 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: contragirl
Date: 2003-12-13 03:22
You know.. the kind of gigs you go and play that are physically demanding... haha
So tonight at my concert I find out that the UM marching band needs more clarinets for their trip to FL to play at the Gator Bowl. GO TERPS! I haven't been in this band for 2 years (I did do it for 2 years with UM, though). So, I agreed to do it. I get a free trip to FL, free ticket to Disneyworld, and a football game... did I mention I hate football?
This is the fun part...
I don't know the show. I have less than a week to learn pre-game and the halftime show! LOL! This is going to be so funny!
I get paid in free rides to places in FL and per diem (sp?), which is the money we spend on food. I get to spend my New Years on the beach. But without my boyfriend. *sigh* He refuses to pay to go somewhere with annoying MB ppl. :(
So... is this more physically demanding than any "paying" gig you have ever had? LOL
Fight fight fight for Maryland, keep on fighting til we win....
--Contragirl
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-12-13 03:40
Oh man. I think I actually turned green with jealousy. Lemme check . . . Oh yeah. I'm definitely jealous. Free trip to FL, disney, FOOTBALL?! Man. You shoulda held out till they offerred you a rental car too ;-)
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Lisa
Date: 2003-12-13 05:59
Lucky ducky you! (Donald Duck, that is! )Is it true that anyone can walk into the new BB arena during alumni pep band nights, wear a red UM shirt, carry an instrument and say, "I'm with the band?" That's what I was told, and I might try it if I could. UNLESS it's Sparky (ooh, did I just say that?), then I can't, since he knows of me but doesn't know me well. The moral of the story is I hate basketball but would give anything to be seen on national tv and have the prestige of saying I played a Maryland game.
Anyway, I was in a similar situation my senior year of high school. I had to share my position with an alternate and march in holes left by people excused from performances with good reason. This meant I only had a week (3 rehearsals) to learn the drill, but I knew the music already. The drill on each side of the field wasn't the same at all, and you didn't stay between the same 2 people, either. In this situation, I realized the drill was more important than the music when I'd run into a jam. Then when I finally got back to my own spot near the end of the season, I'd forgotten what I was supposed to be familiar with.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-12-15 10:09
I am trying to translate all of what you are saying. Most of us, outside the USA, don't really get the marching band thing. Don't get me wrong, we do march elsewhere, but not under these sorts of situations. My experience of marching is through brass and militray bands for which I get paid. Marching is physically demanding but you learn tactics to survive. So are 4 or 5 hour gigs standing, again you learn to cope.
It doesn't sound like you are actually getting paid for this so it is beyond me why you would bother. Is it really music that is being attempted or just choreographed industrial noise? I would be turning my skills to something musical.
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Author: Lisa
Date: 2003-12-15 12:36
First off, I don't know why I put high school above, as it was college I was referring to. No, Mark, we don't get paid, but it is a popular extra-curricular activity.
Choreographed industrial noise? Well, the band I marched with definitely has a high degree of musicially. Take a listen and tell me what you think:
http://www.arts.iup.edu/music/legend/media.html
I'm older that all of those recordings, and the leadership has changed, but the above sounds pretty close to the musical quality we had. (I wouldn't spend much time on the "traditional" stuff at the top, but take a listen to other stuff as well.
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Author: William
Date: 2003-12-15 15:10
I'm a vetern or two six mile Rose Bowl parades which were both followed by pre game and half time shows immediantely afterwards. That's physical!! But the week spent before each apperance in sunny Pasadena visiting Knotts', the float assembly lines, DisneyWorld, trying to "crash" the Tonight Show (Johnny Carson), appearing on the nationally televised Tennesse Ernie Ford Show, and (oh yes) a few all day rehearsals learning our shows in the sun rather than the snow--AWSOME!!!
Go for it, Contragirl, so that when you get old like me you can also say, "Man--Those were the Days!!!" Keep in step and have a great time.
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Author: Lisa
Date: 2003-12-15 16:55
I'm a veteran of THE St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin, Ireland. Sorry, I don't know the mileage, but I can tell you it was brutal. May I never, ever play "Old Man River" again. Oh wait, that's a different thread...
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-12-15 17:05
I still wonder why those who plan parades always put the horses in front of the bands.
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Author: contragirl
Date: 2003-12-15 20:40
Well, when I was in the UM band 2 years ago, we did the Orange Bowl parade, and the year before was the Macy's Day parade. That was a long march, a couple miles.
I guess marching bands aren't a big thing in other parts of the world. Football (not soccer, or British football) is a big thing in the U.S., so anyone that could get a free ticket to the GatorBowl would love to be where I am. That and a free ticket to DisneyWorld. If I liked football, I would enjoy going... I enjoy winning though!
Marching in parades is not the only thing we do, we also do halftime shows. With the playing of music and making shapes on the field and stuff. Fun... hehe
--Contragirl
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