Rehearsal Tracks To Be Made Standard

2/ you hadn’t downloaded the charts. You clearly hadn’t read any of my messages. I was literally hanging around in Acton waiting for your reply and wondering whether to bring my MacBook or not, whether to chase you another time.
When I don’t hear back, and I think “should I send him another message? Should I chase? Am I harassing? Am I a nuisance?” I just needed something off you. Anything. Smoke signals. A little communication before the day. Not suddenly faced with this problem on the day and having to sort it out on the fly.
This was after 2 heads up (via e-mail + WhatsApp group message) about me not printing charts. When I messaged you on the morning, you took nearly an hour to reply - by which point, it was too late and I was already on my way.

Title
Rehearsal Tracks To Be Made Standard

Description
Some songs arranged by Diáspora have recorded guide tracks, allowing musicians to practice individually with the tracks and follow along with specific instruments muted (e.g., percussion) so musicians can focus on their part. This approach was particularly helpful in providing musicians with the ability to rehearse on their own time, creating a clear understanding of the parts they needed to learn and prepare.
However, due to technical complications with Logic on older or slower Mac computers, this practice was not consistently applied to all songs. Moving forward, it is recommended that creating rehearsal tracks becomes a standard practice for all songs arranged by Diáspora, ensuring musicians have consistent, effective practice materials that are easily accessible.

Notes Comments
The practice of creating guide tracks was first pioneered in 2016 for Diáspora's salsa arrangements for the Jazz Café events. Guide tracks were used to demonstrate how segues between songs would work. For example, a guide track demonstrated the transition from Ricky Martin's "Maria" (Vallenato version) into RD's salsa arrangement of Santana's "Maria Maria." Another example is a guide track used to demonstrate the arrangement of "Bailando" in the style of Issac Delgado.
The practice was revisited in 2022 for the Kew Gardens events when guide tracks were created for new drummer Rey Reyes. These tracks included muted percussion to help him focus on his part ahead of his first performance with the band on 11/02/2022. This approach was effective in helping the musicians familiarize themselves with the material despite limited rehearsal time.
Unfortunately, this approach inadvertently led to complications during Diáspora @ Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambridgeshire on 12/03/2022. The guide tracks used for this event were based on the original, more complex structures of the songs, but RD chose to simplify the arrangements due to time constraints and limited rehearsal time. This mismatch between the guide tracks and the simplified structures created confusion for some musicians. In hindsight, new guide tracks should have been created for the simplified versions of the songs, but due to the last-minute nature of the event, this was not feasible.

Implemented
Implemented Date: 27/11/2024
Implemented By (Individual): RD
Implemented By (Organisation): R&BM

INDIVIDUALS

RD, Bandleader
Responsible for creating and distributing rehearsal tracks, as well as managing performance arrangements.
Ensuring all musicians have the necessary resources to prepare for the performance, including providing rehearsal tracks in advance.

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This development was triggered by the following incidents...
Condensed Structures
Failure to Study Provided Music
Musician's Lack of Preparation