The Price of Band Camp

This year the price of band camp is rising from $500 to $586. This is due to the fact that the band has become considerably larger in the past 3 years and with it so do expenses. We are getting transportation from the district for Band Camp, the Syracuse Championship, and all our competitions along with chaperoning at our competitions and trips. This is still a great price for a week long camp with national level instructional staff, transportation, food, and all snacks, water, and supervision included.

Mark Carman's Snare Solo

Here is the video of Mark Carman's performance at the Individual Championships at Bridgeport, Connecticut a few weeks ago. It is amazing. Check it out!

Where is Everybody?!?!?

I didn't want to make these winter rehearsals mandatory. We had pretty good attendance at the first one, about 130 out of 150 came. The second and third rehearsal was less due to the RCP show rehearsals. Being the flexible, understanding, band director I am, I told the RCP people to go home and rest, understanding how tired they were from the late nights before the show. Then tonight, we only had a handful of people who went away and had a very low showing with a total of 72, about half of the band. Then we did something we have NEVER done here with the Roslyn Marching Band. I had the drum majors call members who were not here. Now this is the part that blew me away. Many were at home, out socializing, and/or relaxing while the other half of our band was working hard at rehearsal. Some of them were even those same people that I showed flexibility with. This is very upsetting and actually somewhat shocking. Conflicts are one thing, but deliberately relaxing is totally unacceptable, while team members are hard at work. In addition, we have some of the top teachers in the country working with us, with half the band missing. Captains were even missing, without so much as a text or an e-mail to me. So here it is, rehearsals are now mandatory. Students who miss will be out of the program. If you have a conflict I will be flexible and understanding but I will need a note. I didn't want to do this but at this point it is just not fair for people to miss one of our 10 rehearsals during the school year while others are hard at work. And it isn't even a school night.

Anyone who knows me doesn't really need me to reiterate this but I will. Captains and/or officers who blew this off without e-mailing or calling me need to do so immediately, for obvious reasons. Anyone who wants a position of leadership in the future and is blowing off rehearsals without telling me has probably lost their chance at a leadership role. Don't worry if you are on vacation, at the airport, etc. but you need to tell either Julie Clark, our President, Jenn Feldman, our CEO or myself. Captains and Officers missing need to text me, nobody else.

Character Development

CD! That's what we are working on all of our life. That's what we try to teach in band. This lecture by Dr. Randy Pausch is incredible. He is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Watch it on the sidebar of this blog or look it up on youtube. Dr. Pausch last lecture. Incredible 10 minute life lesson!

Baby Olivia Is Here!

Yesterday, February 6th at 1:20pm we had Olivia Delaney Patterson. She is 8 lbs 2 oz, 20 " and is doing great. My wife, Jen is also doing well. Brady and Vanessa are going to meet her today and Stephanie, Joey and Patrick will meet her tomorrow or Saturday.

Florida Trip, Band Size, downloads, etc.

It's incredible, last year we were the largest competetive band on Long Island with 138, and now we are getting even larger! We are planning on having the band be between 150 and 180 members depending upon how many people sign up. It is truly remarkable, while most bands are dwindling in size, we are growing! As band members we are totally into it, love the marching and music as well as the social aspects of this incredible activity. It gives us all a chance to work together towards "Being Great"!

Now all the wind parts are online to be downloaded as pdf files. The percussion parts can be picked up at the night rehearsals. I will start the heavy middle school recruiting after the February break.

The pep band performed at a game earlier in the year and will be performing at the televised basketball game on Monday, February 11th. My wife's baby's birth is planned for that day so I won't be there, unless Olivia comes early.

Pep band members are chosen by the Band President and myself, they have to purchase a tee shirt for $15 and come to the two to five events we play throughout the year. Last year we played two times. We may play up to five events depending upon the year.

The Florida trip is in full swing. If you have any questions about it e-mail Mr. Pilnick or Mr. Coffey. I will not be going due to the birth of our baby, however they will be running it. This is a great trip and all of the itinerary items are now online.

The Band Party was Amazing!

We had an incredible party last night at Pappa-Razzi! With over 100 students coming, (some had conflicts) we had a great time hanging out, reminiscing and dancing till 11pm! This was simply a party to be together, no presentations or formality of any kind. Thanks to the "Band Fans" for sponsoring and paying for this great event. The food was great, the staff was all there and we had a blast!

Marching Band January Update!

Things are going great with the Marching Band. We are now auditioning for the Pit, Battery, and Colorguard and will be doing that through to the February break. The talent looks great. Frank Mauriello has been working with the pit and is doing a great job. The show is great. The staff has been meeting and getting everything ready for the new season. We are very much ahead of most bands on Long Island right now. Many bands don't even have a show picked out yet! Usually we have ours picked for the next year prior to the dome. I will continue putting all of the music up on the website. I have to scan each part and attach them together by instrument so it may take some time.

On a personal note, I have now been going for the first time through the college process with my daughter Stephanie, a senior at Mineola. It sure is a roller coaster ride trying to figure out where to go and this is incredible for me as a parent to actually go through it.

Once again, things are going great. Our new staff members will surely help us be amazing and better than ever this year. We should be beating alot more bands this year, that's for sure!

Captains, Colorguard, Staff, and a Golf Cart

Those additional captains
So here it is, why did I add three pit and drum captains a week and a half after I originally put the list up. Many people are reading into all kinds of things, saying “why did he add captains? ” Well here it is, I made a mistake. I changed my mind and added three captains. Simple. No ulterior motives, no public pressure, no reacting to the outside forces in the district. In this case, an apple is just an apple, that’s all. I tell the students that sometimes you read too much into something, looking at every blemish and dent on the apple, trying to break it apart and dissect it, examining it and trying to figure it out. It is just an apple, that’s all.


Anybody who knows me well fully understands that in a million years, I would never add positions due to political pressure from anyone. It's not in my fiber, never was, and never will be. I live and breathe by my conviction and integrity. Anyone who knows me really well knows this about me. I do make mistakes, will “flip flop” on things to a fault at times, but I spend hours and hours choosing the student leadership team for the band each year. I do my best. Sometimes mistakes are made and the wrong people are chosen. I never really know that until we get into the next season, when the person rises or falls in the position. I am confident that I have chosen an incredible team of leaders for next year.


Colorguard
We are going to make the colorguard larger this year. Kerianne McMahon will be running the guard, she is already starting some casual rehearsals. Ms. McMahon is incredible and has already started to recruit! We have 26 colorguard members and will probably go up to 40 this year by the time we add the incoming 8th graders. The new uniform has been chosen and is on the band website. It is amazing, check it out! We will be adding rifles this year in a few tunes. I have always avoided the weapons, however the judges are telling us to add them. We are not in support of firearms, they are pieces of wood that are used as twirling batons and we will be trying them in a few places in this year’s show. I am totally thrilled that Ms. McMahon will be on our staff!


Gene Bennett
We will have a major addition to our staff this year once we get approval from the administration and the board of education. As you know, Jonathan Schwartz became very busy this year with his personal life and was unable to come to the last 5 rehearsals and events. With that said, we have landed one of the best visual directors and drill designers to join our staff. Gene Bennett has been with Huntington and Sachem for many years and now will be on our staff. Gene will be writing the drill, retooling our marching basics, and helping our band to become a National Class band. He has numerous 1st place band wins under his belt and has been the main reason that Huntington has been a dynasty since 1979. As a director, I have taught drill and ran basics with our current drill instructor, Jim Downey, in Gene Bennet’s style of teaching, Hoping we would get him on board at some point. Mr. Downey and Mr. Bennet have been working together for years now, making an outstanding team and ensuring a seamless transition. We have also been doing basics using Mr. Bennett’s technique as a model. I cannot tell you how excited I am to get this gentleman on our staff, running the visual program. His being here will enable Ms. Miller, Mr. Gazzo, and myself to do what we do best, music. We will take full responsibility to work on breathing, tone quality, articulation, and music basics while Mr. Bennett and Mr. Downey teach the drill and marching. Mr. Bennett will be writing what I call a “real drill.” My drills are good for a good band. We have done well by my drill but now it is time to move on. In other words, the band has outgrown my drill. We need to have one of those incredible drills that the National Class bands do, more sets, more movement, seamless flag transitions and beautiful, moving forms. My drills had to rely on gimmicks. Also, our band, due to the music staff splitting between visual and music, has not been as well rehearsed as it could have been. Now we can focus on music and leave the visual to the masters. The band will sound better, louder, and cleaner. We will not only march in step, but will have style when we march. Mr. Bennet is magical, every band he works with wins! This is an incredible gain for us. We are adding one of the best names in the business to our staff. You will see an amazing difference with our show this year. Mr. Bennett will be at our entire band camp and at all rehearsals. Of course, this is all pending approval of the BOE and administration.


Band Size and Recruiting
We will be growing once again. I will have to order about 35 uniforms for next year as well as the new colorguard uniforms. The amount of spots in each section has been determined due to drill limitations. When you do a real drill you need to fit into the 8’s and 16’s, enabling the drill designer to make those great forms. This is what the best bands do. I have listed the amount of openings in each section and as we fill them we will maneuver people around to different instruments, to fit the needs of the drill. The list is up at the high school and middle school bandrooms and will be updated weekly on this website. We will have auditions for sections to fill the spots according to ability. We will only accept new members if they pass a basic audition on the new instrument or flag. As always, we will find a spot for everyone who wants to be in the marching band.


Frank Mauriello
We finally have a pit instructor, pending board approval of course. We have procured one of the best pit instructors, Frank Mauriello. He has been running the pit at Mineola and will be running our pit, attend our entire band camp and all our rehearsals. Frank’s addition enables Mr. Gazzo to run the winds with me and help the entire band sound better, focusing on musical basics. Mr. Mauriello’s energy and pit writing is incredible, he will do a great job with us!


Golf Cart
To have a golf cart or not, that is the question. We are contemplating purchasing a golf cart. I have been going back and forth on this for the last few months. In the old days, bands would make a train of carts, put all the pit equipment on them, and pull the train to the field. This process would require one person driving the golf cart and a few parents making sure that the percussion equipment didn’t fall off of them. In the past three years, due to the growth of marching bands in the United States, the pit percussion companies have been making keyboards with the big 8 inch wheels on them so they could be wheeled onto the field. Since all of our keyboards (vibraphone, marimbas, and xylophones) have big wheels since we just purchased them in the past three years, they can easily be moved around without a cart. The timpani drums and small pit equipment is another story. Pulling the old piano cart from the “Piano Lesson” show with the timpani on it is a nightmare. The small pit equipment is also difficult to move. It seems, having a golf cart pulling two carts connected together would make sense, and make it easier for parents to get this stuff to the field. However, after talking to the Long Island band directors at the date selection meeting yesterday (Nov. 29) I am now changing my mind. They pretty much said that there is no use for the golf carts, that they only use them out of tradition and that the parents groups are attached to them. A few band directors said that when they break down they will try not to replace them. Copiague doesn’t use a golf cart. They pull these new carts, from a company called Jarvis, that have 8 and 9 inch wheels on them and are extremely easy for one person to pull a full set of timpani or percussion. The band director said that the golf cart is not necessary any more and becomes more of a problem with trailer insurance, storage, getting the cart to work each year, charging it up, and getting it to shows. He also said that the pit kids pull the two Jarvis Carts onto the field and leave the one with the timpani on it right in place. Of course, the golf cart looks “cool.” In any case, we are still talking about whether to get a cart or not and will do what we think is best. As a side note, at every post contest meeting the judges always comment on how we have the most parents pulling our stuff onto the field and in cheering in the stands, With the purchase of these new carts, which I already have in the budget, we will only need about 10 parents per show to get the pit onto the field. Remember, we are not using the huge speakers and gym equipment this year. We are just doing a music and drill show this year. We are going to let our music and marching do the talking!

Roslyn Jazz Project

The Jazz Band here at Roslyn has been like no other jazz band I have taught. Meeting after school during the 10th period as a class nobody came. I was shocked at the attendance my first year. People always had conflicts. I called Mr. Gazzo, my new friend and colleague who ran the high school jazz band the 2nd half of the 2002-2003 school year and he said the attendance was poor as well. I then went on to rehearse after school with poor attendance, requiring everyone to go but they still didn't. I had a mandatory rehearsal, picked really easy music, and pulled off a concert with a bunch of easy rock tunes and pretty much had a jam session my first year. People loved it, but it wasn't really a jazz band in the way that I was familiar with. The next two years became different jazz bands, including flutes and clarinets, having two bands, a studio and ensemble jazz, rehearsing after school and at night. Attendance was still poor. Now this year we are going to have a "real" high school jazz band. In order to make this band work I talked to Mr. Frey and am using the Chamber Singers, one of the most successful groups in the school, as a model for our Jazz Band. We are now having a standard high school jazz band which includes 5 saxes, 4 trombones, 4 trumpets, and 4 rhythm section players, bass, drums, piano, and guitar. We will no longer have flutes and clarinets in the jazz band. This is the standard in high school jazz bands. In addition, we are remaining true to what the jazz band is, a select group of advanced musicians. Through auditions, I have chosen the people who will fill those spots. I am keeping track of the alternates who didn't make it so that they can fill the spots if people cannot make the committment of the rehearsal schedule. Rehearsals will be required. Each jazz band member will need to come to two rehearsals, one sectional and the full rehearsal on Friday during 10th period. Since this is a class, jazz band members are absolutely required to be there or they will have to relinquish their spot in the group. The jazz band will now be called the "Jazz Project." I am sorry that we will not have flutes and clarinets, and that jazz band members cannot be all inclusive, however this is a select group. The course offering for the jazz band has reflected this for the past two years. I will be doing an array of jazz and rock music with the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band to meet the needs of all the band students to learn the jazz idiom.