Wednesday's wakeup was markedly unpleasant - whistles.
Now before I go into what happened next, things must be discussed: there was the whole Liam and Harleigh waking up to find they were spooning (classy), and there was the 'would you rather' sesh enjoyed by the room 2/3 girls, there was storytime courtesy of Kayla, and there was the discovery of the fact that camels make a noise similar to what would happen in a sheep were to say 'meh'.
Anyway, in true marching band style, we had bacon sandwiches for breakfast and then got on the bus and rollicked off to Cowra. Cowra seemed a bit nonplussed at our being there, although there was substantial interest from the ladies with regard to Harleigh... but then what's new? The high point of the show was undoubtedly Dane's testipop, which not only happenned, but which he commented on. Much lols ensued.
Once back on the bus, Harleigh found he'd been added by some random chick who messaged him the following (and this is verbatim literatim) 'I seen a pic of you, sexaay! <3'
He accepted the friend request. This same girl later messaged him 'damn your (sic) hot'. Liam corrected the spelling.
On we rode to Bathurst where we took a photo in front of the courthouse for the purposes of Dane's nostalgia. And then Sleggers did ten pushup claps for funsies.
Once at Bathurst McDonalds, Harleigh, who shall from now on hold the title 'chick magnet' recieved this message from a girl whom he did not recognise in the slightest: 'Hey xx will you go out with me? ;)'
And speaking of random things being recieved on phones, Shane recieved this text from his father, much to his confusion: 'Remember that six of the seven dwarves weren't happy'.
Kelso was also a bit of a dead zone, and it was where the dead horse of audience participation was beaten more than was decorous. Having mentioned this, there were a select few who were legitimately interested in joining.
As well as a whole bunch of girls who were just clustered around Sleggers. So many that Harleigh wasn't even getting his requisite crowd of admirers. According to the colourguard ladies, there were a whole bunch of guys who were really good (hello the potential of a sabre line or similar), notably top-hat-guy, a.k.a. Slash, a.k.a. Mike, who seemed quite keen to join merely to be able to lay some righteous waste unto the 'dancers'.
Back on the bus, beginning the ride home, we sang a rollickingly raunchy rendition of The Ballad of Sir Jasper. Once on the road, we thanked the drum majors, adn our amazing bus driver, Tony. Quoth Jacob: We rock, but we couldn't roll without you. And then came a session of 'I Wish All The Girls'. Because that's how inordinately classy Liam is.
Katrina and Sleggers distributed the promo postcards, and for the love of all that is delightfully fungible, GIVE THEM TO PEOPLE! More people means more awesome.
Soon after, naked time resumed, with Jacob deciding that he just didn't feel like wearing a shirt any more.
First off the bus was Scott, around Lithgow, then on through Katoomba to Hazelbrook where we dropped off the next bunch of people. Keevers was air drumming madly, as if a maniac on methamphetamines, as was his wont.
As the bus pulled in to Cumberland, the Final Countdown came on - and it was fitting.
When the Principal at Boorowa said that we were fantastic ambassadors for Public education, she was on to something. Marching band is the first ensemble I'e been in where everyone has pulled together into one great big family-esque thing for sheer love of the activity and being part of the team. In twelve years of music, I've never been in an ensemble as dedicated to simply being hardcore as Marching Band. The past two years have been more fantastic than I can express.
Thanks guys, it's been an honour.
Stay excellent.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Boorowa - Where Kevlar is Made of Goatskin, and the Boys Adopted a Dog.
The staff really outdid themselves when it was wakeup time. The boys were awoken by Sleggers and Greg doing the can-can, and the girls got Katrina, Nat, Belinda and Zoe singing a cannibalised version of God Morning Baltimore. At 0530.
It was time to pack the bus and get on to our next performance destination. Young was great for numerous reasons. First up, they were rather keen. Then there was the fact that they all seemed to be good at music. There was the fact that their school hall was a converted courthouse. And then there was Harleigh, getting all the ladies. So in order to harness his powers for good, not evil, he's using his facebook to get them to join the band.
Then we did some mainies in Young.
Booriwa was easily the most thrilled to see us. Their school sign read 'Welcome Marching Band To The Bush'. The entire school and what seemed to be a decent proportion of the town turned out to watch.
At the end of the concert, there was a massive queue of little kiddies waiting to try on a sousaphone. Not to mention a decent number of MMB kids. It was then time to get changed and go for a walk around Boorowa. That's right - we did some mainies. And then marched back, Aww yeah.
Once back at BCS, we were shown our rooms, had dinner provided by the P&C, and then set in for a massive Priest of the Parish sesh (which some of the staff seeled remarkably invested in), precursed by Angie, Kathryn, Christine, Naomi and myself singing some Handel, albeit not in pyjamas.
As it turned out, Bathurst High were raher unaware of the fact that we were coming, so plans changed and we were to be heading off to Cowra HS, and then to Kelso, to which the Bathurst concert band kids were to be bussed.
There was also the thoroughly entertaining instance of Sleggers miming how one would go through the team showers in slow motion. Then as the girls had showers, the boys played some shirts v. skins basketball, just to compound the man stench which was already beginning to permeate about the hall.
It was time to pack the bus and get on to our next performance destination. Young was great for numerous reasons. First up, they were rather keen. Then there was the fact that they all seemed to be good at music. There was the fact that their school hall was a converted courthouse. And then there was Harleigh, getting all the ladies. So in order to harness his powers for good, not evil, he's using his facebook to get them to join the band.
Then we did some mainies in Young.
Booriwa was easily the most thrilled to see us. Their school sign read 'Welcome Marching Band To The Bush'. The entire school and what seemed to be a decent proportion of the town turned out to watch.
At the end of the concert, there was a massive queue of little kiddies waiting to try on a sousaphone. Not to mention a decent number of MMB kids. It was then time to get changed and go for a walk around Boorowa. That's right - we did some mainies. And then marched back, Aww yeah.
Once back at BCS, we were shown our rooms, had dinner provided by the P&C, and then set in for a massive Priest of the Parish sesh (which some of the staff seeled remarkably invested in), precursed by Angie, Kathryn, Christine, Naomi and myself singing some Handel, albeit not in pyjamas.
As it turned out, Bathurst High were raher unaware of the fact that we were coming, so plans changed and we were to be heading off to Cowra HS, and then to Kelso, to which the Bathurst concert band kids were to be bussed.
There was also the thoroughly entertaining instance of Sleggers miming how one would go through the team showers in slow motion. Then as the girls had showers, the boys played some shirts v. skins basketball, just to compound the man stench which was already beginning to permeate about the hall.
Just Another Manic Marching Monday
Our wakeup call was decidedly inglorious. Katrina box-stepped into our room singing the 'Good Morning' song.
After breakfast we were on the bus with Liam's ipod and Julian's speakers having a good old roadtrip.
We arrived at Mt. Austin, with its strangely hexagonal hall, and incredibly apathetic student body. I'm serious. I've been performing for 12 years, and I have NEVER seen an audience that non-plussed.
We then went to see 'the sights of Wagga' with Emily. Once inside Wagga proper, we went on some mainies. Because we're actually that cool. Then on to Kooringal HS, where Emily's mum's year 6 kids and a small busload of kids from Yanco (although notably not Cameron) were also in attendance.
These kids all did music and were thus able to appreciate our show. Which was pleasant. Then Imogen and myself posed for photos with the little eupho kids, just to give them an idea of what's in store. They were sooooooo teeny. I'm talking their height < sousa height.
And then back on the bus for more roadtrip music. Aww Yeah.
Once back at Borambola, it was shower time, at which point I did the classy thing and went straight to pyjamas. Come the evening concert, there were three acts. Initially an old-school arranged Wallace and Grommit extravaganza, brainchild of Hugh; then some pyjama Bach courtesy of myself, finished with Paul singing Minnie the Moocher. This was followed by one of the most energetic sessions of camp games I've been a part of in quite a while.
Although notably not as entertaining as that which I had witnessed prior to free time - Belinda filming Sleggers as he did a whole bunch of clap pushups.
Anyway, then came time for lights out, which for my cabin meant a massive session of 'would you rather'. Such Fun.
After breakfast we were on the bus with Liam's ipod and Julian's speakers having a good old roadtrip.
We arrived at Mt. Austin, with its strangely hexagonal hall, and incredibly apathetic student body. I'm serious. I've been performing for 12 years, and I have NEVER seen an audience that non-plussed.
We then went to see 'the sights of Wagga' with Emily. Once inside Wagga proper, we went on some mainies. Because we're actually that cool. Then on to Kooringal HS, where Emily's mum's year 6 kids and a small busload of kids from Yanco (although notably not Cameron) were also in attendance.
These kids all did music and were thus able to appreciate our show. Which was pleasant. Then Imogen and myself posed for photos with the little eupho kids, just to give them an idea of what's in store. They were sooooooo teeny. I'm talking their height < sousa height.
And then back on the bus for more roadtrip music. Aww Yeah.
Once back at Borambola, it was shower time, at which point I did the classy thing and went straight to pyjamas. Come the evening concert, there were three acts. Initially an old-school arranged Wallace and Grommit extravaganza, brainchild of Hugh; then some pyjama Bach courtesy of myself, finished with Paul singing Minnie the Moocher. This was followed by one of the most energetic sessions of camp games I've been a part of in quite a while.
Although notably not as entertaining as that which I had witnessed prior to free time - Belinda filming Sleggers as he did a whole bunch of clap pushups.
Anyway, then came time for lights out, which for my cabin meant a massive session of 'would you rather'. Such Fun.
Saturday and Sunday - The Weekend Which Wouldn't End.
Saturday started off well in the fact that we only needed to arrive at 1330, but also the fact that it was finally sunny. Admittedly our meeting area had been taken over by a bunch of cross-dressing lady-boys who purported to be gabbering, but that did nought to dampen our spirits.
We arrived, and suited up for Beethoven. Which was good. Then came Thunderbirds, which was also good, although Jake and I managed to inadvertently swap sousaphones, which made for an awkward moment halfway down the stairs when we realised. Then came pizza time, and the revelation of the Drum Majors: Alix, Jordan and Julian. We thank profusely the outgoing Drum Majors (Belinda, Scott and Zoe) for their work this year. Not only that, all the year 12s got a snazzy paperweight.
We really threw it down for the final performance (see what I did there - clever). It was awesome. During Thunderbirds, plots were hatched to swap instruments. I had a mervellous time walking through doorways without the need for contortion thanks to Liam's trombone. But then Katrina told us off. So we swapped back.
The finale dance was off the hook thanks to my colourguard buddies Peta and Naomi, followed by a ridiculous march back replete with Liam dressed as Virgil and hundreds of screaming fans. Then we had Subway (and cookies) and packed up the room and the bus and set off for Yass. Where, as it turned out, any time was naked time (the bus - not Yass).
Liam was rocking it out in boxers and sleeping bag, and Jacob kept demonstrating this amazing skill whereby he would instantaneously make his shirt disappear without even moving. We were told we would arrive in Yass in two hours - namely by 0300. As it turned out, Dane had mistaken the time it took to travel from Yass to Wagga for the time it took to travel from Sydney to Yass.
So we arrived in Yass at 0415, where it was bracingly chilly, and happened upon a convenience store at which point we could share a coke with CamAndo and Shane - Shane drank his own coke, and by sharing a coke with himself punched a hole through the space-time continuum, through which reality is slowly leaking.
I'd like to take the time right now to mention the fact that this was drafted on no hours of sleep, and I was being sidetracked continuously by the thinks Keevers and Holly L-P were saying.
But anyway, it was back on the bus, at which time Naked Time resumed. By about half six we had arrived at the campsite and found our rooms. Which had beds. There was however no time for sleepytime because we were unpacking the bus. And then we had forced breakfast (we were so keen for sleep) and then a three hour rehearsal.
At the end of this rehearsal, we played for the other kids at the campsite, before being forced to forego naptime for lunch. Then came rec, which was marvellously fun despite the fact that we were by then so exhausted we were probably a massive safety hazard to ourselves.
Raft building, a team-building exercise in disguise involved some structurally questionable rafts and a lot of jumping in the water once the rafts had begin to disintegrate. Then followed five minutes to get changed before low ropes. Initially I was sceptical due to the fact that they were all of 30 centimetres off the ground, but they actually turned otu to be well entertaining. I was witness to both Hamish and Liam engaging in great eats of strength in desperate attempts not to hit the ground - Hamish with more success - and Nat has extensive videos of me involuntarily impersonating a hula doll on the Charlie Chaplain element.
That is without mentioning our classy-as-all-hell helmets, with plastic brims which flopped in the sun. There was free time - but not shower or nap time - and then naptime was cancelled in favour of dinner. And then came an hourlong runthrough, the highlight of which was Jordan failing to be able to pop a balloon. Finally we got showertime, and then something was actually canceled (camp concert) in favour of naptime. And what glorious naptime it was.
We arrived, and suited up for Beethoven. Which was good. Then came Thunderbirds, which was also good, although Jake and I managed to inadvertently swap sousaphones, which made for an awkward moment halfway down the stairs when we realised. Then came pizza time, and the revelation of the Drum Majors: Alix, Jordan and Julian. We thank profusely the outgoing Drum Majors (Belinda, Scott and Zoe) for their work this year. Not only that, all the year 12s got a snazzy paperweight.
We really threw it down for the final performance (see what I did there - clever). It was awesome. During Thunderbirds, plots were hatched to swap instruments. I had a mervellous time walking through doorways without the need for contortion thanks to Liam's trombone. But then Katrina told us off. So we swapped back.
The finale dance was off the hook thanks to my colourguard buddies Peta and Naomi, followed by a ridiculous march back replete with Liam dressed as Virgil and hundreds of screaming fans. Then we had Subway (and cookies) and packed up the room and the bus and set off for Yass. Where, as it turned out, any time was naked time (the bus - not Yass).
Liam was rocking it out in boxers and sleeping bag, and Jacob kept demonstrating this amazing skill whereby he would instantaneously make his shirt disappear without even moving. We were told we would arrive in Yass in two hours - namely by 0300. As it turned out, Dane had mistaken the time it took to travel from Yass to Wagga for the time it took to travel from Sydney to Yass.
So we arrived in Yass at 0415, where it was bracingly chilly, and happened upon a convenience store at which point we could share a coke with CamAndo and Shane - Shane drank his own coke, and by sharing a coke with himself punched a hole through the space-time continuum, through which reality is slowly leaking.
I'd like to take the time right now to mention the fact that this was drafted on no hours of sleep, and I was being sidetracked continuously by the thinks Keevers and Holly L-P were saying.
But anyway, it was back on the bus, at which time Naked Time resumed. By about half six we had arrived at the campsite and found our rooms. Which had beds. There was however no time for sleepytime because we were unpacking the bus. And then we had forced breakfast (we were so keen for sleep) and then a three hour rehearsal.
At the end of this rehearsal, we played for the other kids at the campsite, before being forced to forego naptime for lunch. Then came rec, which was marvellously fun despite the fact that we were by then so exhausted we were probably a massive safety hazard to ourselves.
Raft building, a team-building exercise in disguise involved some structurally questionable rafts and a lot of jumping in the water once the rafts had begin to disintegrate. Then followed five minutes to get changed before low ropes. Initially I was sceptical due to the fact that they were all of 30 centimetres off the ground, but they actually turned otu to be well entertaining. I was witness to both Hamish and Liam engaging in great eats of strength in desperate attempts not to hit the ground - Hamish with more success - and Nat has extensive videos of me involuntarily impersonating a hula doll on the Charlie Chaplain element.
That is without mentioning our classy-as-all-hell helmets, with plastic brims which flopped in the sun. There was free time - but not shower or nap time - and then naptime was cancelled in favour of dinner. And then came an hourlong runthrough, the highlight of which was Jordan failing to be able to pop a balloon. Finally we got showertime, and then something was actually canceled (camp concert) in favour of naptime. And what glorious naptime it was.
Fifteen Hour Friday
Its Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.
Everybody’s looking forward to the weekend, weekend.
Friday, Friday, getting down on Friday.
Everybody’s looking forward to the weekend.
Partying, partying (YEAH)
Partying, partying (YEAH)
Fun, fun, fun, fun, looking forward to the weekend.
That’s right, kids. Here at Marching Band we have so much street cred that we can quote Rebecca Black and still be awesome. Of course most awesome of all was our own Liam Willis, who once again outdid himself with regard to costuming, this year being Virgil from the Thunderbirds. Because he’s classy like that.
Once capes were distributed (hello target practice), we settled in to watch some of Thursday’s runthrough, courtesy of mama Anderson.
Once we were in the tunnels, the silence with which we lay in wait was contrasted against the unhealthily high pitched squealing of a posse of pre-tween ‘dancers’ with an ABC3 camera pointed at them. I mean seriously. Would it kill them to show a little decorum?
Once that rehearsal was over, it was time to watch the video and see what was questionable. Case in point Drumline, from about 2:40.
Having said that, I was amazed by the warm fuzzies we all got when our lines were good. Which they generally were.
Then we performed, and it was good. And we played I Want You Back and it too was good. And then it came time for dinner, also known as the beginning of the great recruitment drive of 2011.
Then, like last year, we watched Throw It Down. Meanwhile, I noticed a posse of 'dancers' heading into another lecture theatre - also known as a captive audience. And so along with Harleigh (whom the dancers would wish to tap) and Naomi and Peta (who had pretty swirly flags) and Nat (who had seen Throw It Down too many times, an expedition to schmooze the little 'dancers' was embarked upon.
And then it was time to set up for the final show of the evening. and damn, our lines were good. Then came Thunderbirds, which were go (haha - see what I did there), and as always involved soem conjecture as to whether or not the pipers were really making the effort when it came to costuming... If you catch my drift.
Thus followed the Finale dance in which Tom was afforded an unexpected solo; and then the march back. We were danging, and singing, and moving to the groove. But nobody turned around and shouted 'Play that funky music, white boy'. That didn't stop us from boogieing (I assume that's the spelling... there's no wiggly red line) like the bosses we clearly are. Apparently the 'dancers' behind the drumline and sousas found it a touch loud, and a major hazard to duck the flaring sousa bells, but whatever. It's their own problem for congregating on our turf. Fools.
And then came the return to central, with Liam once again adorned in his Virgil the Thunderbird outfit like the classy kid we know him to be. And it was home then to rest up for not only the final spec performances, but also for TOUR!!!!!
Everybody’s looking forward to the weekend, weekend.
Friday, Friday, getting down on Friday.
Everybody’s looking forward to the weekend.
Partying, partying (YEAH)
Partying, partying (YEAH)
Fun, fun, fun, fun, looking forward to the weekend.
That’s right, kids. Here at Marching Band we have so much street cred that we can quote Rebecca Black and still be awesome. Of course most awesome of all was our own Liam Willis, who once again outdid himself with regard to costuming, this year being Virgil from the Thunderbirds. Because he’s classy like that.
Once capes were distributed (hello target practice), we settled in to watch some of Thursday’s runthrough, courtesy of mama Anderson.
Once we were in the tunnels, the silence with which we lay in wait was contrasted against the unhealthily high pitched squealing of a posse of pre-tween ‘dancers’ with an ABC3 camera pointed at them. I mean seriously. Would it kill them to show a little decorum?
Once that rehearsal was over, it was time to watch the video and see what was questionable. Case in point Drumline, from about 2:40.
Having said that, I was amazed by the warm fuzzies we all got when our lines were good. Which they generally were.
Then we performed, and it was good. And we played I Want You Back and it too was good. And then it came time for dinner, also known as the beginning of the great recruitment drive of 2011.
Then, like last year, we watched Throw It Down. Meanwhile, I noticed a posse of 'dancers' heading into another lecture theatre - also known as a captive audience. And so along with Harleigh (whom the dancers would wish to tap) and Naomi and Peta (who had pretty swirly flags) and Nat (who had seen Throw It Down too many times, an expedition to schmooze the little 'dancers' was embarked upon.
And then it was time to set up for the final show of the evening. and damn, our lines were good. Then came Thunderbirds, which were go (haha - see what I did there), and as always involved soem conjecture as to whether or not the pipers were really making the effort when it came to costuming... If you catch my drift.
Thus followed the Finale dance in which Tom was afforded an unexpected solo; and then the march back. We were danging, and singing, and moving to the groove. But nobody turned around and shouted 'Play that funky music, white boy'. That didn't stop us from boogieing (I assume that's the spelling... there's no wiggly red line) like the bosses we clearly are. Apparently the 'dancers' behind the drumline and sousas found it a touch loud, and a major hazard to duck the flaring sousa bells, but whatever. It's their own problem for congregating on our turf. Fools.
And then came the return to central, with Liam once again adorned in his Virgil the Thunderbird outfit like the classy kid we know him to be. And it was home then to rest up for not only the final spec performances, but also for TOUR!!!!!
Thursday - When Thunderbirds began to be Go
Thursday was a mild improvement… although that’s not really saying much. It didn’t rain… until we actually started rehearsing, at which point there began a great deluge, flooding the valleys and drowning the plebeians.
Just kidding. No plebeains were harmed during the making of this post (although it ought to be ntoed that when I say plebeians, I do not include dancers. They could well have been goodly maimed).
So we arrived at Cumberland, and made use of the pleasant weather to warm up outside and then do some passthroughs. At which point it started raining. Thanks, water cycle. So we got us some ponchos, like the stykish kids we be, and frolicked back outside where we played and marched and became dampened. And then we went inside to practice the *numerous expletives deleted* do-si-do section.
But then came the spec dance. Oh happy day. After that we were under the COLA, singing our parts so as not to disturb the plebeians who had class (the same ones we didn’t harm). Poor sods.
Then came the horror of packing the utes. The less said about that infernal Tetris battle played against the universe, the better. Finally we were on the crazy curvy bus and on our way to spec.
Now those of you who were concentrating will note the fact that earlier I cast aspersions as to Rachel’s spelling ability re: ‘Milennium’ (sic). But it turns out that the marvelous people at the SEC agreed with her. So much so that the giant screens had our name on them for a good few hours.
But regardless, it was time to run the finale dance. Bloody ‘dancers’. It’s not that difficult to stay within the bounds of a tarqet floor. On the plus side however, there was pyrotechnics. Huzzah for fire.
We then set in for a well lengthy session of watching rehearsals. First up was Amazing Grace. Gosh I find bagpipes entertaining. I could only hope that the pipers would be kilted up for the performances. Which they were.
Then followed the special needs students dancing to Man in the Mirror along with (as for Amazing Grace) the Deaf Choir. There was however a most uninspiring keychange. I mean really. If you’re going to change keys, it may as well be rousing.
Following on from that was the lengthy process of the primary and secondary choir spacing themselves evenly amongst the banked seating. And drawn out it was. Cue eye rolling.
Thus followed the Drama ensemble, with an unexpectedly small child. They proceeded to walk around in a circle.
And then we were called for Thunderbirds. So we got out our instruments and proceeded to practice walking up and down flights of stairs with horns up. Then we waited around for AAAAAAAAGES before we were called to actually walk down the stairs on the stage. I must admit that the amazed looks from the primary school kids were well gratifying.
Then, finally, it neared the time for us to have our actual rehearsal. So we went to our regular outdoor rehearsal space… only to find it cordoned off. Great. So much to the delight of the local tourists, we set to it out in the open. Which was all fine and dandy until (that’s right, folks) it rained.
So we headed to the bank of steps where we always take the group photo and set to warming up and working on our cape flicks. This too was fine and dandy until I, in a fit of grace and poise, stacked it down about five steps with sousaphone on. It’s cool though folks – whilst both the sousa and I were banged up, nothing was broken. Thankyou fiberglass.
About 20 minutes later, we were set upon the floor (albeit impressively late) and finally ran the show and were released. And there was in and of itself a brief moment of entertainment there when Holley (sax) bemoaned the fact that she had missed the call.
Not to mention Keevers’ slushie mixed with V, which upon tasting he decided ‘tasted like brown’.
Just kidding. No plebeains were harmed during the making of this post (although it ought to be ntoed that when I say plebeians, I do not include dancers. They could well have been goodly maimed).
So we arrived at Cumberland, and made use of the pleasant weather to warm up outside and then do some passthroughs. At which point it started raining. Thanks, water cycle. So we got us some ponchos, like the stykish kids we be, and frolicked back outside where we played and marched and became dampened. And then we went inside to practice the *numerous expletives deleted* do-si-do section.
But then came the spec dance. Oh happy day. After that we were under the COLA, singing our parts so as not to disturb the plebeians who had class (the same ones we didn’t harm). Poor sods.
Then came the horror of packing the utes. The less said about that infernal Tetris battle played against the universe, the better. Finally we were on the crazy curvy bus and on our way to spec.
Now those of you who were concentrating will note the fact that earlier I cast aspersions as to Rachel’s spelling ability re: ‘Milennium’ (sic). But it turns out that the marvelous people at the SEC agreed with her. So much so that the giant screens had our name on them for a good few hours.
But regardless, it was time to run the finale dance. Bloody ‘dancers’. It’s not that difficult to stay within the bounds of a tarqet floor. On the plus side however, there was pyrotechnics. Huzzah for fire.
We then set in for a well lengthy session of watching rehearsals. First up was Amazing Grace. Gosh I find bagpipes entertaining. I could only hope that the pipers would be kilted up for the performances. Which they were.
Then followed the special needs students dancing to Man in the Mirror along with (as for Amazing Grace) the Deaf Choir. There was however a most uninspiring keychange. I mean really. If you’re going to change keys, it may as well be rousing.
Following on from that was the lengthy process of the primary and secondary choir spacing themselves evenly amongst the banked seating. And drawn out it was. Cue eye rolling.
Thus followed the Drama ensemble, with an unexpectedly small child. They proceeded to walk around in a circle.
And then we were called for Thunderbirds. So we got out our instruments and proceeded to practice walking up and down flights of stairs with horns up. Then we waited around for AAAAAAAAGES before we were called to actually walk down the stairs on the stage. I must admit that the amazed looks from the primary school kids were well gratifying.
Then, finally, it neared the time for us to have our actual rehearsal. So we went to our regular outdoor rehearsal space… only to find it cordoned off. Great. So much to the delight of the local tourists, we set to it out in the open. Which was all fine and dandy until (that’s right, folks) it rained.
So we headed to the bank of steps where we always take the group photo and set to warming up and working on our cape flicks. This too was fine and dandy until I, in a fit of grace and poise, stacked it down about five steps with sousaphone on. It’s cool though folks – whilst both the sousa and I were banged up, nothing was broken. Thankyou fiberglass.
About 20 minutes later, we were set upon the floor (albeit impressively late) and finally ran the show and were released. And there was in and of itself a brief moment of entertainment there when Holley (sax) bemoaned the fact that she had missed the call.
Not to mention Keevers’ slushie mixed with V, which upon tasting he decided ‘tasted like brown’.
Wednesday - In the Beginning...
I’ll start this off by mentioning the fact that over the months, I have well run out of apt descriptors for rain. So I’ll kick this off with an epic simile – enjoy.
The rain tumbled to the earth very much in the manner of a boss, spreading his pre-eminence over the land of Mordor. This was quite a change from the October rehearsal, which was by all reports hotter than satan’s armpit.
Either way, we clearly offended more than one rain deity, because the downpour was not only consistent, but consistently heavy. Oh joy.
Once at Cumberland, everyone assembled in the hall (the school being full of students) for much greeting and a music warmup before we all ponchoed (I think that’s the participle, although that in and of itself hinges on ‘poncho’ actually being a verb…) ourselves and headed out to the basketball court to work on the show. Much to the amusement of the Cumberland students watching from the canteen. And much to our dampness.
After about five minutes outdoors, everyone’s feet were squelching around pleasantly in their shoes (N.B.: when I say pleasantly, I say it in a purely ironic sense. Just so we’re clear), with the exception of Imogen and myself who were as always, equipped with the greatest piece of apparel ever invented: gumboots. Moral of the story – gumboots are good.
And whilst on the subject of apparel, those of you who are terribly observant will notice that the new Drumline jumpers have some exciting spelling. Milennium Marching Band indeed.
But on with the story, eventually Katrina took pity on us (rejoice, rejoice) and sent us inside, where we got started on the highlight of every spec experience – the finale dance. Although first we faffed about with our fantastic capes. I won’t really go into that particular experience, because I now have a new entry in my list of ‘things which I have done, but rather wish I had never experienced’: flinging a cape over one’s shoulders whilst wearing a sousaphone. Give it a try some time. It’s harder than it looks.
So, the Spec dance. Another marvel of choreographic technique (this is my sarcasm face). I wept when I saw its genius, the emotion it conveyed (still the sarcasm face). It was a frightfully fun dance though. Especially when in the vicinity of not only Peat and Naomi, but also Keevers and Anthony. I was, however, horrified to discover that a vast majority of students (you know who you are) can’t tell the difference between spirit fingers and jazz hands. Go watch Bring It On. That’ll clear it right up.
There was then more show rehearsing (golly we’re loud), followed by more dance, lunch, and then Thunderbirds. Which brings me to this question – what in the name of all that is shiny and metallic and resonates at frequencies which we interpret to be notes is a Flugelbone? I am at a loss. The mellophones also threw me considerably.
We then Beethovened (another iffy participle hinging on ‘Beethoven’ being a verb) and danced until 3.05, at which point school let out and we hied ourselves to the COLA for some rehearsing on a Spec sized field. And all I can say is that gosh we’re snazzy.
And that was all for the first day of what is arguably the most epic week of the year.
The rain tumbled to the earth very much in the manner of a boss, spreading his pre-eminence over the land of Mordor. This was quite a change from the October rehearsal, which was by all reports hotter than satan’s armpit.
Either way, we clearly offended more than one rain deity, because the downpour was not only consistent, but consistently heavy. Oh joy.
Once at Cumberland, everyone assembled in the hall (the school being full of students) for much greeting and a music warmup before we all ponchoed (I think that’s the participle, although that in and of itself hinges on ‘poncho’ actually being a verb…) ourselves and headed out to the basketball court to work on the show. Much to the amusement of the Cumberland students watching from the canteen. And much to our dampness.
After about five minutes outdoors, everyone’s feet were squelching around pleasantly in their shoes (N.B.: when I say pleasantly, I say it in a purely ironic sense. Just so we’re clear), with the exception of Imogen and myself who were as always, equipped with the greatest piece of apparel ever invented: gumboots. Moral of the story – gumboots are good.
And whilst on the subject of apparel, those of you who are terribly observant will notice that the new Drumline jumpers have some exciting spelling. Milennium Marching Band indeed.
But on with the story, eventually Katrina took pity on us (rejoice, rejoice) and sent us inside, where we got started on the highlight of every spec experience – the finale dance. Although first we faffed about with our fantastic capes. I won’t really go into that particular experience, because I now have a new entry in my list of ‘things which I have done, but rather wish I had never experienced’: flinging a cape over one’s shoulders whilst wearing a sousaphone. Give it a try some time. It’s harder than it looks.
So, the Spec dance. Another marvel of choreographic technique (this is my sarcasm face). I wept when I saw its genius, the emotion it conveyed (still the sarcasm face). It was a frightfully fun dance though. Especially when in the vicinity of not only Peat and Naomi, but also Keevers and Anthony. I was, however, horrified to discover that a vast majority of students (you know who you are) can’t tell the difference between spirit fingers and jazz hands. Go watch Bring It On. That’ll clear it right up.
There was then more show rehearsing (golly we’re loud), followed by more dance, lunch, and then Thunderbirds. Which brings me to this question – what in the name of all that is shiny and metallic and resonates at frequencies which we interpret to be notes is a Flugelbone? I am at a loss. The mellophones also threw me considerably.
We then Beethovened (another iffy participle hinging on ‘Beethoven’ being a verb) and danced until 3.05, at which point school let out and we hied ourselves to the COLA for some rehearsing on a Spec sized field. And all I can say is that gosh we’re snazzy.
And that was all for the first day of what is arguably the most epic week of the year.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Sunny Side Up - October Rehearsal (or) That Awkward Moment When You're Asked To Write For The Blog And You Don't Know What To Write About
Hello to all Marching Band Members! I would firstly like to apologize for the slight lateness of this blog since I did have a few troubles with actually finding something good to write for this month's blog.
Now, to start us off, this month's fun fact: It is generally a good idea to make sure that you know your drill when you have to step forward and there is a sousaphone standing right behind you. Especially if you're about the right size to get your own head swallowed up into the bell. Definitely not something that you want to happen. Trust me, it almost happened.
I would also like to welcome Francis Raciborski as our new sousaphonist. We hope you enjoyed your first weekend with us!
Saturday morning started off with a cool breeze, and the sky showed us the promising determination that it was definitely not going to rain this time. Which in truth, the weather forecast had just said no rain, just a lot of sun, and extremely warm weather.
With a brief introduction from Dane, we were sent off to prepare for a band rehearsal to practice Beethoven's 5th. This is when everyone noticed just how small our band really was without most of our year 12's. With several band members not being there, we trudged on, going through our music, making sure that we had our music fully memorised. For those who still haven't memorised their music, I suggest you start doing that now!
We were then sent off down to the field to meet with Normo for our warm-ups. Katrina put on some popular music for us to stretch along to. The stretching was just an intro into some seriously cool fun..... damentals! Fundamentals consisted of us walking forwards, backwards, and you guessed it, even sideways, while still managing to stay in straight lines AND even spacing.
That brings me to the tip of the day: Make sure you keep the upper half of your body facing towards the audience while your feet step sideways. It can be done!
Next up on the list was drill for Beethoven's 5th. It started with everyone reconfirming the numbers that they had been given earlier in the day, as well as double checking that the empty spaces next to them were actually supposed to be there. We blundered through the first half of the drill, and eventually we brought in a recording of the music. We could hardly keep up with the speed of the song, and no matter how many times Katrina told him to give us the somewhat slower version, Normo wasn't going to budge.
After lunch, to our mild horror, we were back out on to the field to finish off the drill where we tried to have a go with our instruments. Parents started to slowly trail in for our open rehearsal and watch us as we try to remember our music and drill at the same time.
Drill finished, leading on to the bingo night, but before that happened, we had to say goodbye and good luck to the year 12's that had been at the rehearsal for the day. Good luck guys, and band wasn't the same without any of you on Sunday! Unfortunately I was unable to attend the Bingo night, but thanks to our Jimmy Olsen of Marching Band (Hooray for Superman reference!), I was able to find out that Liam Willis' team won the trivia and that Dane tried to cheat twice I believe?
Sunday's weather forecast said sunny all day and an even hotter temperature compared to the day before. We went down to the field, warming up to some old fashioned 80's music and from there we jumped back into drill, expected to stay under the boiling sun for the next 3 or so hours. With numerous water breaks and much stopping and starting, we managed to get through the first half of the day.
After relaxing during lunch, we headed down into the hall that had what we really needed. Air conditioners. This is where we had another band rehearsal working on Beethoven's 5th, making sure that it is going to be perfect for the Schools Spectacular. With everyone having to have at least one go at singing their parts, it definitely left us in good spirits at the end of rehearsal.
And that ends this blog for the October rehearsal! Don't forget to hydrate yourself throughout this next month guys, Dane told us specially to do this!
Bye for now!
Now, to start us off, this month's fun fact: It is generally a good idea to make sure that you know your drill when you have to step forward and there is a sousaphone standing right behind you. Especially if you're about the right size to get your own head swallowed up into the bell. Definitely not something that you want to happen. Trust me, it almost happened.
I would also like to welcome Francis Raciborski as our new sousaphonist. We hope you enjoyed your first weekend with us!
Saturday morning started off with a cool breeze, and the sky showed us the promising determination that it was definitely not going to rain this time. Which in truth, the weather forecast had just said no rain, just a lot of sun, and extremely warm weather.
With a brief introduction from Dane, we were sent off to prepare for a band rehearsal to practice Beethoven's 5th. This is when everyone noticed just how small our band really was without most of our year 12's. With several band members not being there, we trudged on, going through our music, making sure that we had our music fully memorised. For those who still haven't memorised their music, I suggest you start doing that now!
We were then sent off down to the field to meet with Normo for our warm-ups. Katrina put on some popular music for us to stretch along to. The stretching was just an intro into some seriously cool fun..... damentals! Fundamentals consisted of us walking forwards, backwards, and you guessed it, even sideways, while still managing to stay in straight lines AND even spacing.
That brings me to the tip of the day: Make sure you keep the upper half of your body facing towards the audience while your feet step sideways. It can be done!
Next up on the list was drill for Beethoven's 5th. It started with everyone reconfirming the numbers that they had been given earlier in the day, as well as double checking that the empty spaces next to them were actually supposed to be there. We blundered through the first half of the drill, and eventually we brought in a recording of the music. We could hardly keep up with the speed of the song, and no matter how many times Katrina told him to give us the somewhat slower version, Normo wasn't going to budge.
After lunch, to our mild horror, we were back out on to the field to finish off the drill where we tried to have a go with our instruments. Parents started to slowly trail in for our open rehearsal and watch us as we try to remember our music and drill at the same time.
Drill finished, leading on to the bingo night, but before that happened, we had to say goodbye and good luck to the year 12's that had been at the rehearsal for the day. Good luck guys, and band wasn't the same without any of you on Sunday! Unfortunately I was unable to attend the Bingo night, but thanks to our Jimmy Olsen of Marching Band (Hooray for Superman reference!), I was able to find out that Liam Willis' team won the trivia and that Dane tried to cheat twice I believe?
Sunday's weather forecast said sunny all day and an even hotter temperature compared to the day before. We went down to the field, warming up to some old fashioned 80's music and from there we jumped back into drill, expected to stay under the boiling sun for the next 3 or so hours. With numerous water breaks and much stopping and starting, we managed to get through the first half of the day.
After relaxing during lunch, we headed down into the hall that had what we really needed. Air conditioners. This is where we had another band rehearsal working on Beethoven's 5th, making sure that it is going to be perfect for the Schools Spectacular. With everyone having to have at least one go at singing their parts, it definitely left us in good spirits at the end of rehearsal.
And that ends this blog for the October rehearsal! Don't forget to hydrate yourself throughout this next month guys, Dane told us specially to do this!
Bye for now!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Things which have happened of late
Imagine my mild horror, when whilst studying, I realised that I hadn't written up the last spate of band related activities.
So: Saturday.
We were contracted to do the opening ceremony for the Red Bull MotoX at Cockatoo Island.
And that was when things stopped running according to plan.
Arriving at King Street Wharf, it became apparent that it would not be possible to get the entire band to the island in one boatload. It took three. Once at the island, we changed into our performance shirts and were distributed with earpieces, at which point we spent a lengthy amount of time waiting for someone to explain what it was we were to be doing.
Eventually all was explained, and equipped with drums, we went to a warehouse to practice. It was wondered whether it would have been a better idea to let us practice on the actual field (or whatever it is it's called), but that didn't come to pass. The other main thing which didn't come to pass was (apparently) telling the riders that they would be working with children. But more on that later.
When it eventually came time to perform, we stood, with our quaint little approximations of drums, for a very long time as a lengthy (and somewhat unnecessary) storyline was explained to the audience. The one highpoint of this was when the crew radio frequency was merged momentarily with the audience speakers frequency, resulting in this conversational gem.
*back of rider's jacket is pulled off to reveal name*
Organiser: Who is that? Will somebody tell me who that rider is?
Audience: IT'S TODD POTTER *assorted whooping*
And then it came time for us to "march up to the bikes, surround them, and then march off in an orderly fashion".
The only issue with that being the fact that no-one had told the riders that that was how it was going to go down. Imagine their surprise, when as they were kick-starting their bikes, they were suddenly surrounded by SCHOOL CHILDREN, thus constituting MASSIVE OH&S RISK, which they could only ameliorate by riding off AWAY from said children, AS FAST AS THEY POSSIBLY COULD. I use caps lock to give an idea of just how loud their exits were. Which is very.
Anyway, with our job done, we had nothing left to do but get our stuff together and head to the dock where we had been assured there would be a boat waiting to take us back to civilisation.
By now I probably don't need to state the obvious, but I will just for kicks. There was no boat.
And so we sat, for a good hour or so, on the dock, waiting for a boat. In time the boat came, and we returned home, confident in the knowledge that if we ever failed like the organisation of that gig failed, we would all be disembowelled by the conductors. And I say that in the nicest way possible.
Come sunday, much of the band were at Lewisham Public for Spec auditions. This did not deter Katrina from mandating that we would learn the passthrough. Which, for the record, we did. There was also much sectionals of music, which brings me to this:
you were all emailed your parts for Beethoven V. They are to be MEMORISED by the next rehearsal. That doesn't mean you can look at it a bit and then coast, that means you have the entire piece committed to memory, replete with time signature changes and ALL accents. Of which there are many. Learn them all.
In summary: learn your music, practice your 8:5, and whatever you do, stay away from men on large scary looking bikes.
That is all.
So: Saturday.
We were contracted to do the opening ceremony for the Red Bull MotoX at Cockatoo Island.
And that was when things stopped running according to plan.
Arriving at King Street Wharf, it became apparent that it would not be possible to get the entire band to the island in one boatload. It took three. Once at the island, we changed into our performance shirts and were distributed with earpieces, at which point we spent a lengthy amount of time waiting for someone to explain what it was we were to be doing.
Eventually all was explained, and equipped with drums, we went to a warehouse to practice. It was wondered whether it would have been a better idea to let us practice on the actual field (or whatever it is it's called), but that didn't come to pass. The other main thing which didn't come to pass was (apparently) telling the riders that they would be working with children. But more on that later.
When it eventually came time to perform, we stood, with our quaint little approximations of drums, for a very long time as a lengthy (and somewhat unnecessary) storyline was explained to the audience. The one highpoint of this was when the crew radio frequency was merged momentarily with the audience speakers frequency, resulting in this conversational gem.
*back of rider's jacket is pulled off to reveal name*
Organiser: Who is that? Will somebody tell me who that rider is?
Audience: IT'S TODD POTTER *assorted whooping*
And then it came time for us to "march up to the bikes, surround them, and then march off in an orderly fashion".
The only issue with that being the fact that no-one had told the riders that that was how it was going to go down. Imagine their surprise, when as they were kick-starting their bikes, they were suddenly surrounded by SCHOOL CHILDREN, thus constituting MASSIVE OH&S RISK, which they could only ameliorate by riding off AWAY from said children, AS FAST AS THEY POSSIBLY COULD. I use caps lock to give an idea of just how loud their exits were. Which is very.
Anyway, with our job done, we had nothing left to do but get our stuff together and head to the dock where we had been assured there would be a boat waiting to take us back to civilisation.
By now I probably don't need to state the obvious, but I will just for kicks. There was no boat.
And so we sat, for a good hour or so, on the dock, waiting for a boat. In time the boat came, and we returned home, confident in the knowledge that if we ever failed like the organisation of that gig failed, we would all be disembowelled by the conductors. And I say that in the nicest way possible.
Come sunday, much of the band were at Lewisham Public for Spec auditions. This did not deter Katrina from mandating that we would learn the passthrough. Which, for the record, we did. There was also much sectionals of music, which brings me to this:
you were all emailed your parts for Beethoven V. They are to be MEMORISED by the next rehearsal. That doesn't mean you can look at it a bit and then coast, that means you have the entire piece committed to memory, replete with time signature changes and ALL accents. Of which there are many. Learn them all.
In summary: learn your music, practice your 8:5, and whatever you do, stay away from men on large scary looking bikes.
That is all.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
August (or) Way to Fail, AFL.
Before I kick off this month's post, I must apologise for the delay. Moral of the story: don't get injured.
Also as a bit of a precursor, I feel the need to put forth a few caveats/friendly bits of advice.
1 - If you play valved brass, always hold knives in your right hand. Thus if you do any damage, it's to the hand not directly responsible for being in pitch.
If you play clarinet (of any pitch), flute (of any pitch) or sax (of any pitch); just don't use knives. Ever. Because you need all of your fingers at peak functionality.
This is because
Fun [injury] Fact: when you cut out half of your nail, that finger becomes nigh useless until the nail grows back. You heard it here first.
2 - When you're in pain, stop and think a moment. Is it (a): the happy, good, constructive pain of working your muscles in a wholesome activity such as Marching Band; (b): the happy, good, constructive pain stemming from stretching so that (a) does not lead to (d) [see below]; (c): the happy, good, constructive pain of lactic acid buildup resulting from engaging in (a) without sufficient (b); or is it (d): the angry, bad, unconstructive, painful pain of injury?
Golly that was a long question.
Back to the advice: if your pain in (a), (b) or (c) - MAN UP. It's good for you. CHaracter building. If you have a problem with sucking it up, talk to one of the old guard who were in the band back in the days of pushups as punishment. Their war stories are bound to be better than whatever your issue is. Unless of course, your pain is in fact (d) - in which case you really ought to tell someone as opposed to just toughing it out. Because toughing it out (whilst marvellously stoic, not to mention rather admirable in a faintly masochistic manner) is what leads to major nasties such as injuries and heat stroke.
Neither of which are enjoyable.
So if your pain is (d), tell one of the Boosters and don't injure yourself. Because you're of no use to the band if you're non-functional.
So: this month (surprise surprise) it rained.
The inclement weather in fact makes this the sixth rehearsal of eight wherein substance more corporeal than a gas, yet less rigid than a solid has been pulled to earth by gravitational force (guess who figured out another way to say 'it rained' without actually saying 'it rained'... this kid).
As Katrina noted in a reasonably unimpressed manner: the best way to break a drought is to schedule a Marching Band rehearsal.
So true.
Following breakfast with the Boosters, there was a tour/spec music rehearsal in the COLA, which brings me to this question: why do people still need music for Opening Production?
I mean seriously, it was meant to be memorised ages ago, adn the great thing about memorisation is the fact that it's committed to MEMORY. And if you're practicing as you all ought to be, you're not going to forget it betwixt each rehearsal.
Honestly, have a little professionalism.
Speaking of practicing and professionalism; learn the music you were given. You've got a month, which is ages. Unless of course you weren't there this rehearsal to get the music in the first place, in which case your excuse ought to be pretty impressive (i,e, exams/debilitating illness/other performance/pressing family related other). N.B.: injury is not a valid excuse. Larissa was there with a leg injury; Holly was there with an ankle injury. If you're injured, you still turn up, you just don't march if you're unable. Also note: the sniffles are not debilitating. Tonsilitis (unless in conjunction with a respiratory infection) is not debilitating. Any disease with which you are still able to function does not qualify as debilitating. With (of course) the exception of contagious viruses along the lines of gastroenteritis or chickenpox, in which case nobody cares how functional you are, do everyone a favour and stay home. The last thing anyone wants is a figurative Typhoid Mary floating about.
Golly that was a long digression, even by my standards. Back to the story now...
We toddled off to the field for some fun training in about faces whilst marching. Because we're hardcore like that. This was interspersed with some marching with eyes closed, so that when it came to practising the passthrough no-one would be colliding in a mass of pain, agony and maiming. Hurrah.
Then it came time to start actually practicing passthroughs. That was some trippy stuff. Then followed some chroreography (just for the fun of it); music and then everyone was sent home.
Sunday was like saturday... on steroids.
Morning music rehearsal gave way to more FUNdamentals (insert weak enthusiasm here). When Katrina was confident no maiming would take place, we reiterated our two directional passthrough, and then added a third direction, much to everyone's stress. Or at least the stress of everyone not protected by a giant fibreglass instrument (i.e. me). Such fun.
After lunch came the choreography with music. Harder than it looks. Or maybe that's the sousaphone talking. I don't know. All I know is it's good I reiterated the Battlefield choreography in between the Arts Unit showcase and the rehearsal (the state music camp girls know what I'm talking about), because that was one fewer set of moves I had to learn.
Then came a drilldown, won by Hamish, who has broken his usual habit of getting out in the final three.
So: our next rehearsal begins with the Red Bull Xtreme whatever at Cockatoo Island (I actually have no idea exactly what it is).
Remember to: turn up at Cumberland at 0800; wear your blacks and bring a jumper and something to do in the inevitable waiting time; BRING SOME DRUM STICKS.
And practice your music.
Tata for now...
Also as a bit of a precursor, I feel the need to put forth a few caveats/friendly bits of advice.
1 - If you play valved brass, always hold knives in your right hand. Thus if you do any damage, it's to the hand not directly responsible for being in pitch.
If you play clarinet (of any pitch), flute (of any pitch) or sax (of any pitch); just don't use knives. Ever. Because you need all of your fingers at peak functionality.
This is because
Fun [injury] Fact: when you cut out half of your nail, that finger becomes nigh useless until the nail grows back. You heard it here first.
2 - When you're in pain, stop and think a moment. Is it (a): the happy, good, constructive pain of working your muscles in a wholesome activity such as Marching Band; (b): the happy, good, constructive pain stemming from stretching so that (a) does not lead to (d) [see below]; (c): the happy, good, constructive pain of lactic acid buildup resulting from engaging in (a) without sufficient (b); or is it (d): the angry, bad, unconstructive, painful pain of injury?
Golly that was a long question.
Back to the advice: if your pain in (a), (b) or (c) - MAN UP. It's good for you. CHaracter building. If you have a problem with sucking it up, talk to one of the old guard who were in the band back in the days of pushups as punishment. Their war stories are bound to be better than whatever your issue is. Unless of course, your pain is in fact (d) - in which case you really ought to tell someone as opposed to just toughing it out. Because toughing it out (whilst marvellously stoic, not to mention rather admirable in a faintly masochistic manner) is what leads to major nasties such as injuries and heat stroke.
Neither of which are enjoyable.
So if your pain is (d), tell one of the Boosters and don't injure yourself. Because you're of no use to the band if you're non-functional.
So: this month (surprise surprise) it rained.
The inclement weather in fact makes this the sixth rehearsal of eight wherein substance more corporeal than a gas, yet less rigid than a solid has been pulled to earth by gravitational force (guess who figured out another way to say 'it rained' without actually saying 'it rained'... this kid).
As Katrina noted in a reasonably unimpressed manner: the best way to break a drought is to schedule a Marching Band rehearsal.
So true.
Following breakfast with the Boosters, there was a tour/spec music rehearsal in the COLA, which brings me to this question: why do people still need music for Opening Production?
I mean seriously, it was meant to be memorised ages ago, adn the great thing about memorisation is the fact that it's committed to MEMORY. And if you're practicing as you all ought to be, you're not going to forget it betwixt each rehearsal.
Honestly, have a little professionalism.
Speaking of practicing and professionalism; learn the music you were given. You've got a month, which is ages. Unless of course you weren't there this rehearsal to get the music in the first place, in which case your excuse ought to be pretty impressive (i,e, exams/debilitating illness/other performance/pressing family related other). N.B.: injury is not a valid excuse. Larissa was there with a leg injury; Holly was there with an ankle injury. If you're injured, you still turn up, you just don't march if you're unable. Also note: the sniffles are not debilitating. Tonsilitis (unless in conjunction with a respiratory infection) is not debilitating. Any disease with which you are still able to function does not qualify as debilitating. With (of course) the exception of contagious viruses along the lines of gastroenteritis or chickenpox, in which case nobody cares how functional you are, do everyone a favour and stay home. The last thing anyone wants is a figurative Typhoid Mary floating about.
Golly that was a long digression, even by my standards. Back to the story now...
We toddled off to the field for some fun training in about faces whilst marching. Because we're hardcore like that. This was interspersed with some marching with eyes closed, so that when it came to practising the passthrough no-one would be colliding in a mass of pain, agony and maiming. Hurrah.
Then it came time to start actually practicing passthroughs. That was some trippy stuff. Then followed some chroreography (just for the fun of it); music and then everyone was sent home.
Sunday was like saturday... on steroids.
Morning music rehearsal gave way to more FUNdamentals (insert weak enthusiasm here). When Katrina was confident no maiming would take place, we reiterated our two directional passthrough, and then added a third direction, much to everyone's stress. Or at least the stress of everyone not protected by a giant fibreglass instrument (i.e. me). Such fun.
After lunch came the choreography with music. Harder than it looks. Or maybe that's the sousaphone talking. I don't know. All I know is it's good I reiterated the Battlefield choreography in between the Arts Unit showcase and the rehearsal (the state music camp girls know what I'm talking about), because that was one fewer set of moves I had to learn.
Then came a drilldown, won by Hamish, who has broken his usual habit of getting out in the final three.
So: our next rehearsal begins with the Red Bull Xtreme whatever at Cockatoo Island (I actually have no idea exactly what it is).
Remember to: turn up at Cumberland at 0800; wear your blacks and bring a jumper and something to do in the inevitable waiting time; BRING SOME DRUM STICKS.
And practice your music.
Tata for now...
Thursday, July 28, 2011
An Addendum (because I like gerundives)
It has come to my attention that Leanne also won the memorisation competition. Apologies for not mentioning this earlier.
Also, your emails are now in possession of an email regarding Beauty and the Beast. Be champs and respond to it.
Finally, if you don't understand the title of this post, I will paraphrase a brotip:
Grammar is cool.
Peace out.
Also, your emails are now in possession of an email regarding Beauty and the Beast. Be champs and respond to it.
Finally, if you don't understand the title of this post, I will paraphrase a brotip:
Grammar is cool.
Peace out.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Squelch - The July Rehearsal
In the days leading up to the July rehearsal, it rained with much volume and determination. This meant that come the weekend, whilst it wasn't actively raining, the field was nonetheless a bit of a raging swamp.
As a result, I brought gumboots. We then proceeded to not go onto the field all day.
Saturday began (and ended) with a music rehearsal. As well as continuing to hone our Cirque du Soleil and ANZAC day music, we began (and continued) work on our tour music: Birdland and Beethoven's Fifth [themes therefrom], as well as that favourite from last year: I Want You Back. Birdland posed some difficulties for those of us in low brass due to the generally low range of the piece, combined with the fact that the score is quite small. Because
Fun Fact: when you're playing low notes on low brass, your vision goes blurry from the vibrations. Which makes reading small music quite difficult. Especially [as with the sousa part] when the majority of the score is ledger lines. Fun times.
On the plus side, Beethoven 5 involves the style marking 'Rage!'. One can't find fault in a piece which is just asking one to go nuts.
Then followed our learning of the Anzac Day drill, which comprised of a lot of walking backwards and forwards, with the odd passthrough. Not as impressive as this passthrough Katrina showed us, but still reasonably snazzy.
We also got to see for the first time the drill for the drum feature, replete with a foot kicking a ball through some goalposts. Apparently much fun was had in the writing of that particular drill.
Sunday involved going on the field. It was squelchy.
We began with an assembly wherein we were introduced to Alison's French exchange student, Jean; and Liam learned that Anthony could potentially incapacitate him. There was more music, and then onto the field to learn the drill from the drum feature.
All the drill learning done over the course of the weekend [and the speed with which it took place] prompted Katrina to comment on how easy it is to learn drill when your music is memorised. For those of you who either didn't pick up on that thinly veiled hint, or otherwise weren't there, that was her telling you to memorise your music. SO DO IT!
After the accomplishment of learning six minutes worth of drill in the space of two hours [and after bandying about the word 'schmick' - at least that's how I assume it would be spelt] there was the memorisation test. Congratulations go to Ben Gray (both of them), Ben Mills, Shane and Brendan (the cymbal player) for not getting anything wrong. Brendan also gets a special mention for being more entertaining than Shane. I don't think anyone saw that one coming.
The afternoon music rehearsal also saw the vocalist auditions for tour. As it turned out, no-one is going to be singing You are the Sunshine of my Life, but there will be singing in I Want You Back. Fun times for Paul and myself.
There was also the promise made of a recording of the drum feature so as to enable us to practice it at home. By now an mp3 file should be floating about the theoretical aether of your internet. Make use of it.
Our next rehearsal will be the weekend of the AFL performance. Make sure you know all your music, make sure you're uninjured, and above all else, make sure you know that the date has changed.
Stay keen, kids.
As a result, I brought gumboots. We then proceeded to not go onto the field all day.
Saturday began (and ended) with a music rehearsal. As well as continuing to hone our Cirque du Soleil and ANZAC day music, we began (and continued) work on our tour music: Birdland and Beethoven's Fifth [themes therefrom], as well as that favourite from last year: I Want You Back. Birdland posed some difficulties for those of us in low brass due to the generally low range of the piece, combined with the fact that the score is quite small. Because
Fun Fact: when you're playing low notes on low brass, your vision goes blurry from the vibrations. Which makes reading small music quite difficult. Especially [as with the sousa part] when the majority of the score is ledger lines. Fun times.
On the plus side, Beethoven 5 involves the style marking 'Rage!'. One can't find fault in a piece which is just asking one to go nuts.
Then followed our learning of the Anzac Day drill, which comprised of a lot of walking backwards and forwards, with the odd passthrough. Not as impressive as this passthrough Katrina showed us, but still reasonably snazzy.
We also got to see for the first time the drill for the drum feature, replete with a foot kicking a ball through some goalposts. Apparently much fun was had in the writing of that particular drill.
Sunday involved going on the field. It was squelchy.
We began with an assembly wherein we were introduced to Alison's French exchange student, Jean; and Liam learned that Anthony could potentially incapacitate him. There was more music, and then onto the field to learn the drill from the drum feature.
All the drill learning done over the course of the weekend [and the speed with which it took place] prompted Katrina to comment on how easy it is to learn drill when your music is memorised. For those of you who either didn't pick up on that thinly veiled hint, or otherwise weren't there, that was her telling you to memorise your music. SO DO IT!
After the accomplishment of learning six minutes worth of drill in the space of two hours [and after bandying about the word 'schmick' - at least that's how I assume it would be spelt] there was the memorisation test. Congratulations go to Ben Gray (both of them), Ben Mills, Shane and Brendan (the cymbal player) for not getting anything wrong. Brendan also gets a special mention for being more entertaining than Shane. I don't think anyone saw that one coming.
The afternoon music rehearsal also saw the vocalist auditions for tour. As it turned out, no-one is going to be singing You are the Sunshine of my Life, but there will be singing in I Want You Back. Fun times for Paul and myself.
There was also the promise made of a recording of the drum feature so as to enable us to practice it at home. By now an mp3 file should be floating about the theoretical aether of your internet. Make use of it.
Our next rehearsal will be the weekend of the AFL performance. Make sure you know all your music, make sure you're uninjured, and above all else, make sure you know that the date has changed.
Stay keen, kids.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Roosters vs. Raiders (or) That Awkward Moment When the Holiday-Care Kids Watch Your Rehearsals for Entertainment.
This post is dedicated to Sophie and Lucy Pugh-Sellers, who having hung with us for six months are returning to America, where they can no doubt brag to their friends about the fact that they were in (arguably) the best high school marching band in the country. We're going to miss you both.
Fun Fact: When you have three male choir billets staying at your house and you need to get your runners so that you can get to Marching band, and said footwear happens to be in the room they were given, things get faintly awkward. They then lead to statements like "I didn't know you had a brother" from the kids you're carpooling with.
Regardless, following the morning's faint awkwardness, I arrived at Cumberland at the bright and early time of 8.20. I was in for a long wait. As more and more people arrived, I became aware of the effects of last rehearsal's blog post. As well as eliciting numerous oblique references to the ranting exhibited on the facebook page, I discovered that Jordan had shaved just to ensure that no-one would have stabby-stabby murder faces brought on by unnecessary facial hair. This was of course more than counterbalanced by the fact that Jacob seems to be going for the 'lol jks, I'm actually in my mid-thirties' look. Not Ok. Shave.
At assembly, wherein we learned more about the post-spec tour (information will apparently be arriving in your inboxes at some point soonish... I can't be any more specific otherwise I lose plausible deniability), most notably the fact that not only will there be a piece played entirely on balloons (awkward if they pop like they did in warmup today), there will be a piece involving singing. Remember to inform Dane if you are interested in any of the above.
And now we reach the discussion of that awkward moment when the holiday care kids watch your rehearsals for entertainment. All morning, as we ran the show, filled in gaps and generally just polished drill, there was a whole contingent of little kids up at Carlingford West PS wearing [obscenely] fluorescent orange hats, screaming 'go trumpets' and 'go clarinets' alternately. On the plus side, they were an incredibly receptive audience.
The first few runthroughs were a touch questionable thanks to the fact that instead of the field being marked in a delightfully convenient 5m grid, we had vertical lines every ten metres and precious little else. This was perhaps a good thing as we were missing so many people (flutes, I'm judging your attendance) that we were marching more to keep the forms recognisable than to actually follow the drillbook to the step.
After we finally got it presentable, it was time to pack the 'truck' (pack the larger-than-average people-mover just doesn't have the same ring to it, even if it's true), get changed, eat lunch and then head onto the swivelly bus to get to the Sydney Football Stadium.
At this point, the sock puppet with whom I have monologues on facebook was revealed. Apparently it's a creepy looking sock puppet. Also apparently, most people thought I was just having a SPD moment (i.e. the sock puppet was merely a figment of my imagination).
I can't comment on anything else which went on during the bus trip as I was asleep most of the time. It was awesome.
Once we arrived at the stadium, we went to our holding room above the SCG and hung around until it was our time to practice. We only needed one runthrough. It was awesome. We then got off the field just in time to avoid being possibly maimed by the Canberra Raiders U21 team. Because that would have been somewhat awkward.
As it turned out, we were in fact restricted to the areas between the 30s, not an ideal restriction as at times the drill postulated that we were in fact meant to be heading past them towards the 20s. We improvised.
Following another wait at the SCG at which time we ate our prepacked dinners and got into our blacks and capes, it was time to perform. From the screams emanating from the dancers, out ten-hut was impressive in its volume. Our performance was valiant, if at times creative, and it seemed that the reasonably meagre crowd liked us.
An entertaining aspect was the ability to catch glimpses of the show on the JumboTron. As it turns out, the fact that I am significantly shorter than the rest of my section shows when photographed from above. Go figure.
Now, it is time for another Fun Fact: whilst high wind may be terribly visually dynamic when we're wearing capes, it is nonetheless not ideal when one plays a sousaphone. They're like giant fibreglass wind-socks.
After the performance, we were all dismissed from the SCG at which point some went to watch the game (the outcome of which I cannot comment on, having left to catch public transport home) and the rest went home.
I myself had a mild adventure on buses which leads me to
Fun Fact the Third: the eastern suburbs were not (a)well set out or (b)designed with logical public transportation in mind.
Moral of the story: if you have to get from Moore Park to the city, you're almost better off walking to Central. Almost.
Regardless, today served as a great learning experience for the AFL show, one which will be made all the more entertaining as THERE WILL BE NO LINES ON THE FIELD. OH YES, THEY WENT THERE. As a result, you should really practice your drill in the meantime. Also, those who didn't, really ought to shave.
We have a while until the next rehearsal, make the time count.
Finally, props go to Hayley Squires, who turned up to marching band still swollen (and mildly doped up) from dental surgery (five wisdom teeth... how does that even happen?). Follow her example and nut up. Whatever illness/injury you're nursing, statistically, it isn't that bad.
I'll see y'alls next rehearsal. Stay cool.
Fun Fact: When you have three male choir billets staying at your house and you need to get your runners so that you can get to Marching band, and said footwear happens to be in the room they were given, things get faintly awkward. They then lead to statements like "I didn't know you had a brother" from the kids you're carpooling with.
Regardless, following the morning's faint awkwardness, I arrived at Cumberland at the bright and early time of 8.20. I was in for a long wait. As more and more people arrived, I became aware of the effects of last rehearsal's blog post. As well as eliciting numerous oblique references to the ranting exhibited on the facebook page, I discovered that Jordan had shaved just to ensure that no-one would have stabby-stabby murder faces brought on by unnecessary facial hair. This was of course more than counterbalanced by the fact that Jacob seems to be going for the 'lol jks, I'm actually in my mid-thirties' look. Not Ok. Shave.
At assembly, wherein we learned more about the post-spec tour (information will apparently be arriving in your inboxes at some point soonish... I can't be any more specific otherwise I lose plausible deniability), most notably the fact that not only will there be a piece played entirely on balloons (awkward if they pop like they did in warmup today), there will be a piece involving singing. Remember to inform Dane if you are interested in any of the above.
And now we reach the discussion of that awkward moment when the holiday care kids watch your rehearsals for entertainment. All morning, as we ran the show, filled in gaps and generally just polished drill, there was a whole contingent of little kids up at Carlingford West PS wearing [obscenely] fluorescent orange hats, screaming 'go trumpets' and 'go clarinets' alternately. On the plus side, they were an incredibly receptive audience.
The first few runthroughs were a touch questionable thanks to the fact that instead of the field being marked in a delightfully convenient 5m grid, we had vertical lines every ten metres and precious little else. This was perhaps a good thing as we were missing so many people (flutes, I'm judging your attendance) that we were marching more to keep the forms recognisable than to actually follow the drillbook to the step.
After we finally got it presentable, it was time to pack the 'truck' (pack the larger-than-average people-mover just doesn't have the same ring to it, even if it's true), get changed, eat lunch and then head onto the swivelly bus to get to the Sydney Football Stadium.
At this point, the sock puppet with whom I have monologues on facebook was revealed. Apparently it's a creepy looking sock puppet. Also apparently, most people thought I was just having a SPD moment (i.e. the sock puppet was merely a figment of my imagination).
I can't comment on anything else which went on during the bus trip as I was asleep most of the time. It was awesome.
Once we arrived at the stadium, we went to our holding room above the SCG and hung around until it was our time to practice. We only needed one runthrough. It was awesome. We then got off the field just in time to avoid being possibly maimed by the Canberra Raiders U21 team. Because that would have been somewhat awkward.
As it turned out, we were in fact restricted to the areas between the 30s, not an ideal restriction as at times the drill postulated that we were in fact meant to be heading past them towards the 20s. We improvised.
Following another wait at the SCG at which time we ate our prepacked dinners and got into our blacks and capes, it was time to perform. From the screams emanating from the dancers, out ten-hut was impressive in its volume. Our performance was valiant, if at times creative, and it seemed that the reasonably meagre crowd liked us.
An entertaining aspect was the ability to catch glimpses of the show on the JumboTron. As it turns out, the fact that I am significantly shorter than the rest of my section shows when photographed from above. Go figure.
Now, it is time for another Fun Fact: whilst high wind may be terribly visually dynamic when we're wearing capes, it is nonetheless not ideal when one plays a sousaphone. They're like giant fibreglass wind-socks.
After the performance, we were all dismissed from the SCG at which point some went to watch the game (the outcome of which I cannot comment on, having left to catch public transport home) and the rest went home.
I myself had a mild adventure on buses which leads me to
Fun Fact the Third: the eastern suburbs were not (a)well set out or (b)designed with logical public transportation in mind.
Moral of the story: if you have to get from Moore Park to the city, you're almost better off walking to Central. Almost.
Regardless, today served as a great learning experience for the AFL show, one which will be made all the more entertaining as THERE WILL BE NO LINES ON THE FIELD. OH YES, THEY WENT THERE. As a result, you should really practice your drill in the meantime. Also, those who didn't, really ought to shave.
We have a while until the next rehearsal, make the time count.
Finally, props go to Hayley Squires, who turned up to marching band still swollen (and mildly doped up) from dental surgery (five wisdom teeth... how does that even happen?). Follow her example and nut up. Whatever illness/injury you're nursing, statistically, it isn't that bad.
I'll see y'alls next rehearsal. Stay cool.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Shenannigans at State Music Camp, followed by Unseasonably Warm Weather: The June Rehearsal (or) That Awkward Moment When Half the Band Isn't There.
The title aside, this post won't be up to my regular standards. Apologies in advance. Moral of the story - DON'T GET TONSILITIS.
Fun Fact: the marching band just doesn't work when there's only six people.
At state music camp, there are evening concerts. Students audition for performance spots in them. A subset of the marching band members who were on the camp decided it might be an idea to audition for one of those spots playing Battlefield (mainly because we all knew it).
That day, there was a weather warning for high winds meaning that during afternoon rec time (i.e. rehearsal time) everyone was confined to the auditorium. after recieving permission to use the entrance area (which had glass doors separating it from the rest of the auditorium) for practice, we set to playing through Battlefield, adapting choreography and parts where necessary to make it work. This leads me to mention
Fun Fact the second: glass doors don't stop sound. They barely even muffle it.
This was discovered when we began to notice that everyone was looking at us. To test our theory that the doors really weren't working, it was decided that I would stand outside the doors and walk backwards until I could no longer hear playing. I was fifty metres away at the other end of the auditorium and I could still hear them clearly. Fun times.
Anyway, we got to the audition and had barely made it to the drum feature when we were cut off. Apparently when you're using a tuba (me), a trumpet (Holly), two alto saxes (Kayla and Christine), a clarinet (Bella) and a snare drummer (Emily) to play something written for a 100 piece marching band, you [and this is a direct quote] "don't have enough parts covered".
We did try though. Rock on, ladies.
One day of recovery later (but not if you had an exam the day after music camp ended - moral of the story, get your year 12 assessments done BEFORE you go on camp) we all assembled at Cumberland. And by all I in fact mean a subset thereof. Because attendance was reasonably pitiful. On the upside, the majority of us were wearing our blue performance shirts. Didn't we look snazzy.
Following morning assembly we played through the circus music which we will apparently be performing for spec. At which point the sousas experienced that awkward moment when you don't have any music for your entire section. It's not ideal.
It was then onto the field for warm-ups with Normo. It's surprising how much complaining is warranted by the order to run a lap around the field. We then proceeded to run drill until lunch. To be entirely honest, I can't remember anything which happened during saturday's field sessions - I'm reasonably sure I repressed the memory due to the overwhelming HORROR.
But I digress.
Just like Rebecca Black said it did, Sunday came afterwards.
Again in our classy blue rehearsal shirts (and for the record, I am for once not being bitterly cynical, I actually am a massive fan of the shirts), we reassembled at Cumberland, still numerous people short. Greggles (sousa), I'm judging you. No-one can be THAT diseased after band camp.
Following another music rehearsal, wherein we sightread Birdland (and while we're on the subject, nothing needs that many accidentals. Seriously. Not cool.), much to the general entertainment of everyone. Thankfully, we won't need to memorise the music we're playing for tour.
It was then onto the field for some more rehearsing so that we'd look all nice and polished for when the parents arrived. But first we practiced marching in slide. This in turn brings us to yet another
Fun Fact: When you're doing slide in a sousaphone, in order to keep bell to front, you actually have to rotate past 90 degrees when marching to the left. Not ideal.
But back to the story... That morning saw the appearance of what I call my 'stabby-stabby-murder-face': a rare occurrence, but nonetheless one which generally involves much hurling of abuse. This was brought on by the profusion of people who weren't running on the field. Not OK, kids. Make an effort.
Just before lunch, we made it from the start of Opening Production to the end of Battlefield without a single stop. Oh happy day.
There was then lunch with the parents, which featured a DVD of the 2010/11 MMB season highlights. It was full of entertaining things like Holly with long hair, Zac with long hair, and (of course) Dale with dreads.
It was then back onto the field for some more drill practice, wherein Sophie coined a term which I myself will be using quite a lot - WWJD: What Would Julian Do? Because he always invariably seems to know what he's meant to be doing/where he's meant to be going. Because he's a bit of a champ like that.
This was followed by a drilldown. Much to her surprise, Holly was victorious, with Hamish (as always) reaching the top three before failing in some way. During drilldown, I discovered that when at ease, flute players need to keep both hands on the flute. Because apparently they're just that heavy.
It was then time for a full runthrough of the show. It was awesome. Following the aftermath of our success, Dane proceeded to talk to the parents about the post-spec tour which is currently in the works. I know I'm excited.
It was then time to pack up and be dismissed.
This post isn't over however. Not by a long shot. Because I have spleen to vent regarding facial hair.
This month's rehearsal saw a lot of facial hair. From Julian's 'I just went on school music camp and didn't bring a razor' beard to Shane's somewhat surprising neck-beard (I didn't think it was possible until I saw it); spanning from sax Ben's 'It isn't movember?' to Jacob's 'I'm secretly a thirty-year-old man' beard, everyone seemed to be doing what university students do before exams: grow a beard of knowledge.
Fun Fact: Facial hair won't help you remember your drill. Remembering your drill will help you remember your drill.
So shave. Otherwise come post-spec tour, I will find you when you're sleeping and shave off one of your eyebrows. And you won't know which one.
In the interim, make sure you know your drill, stay un-diseased and I'll see you all on Monday, caped and awesome.
Until then, play loud and proud.
And shave.
Fun Fact: the marching band just doesn't work when there's only six people.
At state music camp, there are evening concerts. Students audition for performance spots in them. A subset of the marching band members who were on the camp decided it might be an idea to audition for one of those spots playing Battlefield (mainly because we all knew it).
That day, there was a weather warning for high winds meaning that during afternoon rec time (i.e. rehearsal time) everyone was confined to the auditorium. after recieving permission to use the entrance area (which had glass doors separating it from the rest of the auditorium) for practice, we set to playing through Battlefield, adapting choreography and parts where necessary to make it work. This leads me to mention
Fun Fact the second: glass doors don't stop sound. They barely even muffle it.
This was discovered when we began to notice that everyone was looking at us. To test our theory that the doors really weren't working, it was decided that I would stand outside the doors and walk backwards until I could no longer hear playing. I was fifty metres away at the other end of the auditorium and I could still hear them clearly. Fun times.
Anyway, we got to the audition and had barely made it to the drum feature when we were cut off. Apparently when you're using a tuba (me), a trumpet (Holly), two alto saxes (Kayla and Christine), a clarinet (Bella) and a snare drummer (Emily) to play something written for a 100 piece marching band, you [and this is a direct quote] "don't have enough parts covered".
We did try though. Rock on, ladies.
One day of recovery later (but not if you had an exam the day after music camp ended - moral of the story, get your year 12 assessments done BEFORE you go on camp) we all assembled at Cumberland. And by all I in fact mean a subset thereof. Because attendance was reasonably pitiful. On the upside, the majority of us were wearing our blue performance shirts. Didn't we look snazzy.
Following morning assembly we played through the circus music which we will apparently be performing for spec. At which point the sousas experienced that awkward moment when you don't have any music for your entire section. It's not ideal.
It was then onto the field for warm-ups with Normo. It's surprising how much complaining is warranted by the order to run a lap around the field. We then proceeded to run drill until lunch. To be entirely honest, I can't remember anything which happened during saturday's field sessions - I'm reasonably sure I repressed the memory due to the overwhelming HORROR.
But I digress.
Just like Rebecca Black said it did, Sunday came afterwards.
Again in our classy blue rehearsal shirts (and for the record, I am for once not being bitterly cynical, I actually am a massive fan of the shirts), we reassembled at Cumberland, still numerous people short. Greggles (sousa), I'm judging you. No-one can be THAT diseased after band camp.
Following another music rehearsal, wherein we sightread Birdland (and while we're on the subject, nothing needs that many accidentals. Seriously. Not cool.), much to the general entertainment of everyone. Thankfully, we won't need to memorise the music we're playing for tour.
It was then onto the field for some more rehearsing so that we'd look all nice and polished for when the parents arrived. But first we practiced marching in slide. This in turn brings us to yet another
Fun Fact: When you're doing slide in a sousaphone, in order to keep bell to front, you actually have to rotate past 90 degrees when marching to the left. Not ideal.
But back to the story... That morning saw the appearance of what I call my 'stabby-stabby-murder-face': a rare occurrence, but nonetheless one which generally involves much hurling of abuse. This was brought on by the profusion of people who weren't running on the field. Not OK, kids. Make an effort.
Just before lunch, we made it from the start of Opening Production to the end of Battlefield without a single stop. Oh happy day.
There was then lunch with the parents, which featured a DVD of the 2010/11 MMB season highlights. It was full of entertaining things like Holly with long hair, Zac with long hair, and (of course) Dale with dreads.
It was then back onto the field for some more drill practice, wherein Sophie coined a term which I myself will be using quite a lot - WWJD: What Would Julian Do? Because he always invariably seems to know what he's meant to be doing/where he's meant to be going. Because he's a bit of a champ like that.
This was followed by a drilldown. Much to her surprise, Holly was victorious, with Hamish (as always) reaching the top three before failing in some way. During drilldown, I discovered that when at ease, flute players need to keep both hands on the flute. Because apparently they're just that heavy.
It was then time for a full runthrough of the show. It was awesome. Following the aftermath of our success, Dane proceeded to talk to the parents about the post-spec tour which is currently in the works. I know I'm excited.
It was then time to pack up and be dismissed.
This post isn't over however. Not by a long shot. Because I have spleen to vent regarding facial hair.
This month's rehearsal saw a lot of facial hair. From Julian's 'I just went on school music camp and didn't bring a razor' beard to Shane's somewhat surprising neck-beard (I didn't think it was possible until I saw it); spanning from sax Ben's 'It isn't movember?' to Jacob's 'I'm secretly a thirty-year-old man' beard, everyone seemed to be doing what university students do before exams: grow a beard of knowledge.
Fun Fact: Facial hair won't help you remember your drill. Remembering your drill will help you remember your drill.
So shave. Otherwise come post-spec tour, I will find you when you're sleeping and shave off one of your eyebrows. And you won't know which one.
In the interim, make sure you know your drill, stay un-diseased and I'll see you all on Monday, caped and awesome.
Until then, play loud and proud.
And shave.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The Arts Unit Showcase, or Why the Marching Band is so Awesome
To start with, I’d like to acknowledge the assistance I received from Keevers, Julian and Bob (Liam the trumpeter) while I was writing this post in the car on the way home. Thanks, boys.
Today it rained. Lots. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots.
And then it rained some more.
Fun Fact the first: rush hour trains going from Hurstville to the city are inordinately packed.
Related Fun Fact technically the second: When one is planning to catch a train of the aforementioned nature, it’s generally a good idea not to do that with a sousaphone.
But moving on.
Getting off the packed train at Redfern, the heavens proceeded to open with their righteous deluge of aqueous fluid, drawn by a gravitation attraction to the dense magnetic ooze in the middle of the earth.
Arriving rather sodden with the exception of my feet (moral of the story: wear gumboots to marching band. It’s mad cool), the equally sodden remainder of the band were assembled, waiting for a lessening of the downpour so that we could get ourselves to the Sound Lounge (because we warranted an entire jazz theatre as our holding area. That’s right, “dancers” [I’ll explain that later], we are that much cooler than you.) without gaining an extra kilogram or so of body mass in the form of the aforementioned solution of aqueous fluid.
We then embarked on a journey through the bowels of the Seymour centre to find the drums and sousas which the stage crew were meant to have taken to the sound lounge, at which point we set up our instruments and were released into sectionals to go over any last minute issues and to teach the newcomers the drill and choreography in all its multiplicity. This saw the appearance of Bob lacking much of his hair. It also saw the appearance of Jake, who had sparkles on his face, rather like the “dancers” (but I’ll elaborate on that later too). That’s right, I still haven’t gotten over the whole lip piercing thing.
After a somewhat delayed dress rehearsal (just because we run on schedule doesn’t mean the rest of The Arts Unit does), we returned to the sound lounge for some silent practicing, and for Scott to start watching the trombones for horn angles. Fun times for them. Eventually we made our ways to our respective stage doors to get ready for the matinee performance.
The primary school kids were beyond enthusiastic, whereas the high school kids in the audience generally had their fingers in their ears. I suppose the fact that the sound of a marching band is designed to be consumed from several metres away in windy conditions does mean that when consumed from about 50 centimetres away in an enclosed space it’s somewhat loud, but still. A little intense loudness never hurt anyone. Look at the drumline...
Upon returning to the Sound Lounge, we were greeted with the news that the August rehearsal had been changed to accommodate a performance at the AFL - a 20 minute show at the 3rd final at Stadium Australia: the first time since the olympics that the marching band will be performing there. The fact that we've been given 20 minutes of performance time at what is apparently the 3rd last game of the season (I don't really follow AFL) gives me the impression that they probably would have given us the grand final if not for the fact that it isn't in Sydney (I know enough about AFL to work that one out). EXCITEMENT.
Following that, we changed into our rather snazzy blues and assembled to go to Broadway for some free time [in groups of four or more]. On the way there, the uni students all looked upon the spectacle of 80 or so school students in matching uniforms walking in a regimented fashion (rather unlike the ragtag mess of the “dancers” and the drama kids). Upon arriving at our meeting point inside the shopping centre we were released in our groups [of four or more].
A reasonably sized contingent of the band went off to watch The Hangover, with the remainder merely floating about the centre making violently acerbic comments about the dancers. No, sorry, “dancers”.
So now I’ll actually get around to explaining that. As anyone who bothered to read the back of their jackets would realise, the jackets of the “dancers” have the arts unit logo and the word “Dance”. Not just the word dance, but the word in inverted commas. This led us to wonder what the purpose of the commas was. Was it an ironic comment of the quality of their dancing, was it merely an accident on the behalf of the jacket makers, or did the person who designed the jacket (probably a dancer themselves) not realise that inverted commas cannot be thrown about willy-nilly, but that they are in fact a greatly misimplemented grammatical feature, which when used properly can bring much happiness to the user... but I digress. Either way, from the moment I realised what their jackets actually said, I ensured that from then on anyone who said the word dancer within my earshot pronounced it “dancer” replete with inverted commas gestures.
Over the course of the next few hours, my little group [of four or more] spent the majority of our time making lists, the contents and nature of which will be revealed come the end of the year when I hand the reins over to someone else - just a reason to keep reading; and ghosting "dancers" in an attempt to get photographic evidence of the grammatical travesty (I almost wrote transvestite there... Freud would have a field day) of their jackets. Eventually I managed to ghost on particular "dancer" into the children's section at Dymocks where I got a photo from about 50 cm away and then managed to escape without being noticed, which just goes to show how much snesory awareness "dancers" have. Namely incredibly little to none.
There will be a link to a photo as soon as one is uploaded. Stay tuned.
Upon returning to the Seymour centre, we were told we had to be super quiet because of the performance going on in the theatre right next door to our holding room, so after a lot of miming, we were left to our own (albeit quiet) devices, at which point I discovered that when in doubt, lying on your back is the way to go when it comes to long periods of waiting. You heard it here first.
But back to the story, we had some storytime from Dane wherein we learned two valuable life lessons:
Lesson the first: Always make sure your fly is done up.
Lesson the second: Never listen to the Raiders March when you're locked into a school with your crappy P plater car.
It was then time to neaten ourselves up for one last performance in a completely packed theatre containing a whole load of people who are in all likelihood only now regaining full hearing. Because we were just that awesome.
We then packed up and (in my case, being the bearer of a large instrument) headed off to the Engineering entryway to pack the 'truck'. I use inverted commas because the vehicle in question was in fact Greg's car. A large one, but by no stretch of the imagination a truck. This brings me to believe that in Marching Band terms, a truck is any vehicle which could be made to contain instruments, regardless of dimension or appearance. That's something to ruminate upon...
Then came the sparkles. Once outside, we began to notice that there were sparkly-faced dancers EVERYWHERE. And as the descriptor suggests, they were covered in sparkles.
This for some un-understandable reason brings me to mention hairstyles. In addition to the loss of hair Bob was exhibiting; Jack the bass drummer had shaved his head, resulting in a scalp which was just about as entertaining as Shane's when he shaved; speaking of Shane, much entertainment was derived from feeling his hair.
As for Jacob - Holley definitely had fun.
And as an added bonus, Keevers was no longer rocking the reverse mullet. Oh happy day.
The day finished with sitting in a car with Keevers, Bob, Julian and Papa Keevers, watching Ben Mills do a Phantom of the Opera impersonation using his Trumpet jumper. Because he’s just a cool kid like that.
We also spent a lot of time trying to beat Keevers and Bob’s ex-music teacher out of the carpark. We lost.
And then I discovered what teenage boys do in their spare time...
...they play corners.
Today it rained. Lots. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots.
And then it rained some more.
Fun Fact the first: rush hour trains going from Hurstville to the city are inordinately packed.
Related Fun Fact technically the second: When one is planning to catch a train of the aforementioned nature, it’s generally a good idea not to do that with a sousaphone.
But moving on.
Getting off the packed train at Redfern, the heavens proceeded to open with their righteous deluge of aqueous fluid, drawn by a gravitation attraction to the dense magnetic ooze in the middle of the earth.
Arriving rather sodden with the exception of my feet (moral of the story: wear gumboots to marching band. It’s mad cool), the equally sodden remainder of the band were assembled, waiting for a lessening of the downpour so that we could get ourselves to the Sound Lounge (because we warranted an entire jazz theatre as our holding area. That’s right, “dancers” [I’ll explain that later], we are that much cooler than you.) without gaining an extra kilogram or so of body mass in the form of the aforementioned solution of aqueous fluid.
We then embarked on a journey through the bowels of the Seymour centre to find the drums and sousas which the stage crew were meant to have taken to the sound lounge, at which point we set up our instruments and were released into sectionals to go over any last minute issues and to teach the newcomers the drill and choreography in all its multiplicity. This saw the appearance of Bob lacking much of his hair. It also saw the appearance of Jake, who had sparkles on his face, rather like the “dancers” (but I’ll elaborate on that later too). That’s right, I still haven’t gotten over the whole lip piercing thing.
After a somewhat delayed dress rehearsal (just because we run on schedule doesn’t mean the rest of The Arts Unit does), we returned to the sound lounge for some silent practicing, and for Scott to start watching the trombones for horn angles. Fun times for them. Eventually we made our ways to our respective stage doors to get ready for the matinee performance.
The primary school kids were beyond enthusiastic, whereas the high school kids in the audience generally had their fingers in their ears. I suppose the fact that the sound of a marching band is designed to be consumed from several metres away in windy conditions does mean that when consumed from about 50 centimetres away in an enclosed space it’s somewhat loud, but still. A little intense loudness never hurt anyone. Look at the drumline...
Upon returning to the Sound Lounge, we were greeted with the news that the August rehearsal had been changed to accommodate a performance at the AFL - a 20 minute show at the 3rd final at Stadium Australia: the first time since the olympics that the marching band will be performing there. The fact that we've been given 20 minutes of performance time at what is apparently the 3rd last game of the season (I don't really follow AFL) gives me the impression that they probably would have given us the grand final if not for the fact that it isn't in Sydney (I know enough about AFL to work that one out). EXCITEMENT.
Following that, we changed into our rather snazzy blues and assembled to go to Broadway for some free time [in groups of four or more]. On the way there, the uni students all looked upon the spectacle of 80 or so school students in matching uniforms walking in a regimented fashion (rather unlike the ragtag mess of the “dancers” and the drama kids). Upon arriving at our meeting point inside the shopping centre we were released in our groups [of four or more].
A reasonably sized contingent of the band went off to watch The Hangover, with the remainder merely floating about the centre making violently acerbic comments about the dancers. No, sorry, “dancers”.
So now I’ll actually get around to explaining that. As anyone who bothered to read the back of their jackets would realise, the jackets of the “dancers” have the arts unit logo and the word “Dance”. Not just the word dance, but the word in inverted commas. This led us to wonder what the purpose of the commas was. Was it an ironic comment of the quality of their dancing, was it merely an accident on the behalf of the jacket makers, or did the person who designed the jacket (probably a dancer themselves) not realise that inverted commas cannot be thrown about willy-nilly, but that they are in fact a greatly misimplemented grammatical feature, which when used properly can bring much happiness to the user... but I digress. Either way, from the moment I realised what their jackets actually said, I ensured that from then on anyone who said the word dancer within my earshot pronounced it “dancer” replete with inverted commas gestures.
Over the course of the next few hours, my little group [of four or more] spent the majority of our time making lists, the contents and nature of which will be revealed come the end of the year when I hand the reins over to someone else - just a reason to keep reading; and ghosting "dancers" in an attempt to get photographic evidence of the grammatical travesty (I almost wrote transvestite there... Freud would have a field day) of their jackets. Eventually I managed to ghost on particular "dancer" into the children's section at Dymocks where I got a photo from about 50 cm away and then managed to escape without being noticed, which just goes to show how much snesory awareness "dancers" have. Namely incredibly little to none.
There will be a link to a photo as soon as one is uploaded. Stay tuned.
Upon returning to the Seymour centre, we were told we had to be super quiet because of the performance going on in the theatre right next door to our holding room, so after a lot of miming, we were left to our own (albeit quiet) devices, at which point I discovered that when in doubt, lying on your back is the way to go when it comes to long periods of waiting. You heard it here first.
But back to the story, we had some storytime from Dane wherein we learned two valuable life lessons:
Lesson the first: Always make sure your fly is done up.
Lesson the second: Never listen to the Raiders March when you're locked into a school with your crappy P plater car.
It was then time to neaten ourselves up for one last performance in a completely packed theatre containing a whole load of people who are in all likelihood only now regaining full hearing. Because we were just that awesome.
We then packed up and (in my case, being the bearer of a large instrument) headed off to the Engineering entryway to pack the 'truck'. I use inverted commas because the vehicle in question was in fact Greg's car. A large one, but by no stretch of the imagination a truck. This brings me to believe that in Marching Band terms, a truck is any vehicle which could be made to contain instruments, regardless of dimension or appearance. That's something to ruminate upon...
Then came the sparkles. Once outside, we began to notice that there were sparkly-faced dancers EVERYWHERE. And as the descriptor suggests, they were covered in sparkles.
This for some un-understandable reason brings me to mention hairstyles. In addition to the loss of hair Bob was exhibiting; Jack the bass drummer had shaved his head, resulting in a scalp which was just about as entertaining as Shane's when he shaved; speaking of Shane, much entertainment was derived from feeling his hair.
As for Jacob - Holley definitely had fun.
And as an added bonus, Keevers was no longer rocking the reverse mullet. Oh happy day.
The day finished with sitting in a car with Keevers, Bob, Julian and Papa Keevers, watching Ben Mills do a Phantom of the Opera impersonation using his Trumpet jumper. Because he’s just a cool kid like that.
We also spent a lot of time trying to beat Keevers and Bob’s ex-music teacher out of the carpark. We lost.
And then I discovered what teenage boys do in their spare time...
...they play corners.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
May, or The Revenge of Cirque du Soleil...
Fun Fact to start us off for today: Dancers serve no discernible purpose. Maybe they have some kind of function integral to the smooth running of the planet, but if today's experiences are anything to go by, it's probably not a very important or complicated role. But more on that later...
Aaaaanyway, when the weather forecasts are taken into account, the rehearsal weekend had some pretty spectacular weather. Not only did it not rain, there weren't gale force winds (something those of us who play giant wind traps - namely sousas and the larger bass drums - rather enjoy the lack of), and it wasn't even that cold. All in all, when the weather of previous rehearsals is taken into account, it was a good omen.
After much stretching and warm-up games at the hands of the drum majors and Normo, we spent the morning practising the drill for Tuesday, using a quasi-Seymour centre built using some chairs from the hall and some strategically placed cones, an arrangement which meant that whenever we were asked to reset to a certain point in the music, the imaginary audience were constantly being trampled by the lower brass, and that the stage was constantly being invaded by the brass and wind players during the 7/8.
Saturday also saw the appearance of Greg's teaching prac student... or at least that's who the trombone section said the member of the teaching staff whom no-one had seen before was...
Following lunch, we rehearsed in the imaginary Seymour centre for a while longer before we headed onto the field for some fieldshow practice. The first run was... questionable, but by the time it was dark (which happened really fast, might I add), we were actually making the forms correctly, which according to Katrina was a great improvement. This was success even lacking a reasonably large chunk of the band. which leads me to a quick request to everyone to TURN UP TO REHEARSALS! IT MAKES EVERYONE MUCHLY HAPPYFUL! It also makes working on the fieldshow easier, because there aren't vast chunks missing from forms. Think about it.
Following the packing of the 'truck' (pronounced: Greg's car), all were dismissed for the movie/bingo night organised by the social committee. Following dinner (the third meal of the day provided by the Boosters), the band and their families went into the hall to watch Monsters Inc., interspersed with some bingo. All in all, a marvellously enjoyable night, and thus I bestow congratulations upon the social committee for organising it.
On sunday, at noon and clad in our new blue rehearsal shirts, replete with section label on the arm (because we truly are that cool), we assembled outside the Seymour centre and had another rehearsal in another imaginary theatre, one of different dimensions to that of saturday. That was a learning experience. It was also free entertainment for the uni students/hipsters/dog walkers who happened to be in the general vicinity at the time.
In due course we actually entered the theatre in which we were to perform... only to discover that most of our drill just wouldn't work in the space provided. So true to form, we learned almost everything from scratch to suit the venue. In about 45 minutes. Respect unto us.
We were doing our final runthrough when the incident which prompted the primary Fun Fact took place. Following a large amount of shrieking at Keevers and Galuzzi playing at regular volume in an incredibly enclosed space (have you ever tried carrying a sousa in a tunnel which is about 6 feet high? It's incredibly difficult. Especially when there are things hanging off/out of the ceiling to make it harder... but I digress), the clump of dancers behind those of us in door 1 proceeded to faff about in our walkway AS WE WERE ACTUALLY DOING THE SHOW. Thus actively getting in the way. The boosters managed to scream at them enough to get them out of the way before anyone ended up with sousaphone or trombone shaped injuries, but honestly. Surely they realised that the scary people with giant instruments (i.e. us) weren't exactly likely to make way for the faffers about (i.e. them) when they were faffing in the middle of our rehearsal. This in turn made Keevers fondly remember the days of Spec last year when if any dancer was fool enough to get too close they'd get hit... but back on topic.
After an impressive hour long runthrough, we packed ourselves up, put larger instruments into the dressing room (which was not in any way shape or form built to withstand an entire marching band) and were in due course let out to rejoin our parents and go home to practice our horn angles. Because golly there were a lot of them.
And let's not forget that this rehearsal was but the beginning of a tale of epicness (and we're talking epicness of Classical proportions...) which will culminate in the Arts Unit Showcase 2011, which will in fact be the first time the marching band have performed at it. Excitement.
Remember, practice the choreography, make sure your horn angles are nice and high, and whatever you do, don't get injured and don't blow your lips out before Tuesday.
Until then...
Aaaaanyway, when the weather forecasts are taken into account, the rehearsal weekend had some pretty spectacular weather. Not only did it not rain, there weren't gale force winds (something those of us who play giant wind traps - namely sousas and the larger bass drums - rather enjoy the lack of), and it wasn't even that cold. All in all, when the weather of previous rehearsals is taken into account, it was a good omen.
After much stretching and warm-up games at the hands of the drum majors and Normo, we spent the morning practising the drill for Tuesday, using a quasi-Seymour centre built using some chairs from the hall and some strategically placed cones, an arrangement which meant that whenever we were asked to reset to a certain point in the music, the imaginary audience were constantly being trampled by the lower brass, and that the stage was constantly being invaded by the brass and wind players during the 7/8.
Saturday also saw the appearance of Greg's teaching prac student... or at least that's who the trombone section said the member of the teaching staff whom no-one had seen before was...
Following lunch, we rehearsed in the imaginary Seymour centre for a while longer before we headed onto the field for some fieldshow practice. The first run was... questionable, but by the time it was dark (which happened really fast, might I add), we were actually making the forms correctly, which according to Katrina was a great improvement. This was success even lacking a reasonably large chunk of the band. which leads me to a quick request to everyone to TURN UP TO REHEARSALS! IT MAKES EVERYONE MUCHLY HAPPYFUL! It also makes working on the fieldshow easier, because there aren't vast chunks missing from forms. Think about it.
Following the packing of the 'truck' (pronounced: Greg's car), all were dismissed for the movie/bingo night organised by the social committee. Following dinner (the third meal of the day provided by the Boosters), the band and their families went into the hall to watch Monsters Inc., interspersed with some bingo. All in all, a marvellously enjoyable night, and thus I bestow congratulations upon the social committee for organising it.
On sunday, at noon and clad in our new blue rehearsal shirts, replete with section label on the arm (because we truly are that cool), we assembled outside the Seymour centre and had another rehearsal in another imaginary theatre, one of different dimensions to that of saturday. That was a learning experience. It was also free entertainment for the uni students/hipsters/dog walkers who happened to be in the general vicinity at the time.
In due course we actually entered the theatre in which we were to perform... only to discover that most of our drill just wouldn't work in the space provided. So true to form, we learned almost everything from scratch to suit the venue. In about 45 minutes. Respect unto us.
We were doing our final runthrough when the incident which prompted the primary Fun Fact took place. Following a large amount of shrieking at Keevers and Galuzzi playing at regular volume in an incredibly enclosed space (have you ever tried carrying a sousa in a tunnel which is about 6 feet high? It's incredibly difficult. Especially when there are things hanging off/out of the ceiling to make it harder... but I digress), the clump of dancers behind those of us in door 1 proceeded to faff about in our walkway AS WE WERE ACTUALLY DOING THE SHOW. Thus actively getting in the way. The boosters managed to scream at them enough to get them out of the way before anyone ended up with sousaphone or trombone shaped injuries, but honestly. Surely they realised that the scary people with giant instruments (i.e. us) weren't exactly likely to make way for the faffers about (i.e. them) when they were faffing in the middle of our rehearsal. This in turn made Keevers fondly remember the days of Spec last year when if any dancer was fool enough to get too close they'd get hit... but back on topic.
After an impressive hour long runthrough, we packed ourselves up, put larger instruments into the dressing room (which was not in any way shape or form built to withstand an entire marching band) and were in due course let out to rejoin our parents and go home to practice our horn angles. Because golly there were a lot of them.
And let's not forget that this rehearsal was but the beginning of a tale of epicness (and we're talking epicness of Classical proportions...) which will culminate in the Arts Unit Showcase 2011, which will in fact be the first time the marching band have performed at it. Excitement.
Remember, practice the choreography, make sure your horn angles are nice and high, and whatever you do, don't get injured and don't blow your lips out before Tuesday.
Until then...
Monday, April 25, 2011
April: Easter, ANZAC Day and Oodles of Rain.
Fun Fact: when aqueous fluid falls from the sky, the objects touched by said fluid become dampened. That's right, kids. You heard it here first.
On saturday, it rained. The rain fell at varying intensities throughout the day, but it still rained more or less continually.
Following breakfast with the Boosters, we had a music rehearsal, during which the extent to which some sections hadn't been practising their ANZAC Day music over the holidays became apparent. Luckily, after a few runthroughs, everyone had the music more or less memorised, which meant we could practice parade marching.
So we all put on the marvellously stylish Bunnungs Warehouse ponchos provided for us by the Boosters, and headed down to the (completely sodden) field, where we formed up and then marched around and around and around until Katrina was happy with us. Everyone's shoes were soaked before they'd reached the first wheel.
But we soldiered on through the fundamentals which followed, and then we moved onto the fieldshow. During this time, Shane discovered that if he rubbed his fingers against the rain-covered heads of his drums, he would create a weird squeaking sound. Which he then proceeded to make whenever possible. Then certain members of the sousaphone section (namely myself) realised they could do the same thing using the water which collected on the surface of the bell. Much fun was had.
Then followed lunch, which itself was followed by more rehearsing of the fieldshow. It rained less in the afternoon, to such an extent that by the end of the afternoon rehearsal session, we could actually take off the ponchos. There was much rejoicing, followed by much formationing (I understand that 'formationing' is not a valid participle. Just go with it).
Sunday was drier than saturday (although let's be honest, that isn't saying much). It didn't rain for the whole day, which was marvellously pleasant for us because it meant we didn't have to wear the ponchos. Sunday also marked the end of people being sized for rehearsal shirts, and the beginning of the Easter themed fun the Boosters planned (it was Easter sunday, after all).
At the morning rehearsal we were joined by the alumni who would be marching with us on ANZAC day for some marvellously fun parade marching. Luckily the field wasn't as sodden, so everyone's shoes managed to stay if not dry, at least not soaked.
Two hours later, the alumni left, and we went back to practicing the fieldshow. Then came the Easter egg hunt, which was greatly enjoyed by all. There was also a dress-up competition and a 'guess the number of eggs in the container' competition, all of which were organised by the marvellous Boosters.
Following lunch, there was yet more fieldshowing (also probably not a legit participle), to the extent where we technically had all of the opening production learned, and its connection with Battlefield. Although the last move before battlefield started tended to be a touch exciting...
We then packed the drums and big instruments onto the truck in preparation for the ANZAC Day march.
Fun Fact Pertaining to Monday: Waiting is boring.
Monday dawned to copious rain. The sheer extent to which liquid fell from the sky was staggering. Everyone met at the truck at 7.30, with the exception of Katrina who was drum majoring for another band, and thus couldn't march with us.
Instruments were removed from the truck and set up, cases were put back on the truck, capes were pinned and ponchos were distributed, and finally we were ready to march off to the starting point of the parade. Where we waited. And waited. And then waited some more. Eventually, we moved undercover into the MLC centre, where we could continue to wait without the irritation of being rained on.
At this point Lachie (or Lockie, I am yet to work out which is the correct spelling) had a nap, still in harness, the photos of which should be floating about Facebook soon enough if you can be bothered finding them.
In due course, we were told that we'd actually be marching, so we all went back outside and formed up. And then we waited. It wasn't raining, so we took of our ponchos, and then waited. Finally, a while after 10.30 we actually started marching. And then the rain began afresh. Suffice to say that much dampness was experienced.
After the completion of our first pass we returned to the truck for ANZAC biscuits and water - we had fifteen minutes before we needed to form up again for our second pass. We said hello to some of the alumni who weren't marching with us, and then formed up and once again marched to the start point of the parade.
Where we waited.
And waited.
And finally started marching, at which point it started raining. Again.
After another damp lap, we returned to the truck and were dismissed, leaving us to pack up and then go home to dry out.
Reminders for May
There will be a dress-ups theme of 'M'. Get creative.
Because of the Arts Unit Showcase, the date has been changed (it's now the 28th/29th), and the format of the rehearsal has also been changed.
Saturday will be lengthened, with the rehearsal ending at 5.30 followed by a movie night. Sunday will then begin at midday at the Seymour Centre. More information will find its way to your inbox in the interim, filling you in on all the details.
Remember to fill in the tinyurl survey regarding your attendance at rehearsals and the like. The url is www.tinyurl.com/MMB(insert month here).
The tinyurl for the Arts Unit Showcase is www.tinyurl.com/artsunitshowcase
Those of you who were in attendance on Saturday will be in possession of one or more boxes of fundraising chocolates. These are to raise money for a band tour either up or down the coast after Spec. Which will be awesome to the extreme, so make sure you sell the chocolates and then bring in the money at the May rehearsal.
In the meantime, practice walking up and down flights of stairs whilst playing your instrument. It'll make the performance for the showcase so much easier.
Also, a reminder that I graduate this year, so anyone interested in taking over the reigns of the blog ought to contact me so that I can walk them through how it all works.
Until the next, stay keen, learn your music, and don't get injured. And play loud and proud.
On saturday, it rained. The rain fell at varying intensities throughout the day, but it still rained more or less continually.
Following breakfast with the Boosters, we had a music rehearsal, during which the extent to which some sections hadn't been practising their ANZAC Day music over the holidays became apparent. Luckily, after a few runthroughs, everyone had the music more or less memorised, which meant we could practice parade marching.
So we all put on the marvellously stylish Bunnungs Warehouse ponchos provided for us by the Boosters, and headed down to the (completely sodden) field, where we formed up and then marched around and around and around until Katrina was happy with us. Everyone's shoes were soaked before they'd reached the first wheel.
But we soldiered on through the fundamentals which followed, and then we moved onto the fieldshow. During this time, Shane discovered that if he rubbed his fingers against the rain-covered heads of his drums, he would create a weird squeaking sound. Which he then proceeded to make whenever possible. Then certain members of the sousaphone section (namely myself) realised they could do the same thing using the water which collected on the surface of the bell. Much fun was had.
Then followed lunch, which itself was followed by more rehearsing of the fieldshow. It rained less in the afternoon, to such an extent that by the end of the afternoon rehearsal session, we could actually take off the ponchos. There was much rejoicing, followed by much formationing (I understand that 'formationing' is not a valid participle. Just go with it).
Sunday was drier than saturday (although let's be honest, that isn't saying much). It didn't rain for the whole day, which was marvellously pleasant for us because it meant we didn't have to wear the ponchos. Sunday also marked the end of people being sized for rehearsal shirts, and the beginning of the Easter themed fun the Boosters planned (it was Easter sunday, after all).
At the morning rehearsal we were joined by the alumni who would be marching with us on ANZAC day for some marvellously fun parade marching. Luckily the field wasn't as sodden, so everyone's shoes managed to stay if not dry, at least not soaked.
Two hours later, the alumni left, and we went back to practicing the fieldshow. Then came the Easter egg hunt, which was greatly enjoyed by all. There was also a dress-up competition and a 'guess the number of eggs in the container' competition, all of which were organised by the marvellous Boosters.
Following lunch, there was yet more fieldshowing (also probably not a legit participle), to the extent where we technically had all of the opening production learned, and its connection with Battlefield. Although the last move before battlefield started tended to be a touch exciting...
We then packed the drums and big instruments onto the truck in preparation for the ANZAC Day march.
Fun Fact Pertaining to Monday: Waiting is boring.
Monday dawned to copious rain. The sheer extent to which liquid fell from the sky was staggering. Everyone met at the truck at 7.30, with the exception of Katrina who was drum majoring for another band, and thus couldn't march with us.
Instruments were removed from the truck and set up, cases were put back on the truck, capes were pinned and ponchos were distributed, and finally we were ready to march off to the starting point of the parade. Where we waited. And waited. And then waited some more. Eventually, we moved undercover into the MLC centre, where we could continue to wait without the irritation of being rained on.
At this point Lachie (or Lockie, I am yet to work out which is the correct spelling) had a nap, still in harness, the photos of which should be floating about Facebook soon enough if you can be bothered finding them.
In due course, we were told that we'd actually be marching, so we all went back outside and formed up. And then we waited. It wasn't raining, so we took of our ponchos, and then waited. Finally, a while after 10.30 we actually started marching. And then the rain began afresh. Suffice to say that much dampness was experienced.
After the completion of our first pass we returned to the truck for ANZAC biscuits and water - we had fifteen minutes before we needed to form up again for our second pass. We said hello to some of the alumni who weren't marching with us, and then formed up and once again marched to the start point of the parade.
Where we waited.
And waited.
And finally started marching, at which point it started raining. Again.
After another damp lap, we returned to the truck and were dismissed, leaving us to pack up and then go home to dry out.
Reminders for May
There will be a dress-ups theme of 'M'. Get creative.
Because of the Arts Unit Showcase, the date has been changed (it's now the 28th/29th), and the format of the rehearsal has also been changed.
Saturday will be lengthened, with the rehearsal ending at 5.30 followed by a movie night. Sunday will then begin at midday at the Seymour Centre. More information will find its way to your inbox in the interim, filling you in on all the details.
Remember to fill in the tinyurl survey regarding your attendance at rehearsals and the like. The url is www.tinyurl.com/MMB(insert month here).
The tinyurl for the Arts Unit Showcase is www.tinyurl.com/artsunitshowcase
Those of you who were in attendance on Saturday will be in possession of one or more boxes of fundraising chocolates. These are to raise money for a band tour either up or down the coast after Spec. Which will be awesome to the extreme, so make sure you sell the chocolates and then bring in the money at the May rehearsal.
In the meantime, practice walking up and down flights of stairs whilst playing your instrument. It'll make the performance for the showcase so much easier.
Also, a reminder that I graduate this year, so anyone interested in taking over the reigns of the blog ought to contact me so that I can walk them through how it all works.
Until the next, stay keen, learn your music, and don't get injured. And play loud and proud.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
An Apology (or, Oops, I Should Have Thought That Through In Slightly More Detail)
For whatever reason, the ...dary of legend...dary didn't end up in the post below where it should have ended up, because that's how I timed it with the posting and such. Oops.
I'm sure you all worked it out regardless.
Don't forget to use the tinyurl thingy for next rehearsal.
I'm sure you all worked it out regardless.
Don't forget to use the tinyurl thingy for next rehearsal.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Marching in March (Gosh, I'm funny)
FUN FACT!!!!! (You can tell I'm excited about this) There's an actual contraption purpose built for removing the mouthpieces from brass instruments should they become jammed in permanently. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?!?!?
This post is dedicated to the memory of Shane's hair. Whilst we may not miss it as much as his pants, there was something to be said for the hair.
Anyway, here we go again.
This month it rained. A hell of a lot. It was actually faintly ridiculous just how much it rained. As a result, we didn't go onto the field at all for the entirety of the weekend, making do with a couple of passes around the school buildings when the weather was favourable enough. Which was seldom. Regardless, we soldiered on (I'm really on a roll with all these marching puns. Yes, I know. I also want to be me when I grow up.) for a marvellously productive, if somewhat damp weekend.
Saturday started with a rehearsal for a recording of our music for Ka, which showed us that just because our drumline is incredibly talented, it doesn't mean they are in any way able to use a rainstick. The sheer extent to which the humble rainstick seemed to mytstify them was somewhat humorous, leading to Greg needing to overdub onto the recording the sound of a rainstick in bar 3 of Battlefield.
After a few runthroughs of Opening Production and Battlefield, we recorded the tracks when the rain wasn't too noisy. Although we didn't end up hearing the end product of Opening Production, we did hear the Battlefield recording on sunday... but more on that later.
After that, we got to learn about the innumerable joys of 7/8 marching. 7/8 marching is the kind of thing which puts the Fun into Fundamentals. It's like marching in 3/4, but with occasional slo-mo sections. Fun times.
Moving on, once we had mastered the concept of 7/8 marching, we formed up under the COLA to work on the drill for the end of Battlefield, which as it turned out was to be the drill which was filmed to send off and get us performances. And so we spent an hour (and then another hour and a half after lunch) forming a big triangle, then splitting down the middle and spinning around to another triangle, then making a big square around what will eventually be the drumline, but in the case of this rehearsal was really just empty space, filled temporarily by colourguard for the course of the filming.
This then flowed on into sunday, which was exponentially more rainy than saturday. The sheer amount of fluid which descended from the heavens (and the ferocity with which the descension took place) was staggering. But being the tough cookies that we are, we managed to film our drill and run through some new music, all of us managing to memorise Pump It after playing it twice. Snaps for us.
We began by splitting into three groups and practising the fundamentals of parade marching under the close scrutiny of the Drum Majors and the teaching staff, before forming into a full parade block and gallivanting (And by gallivanting I in fact mean marching in formation) about the school grounds to the tunes of I Am Australian [Cadence] Road to Gundagai [Cadence] Great Escape [Cadence] and so on in endless progression.
Then followed more practice of the end of the Battlefield drill, a pursuit made all the more enjoyable by watching the Drumline playing whilst in flair. Special mention must go out to the basses, who really got into the spirit of things, and of course Shane, who was as always, violently enthusiastic.
After we'd been drilled to Katrina's satisfaction, we settled in for a look at Pursuit, another movement from Ka, and some new music: You Are The Sunshine Of My Life by Stevie Wonder, and something (the name of which escapes me) which was basically just little bits of Black Eyed Peas songs. These will apparently come in handy if (although judging by the level of awesome we brought to the filming, I probably ought to be saying when) we end up doing an NRL gig. Go figure.
Before the judging of the Circus themed dress-ups, the drumline, featuring Shane, came up the front to show what they were doing during battlefield. It was greatly entertaining. The dressing up was dominated by the trumpets, and was won by Mini Winnie (Kirsten) of the colourguard and Ben M of the trumpets. There was then lunch, during which we got changed into our Arts Unit Blacks in preparation for the filming.
This brings me to an important point: uniform. People were without belts, without shirts, in one case without shoes, and often those who had shoes hadn't polished them. We're bound to be lectured on the topic at the next rehearsal, but I'll start it off: make sure you have all the stuff you need for ANZAC day. Seriously. Anzac day is the day when we march around the city looking decidedly awesome, and part of that awesome is the fact that we're so neat and tidy. So if you do nothing else before the next rehearsal, at least polish your shoes. It's not that difficult. And if it turns out you lack a certain piece of the band uniform, email the boosters to organise them ordering it in for you in preparation for next month. mmbboosters@gmail.com
Back to the rehearsal, we filmed several times from differing angles, including Greg standing on a car; Dane walking through the band with a handcam after the final halt, filming our stillness and my personal favourite, Katrina conducting with such intensity that first we laughed, then she did, somewhat detracting from the intensity with which she was conducting.
After filming, we changed back into our clothing and settled down in the hall to watch some footage from the DCI (Drum Corps International) competition, to show us just how amazing marching bands can be. I have nothing to say about it but for Wow. That was insane.
There was a final assembly, wherein we were taught how to operate the new online paperwork thingy, thus eliminating the usual papertrail of an MMB rehearsal. Huzzah. The theme for the dress-ups was also announced. Easter. Get planning.
We were then dismissed into the lack of rain, with instructions to memorise our music and keep fit so that we can be all perky and keen for the parade next rehearsal.
So practice, have fun and stay unmaimed, and get mad keen for Anzac day. Because like all parades we do, it's going to be legend...
...wait for it...
...wait for it...
This post is dedicated to the memory of Shane's hair. Whilst we may not miss it as much as his pants, there was something to be said for the hair.
Anyway, here we go again.
This month it rained. A hell of a lot. It was actually faintly ridiculous just how much it rained. As a result, we didn't go onto the field at all for the entirety of the weekend, making do with a couple of passes around the school buildings when the weather was favourable enough. Which was seldom. Regardless, we soldiered on (I'm really on a roll with all these marching puns. Yes, I know. I also want to be me when I grow up.) for a marvellously productive, if somewhat damp weekend.
Saturday started with a rehearsal for a recording of our music for Ka, which showed us that just because our drumline is incredibly talented, it doesn't mean they are in any way able to use a rainstick. The sheer extent to which the humble rainstick seemed to mytstify them was somewhat humorous, leading to Greg needing to overdub onto the recording the sound of a rainstick in bar 3 of Battlefield.
After a few runthroughs of Opening Production and Battlefield, we recorded the tracks when the rain wasn't too noisy. Although we didn't end up hearing the end product of Opening Production, we did hear the Battlefield recording on sunday... but more on that later.
After that, we got to learn about the innumerable joys of 7/8 marching. 7/8 marching is the kind of thing which puts the Fun into Fundamentals. It's like marching in 3/4, but with occasional slo-mo sections. Fun times.
Moving on, once we had mastered the concept of 7/8 marching, we formed up under the COLA to work on the drill for the end of Battlefield, which as it turned out was to be the drill which was filmed to send off and get us performances. And so we spent an hour (and then another hour and a half after lunch) forming a big triangle, then splitting down the middle and spinning around to another triangle, then making a big square around what will eventually be the drumline, but in the case of this rehearsal was really just empty space, filled temporarily by colourguard for the course of the filming.
This then flowed on into sunday, which was exponentially more rainy than saturday. The sheer amount of fluid which descended from the heavens (and the ferocity with which the descension took place) was staggering. But being the tough cookies that we are, we managed to film our drill and run through some new music, all of us managing to memorise Pump It after playing it twice. Snaps for us.
We began by splitting into three groups and practising the fundamentals of parade marching under the close scrutiny of the Drum Majors and the teaching staff, before forming into a full parade block and gallivanting (And by gallivanting I in fact mean marching in formation) about the school grounds to the tunes of I Am Australian [Cadence] Road to Gundagai [Cadence] Great Escape [Cadence] and so on in endless progression.
Then followed more practice of the end of the Battlefield drill, a pursuit made all the more enjoyable by watching the Drumline playing whilst in flair. Special mention must go out to the basses, who really got into the spirit of things, and of course Shane, who was as always, violently enthusiastic.
After we'd been drilled to Katrina's satisfaction, we settled in for a look at Pursuit, another movement from Ka, and some new music: You Are The Sunshine Of My Life by Stevie Wonder, and something (the name of which escapes me) which was basically just little bits of Black Eyed Peas songs. These will apparently come in handy if (although judging by the level of awesome we brought to the filming, I probably ought to be saying when) we end up doing an NRL gig. Go figure.
Before the judging of the Circus themed dress-ups, the drumline, featuring Shane, came up the front to show what they were doing during battlefield. It was greatly entertaining. The dressing up was dominated by the trumpets, and was won by Mini Winnie (Kirsten) of the colourguard and Ben M of the trumpets. There was then lunch, during which we got changed into our Arts Unit Blacks in preparation for the filming.
This brings me to an important point: uniform. People were without belts, without shirts, in one case without shoes, and often those who had shoes hadn't polished them. We're bound to be lectured on the topic at the next rehearsal, but I'll start it off: make sure you have all the stuff you need for ANZAC day. Seriously. Anzac day is the day when we march around the city looking decidedly awesome, and part of that awesome is the fact that we're so neat and tidy. So if you do nothing else before the next rehearsal, at least polish your shoes. It's not that difficult. And if it turns out you lack a certain piece of the band uniform, email the boosters to organise them ordering it in for you in preparation for next month. mmbboosters@gmail.com
Back to the rehearsal, we filmed several times from differing angles, including Greg standing on a car; Dane walking through the band with a handcam after the final halt, filming our stillness and my personal favourite, Katrina conducting with such intensity that first we laughed, then she did, somewhat detracting from the intensity with which she was conducting.
After filming, we changed back into our clothing and settled down in the hall to watch some footage from the DCI (Drum Corps International) competition, to show us just how amazing marching bands can be. I have nothing to say about it but for Wow. That was insane.
There was a final assembly, wherein we were taught how to operate the new online paperwork thingy, thus eliminating the usual papertrail of an MMB rehearsal. Huzzah. The theme for the dress-ups was also announced. Easter. Get planning.
We were then dismissed into the lack of rain, with instructions to memorise our music and keep fit so that we can be all perky and keen for the parade next rehearsal.
So practice, have fun and stay unmaimed, and get mad keen for Anzac day. Because like all parades we do, it's going to be legend...
...wait for it...
...wait for it...
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The February Rehearsal
Fun fact: Heatstroke is unpleasant.
Secondary fun fact: Reverse mullets are a questionable choice of haircut.
This month was hot. And humid. And overall, generally icky.
We began in the air-conditioned hall with a music rehearsal before moving onto the field to begin learning the drill for Opening Production.
Following lunch, there was more field rehearsing, at which point heatstroke began to hit, thus resulting in the rehearsal being moved back to the air-conditioned hall.
After the rehearsal ended for the day there was the Marching Band family picnic and dance night with much dancing and such, as well as the musical talents of band members and staff Alix Coffa, Tom McCracken, Mark Slegers, Malcolm Ramsay (Normo), Belinda and Katrina Smith, Greg Hebblewhite, Dane and some members of the band 'Superstitious'.
We also said farewell to Lindsay Frost, conductor extraordinaire, who has resigned from the Band. His awesomeness will be missed.
Then came sunday. In order to prevent as much heatstroke as possible, we started with field rehearsal during the least hot part of the day (I refrain from saying coolest because it just...wasn't). The drill for Opening Production was finalised and following a few run-throughs of Battlefield we formed into a parade block and marched around the school practicing the ANZAC day music. Props must go to Liam for turning up in the penguin suit we first saw at Spec.
At this point it should be noted that there are yet more new members in the band: Eamonn, another bass clarinet; Sam the fire twirler, the second boy in colouguard; as well as Brandon, the new Sousa, and Imogen, spec ring in now made full member.
Sadly however, we must farewell Gabe, our cameraman turned drummer who has moved to Queensland and is thus out of the purvey of the DET and resultingly the Arts Unit and its affiliates.
Once the heat became too disgusting, the band split into student executive groups with those not involved having a drilldown.
Then came lunch and the 'Penguin Sunday' dress-up competition. The winners were Liz Arthur from colourguard who penguin suited up, and Keevers who was black and white and red all over... because he was dressed as a penguin in a blender. Tasty.
Finishing off the rehearsal,there was a music rehearsal in the hall, wherein we discovered just how loud we could play. As it turns out, very. And we will have to harness that loudness next rehearsal when we're recorded and filmed to show the NRL what it is we're capable of and thus hopefully perform at a game some time in the future.
Numerous points were awarded as Dane recognised the extra mile students have been going this rehearsal. Unfortunately I didn't have access to a piece of paper so if you know who got points and for what, please comment because I'll be keeping a tally of which section contains the highest proportion of band zealots.
As it stood from last rehearsal:
Flutes: 1
Alto Sax: 2
Low brass and wind: 2
I'll update as soon as I have info as to who got the points today.
The dress-up theme for next month's rehearsal will apparently be Circus, in lieu of the fact that the Ka music was taken from Cirque du Soleil.
Remember to memorise your music for Ka and ANZAC day, remember to stay hydrated and generally just stay pumped. See you in a month!
Secondary fun fact: Reverse mullets are a questionable choice of haircut.
This month was hot. And humid. And overall, generally icky.
We began in the air-conditioned hall with a music rehearsal before moving onto the field to begin learning the drill for Opening Production.
Following lunch, there was more field rehearsing, at which point heatstroke began to hit, thus resulting in the rehearsal being moved back to the air-conditioned hall.
After the rehearsal ended for the day there was the Marching Band family picnic and dance night with much dancing and such, as well as the musical talents of band members and staff Alix Coffa, Tom McCracken, Mark Slegers, Malcolm Ramsay (Normo), Belinda and Katrina Smith, Greg Hebblewhite, Dane and some members of the band 'Superstitious'.
We also said farewell to Lindsay Frost, conductor extraordinaire, who has resigned from the Band. His awesomeness will be missed.
Then came sunday. In order to prevent as much heatstroke as possible, we started with field rehearsal during the least hot part of the day (I refrain from saying coolest because it just...wasn't). The drill for Opening Production was finalised and following a few run-throughs of Battlefield we formed into a parade block and marched around the school practicing the ANZAC day music. Props must go to Liam for turning up in the penguin suit we first saw at Spec.
At this point it should be noted that there are yet more new members in the band: Eamonn, another bass clarinet; Sam the fire twirler, the second boy in colouguard; as well as Brandon, the new Sousa, and Imogen, spec ring in now made full member.
Sadly however, we must farewell Gabe, our cameraman turned drummer who has moved to Queensland and is thus out of the purvey of the DET and resultingly the Arts Unit and its affiliates.
Once the heat became too disgusting, the band split into student executive groups with those not involved having a drilldown.
Then came lunch and the 'Penguin Sunday' dress-up competition. The winners were Liz Arthur from colourguard who penguin suited up, and Keevers who was black and white and red all over... because he was dressed as a penguin in a blender. Tasty.
Finishing off the rehearsal,there was a music rehearsal in the hall, wherein we discovered just how loud we could play. As it turns out, very. And we will have to harness that loudness next rehearsal when we're recorded and filmed to show the NRL what it is we're capable of and thus hopefully perform at a game some time in the future.
Numerous points were awarded as Dane recognised the extra mile students have been going this rehearsal. Unfortunately I didn't have access to a piece of paper so if you know who got points and for what, please comment because I'll be keeping a tally of which section contains the highest proportion of band zealots.
As it stood from last rehearsal:
Flutes: 1
Alto Sax: 2
Low brass and wind: 2
I'll update as soon as I have info as to who got the points today.
The dress-up theme for next month's rehearsal will apparently be Circus, in lieu of the fact that the Ka music was taken from Cirque du Soleil.
Remember to memorise your music for Ka and ANZAC day, remember to stay hydrated and generally just stay pumped. See you in a month!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
A Quick Addendum
It should also be noted that the drum majors have made a facebook group to give you unofficial information regarding rehearsals and such.
If you're not yet a member of it, add Zoe Coffa; Scott Murphy or Belinda Smith (the drum majors) who will then add you. Your best bet is Zoe, as she is the only Zoe Coffa on facebook.
Add and go forth in internet related happiness.
If you're not yet a member of it, add Zoe Coffa; Scott Murphy or Belinda Smith (the drum majors) who will then add you. Your best bet is Zoe, as she is the only Zoe Coffa on facebook.
Add and go forth in internet related happiness.
JANUARY
At the request of Keevers, I'm beginning this post with a FUN FACT!!
Fun fact: according to the NSW department of Sport and Recreation, Marching band an extreme sport. That's right, a government body recognises the crazy stuff we have to do.
It's classed as an extreme sport due to the extremely high casualty rate associated with marching band, which brings me quite nicely to the following message form the Boosters: drink lots of water. Water is good. It stops your internal organs from going into thermal meltdown, and it keeps your brain from shrivelling up. Drink lots of it in the leadup to the February rehearsal because it will be in all likelihood another hot and humid rehearsal.
And onto the fun stuff.
Sunday's rehearsal started with the returning year 11 and 12 members, the section leaders and student executive members watching the fieldshow animation Katrina had written for Battlefield.
Immediately after that, we realised that during the holidays, Jake had decided it was a good idea to get his lip pierced, which in and of itself declared open season on Jake for this supreme lack of foresight, especially since he couldn't play for another three weeks. The fool.
Everyone then went into the hall for a brainstorming session about what marching band meant to us. The result was Penguin Sunday. The phrase which according to the band seniors best encapsulates the experience of marching band. If you think about it hard enough, it makes sense. Kind of...
There was then a runthrough of the music, which being Cirque du Soleil was rather awesome.
We found out the size of this years band (apparently upwards of 100 people) which just goes to show just how successful the Great Recruitment Drive of 2010 was. The band is big, and not only that, drumline now has enough members for a pit percussion section. Huzzah!
And there's now a boy in colourguard.
On sunday, everyone was bestowed with nametags because the fabled new members whom we had heard so much about were there in their multitudinous glory. The day started off with everyone splitting off into their sections to meet the new people, and in the case of low brass, the returning members who had been amalgamated into their sections. Thus low brass must henceforth be referred to low brass and winds with the addition of the tenor saxes and bass clarinet.
After a runthrough of the music, there was a drill rehearsal where much to the horror of returning members, the drill commands had changed, thus putting everyone on a level playing field with regard to learning the drill commands.
During lunch the seniors who hadn't been in attendance that mornign arrived, and the drill was run through again so as to allow them to learn the new commands. Then followed another music rehearsal with the whole band, in which everyone in the back row of the band (i.e. not drumline), and especially the sousas discovered just how loud the new drumline was. Namely incredibly.
During assembly, the Boosters talked to us about the importance of hydration and nutrition...and STRETCHING. If you stretch, you don't get injured and you find that you're less stiff after rehearsals. Stretching, like memorisation, requires daily work, so for five minutes after you practice your music, take the time to stretch. You'll find that come the next rehearsal you're more flexible, which means you'll be less likely to injure yourself during the rehearsal, and you'll be less sore after drillwork.
Also during assembly, new members were introduced to the band by either section leaders or their alternates.
Monday's nametags were not of the same quality as sundays, with the majority of those with a surname beginning with L or M lacking a first name on their nametags.
Monday saw the beginning of our learning the field drill for Battlefield. It also saw the beginning of the extreme heat which returned on tuesday.
We were also introduced to the points which are to be bestowed on sections demonstrating marvellous dedication to the band. Like a military medal, points are only bestowed for exhibitions of whatever the band equivalent of extreme valour is. Who knows. Maybe there are points to be awarded for extreme valour. I'll be interested to find out in future rehearsals.
Monday afternoon after practice consisted of getting to know you games, in which we were reminded just how good at dancing Shane is. Thanks go to the social committee for organising the games night.
Tuesday was just as hot as monday, if not moreso. The nametags, were back up to scratch, with the exception of that belonging to new David, who for whatever reason didn't have his school written on his. At least his name was.
With the arrival of Katrina, we did lots and lots of drill, getting from set A to set K - a very good achievement when the time in which we'd had the music is taken into account.
There was a drilldown, which was filled with (once again) the hilarity of watching David K (Keevers) do about-faces with a very large drum. The hilarity was compounded by the fact that this year he's playing an even larger drum than last year: Big Bertha. Taking over Keevers' old drum is Gabe, formerly a mere groupie with a camera, now a fully fledged member of the band.
Winning drilldown, there was a 3-way tie between Kathryn (MiniRamsay), Michale Hoyle and Hamish, all of whom somehow managed to wrap their brains around the new drill commands and execution. Thus props to them.
The pointscore as it currently stands is:
Alto Saxes: 2 (One for extreme dedication to attention, one for Hamish winning drilldown)
Low brass and wind: 2 (One for sousas memorising their music on the first day, one for Michael Hoyle winning drilldown)
Flutes: 1 (Kathryn in Drilldown)
And there's another section on one point, but I cannot for the life of me remember which or for what. If anyone knows, it would be great if you could comment on this post and tell me.
For next rehearsal: memoriuse Battlefield, memorise the opening piece for Ka, memorise the Anzac Day music: I am Australian, Road to Gundagai, Great Escape.
Don't forget there's the family picnic on saturday 19 feb after rehearsal, and sunday is a dress up day, the theme of which is Penguin Sunday. Get creative, kids.
Remember to stretch, play lots, get keen.
Fun fact: according to the NSW department of Sport and Recreation, Marching band an extreme sport. That's right, a government body recognises the crazy stuff we have to do.
It's classed as an extreme sport due to the extremely high casualty rate associated with marching band, which brings me quite nicely to the following message form the Boosters: drink lots of water. Water is good. It stops your internal organs from going into thermal meltdown, and it keeps your brain from shrivelling up. Drink lots of it in the leadup to the February rehearsal because it will be in all likelihood another hot and humid rehearsal.
And onto the fun stuff.
Sunday's rehearsal started with the returning year 11 and 12 members, the section leaders and student executive members watching the fieldshow animation Katrina had written for Battlefield.
Immediately after that, we realised that during the holidays, Jake had decided it was a good idea to get his lip pierced, which in and of itself declared open season on Jake for this supreme lack of foresight, especially since he couldn't play for another three weeks. The fool.
Everyone then went into the hall for a brainstorming session about what marching band meant to us. The result was Penguin Sunday. The phrase which according to the band seniors best encapsulates the experience of marching band. If you think about it hard enough, it makes sense. Kind of...
There was then a runthrough of the music, which being Cirque du Soleil was rather awesome.
We found out the size of this years band (apparently upwards of 100 people) which just goes to show just how successful the Great Recruitment Drive of 2010 was. The band is big, and not only that, drumline now has enough members for a pit percussion section. Huzzah!
And there's now a boy in colourguard.
On sunday, everyone was bestowed with nametags because the fabled new members whom we had heard so much about were there in their multitudinous glory. The day started off with everyone splitting off into their sections to meet the new people, and in the case of low brass, the returning members who had been amalgamated into their sections. Thus low brass must henceforth be referred to low brass and winds with the addition of the tenor saxes and bass clarinet.
After a runthrough of the music, there was a drill rehearsal where much to the horror of returning members, the drill commands had changed, thus putting everyone on a level playing field with regard to learning the drill commands.
During lunch the seniors who hadn't been in attendance that mornign arrived, and the drill was run through again so as to allow them to learn the new commands. Then followed another music rehearsal with the whole band, in which everyone in the back row of the band (i.e. not drumline), and especially the sousas discovered just how loud the new drumline was. Namely incredibly.
During assembly, the Boosters talked to us about the importance of hydration and nutrition...and STRETCHING. If you stretch, you don't get injured and you find that you're less stiff after rehearsals. Stretching, like memorisation, requires daily work, so for five minutes after you practice your music, take the time to stretch. You'll find that come the next rehearsal you're more flexible, which means you'll be less likely to injure yourself during the rehearsal, and you'll be less sore after drillwork.
Also during assembly, new members were introduced to the band by either section leaders or their alternates.
Monday's nametags were not of the same quality as sundays, with the majority of those with a surname beginning with L or M lacking a first name on their nametags.
Monday saw the beginning of our learning the field drill for Battlefield. It also saw the beginning of the extreme heat which returned on tuesday.
We were also introduced to the points which are to be bestowed on sections demonstrating marvellous dedication to the band. Like a military medal, points are only bestowed for exhibitions of whatever the band equivalent of extreme valour is. Who knows. Maybe there are points to be awarded for extreme valour. I'll be interested to find out in future rehearsals.
Monday afternoon after practice consisted of getting to know you games, in which we were reminded just how good at dancing Shane is. Thanks go to the social committee for organising the games night.
Tuesday was just as hot as monday, if not moreso. The nametags, were back up to scratch, with the exception of that belonging to new David, who for whatever reason didn't have his school written on his. At least his name was.
With the arrival of Katrina, we did lots and lots of drill, getting from set A to set K - a very good achievement when the time in which we'd had the music is taken into account.
There was a drilldown, which was filled with (once again) the hilarity of watching David K (Keevers) do about-faces with a very large drum. The hilarity was compounded by the fact that this year he's playing an even larger drum than last year: Big Bertha. Taking over Keevers' old drum is Gabe, formerly a mere groupie with a camera, now a fully fledged member of the band.
Winning drilldown, there was a 3-way tie between Kathryn (MiniRamsay), Michale Hoyle and Hamish, all of whom somehow managed to wrap their brains around the new drill commands and execution. Thus props to them.
The pointscore as it currently stands is:
Alto Saxes: 2 (One for extreme dedication to attention, one for Hamish winning drilldown)
Low brass and wind: 2 (One for sousas memorising their music on the first day, one for Michael Hoyle winning drilldown)
Flutes: 1 (Kathryn in Drilldown)
And there's another section on one point, but I cannot for the life of me remember which or for what. If anyone knows, it would be great if you could comment on this post and tell me.
For next rehearsal: memoriuse Battlefield, memorise the opening piece for Ka, memorise the Anzac Day music: I am Australian, Road to Gundagai, Great Escape.
Don't forget there's the family picnic on saturday 19 feb after rehearsal, and sunday is a dress up day, the theme of which is Penguin Sunday. Get creative, kids.
Remember to stretch, play lots, get keen.
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