Well. I know I haven't done anything musically awesome recently, so I technically shouldn't have anything cool for you to read. But I can show you some pretty cool Youtube videos. That's kinda like a Christmas present, right?
This is from my favorite Christmas cd ever.
My favorite vocal jazz group ever:
Speaking of favorites vocal jazz groups:
A classic:
And one last video from Sesame Street, for the grouch in all of us:
Have a good Christmas, and I'll be writing normally soon!
M
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
12/20 - Blue Knights II
This weekend was a blast. It didn't go how I thought it would, but it doesn't really matter, because I learned a lot and I still ended up with a really good result.
I started playing with the tenors. I learned the basics and I could probably teach them, and even though some of it was review, a lot of the concepts they covered were things that I had never been taught or even thought of. It was clear by the end of the night that I was playing with people that were out of my league, and I was told my time would be better spent playing timpani, which, after talking to my good friend from high school, became an option for me again.
In case you didn't know this, I played timpani for a winter percussion ensemble my freshman year. We played a lot of notes, it sounded pretty great, and we made it to finals in our class at WGI. I was pushed a lot and I learned a lot; that winter semester my freshman year was probably my most productive period of time, from a musical perspective anyways.
The next day, Saturday, my friend Jon introduced me to the pit instructor, Dan, and got me started playing timpani. I didn't know any of the exercises, since I'd been practicing tenor stuff, but Dan was patient and let me take my time to get comfortable, and fortunately, it didn't take too long. By 10:30 in the morning I could look through the music once, listen for a rep, and play the exercise the next rep. Sure, it wasn't always clean, but I surprised myself yesterday. I hadn't played timpani like that in four years, changing notes all the time, with improving technique, in a quality ensemble like that. It felt really nice.
We played 10 exercises for 11 hours on Saturday. You could read that two different ways: you could see it as boring, which is true sometimes, or you could see that as very strenuous and productive. Every rep I had things I needed to focus on, like making every note sound the same, or tuning correctly, or keeping my elbows out, or ending up quickly, and putting them all together. It was a very good eleven hours.
We only played for around three or four hours on Sunday. The first few were reviews of exercises, and after lunch I had my audition. My exercises went smoothly, my tuning was spot on, and my dampening was okay, which was to be expected, because it needs work. He said I improved a lot in one day, and he told the kid who was considering auditioning for timpani on a whim that it wouldn't be worth his time. It sounds kinda cruel, but it made me a little happy. You can't say you aren't proud of yourself when you put yourself out there and rock and others are told "don't bother."
Eventually we had show and tell, and pit didn't play anything because the rest of the corps was playing show music, and it would be a let down if we dragged our stuff a long ways to play exercises. So we sat at listened.
Our show music this year is a little bit of Holst, some Grainger, some R. Vaughan Williams, and some other things. We only heard the Holst, I think... it was only a minute of music. But it already sounded awesome. The tenors played a whole bunch of notes, the basses sounded totally sweet, the horns were loud and powerful, and even in December, it already sounded pretty great.
I didn't get a contract yet, though, even though I'm the only reasonable choice for timpani, I think. It seemed to me as though the vets got contracts, at least in the pit, because I don't know anyone that didn't play last year that got a contract. I don't really mind either way. I'll go back to camp in January and play even better and if I get a contract, I'll be really happy, and if I don't, I will have learned a lot.
I met some pretty cool people at camp. I saw old friends (I think Cory, Jon and Anna got contracts), some familiar faces (I recognized a couple of people from UNT), and I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of new friends and musicians. They were old and young (I slept next to a kid in middle school, he was awesome), from near and far, and they all had the same goal, which was to get better. It was a humbling experience, and it's nice to really see that you're not the only one who struggles.
I think that's it. I'm sore, and tired. It's good to be home.
I started playing with the tenors. I learned the basics and I could probably teach them, and even though some of it was review, a lot of the concepts they covered were things that I had never been taught or even thought of. It was clear by the end of the night that I was playing with people that were out of my league, and I was told my time would be better spent playing timpani, which, after talking to my good friend from high school, became an option for me again.
In case you didn't know this, I played timpani for a winter percussion ensemble my freshman year. We played a lot of notes, it sounded pretty great, and we made it to finals in our class at WGI. I was pushed a lot and I learned a lot; that winter semester my freshman year was probably my most productive period of time, from a musical perspective anyways.
The next day, Saturday, my friend Jon introduced me to the pit instructor, Dan, and got me started playing timpani. I didn't know any of the exercises, since I'd been practicing tenor stuff, but Dan was patient and let me take my time to get comfortable, and fortunately, it didn't take too long. By 10:30 in the morning I could look through the music once, listen for a rep, and play the exercise the next rep. Sure, it wasn't always clean, but I surprised myself yesterday. I hadn't played timpani like that in four years, changing notes all the time, with improving technique, in a quality ensemble like that. It felt really nice.
We played 10 exercises for 11 hours on Saturday. You could read that two different ways: you could see it as boring, which is true sometimes, or you could see that as very strenuous and productive. Every rep I had things I needed to focus on, like making every note sound the same, or tuning correctly, or keeping my elbows out, or ending up quickly, and putting them all together. It was a very good eleven hours.
We only played for around three or four hours on Sunday. The first few were reviews of exercises, and after lunch I had my audition. My exercises went smoothly, my tuning was spot on, and my dampening was okay, which was to be expected, because it needs work. He said I improved a lot in one day, and he told the kid who was considering auditioning for timpani on a whim that it wouldn't be worth his time. It sounds kinda cruel, but it made me a little happy. You can't say you aren't proud of yourself when you put yourself out there and rock and others are told "don't bother."
Eventually we had show and tell, and pit didn't play anything because the rest of the corps was playing show music, and it would be a let down if we dragged our stuff a long ways to play exercises. So we sat at listened.
Our show music this year is a little bit of Holst, some Grainger, some R. Vaughan Williams, and some other things. We only heard the Holst, I think... it was only a minute of music. But it already sounded awesome. The tenors played a whole bunch of notes, the basses sounded totally sweet, the horns were loud and powerful, and even in December, it already sounded pretty great.
I didn't get a contract yet, though, even though I'm the only reasonable choice for timpani, I think. It seemed to me as though the vets got contracts, at least in the pit, because I don't know anyone that didn't play last year that got a contract. I don't really mind either way. I'll go back to camp in January and play even better and if I get a contract, I'll be really happy, and if I don't, I will have learned a lot.
I met some pretty cool people at camp. I saw old friends (I think Cory, Jon and Anna got contracts), some familiar faces (I recognized a couple of people from UNT), and I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of new friends and musicians. They were old and young (I slept next to a kid in middle school, he was awesome), from near and far, and they all had the same goal, which was to get better. It was a humbling experience, and it's nice to really see that you're not the only one who struggles.
I think that's it. I'm sore, and tired. It's good to be home.
Friday, December 17, 2010
12/17 - Blue Knights
Hello everyone. It's been a while.
This is a classic. Malaguena, by the Madison Scouts, one of two all-male corps:
Blue Knights bass line, in 2007. They were, uh, pretty good.
Also, these guys are pretty good.
If you like that, YouTube DCI. That's really the only place you can look for free. It used to be on ESPN but drum corps gets worse ratings than pool, WSOP or bowling. Which is kinda lame.
Or go to dci.org!
Hope you're having a good winter break, or break, or winter.
M
Since I'm doing something musical, I figured I would let you know.
I'm trying out for the Blue Knights drum and bugle corps this weekend, Friday - Sunday. I don't really know what to expect, except that it will be awesome. A lot of hard working, dedicated, talented people all in one place. I'm excited even if I don't make it.
I'll take this time to preach a little bit. I would love to play tenors in Blue Knights, I really would. But I would also love to play bass, or play in pit, mallets or timpani or whatever. I would really like the experience. And everyone knows that you're more likely to get the job if you keep yourself open to any opportunity you feel you're even slightly prepared for or would like to experience.
Not really preaching.
If you're not familiar with the Blue Knights, or with drum corps in general, I'll show you what all the excitement is about.
This is a best of video. It rocks. A lot.
This is a classic. Malaguena, by the Madison Scouts, one of two all-male corps:
Blue Knights bass line, in 2007. They were, uh, pretty good.
Also, these guys are pretty good.
If you like that, YouTube DCI. That's really the only place you can look for free. It used to be on ESPN but drum corps gets worse ratings than pool, WSOP or bowling. Which is kinda lame.
Or go to dci.org!
Hope you're having a good winter break, or break, or winter.
M
Thursday, December 2, 2010
12/02 - Done for the semester
On Tuesday, I was riding my bike to a rehearsal when a car turned in front of me and hit me. I woke up in the hospital and spent two nights recovering and finding out what happened to me. Fortunately, I ended up with just a concussion, a laceration on my head (12 stitches), a pretty bloody ear, and some cuts, but for not wearing a helmet, I got pretty lucky.
They say you're not supposed to ride on the sidewalk, which is what I was doing. But, the street where I was riding has pretty narrow lanes, and when I have ridden on the street, a couple of cars have gotten a little close. The Colorado drivers are a little friendlier because there are laws, but the Texas drivers are a little more.. uh, scary.
A proposal was proposed to put bike lanes on the street I was riding on earlier this year, but nothing ever happened, and I think I'm the second or third person who's been hit on that street in the past couple months. For a college town, you'd think it would be a little more bike friendly; hopefully it's getting to be that way.
I'm out of the hospital now, but since I have a concussion, I'm not supposed to be thinking a lot (or typing this blog) for at least two weeks, which forces me to miss all of my auditions, juries, and finals. So I'm going home with my mom this weekend, and I think my teachers are letting me finish things up when I get back in the spring, which is very gracious of them. Thank you.
So. I guess I won't be writing very much in the near future, because 1. I have a concussion, and 2. I won't be at UNT, which is part of the premise of this blog. But I'll let you all know about anything cool and musical I'm doing back home, and I'll keep this up next semester.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for all the prayers and such. I had a lot of fun this semester.
M
They say you're not supposed to ride on the sidewalk, which is what I was doing. But, the street where I was riding has pretty narrow lanes, and when I have ridden on the street, a couple of cars have gotten a little close. The Colorado drivers are a little friendlier because there are laws, but the Texas drivers are a little more.. uh, scary.
A proposal was proposed to put bike lanes on the street I was riding on earlier this year, but nothing ever happened, and I think I'm the second or third person who's been hit on that street in the past couple months. For a college town, you'd think it would be a little more bike friendly; hopefully it's getting to be that way.
I'm out of the hospital now, but since I have a concussion, I'm not supposed to be thinking a lot (or typing this blog) for at least two weeks, which forces me to miss all of my auditions, juries, and finals. So I'm going home with my mom this weekend, and I think my teachers are letting me finish things up when I get back in the spring, which is very gracious of them. Thank you.
So. I guess I won't be writing very much in the near future, because 1. I have a concussion, and 2. I won't be at UNT, which is part of the premise of this blog. But I'll let you all know about anything cool and musical I'm doing back home, and I'll keep this up next semester.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for all the prayers and such. I had a lot of fun this semester.
M
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