Jeff Ream Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Mp3's? you can keep 'em....VERY crappy quality unless done right...at LEAST 256kbps quality..but it's still better to use the lossless .flac or .shn formats. Most serious music traders won't even sniff an Mp3 at ANY quality. I HAVE heard some Mp3's with DECENT quality, but when you put them side by side with the other formats, they still lack some sonic quality. Anyway....I remember cleaning out the equipment truck a the end of the 83 season when we were doing the Penn National thing, and finding a box with a whole bunch of McDonalds flags! I guess either Larry or the California Dons inherited them! the guy's a sound engineer. we'll see. I'll take what I can get as the only tape player I have is theone Iuse to judge with and that's going away next year to digital Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaminbenb Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Well if at all possible, try to get the best quality...Mp3 isn't it...trust me! No crime in converting for your iPod once you have them, but starting with the best quality will save grief in the long run! (welcome to my well stocked bootleg collection) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 i'll keep that in mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzgok Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 funny story about tenors. When I got to Northern Lebanon in 92, they didn't have any. It was a former Donnie Lee line, run by people from his mold. Don't get me wrong, I worshipped Donnie, but the no tenor thing always bugged me. So 93, when I officially took over, i borrowed a set from Crest and introduced them. Halfway thru the year, Walmer, the BD, had some alums come in to help. One of the firstquestions was "why tenors". I explained in the arranging style I used ( back then as many notes as possible LOL), That extra voice filled ina lot of gaps and added musicality. They didn't seem to get it, so I explained that I appreciated the Lebanon style, but I had my way...which was more or less then Dan/Thurston style, and that's what we were doing. within a yearand with a few drum trophies and going to some drum corps shows,they got it. People? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 People? oh crap...I forgot it was you! I'm sorry dude! For some reason I thought for a day others were there. shoot me now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Well now I know Scott is alive. Missed him! I worked with Scott in '82 with NL when He and Bart Sando were there at NLHS. Lots of Westshore people mixed up with them that year. Adlai Binger, Steve Hartman, Jim Shade, Larry... Won Liberty Class in CoB against a very, very good Spring Grove HS with Rich as their visual guru. Got me out of a bad funk I was in to work there, Scott knew I needed something to get out of the wreckage of a really ugly crash and burn relationship. Enjoyed every minute of it! Come to think of it, I think that was the only group I ever performed or worked with that ever won a championship. If winning was everything, I sure as heck wouldn't be still wanting to teach, LOL. The saving grace there was that Harlan's kids could play hard-core. The winds really understood how to play and were very well trained by him. One of the first bands out there in the area that understood that trying to totally emulate a Drum Corps was a bad idea and that woodwinds were quite useful if you staged and wrote to use them well. Sounded like a very nice Symphonic band on the field, a rarity for that era. One of the few other bands that could do that back then-- Williamsport, which was at the beginning of their killer run when PK got there and turned them loose. I think now they're a very small organization- Galen either retired or moved down to teach at a lower level, the young man there now works hard to make things happen as best he can. Talked to him a few times when I ran into him at some band contests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Galen retired 2 years ago now. I'm hoping Ididnt help speed that up. thats what I get for typing when half asleep. at that time i kept thinking I waswithScott at LD, and thatwas my dad and Richie Sennett. I'll always owe Scott for bringing me in there after the disaster that was my departure from LD. 4 very educational yearsthere. Just wish I hadn't been put in the position to have to tell friends they weren't wanted back. that's adirectors job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Galen retired 2 years ago now. I'm hoping Ididnt help speed that up. thats what I get for typing when half asleep. at that time i kept thinking I waswithScott at LD, and thatwas my dad and Richie Sennett. I'll always owe Scott for bringing me in there after the disaster that was my departure from LD. 4 very educational yearsthere. Just wish I hadn't been put in the position to have to tell friends they weren't wanted back. that's adirectors job Galen took the job at NL in the fall of 1986 IIRC. Harlan retired in June of 1986 I do believe. That would have put him there for 23 years, so, add in the time for wherever he was before that, and it's likely not "early" by any means. And, about "the director's job?" YES! As I said previously, the word DIRECT is part of the word for a reason. It IS the responsibility of a director to do just that! Even as a kid I saw things begin to change. BITD, it was unusual for a Director to have an assistant- or a percussion specialist. North Penn in 1976 had I think a staff of six- which in that era was thought of as enormous and extravagant. Directors were their staffs- bring in a specialist for the twirlers and flags/rifles. That was it. Heck-- I remember when Gary was named show coordinator in 1980 at Westshore and Larry explained the position and the need for it to us at the beginning of the season. When Larry discussed it- the thought was in my head, "Cool! Why didn't we have one of those before?" Now, a band program that can afford it or gets enough suckers/volunteers to take advantage of has music techs, marching techs, a visual caption head, etc etc. If well coordinated and if the people are good team players and role players- it takes a lot of stress off the dirctor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaminbenb Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Galen took the job at NL in the fall of 1986 IIRC. Harlan retired in June of 1986 I do believe. That would have put him there for 23 years, so, add in the time for wherever he was before that, and it's likely not "early" by any means. And, about "the director's job?" YES! As I said previously, the word DIRECT is part of the word for a reason. It IS the responsibility of a director to do just that! Even as a kid I saw things begin to change. BITD, it was unusual for a Director to have an assistant- or a percussion specialist. North Penn in 1976 had I think a staff of six- which in that era was thought of as enormous and extravagant. Directors were their staffs- bring in a specialist for the twirlers and flags/rifles. That was it. Heck-- I remember when Gary was named show coordinator in 1980 at Westshore and Larry explained the position and the need for it to us at the beginning of the season. When Larry discussed it- the thought was in my head, "Cool! Why didn't we have one of those before?" Now, a band program that can afford it or gets enough suckers/volunteers to take advantage of has music techs, marching techs, a visual caption head, etc etc. If well coordinated and if the people are good team players and role players- it takes a lot of stress off the dirctor. One caveat...I've been out of the teaching game for a long long time now so if it's changed.... I just seem to remember SOME band staff's having more people walking around holding clipboards, sticks, and whatnots that you had to wonder if 98% of the "staff" was just people that wanted to get into shows for nothing, or if they really contributed to the "big picture"?!?! There was a band from south of the PA border that comes to mind, and it seemed that their drum staff was almost as large as their entire drumline, sort of each member having their own personal instructor ...I always thought that bands (and some drum corps) should have a limit to staff members allowed (sort of like how college football does it) and eliminate the "cymbal technique" technician since they have a "cymbal practical application" tech, as well as a "steel slam" coach Brian was always a minimalist when it came to staff....he was the head honcho, wrote 95-99% of the music, controlled the whole program, had explicit "veto" power on any decision made by any of the staff. My role was working with the tom line (because he needed someone to watch them while he focused on snares, and he wasn't up on tom technique) and some pit writing (non keyboard for the most part, although there WAS one instance with Williamsport, PA one year where I wrote the keyboard parts ) pit teaching and maintenance, and general equipment maintenance. And Craig, who seemed to work well with bass drums and cymbals, as well as our overall "look" marching and bearing-wise... We usually had a former student or two that worked as "clones" when we weren't there, and got the "troops" rallied so when we arrived we were ready to go....Now we had the "odd" staff member at certain bands for other reasons occasionally, Gary Greyhosky was one, and was more of a keyboard "tech" than anything else.....as the "corporation" went...Brian usually juggled several bands, and I usually got one of them as my "primary" mission. (Scheduling magic got us both at all practices for continuity, Craig floated between the two MAIN units) One year, I think Brian was Primary at North Hagerstown, and I was Primary at Cedar Cliff. We BOTH were at the majority of the practices, but could be interchangeable at any given time, and could run rehearsal at either location if something was turning into a scheduling nightmare. (there were times) He also WROTE the drum book for Williamsport, PA and was required to show up at X-amount of rehearsals, so many during band camp, so many during the regular season, and so many during "championships" time. (lots of fast food, Turkey Hill coffee, and junk food consumed during that time! ) I think he also wrote stuff for a few other bands, and did something with Milton Hershey that didn't require the "corporation" to attend as much. I always remembered taking about a week vacation during band camp and went with him from location to location on at least 3 of the days, and focusing on say Cedar Cliff the majority of the time (we'd make sure that we hit other places for music rehearsals, while the unit was learning drill and we didn't really need to BE there...but Craig was usually spending time at each place for his "Eric Kitchenman" imitation ...) I vaguely remember one day getting picked up at o-dark-hundred...hitting a drive through and heading up to Williamsport for early music rehearsal, then leaving at say 11:00, hitting another drive through, and getting to Cedar Cliff for a music rehearsal, until about 4:00-5:00 and then down the highway to Hagerstown for an evening music rehearsal...stopping for a sandwich and a beer afterwards, and coming home really really late, getting a little sleep, then getting back up for ME to go to Cliff, Brian going to Hagerstown, and Craig accompanying one or the other...then maybe ME leaving Cliff at 5:00 to run down 81 to Hagerstown, etc....it was CRAZY, but we were young and stupid! (and we drank a lot back then) But....all that avoided having more guys on our drum staff than drummers! )((and st the end of the season, was more satisfying ) I won't even go INTO our indoor season, or "writing brain trusts" THOSE were crazy! And alcohol being involved was the reason for me (and partially Craig) writing the keyboard parts for Williamsport, PA's drum solo that year! And the infamous "Christmas in July" incident! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 Galen took the job at NL in the fall of 1986 IIRC. Harlan retired in June of 1986 I do believe. That would have put him there for 23 years, so, add in the time for wherever he was before that, and it's likely not "early" by any means. And, about "the director's job?" YES! As I said previously, the word DIRECT is part of the word for a reason. It IS the responsibility of a director to do just that! Even as a kid I saw things begin to change. BITD, it was unusual for a Director to have an assistant- or a percussion specialist. North Penn in 1976 had I think a staff of six- which in that era was thought of as enormous and extravagant. Directors were their staffs- bring in a specialist for the twirlers and flags/rifles. That was it. Heck-- I remember when Gary was named show coordinator in 1980 at Westshore and Larry explained the position and the need for it to us at the beginning of the season. When Larry discussed it- the thought was in my head, "Cool! Why didn't we have one of those before?" Now, a band program that can afford it or gets enough suckers/volunteers to take advantage of has music techs, marching techs, a visual caption head, etc etc. If well coordinated and if the people are good team players and role players- it takes a lot of stress off the dirctor. I thought Harlan left around 88, but I may be wrong. Galen did time at Pine grove before that...basically waiting to take over as the chosen one since he was a Harlan...RIP....product. No I'm sure time finally got Galen to decide to go, but...well, I was on a mission. the whole LD thing stained me, and I was out to prove I could do it and do it right. Anytime I have taken over a program, I've never trashed those before me, and I won't trash those who follow me if I leave. I wish that courtesy was always extended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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