phoenix_aurora

I used to march snare when I was in highschool, and I remember having pains in my upper back, it was marching Bass in college (and a few random drumcorps gigs! :D ) that my lower back would hurt. I find that the best thing is to keep your posture in check. Its easy when we have a drum on to slouch, or not stand up stright, and often lean backwards to try to balance out the weight. Friends of mine said I often looked pregnent with a drum on becuase of the way I'd be leaning back all the time! haha. Posture is a biggie. How relaxed are you when you play? Even now, that I'm in the pit, I get so tense that my shoulders, neck and upper back are in alot of pain beucase I don't breathe when I play, and have a tendancy to slouch forward and tense up. Be sure to stretch out alot, I'm sure your PT gave you exersizes that you can still utilize! BEST OF LUCK!!!!

AS in it won't play back at all? Or that it's using wierd sounds for the bass (like shaker, snare, triangle, a different sound per line, becuase Finale does that and it sucks). It'll probibly do the same thing for Tenors too. I don't have '06, so I'm just going by what I do know about Finale. For tenors you may need to use "toms" or such. Although I'd emagine that also would have wierd play back sounds, rather than what would be apropriate with the different pitches. You'll just have to trust your ears to know what is what. Listen to the lines seperatly and all. Sorry!

AK! Writing music by hand sucks! Definitly find a program that you like. My personal preference is Finale, the newest version you can find, the better. It may take a while to leran all the tricks and such, but once learned you'll be able to write music as easily as typing a word document. There is a free demo version (finale Notepad) which sucks becuase it won't let you print(if I remember right) and only alows you so many parts and measures. You can download it from thier site and play around with it, to at least get the hang of the program and see if its good for you. You mentioned you used Finale a long time ago, they're constantly updating it, and perahps the newer ones are bit easier to use. (depending on how old the software you used was) I've also used Sibalius (sp?) a long time ago, but I found that had a click and drag feature which was quite user friendly, but I found it frustrating. It was just a bit tedius and too easy to put the notes you wanted on the wrong parts of the staff. However the last time I used Sibalius was probibly 5 years ago, and I'm sure they've improved thier system too. Good luck with your writing, and in your software search.

Oh and I just caught that in your post. Don't worry about how things sound in the computer program, becuase most of it (except perhaps the newest edition of Finale) have horrible sounds. Its a battery writer's worst nightmare. No Worries.

Ahhh, ok, well it looks like you are writing a non-pitched percussion part for the pit, the auxillary/rack parts. Generally the higher sounding percussion instruments go in the upper lines and spaces of the staff. (ie, splash cymbal, triangles, etc), Mid tones in the middle (snare, crash cymbals, etc) and low tones on the bottom and just below the staff (bass drum, gong). If you have a set of toms or cow bells or temple blocks...or well anything where you have multiple of one instrument, but in different tones/pitches/tuned differently then you'll arange it the same way on the staff. Always keep the same instrument on the same line. And label everything. Some writers choose to ues different shaped note heads to show the instrument, I personally find that a bit cluttering. (like triangles for a triangle, x's for cymbals). The same goes for all percussion music. A marching bass line, the drums are on the lines or spaces, in order of pitch. A sousa March's percussion part would have snare on top, with cymbals below and Bass below that. Good luck. I hope this helps.

I'm a van of vicfirth.com Theres a whole section of DCI videos from various popular corps, "in the lot." Always of great quality. They've also posted videos of WGI lines, when that's in season. good luck! :)

Although you've probibly checked this out, I find that http://www.vicfirth.com/ has some really usefull exeresizes for chop building and such on it, as well as alot of fun and educational articles. Althoguh I haven't seen any bass line music on there, it would still help alot for chops in general. Stone's "Stick Control" book is an excelent resource for building chops, sightreading and warm up. I've used it since I started percussion 11 years ago and still use it today. I also find that druming with heavy sticks that I've wighted with a wad of stick tape towards the bead can really be a good tool for building "chops" as well as practing single strokes on a pillow... I've heard some good buzz about Colin McNutt's "Vaccant Lot Sessions" book, but I can't remember if its just snare or full battery parts. If you find a title of a book or piece that you want I highly suggest ordering it through Steve Wiess They have a big selection of marching percussion music...however no samples so if you don't know what it is its proibly not great to order blindly. Best of luck to you! ^OO^

I totallly have to agree with "Bill_Cosby" on that one. David Garibaldi is fricking amazing. Not to mention my personal love for DMB's Carter Beauford! (: As a budding drummer, I've taken alot of inspiration in Buddy Rich's jazz stylings, as well.

I'm not sure if its been done, but I'd love to see a show composed of David Maslanka's music. His Symphonies for Band are simply stunning. (although a direct transcription would be wicked hard to do on a field, I'm sure!)

Hehe, yeah. My college had the high-end Sabian Germanics, Vienesse, and French pairs for our Concert Bands/Wind Ensembles. I loved the Vienesse the best, but thats just my own personal preference. Gah! I loved those cymbals!

I know this is kinda late, but be super caustious about Sabian marching cymbals. The line I played in in '04 had a rough time, there were 6 of us, and every one of us kept inverting...and it wasn't purely by techneque. after so many inversions we were all paranoid about how we were crashing... and perfecting our techneque didn't seem to make any difference. These were very very thin, and thier sound was kind of bright, and didn't cut at all. I'm pretty sure they were the 18" Sabian B8 Marching Cymbals Best of luck on your search,

The next time I see Teddy I'll give him the message! He is definitly a great caption head to have around. You are definitly right about the DCA crowd, they are so much fun to perform for...when they understand what you're playing. (; Thanks for the article link, and the advice. Your song list is also quite usefull. (I LOVE Maslanka, haven't played any of his marimba solso, but have played "Crown of Thorns" (bells, and later vibes) and a couple of his Wind Ensemble works...so amazing!)

I own that, but never learned much more than part of the first movement. Would a 2 mallet solo (no mater how CRAZY hard, like this one) impress apon the DCA I&E Judges? ::scratches head:: When I played Flight of the Bumble Bee in 2000, (good idea!) it didn't appear to fly over so well...although I was the only highschool kid compeating against two adults playing 4 mallet solos of more techincal difficulty. I loved playing that though. and I definily should re-learn the Creston...definitly not for this, it'll take me much longer than the time before DCA. (: Thanks!

oooh. In 2001 I sorta "composed" my own solo for I&E...it was pretty horrible, but I got 8th place out of 11. It was a cut and paste medley of sorts. It had some Beatles tunes, part of my college audition, and ended like Bohemian Rhapsody. haha I love "Restless" by Rich O’Meara, and have it in my collection. I haven’t played it for I&E but did for a few solo performances in school, and for a corps winter show. So beautiful, and the ending can make or break it! (I've definitly hit the wrong chord at the end in a few performances!) I might consider that one, it might be just the right length! Not on your list: I've learned the 3rd mvt to Nay Rusaro's Marimba Concerto, however there’s a few sections that are just odd with out the accompanist and there's a part where two mallets almost NEED to be dropped to play it. Its really awesome though, if the player can play it up to speed (which I definitely can’t…yet. some day...) I've heard that "Merlin" is crazy hard...but I'm not sure if I've ever heard a recording. I've never heard of "Gordon’s Bicycle" although the title makes me wonder if the composer had Gordon Stout in mind. (: I'll have to look that one up. Good brain storming!!

Hi there, This is my first post so my apologies if I do something...stupid. I've participated in I&E about 4 times, and I'm definitely going to enter this year, Although the solo I had picked is apparently more of a marimba standard than I had thought. I've prepared Nancy by Emmanuel Sejourne...and suddenly I realize that the college age percussion kids all know it, heard of it, and can play it. ::head desk:: Last time I did I&E, I played Michi by Kieko Abe, although only half of it, because of the time limit, so it wasn't nearly as nice. Due to the DCA 3 minute time limit and such, I'm not too sure of what would be an appropriate piece for I&E. I would like to stay away from the obvious over done standards (no yellow after the "pain" or any such business!). Any one have any ideas? What have you played or heard performed at I&E that was effective (both DCI and DCA?) Thanks in advance!

I've never played in a miked pit, however the pit I taught durring the indoor season was. I can't remember what kind of mikes we used, however most of the instruments had them clamped underneith. (Even though the sound truely does come from above) We had a 16 channel board and it took us months to keep the wires stright. Thats the biggest pain in the butt. Evenually we used a system of velcro and tape to have them all "snaked" together and in the right order and length, so all the kids had to do was roll it out and plug thier mike in. (they were numbered, ofcourse). Ultimatly a real mic "snake" would be the best for this, and not the system we used. (: Balance wasn't usually an issue after alot of tweeking in rehersals, and making sure the amps were in the right places. We used one overhead mic which was above the xylo/bells/omgloucan (sp?) center. We didn't mike our timps or aux percussion, and our two marimbas each had two mics. hope this helps,