When first getting involved as a professional, a lot of previously amateur musicians don’t think too hard about what the future might hold for them. The excitement over passing an audition and being selected as a band member is exciting enough that for the first little while, the novelty of playing consistently and being paid [...]

Note: Robert Pratt joined the Cunard Queen Victoria on Nov. 17 and will occasionally post notes from his experiences onboard. He currently plays the alto chair in the Queen’s Room Orchestra, and he also blogs at his personal website, wordandsound.com. Once all the paperwork has been submitted and I’ve packed to join a new ship, [...]

Only eight days after Princess inaugurated Ruby Princess, Celebrity held their festivities for their newest ship, Celebrity Solstice. If you’ve been reading this blog, you’re not new to Solstice as we’ve documented its features in several posts. The “lawn club” seems to have drawn quite some attention, and lately some of that has turned negative. [...]

Oceanbound Entertainment Inc. has made a small donation to have 1,000 trees planted. You may ask yourself what this has to do with music on cruise ships and what the big deal is? Well, it is not a big deal and yet it is. We at Oceanbound Entertainment Inc. believe that all of us ought [...]

Part of playing in a band on a cruise ship means that you will find yourself playing a lot of other people’s music. In fact, it’s rare to encounter a situation where you will actually be encouraged to play your own original pieces. Audiences on vacation are there to hear a familiar tune that they [...]

Beautiful rendition of Summertime. Artist: Chick Corea & Hiromi Uehara Song: Summertime

It’s happened to almost any professional musician – you plug in at a new venue and are treated to a wall of noise and hum from your amps and speakers. It’s frustrating, and of course the sound engineers on site are rarely willing to admit that their building is feeding you dirty power, no matter [...]