Division Ave Show Wrap Up

The Recap
What can I say! We did it! We accomplished our goal for the week, to win the class and to beat bands we never beat before. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather for a marching band competition and it ended up great for us, scoring above 70 at our first show. I can remember a few years ago where we wouldn't even touch that number until the end of the season. I am so proud of all of you! The colorguard stepped up and got it done, the impacts were more powerful than last week, and the confidence was way up! Great Job Roslyn!!!

The Scoop
Now to the nitty gritty! We had five breakdowns, that is, places where the band was not together. That is definitely a major issue. Fortunately, our General Effect Visual and General Effect Music scores were high enough to keep us in the first position. In terms of the other 4 judges, we were behind in Field music, Ensemble music, Field Visual, and tied in ensemble visual. In order to maintain our status we must once again, keep practicing. The field music judge told me in the post contest meeting that people were coming in and out, playing some portions and not playing other portions of the music. This is due to people not having their parts down. Everyone must practice, I cannot stress this enough! As far as the breakdowns are concerned, once again, band members do not know their parts well enough. Also, the band members must understand their responsibilities playing their music, marching, and keeping together. The center of pulse must be shifted as we discussed in rehearsals. Right now, our show is off at times which is not acceptable as we get into the season. We caught a pass on it this week but if we don't lock up our tempos and stay together, our 1st place position will be short lived! We will be working exclusively on locking up our tempos this week. And now onto the last thing, the volume. For a band our size, we should be twice as loud as we were today. It was better than last week but still not rivetting! We must do that without overblowing. Once again, parts not down well enough. Let's practice and get these problems taken care of! The judges loved the show, the concept, the energy, and understood everything we were trying to convey to the audience. We just need to be cleaner, tighter, and more musical. All these things will be reached through individual practice at home.

The Weekly Goal
Our goal is not only to maintain our lead on Long Island Small School 2 class but to create a spread underneath us. We want to get better, cleaner, more powerful, and more together, thus generating a more exciting show. We want to win the class at the dome, pure and simple. Our goal is lofty, but we can do it. This week we just took a step closer to becoming Champions! After this weekend, we are a force to be reckoned with, and everyone on Long Island knows it! Let's push ahead!

Romp & Chomp Wrap Up

The Recap
Great job yesterday, the band did an incredible job! It was amazing how our parents and band members mingled, played together, and bonded. A very special relationship between the bands has been forged and will surely keep us friends throughout the season. The “Roslyn Band Fans” and “Mineola Music Parents” did a fantastic job feeding everyone and it was probably one of the nicest days of the year for all involved. Thanks to everyone for making it a special, beautiful day.

The Scoop
As you can see, Mineola is a very strong band and will be very hard to beat. It can be done however. Their show is smooth, they have their music down, and their special teams, the drumline and colorguard are incredible. We have come a long way each year and are totally up to the challenge! They are one of the dynasties of Long Island. To beat them it must be a clean win. Judges will not call it if it is close. Yesterday our show was great and better than ever for our band program. That is a fact. We are growing in leaps and bounds. I am so proud of what we are accomplishing. That being said, we cannot simply sit on our accomplishments. We need to press forward …….so here it is. For a band our size, the impacts and pure volume should be 4 times louder than it was yesterday. One famous college professor told a story about how he knew every note in the show in the "Marching Illini" band his freshman year. He was an advanced player who took music very seriously and had the show memorized cold. When he walked into the stadium however, he was overcome. Worrying about “hitting the right spots” in the big stadium, he didn’t play one note! It is more embarrassing to bump into someone than it is to not play. I think this is what happened to us yesterday. To me, as the director, it sounded like two thirds of the band did not play a note. Whether it is due to freezing up, or not having the music down, we need to get more volume and impact on all the high points of the show. Then there are transitions, they were unsteady and tentative. We need to watch the drum majors on all entrances and transitions. Confidence with entrances must be embraced. We must sell ourselves. In general, the show was flat. I am not comparing us to what we have done in the past, in that respect we are breaking new ground. I am talking about how the judges will read our show. Judges who expect perfection and to be moved, musically and visually.

The Weekly Goal
At the first competitive show this coming Sunday at Divison Ave., we must beat bands we have never beat before. We must, together with Mineola, make the judges score Small School 2 higher than the Large School 3 bands if possible. We must try to get our parts down and routines down individually so that together we can put it all together and come out with an incredible season opener! We must blow the judges and audiences out of the stands! Roslyn is famous for peaking just right, at the end of the season after our big showing at the dome last year. The first scores we get are important. It is our first impression. We only get one shot at that. We need to try with every ounce in our bodies, to take first in our class this week. That is our goal!

Band Camp Wrap Up!

Band Camp went amazingly well! We sound great, look great, and are in great spirits. Friday and Saturday were very hot. We hydrated every 20 minutes during the rehearsal with the famous "gush and go." We are continuing to "build a dynasty" which will be very obvious to everyone when we open up our new season. The student leaders were amazing! The outstanding section award went to the battery percussion and the most improved section went to the colorguard, who are now moving more than ever, covering more of the field than they did in past years. The sound effects are great as well. I, as the director, am so proud of everyone involved in the program, from the staff, to the parents, and the most important of all, the band members. The drum majors were outstanding, the officers were incredible, and the freshman class is marching and playing like they are upper classmen. We cannot wait to show you what we have on Saturday, September 8th at Mineola. We will be performing with Mineola for all the parents in what we are calling the "Pre-Comp Romp and Chomp". We will perform for the parents and each other in a casual setting, wearing jeans and t-shirts and then eat together. It is a great way for us to bond with the other band that is in our class on Long Island this year. Thanks to everyone for a great band camp!

Band Camp, Day Six

Summer returned to camp echo today. All week long we had cool weather, considering it is the summer. Today it became hot, sunny and it was more difficult to get through the rehearsals outside. We finished the drill for the show in the morning, and started doing run throughs in the afternoon. The band looks and sounds great. After a few hours in the afternoon, we went to the activities and pool until dinner. Then at night was the beautiful candlelight senior ceremony on the lake. The seniors did a phenomenal job, it was very touching. Then they sang their senior song. It was an incredible day. Tomorrow we will be out on the field from 9 to 12 and 1 to 3, which will be followed by the ending relay game which is around the entire camp. The camp picture at 5:30, dinner at 6 and then we depart at 7pm. We should be home around 10pm.

Band Camp, Day Five

Once again, a perfect day to teach marching. Cloudy and in the mid seventies. We finished up to drill sets 27 which leaves only 4 more sets to complete the show. The band looks great, and we finished the music and drill for 5 of the six tunes. Then after dinner we worked on the closer, Ode to Joy, memorizing that as well. Meals were egg mcmuffins for breakfast with sausage patties, pizza for lunch, and hamburgers for dinner. There was always the regular fruits and salad bars available as well. It remained cloudy, which is good in terms of not getting sunburn. Tonight was skit night as well, and each group got to do a little five minute show for the entire band. The colorguard looks phenomenal. They are also doing their choreography with their drill and are on track to a great visual package for the band. Friday and Saturday are supposed to be nice out, so we will definitely have no problem in finishing the preparation of this show. The kids are in good spirits and psyched up for this year's season.

Band Camp, Day Four

Today the weather was perfect for marching band. It was around 65 to 70 degrees, cloudy, and no wind. Perfect. We learned sets 14 through 23 which leaves only 8 sets to finish the show. Hopefully tomorrow we can finish and use Friday and Saturday to clean and add the pit percussion. The pit have finished the show and are working hard to perfect it. The show is working really well, it is very entertaining. This is an incredible band we have here! The parents have done a great job organizing and running the activities ouside the rehearsals. See you tomorrow.

Band Camp, Day Three

Great day, it rained all day so we worked on music, in small groups and in large ensemble. Ready for the rain, we planned ahead and were ready to double up on music rehearsals today. We gave some individual and large group instruction to the new band members who are doing great. We have some new instrumentalists who, in a few short days, are playing at the level of students who have been doing it for years. For breakfast we had eggs and potatoes, cereal, fruit, etc. Lunch included tacos, which you could make yourself, salad bar, and chicken salad sandwiches. Dinner included chicken teriyaki, rice, the great salad bar, and pudding for dessert. The band sounds and looks better than ever, we are making a tremendous jump in the quality level once again. The rain stopped after dinner, just a little drizzle and it looks like it will be nice out tomorrow.

Second Day of Band Camp

Rain, rain, go away! That's what I said when I went to bed last night. A band director nightmare was on the horizon.......rain! The one thing that can totally shut down a marching band is rain. So today, after breakfast, at 9am we went directly to the field to continue learning more of the 31 sets in this year's show. We worked tirelessly through to 12 noon, learning sets 5 through 9. Then after lunch, with the rain still ominously approaching, we learned sets 9 through 13. This is almost half of the sets in the show. We wanted to get a jump in case we get rain for a few days. The band is playing through these sets as well. Once again, our band has stepped it up an amazing amount this year. Sounding better than ever, the kids are working hard and you would be very proud of them. In culinary news, for breakfast we had french toast, fruits, yogurt, and cereal. Lunch included grilled cheese and a side cold cut/salad bar, and dinner included chicken parmesan with spagetti, along with their great salad bar. With perfect timing, as we ended the rehearsal it started to rain. We got everything in before the torrential rains which ensued. The schlactivity this evening at 9pm was a crative game of concentration which the parents set up. It involved the memorizing of names of the new band members. We had a great, productive day, and can withstand a day or two of rain and still be on track to finish the show. In the case of rain, we double up on music rehearsals, and then we have all marching/drill learning rehearsals when it is nice out. Can't wait till tomorrow, the kids are well rested and doing very well.

First Day of Camp

Hi, everything went great today. The camp is running like clockwork. The kids are happy, and doing a phenomenal job with the first day of rehearsals. We left Roslyn at around 7:45 and arrived at the Ramapo rest stop for a break on the way to Camp Echo. Arriving at the camp at around 10:45am, we unloaded our luggage and proceeded to the Pavillion for the Band Camp Talk. This is where I give a speech to get the kids all psyched up for the coming season. I went over how great a year we had last year, how we are building a dynasty, and how we need to use last years season as a starting point for even more greatness. The kids were excited and totally responsive. The parent camp leaders then went through some logistical items. Upon the conclusion of the band camp rules, the band members were dismissed to set up their cabins. At 12:15 we had a great lunch, baked ziti and other items. The salad bar was amazing. Then to rehearsal at 1:15 to 4:30. A break until dinner at 6. We had a great chicken dinner. Then to the field from 7 to 8:20 where we learned the first song in the show. The band is incredible this year. We can't wait until the first performance is here. Well I have to go to bed. This place was silent from 11:05, I guess we really tired them out. Well wait until tomorrow. Thanks for having such great kids, it is a total honor to teach them.

The Night Before

So here we are, ready to go. Just checking to see if the blog page is working. I will leave a note each night about the day's activities and accomplishments. I am very excited for band camp to be here. I am now going to try to go to bed early so that I am well rested for a great camp.