Question for the serious Zappaphiles out there re: soloing

[Rabrrrrrr]

As you all know, I'm a huge Zappa fan, and his music means the world to me.

But I have long wondered, especially in his long solos, how did he prepare the band for those? And I was hit with this question when I was introducing a friend to the god-like perfection that is Zappa, when she asked me, "How does the band know when to come back in?"

I'm asking specifically about the pieces that have the solos that are minutes long (but not the songs that were written as guitar solos, nor the ones that have the standard 12 or 16 bar solo).

Did he signal the band when he was done soloing and was ready to come back in? Or was every solo prepared to be a certain number of measures long, and the band just came in when the time was up?

Some of his solos - especially the ones that have the very polyrhythmic backgrounds - sound like they would be impossible to set up as a certain length, and they also sound too much like he IS improvising. But then sometimes, at the end of a long solo, the solo ends so upbruptly and the band is right-fucking-there to come in perfectly together, that it seems they must be planned out.

I have no idea how Frank constructed these things, so I'm hoping you can help - were they free improvisation with a band that was so well-trained that they could come back to the song with a one beat warning? Or did the band have to count them off as "okay, this is the 171 measure solo... 1 2 3 4, 2 2 3 4, 3 2 3 4..."

Did he do both?

As a musician myself, I simply cannot imagine having to count a few hundred bars for an 8 minute long solo. But on the other hand, listening to various versions of solos from the same tours, they seem to clock in at damn near the same length every time.

Help me, O Masters.

[Initech]

1. I remember hearing that before shows began

He would just stand up on the stage with his band for hours on end, just giving countless instructions.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Well, I don't know if that's true, but he DID rehearse the band

every day when on tour, for a few hours.

On his '88 tour, the playlist for the entire tour was some 300 different songs, of which 60 or so were only played once.

[XNASA]

3. Perhaps the band was cue'd by some lick at the end of the solo?

Maybe even an entire bar's worth. I've been in open mic bands that would play stuff like extended versions of say 'Cortez the Killer' and we'd just get back into it after the person playing lead would play some kind of outro lick.

[evlbstrd]

4. He had a series of hand signals.

He used them to cue solos in and out, as well as to let the band know to play a variation, e.g., tango, country, reggae, of a number.

[jpgray]

5. A lot of talent and/or familiarity can produce that effect

Other methods as you said are just doing an identifiable lead into the main tune, some other kind of signal, whatever. But if you've ever done enough time in a wank-filled band, eventually everyone just -knows- when x's solo is coming to a (blessed, in most cases) conclusion.