about how much space they're taking up.

Physics aside, I am of course in total agreement that multiple musicians should not try to occupy the same acoustic space at once. That just makes for an unpleasant experience for anyone with ears.

Some other guidelines, like 8.) When singing/playing with other buskers, if there's a hat out, split the "take" evenly.

Seem odd. If two buskers agree to play together, how they split the take should be their business. If they want to do something other than an even split, they should agree on the perentages in advance. This doesn't affect me, since I do tend to split the take evenly, but I don't see why a guild needs to dictate this.

And this: 12.) Busking should not be used as a primary way to pay for Pennsic. This is stated here to create a distinction of busking from begging. However, this does not apply to those who are professional buskers/street performers and have their tax information on file with the Merchant Autocrat.

Again, I don't see why it would be a guild's business to determine this. Let's say someone is not a professional musician, but she tries a bit of busking at Pennsic, and finds that she's making enough money, that if she keeps up with it, it would pay for the trip. According to these guidelines, she would have to stop busking as soon as she realizes this, before it pays for the trip. Um, why? If she's that well received, she's clearly appreciated at Pennsic, so her continued performance should be encouraged.

And let's say there's some other non-professional musician, who, no matter how much and how loudly he busks, doesn't make a dime. By these rules, he's free to keep playing, since he has no chance of paying for Pennsic by busking. Um...

And I'm surprised that there's no guideline here saying something along the lines of, "Merchants are trapped in their booths, so if they don't like your music, they have no way of escaping from it besides asking you to leave. If they do so, you must leave, and find a place where your performance is more appreciated. If the merchants in a particular area want to set time limits for a particular performance, they are free to do so." I think that would be more practical than a general time limit, since it would better reflect the diversity of talents and tastes at Pennsic. There's a merchant at Pennsic who would like me to play at his booth just about constantly, and begs me not to leave no matter how long I've played, while there's another who said that I played for too long after I'd played a much shorter set some distance from her booth. Communicating with the merchants, and our fellow buskers, is the only way to determine the proper length of time to play in any particular place.

Kevin is raising some interesting points here. I don't see how requiring "a certificate of insurance for their business" etc. for musicians to sell CDs would make Pennsic a better place. All it would do is create a barrier to entry, so only the few, big professional musicians would bother jumping through all the legal hoops, and the many smaller hobbyists would be discouraged by all the legal complications. That would be a huge loss to Pennsic (although a gain to the bigger, more businesslike musicians, as it would remove a lot of their competition.) I really hope this doesn't wind up being enforced.

I had another thought about these "Busking Nicely" guidelines, in particular: 12.) Busking should not be used as a primary way to pay for Pennsic.

I think we'd like to be able to make it a rule that buskers should busk only out of love of music, art, making audiences happy, etc. Money should be of much lesser importance.

But there's no way to regulate people's motives, only their actions. Here's a modest proposal for controlling people's actions, which I'm just putting out there for discussion, not necessarily advocating. The laws governing busking here in NYC say that we can have a case or something open for tips, but we may never ask anyone to put money in the case. Audiences are supposed to get the hint on their own, or not, as they choose, but they should never feel obligated to tip. I could extend this to say that buskers could have CDs visible for sale, but should not keep interrupting their show to tell people to buy their CDs. If audience members want to buy CDs, they can get them by their own initiative. Buskers under these rules are clearly performers, not beggars, so that at least gives the illusion that they're performing for love, not money.

Thoughts?

Many thanks to Fionnghuala for continuing to post these around and keeping the discussion going!

Yes, I'm the Lorelei that started this :) Bear with me, I'm new to Tribe and this forum- so I'm just kinda jumping into the discussion with both feet before I have my profile and such really set up.

These were/are a set of 'courtesy guidelines' that several other performers and I sat down and penned several Pennsics ago. Please understand, they are not (as of yet) abosolte, set in stone, or unchangeable. But they were created as a way for us to begin working amongst ourselves to avoid stepping on each others toes. And were created out of a real concern that busking at Pennsic was under threat about getting shut down due to abuses of the privelage by both children and adults. And we were trying to keep the wording concise enough to print 2 to a page.

They are based from a mix of one persons 'street performer' contract from their Renaissance Faire gigs, and a lot of wishful thinking about how we'd prefer to be treated when we are on the streets.

Please- any useful and constructive feedback on how to improve these will be listened to!

Busking/street performing is, as has been said- a time honored profession, as well as just really fun, and a great way to refine one's act. And remember- we *Want* to 'police', and organize, ourselves. Its far easier for the Pennsic Staff to disallow all busking at Pennsic then to enforce regulations on it- which, as I understood at the time, was up in the air at Pennsic 29 & 30. (We started dission on these Pennsic 30 for Pennsic 31). Most of us don't have the resourses to meet the merchant requirements; and, if they follow what they did last year, they no longer allow merchants that aren't attached to booths, with taxID numbers, and a LOT of insurance.

More in a sec...

A few rebuttal comments to whats already been posted about these (in no particular order):

a) While drums carry farther, they CAN be performed over at a distance; unlike the treble pitch at closer distances. If only because after 1 day at Pennsic, we all tune them out as the 'static' background noice of war.

b) There already IS something in there for buskers with agreements with merchants, as well as musicans who are paying their merchant fees. See point 10. :) And yes, after having one merchant threaten to cut my dulcimer strings last year, and another run me off my spot by playing canned music louder then I could perform- merchants can be snarky people. And remember, every doller dropped in our hat, is one less that was spent in thier booths; and bad or motonous performers WILL drive thier customers away rather then reel them in.

c) Sure, while we would like these to become "law"- they are at the heart- about being courteous and aware of one's performance space and venue. But really, how in the world would any of this be enforced?

d) There has been talk before, and will be again, about banning all street performers at Pennsic. And with the move last year that all merchants HAVE to be tied to a booth, with a taxID number, and a pretty high minimum liability insurance- its going to be nearly impossible for any non-pro musician, or unwealthy amatur, to meet the requirements.
We are fortunate right now, and for the past few years, that one of the people on the board of SCA, INC. is also a street performer and SCA bard. It helps.

e) Believe me- if it hadn't happened to the others and myself; the part about 'split the tips' wouldn't be there. But rather then "evenly" I think a better term might be "equitably."

f) Actually, the NYC rule of open hat, no open advertisement, is already in play. Its an unspoken/unwritten rule, but its already in use. Even signs that say "tips" are generally not encouraged.

That's more then enough for now- I'll try to be MUCH shorter in the future :} thanks for reading

Does anyone realize how LITTLE even the most experienced non-loud group performers have been getting in their hat the last few years compared to even 4 years ago?? Sure, even a few dollars towards food helps a ton- but when I've used busking to 'pay' for things at pennsic, it's BARTER. Exposure leading to paid gigs (which do exist at Pennsic), or flat-out playing for food. The real money anymore comes from selling CDs, not dropped tips.

People just aren't dropping their money as much now with mundane gas prices eating a GIANT chunk out of Pennsic budget. And the more people think about/do street performing, the less tip money there is from the audience to go around (which is another reason we WANT to be able to spread ourselves out and not overlap 'spots' overly much).

There is also greater pressure to be a GOOD performer with a fresh act. Because only the excellent and/or the insanely cute are going to get the tips. And playing/focusing for tips often means you get none at all. Play for the smiles, you might get both. Cuz the audience DOES know the difference.

What guideline 12 is also attempting to work to prevent (in consort with #11)- and if there is a better way to phrase this, let me know- are the parents who put thier children out on the street with a few songs or 'service' and a bowl. This has been happening even more in the past couple of years; the most frighening I've seen so far was last year, a girl-child who appeared around *10* offering foot-rubs for money, even going so far (In my earshot!) to offer to go back to a much older mans tent. No parents in sight. But when I asked, she said her parents said it was okay and they were only a walkie-talkie away. *shudder*

This sort of action on "Beggers row" (the spot across the post office and old site of the fruit seller) is in part about what got busking thown out all together.

Yes- OF COURSE many performers of all levels will utilize busking as a way to supplement or pay their way!!! I'm not trying to say they shouldn't. But I would guess that those that do, are already aware of the risks of counting on that income, and the fickle nature of the audience. New performers often need to be warned this income is NOT RELIABLE, especially now when people are keeping a tighter hold on thier wallet. The rings and beads people are dropping these days don't buy gas or groceries.

You tell me a better, yet concise, way to word all that, in a way that would also keep the Pennsic staff happier with us putting out non-taxed hats and CD's they could potentially be liable for (and thus make US liable for...), I'm all ears/eyes.

Seriously.

Because this point more then any is a sticking point for everyone. Heck- **I'm** not even that happy with the wording, but I haven't found (and no one has yet suggested) a better way to say it.

Thanks again for reading!