sla1977

Thanks for pointing that out. I need to update my bio it appears....and finish my doctorate.

Actually, I started my doctorate in 2006 before my first go around at the Troop. I have been teaching at the university of Kentucky the last 4 years which takes up most of my time. Too much time to be a caption head any longer at least.

The Troopers are hosting a series of Satellite Audition Camps for the 2009 Season in the following Locations: Belton, Texas (Brass, Percussion, & Guard) Belton High School, Belton TX 600 Lake Rd Belton, TX 76513 December 13, 2008 - 9am to 7pm Knoxville, Tennessee (Brass Only) Bearden High School, Knoxville TN 8352 Kingston Pike Blvd. Knoxville, TN 37919 December 13, 2008 - 9am to 7pm Boise, Idaho (Brass Only) Centennial High School, Boise ID 12400 W. Macmillan Rd. Boise, ID 83713 December 13, 2008 - 9am to 7pm In addition to the Satellite Locations there is the full Corps audition that will take place in concordance with the 2008 season banquet. Laramie, WY (Brass, Percussion, Guard) Laramie Jr. High School Laramie, WY 82072 November 28-30, 2008 For more information, please go to www.troopersdrumcorps.org

Airlines are putting in stricter limits on luggage, so I think people may be tempted to pack less in order to save money on their flights in and out. Even if they didnt I doubt it would matter. These kids of things always have a way of working themselves out. The converse could be said too. If all of the busses magically had more room people would still be struggling to fit their luggage in there.... It is just like my bank account. No matter how much money I make or don't make, I always have the same amount left in it every month (i.e nothing).

That is very nice of you to say. Everyone in Trooperland thanks you for the kind words.

For anyone interested in marching in the Troopers Brass Line this coming season should contact me at troopersbrass@yahoo.com and I will be happy to give you all the info that you need

Hello, The Troopers have unfortunately lost a member of the tuba section due to injury and we are looking to fill that spot as soon as possible. Any one that is interested can feel free to contact me directly via e-mail (troopersbrass@yahoo.com). I am generally very quick at responding. There will be reduced tour fees as well as flexible payment options. I look forward to hearing from anyone that is interested.

Hello, The Troopers have unfortunately lost a member of the tuba section due to injury and we are looking to fill that spot as soon as possible. Any one that is interested can feel free to contact me directly via e-mail (troopersbrass@yahoo.com). I am generally very quick at responding. There will be greatly reduced tour fees as well as flexible payment options. I look forward to hearing from anyone that is interested.

I believe he just got hired to teach at The University of Washington and will be on faculty there next year

I had one year of college marching band (which is a pretty far cry from marching around at 200bpm) and no high school under my belt before I marched BD. I was in way over my head for the first half of the season, but finally things kind of clicked. The next year I was DM and eventually I was on marching staff there. I am about as uncoordinated as they come, so if someone like me can do it than I think anyone can.

One of my teachers (Tim Salzman) won Grand Nationals and was the Brass Caption Head of 2 different DCI Championship drum corps (SCV & Cavies) and he never marched in High School or in College. He did march in what he calls a "class 3 drum corps" when he was in eighth grade. So, that kind of shows you anything is possible..... With that being said I do think it is wise that music ed majors should do marching band in college.

Hello again, Just got home from camp a few hours ago. It was really great. The whole staff was giddy last night after ensemble rehearsal and all of us were way pumped. We did not feel so good in the morning though when we saw that 6 inches of snow had fallen overnight. We had to cancel the morning blocks and get right on the busses to have enough time to get the airport safely in those conditions. Those few hours in the morning that we missed was going to be when we were going to tell the kids who made and would be offered contracts. So, obviously we were not able to do that. Now I will be up half the night e-mailing them individually to let everyone who is in and who we are going to take a closer look at. No biggie..... I just enjoy seeing their faces when they are offered a spot. Now for more camp details: 1. Low Brass is amazing. We were missing 3 of our best players there in the low brass section due to time conflicts that were approved, but it did not seem to phase the rest of the section. Tubas are very good and our whole sound concept is based off of them being the strongest section in the brass line so that is nice. Baritones are great too. There are some individual players there that are as good as I have heard in the activity. They are also the pranksters of the hornline and are going to be really fun to work with for a summer. 2. Mello's are doing fine. Every one of them that showed up to camp was strong so they were all offered spots. It was kind of funny actually. After talking with the visual and brass staff for about 30 seconds I called all the mellophones over and said "Welcome....you are all in." The other cool thing about them is they are already beginning to 'gel' as a section. In my experience, this seems to really make a difference (esecially with the mello sections). 3. Trumpets are going to be great. We do not have the new instruments yet and it is noticible when you are trying to match tone quality and pitch. So, no worries. We hope to have the new trumpets by the next camp. The leadership in the trumpets is great. Our horn seargent is in the trumpet line and he is an awesome leader. 4. Full Ensemble: Usually the first time you have to put the drums and brass together it is not pretty and that was fully what we expected, but it turned out great. Our goal was just to get a read of the full ensemble for the design staff, so we only spent about 10 minutes together. In that time we ran it at tempo about 3 or 4 times. Each time we made a few general comments to the group and then ran it again. Since we were indoors it was far too loud and resonant to get a clear read of the package, so we focused on tempo and continuity in the little time we were there. 5. Brass enseble: My first impression is they are very teachable. If you give them a corretion you can usually notice immediate improvement. They also seem to play very well in time as well as maintain tempo. We actually ran the opener at tempo without a metronome once and they maintained tempo very well. Pitch is a bit rough right now, but that will come in due time. We are working on some concepts right now that are going to take a while to settle in for them. No worries....as we said to them many times: "It is a marathon. Not a sprint" 6. The General Vibe: This may be the best part of the whole camp. There is an underlying feeling of excitement in the brass line and it seemed only to build more and more as the camp went on. Usually everyone is excited the first night and then by saturday night they are completely wiped out, but that was not the case for us. It is pretty neat to watch and be a part of. The members are great and you can already tell that we are going to have a lot of fun this season. Hope this was informative....

Hello, I just wanted to take a few minutes to let people know how camp is going here at The Troopers. I So here goes: So far things are great. We have a great turnout in every section of the brass line. We have 22 trumpets here, 10 mello's, 18 Bari's and 11 Tubas. In addition, we have some people that had conflicts with this camp that have l ready been offered contracts. In total between this camp and the people that have been offered contracts already that could not be here we have 26 trumpets, 12 mellophones, 22 bari's, 13 Tubas. In addition to a great turnout, we have some really great performers here. The tuba section is really really good. We are actually kind of freaked out about how good they are. There are some great players in every section and I am very excited about the quality and consistency that we have in the line. I have to get back to work here with them but I will try to post more later. I plan on putting some pictures & videos up online later so you guys can see for yourself. Hopefully I can get to happen tonight but it may take another day or so.... Oh and one more thing....we have all new instruments (with the exception of the trumpets which are still in production) and they are freakin sweet!

Not sure if Pete is still with the corps...I am still trying to learn everyone's names. The percussion staff. I just know first names for most of them. Brian Stevens is the caption head and he is great. He says that they have a really slammin line that is coming together. A lot of texas kids (Brain is from Texas) and then some people that he taught last year at Cap Reg. He seems really comfortable with how that is progressing.

That is what we are hoping for :) Things have been going really great and I am really excited about things BUT there is a lot of work to be done still. I am glad a lot of people are hyping but we are still a way off B) We have a camp this weekend and we are going to try and set the hornline (or come really close)....I will have my laptop with me and I will try and pass some updates and maybe even some pictures and video along.