hansel2011
Band Nerd
Music expresses the words which can not be spoken...
Posts: 211
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Post by hansel2011 on Feb 21, 2009 19:53:13 GMT -5
Wow!! Thats amazing!! The farthest we ever go is Indianapolis for nationals each year...but the thing is, we live in Ohio so it only takes us like 3 hours to get there!! lol! We are going Tennessee for a music festival in May so that will be fun! I have always wanted to be in a big band with big sound, but then I realized, that I love my band just the way it is! I then wondered if I would enjoy it if I had a big band. There would be more time with director and you could get to know everyone even more. I love my band. I dont know if I would love it if I was not in the postition I am now but I get this feeling when I am out there. A feeling like if I keep on marching and push a little harder then nothing can hurt me, like I can do anything when I out on the field. It is a feeling I have never got before. Sorry, I cant explain it very well, but I am sure all of you know what I am talking about.
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Post by Bassoon4Life on Feb 21, 2009 23:04:53 GMT -5
Assuming you're referring to Grand Nationals that is a pretty nice competition to go to.
My band never went to any thing non competitive when I was in it. The neighboring years it did, though. D: Makes me jealous, don't know if they're going to Nationals next year though.
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hansel2011
Band Nerd
Music expresses the words which can not be spoken...
Posts: 211
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Post by hansel2011 on Feb 22, 2009 13:56:17 GMT -5
Yea, I am referring to Grand Nationals in Indianapolis. It is a pretty amazing place. It was better with the RCA dome because it had the air lock. Now there is no air lock and it is the Lucas Oil Stadium.
Another memory would have to be....I will always remember how close I got to people over the years. I always knew I wanted to be in band but it is as if we are all a big family. We all help people through the tough times in life, we all stick up for each other, we all love each other. My rookie year, I was going into 7th grade and I am the youngest person in my grade so I was little. My first year was interesting. Our clarinet section leader was a senior and she thought she ruled everyone. She was a very moody person but it all got worse when we met our trainer for band camp, Elizabeth. lol....every minute of the two weeks they would be fighting with each other. You could imagine that we got nothing accomplished. It was hilarious. That year I really only got to know my section becuase I was really shy, but still. My second year was pretty good. I got the section leader postition and I loved it. We were practicing at the fair grounds one Friday to work things out for the fair and that was the last time I marched for a while. That next Saturday, I was playing softball in a tournament and I messed up my knee...a lot. I was so ticked. I went home and I cried so much because I knew I was not going to be able to march for a while. Of course I let my band director know....but everyone else had no idea until I came into school that Monday and I was on cruches and had a giant knee imobilizer on my knee. I didnt really see anyone in band until band class which is the last period of the day. It took me a while because I was going across the giant school, but when I finally got in there they had already started playing. I opened the door and you should have seen the look on there faces. Of course, all these questions were asked and I hated it because they just reminded me that I could not do what I loved. Well, the season went by and I was stuck trying to lead my section from a chair placed in the pit for me. It was tough. One day, I had missed practice because I had a doctors appt and I called my friend who is in the clarinet section and I asked him what we did that day. He was telling me and he said to me that he went to our bd and asked if he could take charge since I was not here. He told me that our bd said that if I wasnt there, no one else could take my place. That made me feel that I was doing a good job even that I was not there.
It came down to the last week of marching season and I was still hurt. In our band we have a weekend that is free, practice Monday and Tuesday then we go to nationals on Thursday and we are there all weekend. Well I come into school on Tuesday and I am allowed to march. I was not sure if I wanted to march in Nationals because I didnt want to ruin our chances of making it to semi finals(which we have never done)......well, I went to my band director and we were talking in his office.
me:"I dont know if I want to march at nationals. I dont want to risk our chance of making semi-finals." bd:"Miranda, do you love to march?" me:"With all my heart." bd:"Then you will march the show at nationals. I will get you trough the drill tonight and you will learn everything and you will march Thursday."
I was so excited. I go to practice that night and I learn all the drill and extras in the 2.5 hours we have at practice. I was at practice everyday so I was not that hard but after I came off that field at Nationals, I felt so proud of myself...and I didnt mess up!!! Yay!
I remember it was the end of my freshman year. It was two days before school was out and I was talking to my bd about stuff...about softball because we were going to regionals the last day of school so we were talking. I walk into his office and he smiles at me. I was asking him what was going on, but he kept on smiling at me. The bell had rung and I was still in his office. He was still smiling and then he gets up and stands in front of me. He says I am playing a solo in the marching band show. He quickly walks off and says good luck at the game tomorrow and walks out and leaves me standing there. I didnt know what to say. I had never played a solo in concert band or anything. Finally Kristina Kriener comes in and was telling me about how the show revolved around her and I and how we were characters.
Anyways...we come into band camp and we have our music memorized. Her and I are talking to the bd about things. We go out and we are learning our drill. During our break our bd finally decided to tell us that we are not to march the entire show. He says we have to stand out na dcan not do anything the band does. It was really wierd because her and I never really talked at all. The first time we really held a converstaion was that day she told me what was going on. But, it was really hard for a senior and a major band geek who thats all I did was band related, not to march. It took us all year to not march, and not be in-step with each other. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. We were not allowed to stand at attention, parade rest....anything. But the cool thing is....even though we never talked before that season, we ended up being best friends and are still. God, dont you love band?? lol
But we are going through a hard time at school here. Last Wednesday an 8th grader at our school died of heart and lung failure. He was not in band but everyone knew him. It has been a hard week for everyone. We are managing...band is helping us get through it, music is helping us. When I come into the band room and put together my clarinet and start to play, no matter what has happened at school, at home, the music puts me into my own world and it soothes my body....idk.....i dont know if I am wierd or that happens to everyone...
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Post by clarinetrox2012 on Feb 23, 2009 19:49:43 GMT -5
When we made semi-finals for the first time in 16 years, we all ran out on the field (Quarterfinals was hosted by our school, btw), and we had a gigantic group hug. All of the seniors cried, and I shed a few tears myself. It was a beautiful moment. I will never forget that night.
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hansel2011
Band Nerd
Music expresses the words which can not be spoken...
Posts: 211
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Post by hansel2011 on Feb 24, 2009 18:04:24 GMT -5
I bet that was great. This is going to sound bad but I cant remember the last time we made semi-finals, or finals or anything like that. We are working out hardest though. We really are.
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fruple
Band Nerd
Go Participation!
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Post by fruple on Feb 25, 2009 2:03:57 GMT -5
So many to choose from!
Lesse here, probably the best was from last year. It was finals, and we had our band banquet a few days later, so us trumpets were practicing our skit. It got us sooo many weird looks because we were running around doing our wacky skit, and we had to stop every time one of our fellow bandies or an instructor walked by.
And this last year, the only really good thing was us making it to finals. That was the first time it had ever happened with our school, and it was a really amazing feeling. Our school director heard about it and broke about every speeding law possible to come down and see us before we went on. He caught us in the tunnel, and just gave one of the most beautiful speeches. It was fantastic.
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hansel2011
Band Nerd
Music expresses the words which can not be spoken...
Posts: 211
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Post by hansel2011 on Feb 25, 2009 15:33:51 GMT -5
Thats incredible! So was your band director not there or something? I love it when they give these big speeches.
When we go to nationals. the bd and drum major will give a speech. Well, last season our dm was a senior and during her speech she started to cry. It was sad because then my senior friends started to cry which made me cry and it was a big mess. And I see you did Defying Gravity. Is that from Wicked or amd I thinking of something completely different? I love wicked. It is an amazing musical. But...I love it when they give speeches like that. It just touches you in a way that you cant forget.
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Post by 84bdsop on Feb 25, 2009 17:27:30 GMT -5
High school: Winning music sweepstakes at a field tournament -- with a band that never won ANYthing - the day after our center snare got caught in a gang fight after the football game and was stabbed in the chest. (He survived...was not a gangbanger...just wrong place/time)
College: Surrounding a portapotty in our staging area after a game (with a 300+ piece band) when some civvie needed to use it. 300+ people snuck quietly around it, then ripped out the fight song at "kill-the-tree" volume. When we were done, we heard this "is it safe" from inside!
Drum corps: God....so many....
SoCal Dream: The very first compatitive show in 03 when Ryan Turner said "Drum Major, Sam Signorelli, is your corps ready?"
FINALLY getting a solo in 06 Dream
Surviving Gulf Coast Sound's podium at 04 DCA prelims (wobbly and about 8 feet up)
The first time I wore the classic Blue Devil uni and was so shocked that I was actually IN the corps when the announcer said our name at the first show that I almost missed the stepoff.
The Whitewater Wipeout
The Modesto show, when we busted out the New York Fantasy tag ending for the first time (1st show, 2nd tour) and the audience reaction.
Beating the Garfield Cadets (as Cadets were known back then) the last show before DCI (if only it had been 2 shows later....back then, the top 12 from the previous year didn't do quarters, just semis).
The Garifield clinic at Pt. Huron -- the only time we were able to see the show that would eventually beat us from the audience POV -- at marvelling at the godlike skills of Barbara Maroney, Garfield's mello soloist 83-84....she of only one arm and ROCK SOLID tone control.
Marching behind the grandstands at Riverside City College and seeing people ignore Freelancers -- who were on the field and in the MIDDLE of their show -- just to watch us go by. i heard one guy say "Dude....there go the Blue Devils!" You KNOW you're a rock star when that happens!
But the best...the end of the show at finals, my arms up in the air as i finished the best musical performance of my life in front of 25-30 thousand people screaming their heads off. Anyone who's been in that position -- especially with one of the big dogs -- known you feel like a GOD right then!
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fruple
Band Nerd
Go Participation!
Posts: 167
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Post by fruple on Feb 25, 2009 21:03:12 GMT -5
Thats incredible! So was your band director not there or something? I love it when they give these big speeches. When we go to nationals. the bd and drum major will give a speech. Well, last season our dm was a senior and during her speech she started to cry. It was sad because then my senior friends started to cry which made me cry and it was a big mess. And I see you did Defying Gravity. Is that from Wicked or amd I thinking of something completely different? I love wicked. It is an amazing musical. But...I love it when they give speeches like that. It just touches you in a way that you cant forget. Yeah, it is from Wicked. And the school director had a conflict so he wasn't able to watch us (but yeah, our marching directors were there), but he managed to run down to see us. And since I posted, I feel obliged to share another memory. Last year, we were having one of our epic, 8 hour sectionals. So, in the middle of our water fight, we decide to call the DM and say we were having trouble with the music, and then asked if she could come and conduct that part for us. Of course, she had to, and like ten minutes later she drove up in her brand-spankin'-new car. Like, a week old. And of course, one of the kids decide to throw a water balloon at her. It hit her, bounced off her, onto the mirror, bounced, hit like three more places, then exploded right on the dash. She proceeded to yell at our section leader while we all ran away laughing. It was fantastic.
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hansel2011
Band Nerd
Music expresses the words which can not be spoken...
Posts: 211
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Post by hansel2011 on Feb 28, 2009 17:55:26 GMT -5
lol! Thats hilarious! That is a very long time for sectionals. Wow! My lips would fall off. And 84bdsop-ou have been through it all havent you? So what are you doing now? Are you a director? I have always dreamed of being in a corps but I am clarinet so we all know why I cant. I wanted to switch but then I realized that why would I quit something that I am so good at just to try and compete with people who have been playing brass forever. So here I am and here I will stay. I am trrying out for dm in a month...is there wany tips you could give me or something? I am majoring in music education and minoring in music performance on clarinet...well I will be once I go to college. 15 years ols is a little young...lol...
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Post by 84bdsop on Feb 28, 2009 23:06:31 GMT -5
lol! Thats hilarious! That is a very long time for sectionals. Wow! My lips would fall off. Nah....with proper conditioning, training, and playing you can go all day...but that takes time to develop. Why? Plenty of people learn to play brass to march corps. The mello soloist in 02 Pacific Crest was a first year brass player. Don't sell yourself short. If I had that mindset in late 83, I would have never thought to audition for a 5 time world champ corps, playing on a key of horn I'd never even heard of before (G), or things like that. If you want to do it, learn to play brass and go for it. it doesn't matter what corps it is...you get pretty much the same benefit from Blue Devils as you would from Velvet Knights...it's the lessons you learn about yourself and the life-changing aspect of even a single season that's the real reward (although you may not realize it for years...I didn't). The baby-throwing crowds are the thrill of the moment (but WHAT a moment!) As for me being around....heh...you get a few decades of life under your belt and it starts adding up! BD was my first corps (first time marching corps STYLE, actually).Dagenham and Empire happened to be local to my Air Force service at the time, SoCal Dream is local to me currently....circumstances just lined up. Remember that waving the arms -- for all that it's the most public duty of the DM -- is by far the LEAST important. Leadership is FAR more important. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of ideas for you there...I'm used to dealing with adults or teens who want to be there instead of teens who have a TON of other things on their mind.
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hansel2011
Band Nerd
Music expresses the words which can not be spoken...
Posts: 211
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Post by hansel2011 on Mar 1, 2009 17:35:36 GMT -5
Yea, that is the way of my band...filled with a bumch of people who dont care. There is probably 7 people out of 52 who really care and who want to be there, not to just have something to do during the week. The few of us and our bd are working as hard as we can to get things turned around. Our goal is always to be better than our last performance but it sure you be great to make finals before I graduate. We are all trying really hard and eventually things will be like they used to be. About 20 years ago, our band made finals at Grand Nationals and we were really good. Then that director left and we got a new one...that didnt go so good...now we have a new one and we are slowly repairing the damage the second one did. Eventually our hard work will pay off. And I am getting clarinet lessons over the summer....maybe I just might try french horn. Just maybe....just maybe...
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Post by 84bdsop on Mar 1, 2009 20:06:52 GMT -5
Yea, that is the way of my band...filled with a bumch of people who dont care. There is probably 7 people out of 52 who really care and who want to be there, not to just have something to do during the week. The few of us and our bd are working as hard as we can to get things turned around. Our goal is always to be better than our last performance but it sure you be great to make finals before I graduate. We are all trying really hard and eventually things will be like they used to be. About 20 years ago, our band made finals at Grand Nationals and we were really good. Then that director left and we got a new one...that didnt go so good...now we have a new one and we are slowly repairing the damage the second one did. Eventually our hard work will pay off. And I am getting clarinet lessons over the summer....maybe I just might try french horn. Just maybe....just maybe... And the main problem with a school program is you not only have 4 years out of anyone (if that much), you have large numbers leaving every year. At least in drum corps you might have someone for 8 years or more...one person I marched in Blue Devils with, was in the organization for THIRTEEN YEARS! Started out as a flag in 1970 -- when BD was just a drum and bell corps and aged out in 1986 with 2 DCI rings (82, and 86).
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sakura11irving
Band Nerd
I <3 anime, manga, video games, and band.
Posts: 157
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Post by sakura11irving on Mar 1, 2009 21:49:51 GMT -5
I still have one more year, but I have a good memory... It was our first competition, and quite honestly, a lot of the bands weren't that great. One of the 5A bands that we see a lot was there, but from the last 3 years, I knew we probably wouldn't be getting a higher score. So, we get to the awards, and we walk away with high music and high visual (or General effect; I can't remember). We get first in our class and the 5A band get first in theirs. Then, they say they'll announce grand champions (in other words, most points overall). I'm sitting there, and practically laughing at the freshmen who think we might have won grand champions. I'm sitting there, the pessimist I am, thinking it was the 5A band... until they announce our school!!! I nearly started yelling and screaming, but that's unlike our band (we have a "silent pride" thing we do during announcements). It was such a nice, pleasant surprise, a brilliant way to kick off the season. Another one (concert season) was when we got the HIGHEST possible score at the CBA finals. it was freaking amazing. We even beat one of our biggest rivals in marching band, and they were even playing one of the same songs as us.
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hansel2011
Band Nerd
Music expresses the words which can not be spoken...
Posts: 211
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Post by hansel2011 on Mar 2, 2009 18:24:34 GMT -5
Yea. I am a sophmore in high school and I am going on year four in marching band. I remember it was my second year. Our show was Superstition. We had a trumpet soloist. It was the middle of song three and it is after his solo. Our bd said if we do good then we can go inside. We are going and all of a sudden I see him jump out of the press box(we are on the field) and he jumps over the fence. I am sitting at front because I am hurt at the time. Our bd runs past me as fast as fast as he can. I turn arond and I see our trumpet player lying on the ground and our bd over him on his knees. It was scary. I thought he blacked out or something like that. Turns out he got hit in his trumpet with a flag and it shoved into his mouth causing him to loose his balance. It was scary....but once I found out what happened everything was good. Let me ask you all this...does your mind go crazy sometimes? Like when you watch a movie or tv or listen to music, do you think of something happening? For example....I was watching House the other day. It was Houses Head, and at the end of the show House almost dies because of a drug overdose. His co-workers finally brought him back...I started thinking, "what if one of our students stopped breathing in the middle of practice or something", or "what would i do if someone in the band was dying or did die" My mind thinks things like that and it is really hard to think about but I cant help it. It turns out, someone in my clarinet section might have cancer. She went to the doctors and something is wrong and she might have it. She has to go for a lot of tests and things but i dont know.
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