Float Music Notes

The music should be high-energy and very up beat. This promotes the positive, fun atmosphere that we wish to project to the community and the city as a whole.

The selection of music should be well known to the majority of the crowd. Contemporary songs are always popular. Older rock and disco songs are a big hit as well, especially contemporary remakes and remixes of these songs. When possible, select songs that share the theme of your entry.

It is very important that the entry participants (i.e. walkers and float riders) enjoy the music, too. The excitement of the participants exudes into the crowd. A famous quote within the Krewe of Olympus is “If you as a performer have a good time, the audience has a good time with you.”

Ask the entry participants for suggestions of music. All of it may not be wonderful, but more than likely there will be some good songs suggested that may not have been thought of otherwise. This is especially true when you have a broad age range in the group.

The sound system needs to produce adequate volume to be heard over the crowd in the Mary’s / Montrose Blvd. area. However, if it is not adequate to do so, do not continue to boost the volume until the music becomes distorted noise. It could become offensive to the crowd.

Speaker placement on the float is very important. They should project music forward so that the crowd can hear the music as you approach. They should project the music outward to the sides of the float toward the crowd as you pass. It is also very important that the participants on the float be able to hear the music as well so that they can have a good time and project that feeling into the crowd.

Be prepared to adjust music volume and speaker placement as necessary. Although the parade committee prepares the line-up to avoid entries with music being next to each other, things can change. If there is an entry in front of you that is playing music as well, you may wish to turn your speakers more outward toward the crowd and less forward toward the other music. Multiple different loud songs project as just noise.

During parade lineup, you should not play music unnecessarily. You must, of course, test the equipment and make sure that it is working and that the speakers are positioned properly. During this time, however, you should keep the volume as low as possible. We not only need to be polite to our fellow parade participants, but we should pay extra attention to being courteous to the residents of the neighborhood.

A designated individual should have easy access to the amplifier in order to control the music volume during the parade. It should be adjusted for the size of the crowd as you move down the route.

Keep sheets of plastic and large heavyweight trash bags available to cover all electronic equipment in the event of rain. After all, this is Houston.