Smaller Wedding Bands

How to choose a flexible, space and cost efficient music act for your wedding.

I thought this month I’d write about the smaller wedding bands that are available for wedding receptions. I mean, sure, it’s easy to find that impressive ‘all singing, all dancing’ 12 piece function band, that can play pretty much anything you ask of them because they feature such a large line-up. They are charging you probably in excess of £3,000 and therefore will provide whatever you want, whenever you want, and you’re (almost) guaranteed the band will sound amazing. But, like so many couples out there, what happens if your budget is limited? What if your venue doesn’t allow or doesn’t have space for afore mentioned ‘12 piece dream band’? Below are a few handy tips for what to look out for when searching through what I call the ‘function band jungle’...how to pick out the cream of the crop!

If you’re restricted on price, space or budget, but you want some kind of live music, a smaller band is the best option. By ‘smaller band’ I mean anything from a solo performer to perhaps a 4 piece option.

Backing Track Bands

These sort of acts usually use backing tracks to supplement their sound.  As you probably know, most bands are made up of a live drummer, bass player, guitarist, keyboard player and a singer (or the singer may be one of the instrumentalists). Smaller acts will often supplement their musicians with a backing track, so you may only have to pay for two or three ‘live’ players and the rest of the music will be on a backing track.

Pro Points

• This is a great money saver!
• If you get the right band with good sounding backing tracks, this can sound amazing. If you think about it, the band can make as much effort with their backing tracks as they like, therefore can layer up tracks of backing vocals, percussion, extra keyboard parts, samples...the list could go on forever, and make their tracks sound fuller than that ’12 piece dream band’ we were talking about earlier.
• If your venue has restricted space and you have limited time for the band to set up, this sort of band is perfect for you. Less band members quite simply means that it will require less time, space and hassle to set up the equipment.
• Does your venue have a sound limiter? (A limiter controlling how loud the band can go – and will cut power as soon as they exceed it!) Backing track bands are a really good option for getting around these. A good quality band of this sort will have professional, compressed backing tracks, which these dreaded ‘sound limiters’ react a lot better to than uncompressed, fully live music. You can also get backing track bands with the drums on track, rather than live, which means the sound levels are a lot more controllable.

The Down Side

• Watch out for bands that use midi-file backing tracks rather than real audio. This probably sounds ever so complicated – it’s not really. Midi-files  are basically computer generated music – you’ll recognise it when you hear the band’s demo. If the instruments sound small and squeaky and the playing is rigid and feel-less, the band are probably using midi-files and won’t sound great live. When you speak to your band ask if they use midi, or real audio tracks. That will impress them!  (You want to go for the real audio if possible)
• Some might say there’s a certain lack of energy when you see a band that’s playing to a backing track – the musicians will unfortunately not have the freedom to improvise, or throw in requests if they don’t have the appropriate backing track. However, this is a small price to pay given that the band will be a lot cheaper than a fully live band.

Other Smaller Acts

A three or four piece fully live rock band - is great fun and cost efficient, however they are likely to be lacking a keyboard player, which is fine for rocky numbers but they won’t be able to pull off the cheesy ‘typical wedding’ tunes that fill the dance-floor (disco, 80s etc).

Acoustic solo/duo/trio – can add a lovely touch to your wedding breakfast or reception drinks, but bear in mind this may be a little lacking in dynamic for the evening reception, especially if you want your guests up and dancing.

So there we have it! I’d definitely recommend some great backing track bands out there (and other small cost/space efficient bands); just remember to follow these tips when looking for the perfect one!

Happy wedding planning

Sera xx

Article by Wedding Entertainment Specialist Sara Golding

Images Courtesy of Surrey Wedding Photographer Matt Pereira Photography

Read more Wedding Entertainment Advice articles

Read other Wedding Advice articles