DCI.. again

I have posted before about what DCI is and how intense it is. On Wednesday I went to a presentation and the sawgrass movie theatre, it was a compilation of drum corp shows from past years and it was meant to hype up the fans for the upcoming season which begins very soon. It got me VERY hyped up and got me thinking. For a while now I've been thinking about marching a drum corp after I graduate but after seeing this presentation I am really convinced that I am going to try out the summer after my senior year. I am going to start practicing a lot more on reading rythms and getting better overall, because drum corps are the best of the best of the best... with honors. SIR (Men In Black joke..) But they really do train extremly hard and they are are so passionate about their show, which is why there shows are so good.

Here are some videos to show you what I mean.

Even deeper than before

So I decidided that I was going to do the "Personal Learning environment" project for Mrs Stoklosa's class and I decided to do it on percussion. I chose percussion because there are so many things within percussion. There is:

Concert percussion
Marching percussion
Drum Corps
Mallet percussion
Drumset
steel drums
world percussion

There are so many things to delve into, I can't wait to begin this project because I have always wanted to investigate the parts that I have never had a chance to get to. I think its also going to be a very good demonstration of a more real world project opposed to the standard projects that are mapped out exactly with rubrics.

I will post links to all of my resources once I begin the project.

Training

If you have been keeping up with this blog, you know that I have had pretty severe shin splints and had to stop running for a while in order to keep marching until I finished out the season. Well the season is over and now I'm starting to get in shape for the upcoming season. I recently started biking and today in PE I had to run the mile. This was a disappointment. I finished in the required time,, but only slightly. I came in at around 9 minutes. Not only that, I was EXTREMELY winded and dizzy. So it was a real eye opener that I need to begin training before we get to the end of the summer where we have our 9-9 band camps and march for almost 12 hours straight. If anyone has some good tips on getting back in shape fast please let me know. I need all the help I can get. I don't want this set back to set the mood for my senior year of marching band.

New Freshman!

Its always a lot of fun. One season ends and we immediately start training for the upcoming season. Practices for the next season have began this week and we have our new freshman. :D. This upcoming season is going to be very weird beccause there is going to be so many younger players on the drumline than there ever has been in the past. Its going to take us a little while to pick back up where the previous season left off, but i think we will be back there before marching season is over and the new indoor season starts. I'm really excited to be a part of the line my senior year since there was so much confusion on whether I was going to do it or not and now its kind of like a weight thats been lifted off of my shoulders. Next week starts the leadership camp which I am also excited about because like I explained in a previous post, this year I am going to be the captain of the bass line. I will keep updated on tryouts etc in the weeks to come.

Rediculous Cymbals

So while in Ohio watching all of the world class groups I saw a bunch of really good cymbal lines. One of the I saw up close in the parking lot before the went in to perform and I was in awe. They have so many notes at such a fast tempo, its incredible. It really inspired me and I'm starting to think about marching a really good cymbal line one day after high school. Heres a video of just the cymbal line. Fast forward to 5:50 to see the cymbal feature.

Bass Captain

So the other day, I went to talk to the percussion director Mr. T about next year. I was unsure about some things of what position to play and practice etc. If you have been keeping up with this blog, you know about all the confusion with the school assignment last year and the interference with tryouts. This year I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do band due to grades, money and other issues that would need more attention that I could not give them while doing band. But today I talked to my councelor and I figured out that I can take a class online, a class at BC and hopefully atleast one other class during the summer. That will leave me with only 2 more classes to complete during the year (keeping up with the standard of having a minimum of 5 classes in the senior schedule in order to maintain a "strong senior schedule".

So back to the main subject; I talked to Mr. T, and he told me that he would like me to be the bass captain next year which I am very happy to hear because even though I am so introverted, I love being in leadership posistions. The workshops for next year begin next week. I'm so excited to start the new season.

On Your Videotape

One of the groups that performed in Ohio in world class was Infinity Percussion. They are a independent world class group based out of Orlando. There show this year was called On Your Videotape and was based compltly on the concept of "big brother is watching". There whole season was documented on their blog www.onyourvideotape.com as well as different information about survalence and other videotape related things. 

The show has music from radiohead including singing. Its a great show and one of my favorites this year. On the website is videos of the show from different perspectives. A girl walking around the entire show holding a camera, and several other cameras that serve as props to the audience but are actually recording the show. 

Video 086 from TCI on Vimeo.