trumpetman1288

The Great Gatsby really isn't all the bad. It really does have a good story to it, but be sure you pay attention to all of the symbols used...especially characters. They symbolize parts of American society during the 1920s. I do admit, however, it seemed to drag at times.

Wow....since there are TWO questions, I'll answer both Our sax section is decent right now. We have 6 region caliber sax players (3 of which are freshmen) and most of our saxes are usually good anyways. We have two decent tenor players...and only one decent bari, but he is drum major. And no..never saw those Latino Pepsi commercial...ironic since I live 10 miles north of Mexico. Does anyone know how the "Jesus-LOL" thing got started? I know there is a whole comic series based on it, but why?

pretty good...gotta get summer reading done by the end of this week...and I haven't even started it.

duck yes...crazy people out there love piercing ducks. weirdos... what do you think would happen if the earth fell out of orbit?

Ha ha...nice. A lot of guys in our band play football before games or just whenever at someone's house (this person has a HUGE backyard...the size of a legit football field). We have so many guys that would outdo receivers and backs on our varsity level. Not to mention that a lot of starters from junior high and freshman year, myself included, quit playing football. Some of us do go play the basketball team during open gym and we win sometimes. Just goes to show how greatly conditioned all us band people are. I wish we did that though...it'd be fun to play some football players in a game. Oh, since this is a rivalry post *ahem* I should include (because I forgot about them) Memorial because of that game we had with them last year in which we won because of a controversial fumble at the end of the 4th quarter (the call was correct, it WAS a fumble, you can see for yourself on youtube.com, check under "Bradley Stephens" and look at the Bradley Stephens highlight film) and we scored in overtime and won. Aside from that game, every single time we have played Memorial, we have scored at least 40 points. The first time was 42, the second was 74, and this past time was 48. They have gotten closer everytime, first time for them was 0, second was 35, and this past one was 42. I think they will win the game this year.

But one of the miseries of band (or blessings if you are really into football) is having to watch your team be destroyed. You know what I am talking about...all those stories in the stands of the band saying "man, I should be in there." I know I have said that at least once or twice.

Man, I hope you all go to state then. Sorry to say, but Bradley Stephens will run circles around every defense he encounters this year (especially ours...so sad. We went from the best 4A defense in the state to a sappy defense that does ARM TACKLES in two years) until playoffs come around. Then he will have to run through them It's OK though...once he graduates, Memorial will once again be nothing but dust in the wind.

*cough cough* Just kidding man. Since about 90% of the RGV hates our school for some reason, it's hard to pick out rivals. I think all that hatred comes from the fact that there used to be a lot of racism down here about 30 years ago, and so it lives on today. So if anything bad happens here at SHS, it is almost IMMEDIATELY put on the headlines of the newspapers and the local news....anyways, enough about that. Football, our rivals (we have several) are McHi (because of a fight the first year we were 5A), Mission (city rival who has yet to beat us), and La Joya (they just lay the smackdown on us everytime we play them). Band...I don't think we really have one, but if I had pick one, I would say Harlingen because of all that junk that happened last year. Hey Trumpet Master...I just remembered...we play you all this year right after state! It's going to be an exciting game, eh? I think it's the first time in history our schools will play each other.

We usually go through at least one bomb threat a year. We do the same thing every year...clear the school, go to the stadium on the south side of campus and go to the soccer field on the north side of campus. A lot of us think it is dumb because if anyone was feeling crazy enough, they could drive by the soccer field and shoot up about half the school before most of them even know what was going on. It's a little bit harder to sneak weapons in over here. Students are required to tuck shirts in. The only way in that case would be to put either a knife in your pocket or to put whatever other weapon in your backpack. I am not worried about students bringing weapons though...most people down here would be too scared to do anything. My school is supposedly one of the safest schools down here. We have like maybe, at most, 5 fights in the whole year and absolutely no gang related activity. Curse the strictness of our school system yet bless it at the same time.

You could try a few different things... A.) if it is a set where he/she remains between two certain people, tell him/her to remain between the two. B.) Always remember distances from hashes and remember yardlines C.) If all else fails, draw or print out a football grid and plot the coordinates. Then connect the dots and number each set. It helps out quite a bit when you get a visual representation of your drill. Hope this helps you!

The same reason any "athlete" will claim they can march a show. Speaking as a former "athlete" myself, I would say band is definitely more demanding physically and mentally than any high school sport. Don't you think it's freakin' awesome that ice-powered air conditioners are being tested and soon to be put into use? (that means LOWER electric bills, and in turn lower gas prices!)

Almost for Phantom....good run for them though. Congrats once again to the Cavies!

Which SSB arrangement are you playing? We have this arrangement called "the trumpeting arrangement" which has a solo in it as well, but I don't think it is the same arrangement. Just try pushing your air more with your stomach and really open up your throat. If you use your diaphram correctly, you will easily override the rest of the band, which if I am not mistaking, is fairly small. I do the solo for our arrangement...try playing over 250+ people..thankfully it's only low brass and woodwinds, which brings that number to about 100, that play during the solo

Man, you'd think that they would move marching band activities down here...such a cruel irony. Then again, it's like football here...we have some of the best football teams in the nation, yet our professional teams suck. Not that our drum corps suck, but you know...I find it strange that there is no division 1 DCI corp down here despite the fact that a lot of corps get Texas recruits. WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO?!?! *runs away*

The band camp phase is over, but now we are into the summer band phase where we set drill, as most of the state is. How's your sock tan looking?

We do arm circles, but that's about as far as non-marching conditioning goes. Our conditioning/punishment is duck walking or this strange exercise where you stand on your toes and mark time by picking up your foot...something like a strange calf raise. Other than that....basically we just do marching fundamentals everyday for conditioning and running the show a few times back to back.

Brass are usually more laid back than those uptight woodwind people. Who's aching from marching?

Of course not...not killing the face at all...no red ring around the lips, no bloody chops, nadda. I just dislike Bach mouthpieces a lot because they feel very uncomfortable. I don't mean that Schilke 15 will kill you either, I just meant that it takes a little more endurance to get used to it.

We've got 16 and we should be done with the opener by next week. About 5 of those sets have sub-sets within them, so I guess if you count those as sets, then we are at about 20 or so.

You could try walking in time...just to give the feel of being in step. Then slow down the counting. Make it like a totally normal walking speed, but make sure he/she stays in time. Make sure this person also is familiar with what counts each foot hits the ground. If the student understands this concept yet still has trouble, try breaking down things with the student at an easier level. If he/she is experiencing phasing with marching, then just help them push their feet. Motivate them...not 100% sure what kind of problem you are experiencing, but let me know a little more detailed so I can help a little more. Hope this helps!

Don't necessarily take my word for this, but this is more or less what I have come across through experience... Range is usually dictated by two things on a mouthpiece; the rim and the depth of the cup. Shallow cups are usually a little easier to go higher on, and thinner rims usually help as well. That's why when most trumpet players pick up a french horn, screamers are cake. Tone quality is more your embochure and air than it is a mouthpiece. Tone, however, can be affected by the depth of your cup. Deeper cups usually give you a darker sound. Volume also comes with air, but some mouthpieces are designed to make you play louder. Most of those have a larger hole for your air to go through. That's about all I have as far as that goes. If anyone can prove otherwise, please tell me, because as I said, all of that info there is just off my personal experience. Oh, and about brands. Bach and Yamaha mouthpieces are usually recommended to most people as beginners and most people will usually stick to them all the way into high school. They are great mouthpieces for teaching people on, and I feel that they are also great mouthpieces in general, but they are kind of flawed in my opinion. To me, I feel as if Bach mouthpieces are cutting into my lips after playing for a while, and I feel as if Yamaha mouthpieces have an rim that is too rounded for my liking. We all have our preferences though. I like the Schilke that I have A LOT. It takes a little more air and it kills your face a little bit faster, but man, it is one COMFORTABLE mouthpiece. Its rim is just the right width and it really is comfortable...doesn't cut into your face, isn't too rounded, just perfect. I play on a Schilke 15, and that particular mouthpiece does give you a darker sound. It's cup is slightly wider and deeper than a Bach 5B. I played a 5B for about three years, and I am going on my 3rd year for a Schilke, and the Schilke in my opinion is better, hands down. But yes..that's about brands. You should go buy a Schilke

Man...I seriously am lucky over here. Since my director does not give a flying piece of poop about homecoming, we just play the ballad from our show. We don't have a real ballad this year though

The sound of my fan. Why does this state have to be so friggin' huge?

I don't need range...i got skillz! I kid...wanting to play high is part of being a trumpet player, no doubt there. I keep getting close to that double G, but it never wants to come out. Right now, I just have a high E. If only my lips were smaller....and I had a thinner rim mouthpiece. Speaking of which, does anyone else play a schilke 15?

We've managed to shorten that time playing P&C from 45 minutes to about 15 by making them walk in two lines instead of one. Yay us.