trumpetman1288

I don't disagree with the statements about the Cavies from this past year, it was more so about phantom... But everyone has their own favorites, right?

o_0 Are you serious? Phantom hasn't really had a "ridiculous" visual program until recent years, if you even want to call it that...and music...I'll just stay quiet on that one...

I did do both simultaneously at one point...both are physically and mentally demanding, but football is more physically demanding while marching is more mentally demanding. Even then, you can't really compare the difference. It'd be like comparing football to ballet as far the physical demand goes. Ballet (to be good at it) is probably as demanding as it gets, but football is a high contact sport with chronic hits... Needless to say, band and football are both extremely demanding, but comparing them isn't necessarily fair.

*great confusion* In 2004, the closer was Blue Cathedral, yes? There was one line from the end of that part taken and put into this year's show. Is that part not Blue Cathedral?

Not that part...the Blue Cathedral part before Lux Aurumque.

I liked that part too, but I feel it was just kind of randomly thrown in...it just didn't seem to go smoothly into the music, especially with what was being played before (Pan's Labyrinth if I remember correctly?).

Just giving a heads up...you MIGHT feel like crying after getting your braces off. Some people transition well after, but MANY do not fare so well immediately after getting their braces off. No matter how hard it is for you to play, just keep at it after getting your braces off and things will start coming back. As far as range goes...believe it or not, pedal tones work WONDERS. I'm talking about those notes that go below the G below the staff. From personal experience and what several directors have told me, pedal tones work...I don't know why, but they do. I will say that the hardest note for whatever reason is the F below the G (doing it first valve anyways...), but after that, its not too bad. Another hard note comes up once you get to pedal C (once again, correct fingering, which would be open in this case). How how does one play pedal tones? It's kind of hard to explain without a demonstration, so I'll do the best I can. As you go lower, you instinctively want to back your air off to get a looser vibration from your lips. DO NOT do that. Keep the air fast as you go lower. To get your pedals going, start at low G and play F# (fingered 123). Have a tuner handy...I cannot stress that enough. Once you have that, play F (instead of killing yourself over getting it fingered 1, just do it 123 w/ slide...it will save a lot of heartache). From there, play E (12) and continue down chromatically and be sure to check with a tuner that you are hitting the correct pitches. And whatever you do, keep that air moving. Other things to work include octave slurs and long tones. After you have gotten fairly comfortable with pedal tones and octave slurs you NEED to play high as well. As someone once said of playing high, "you can't expect a bodybuilder to become muscular without lifting weights, so why would you expect your range to get better without playing high?" Start somewhere in your comfort zone (a middle C would be good). From there, work up chromatically to where things start getting "high" for you (for lots of people, that is about a G). Once you get to the high note, hold it out until you run out of air, and whatever you do, DO NOT let that pitch fall or crack the note as your run out of air. Repeat until you become comfortable with that note, then move up a half step. Over time, you will notice improvement in your range if you really work at this. It really requires a lot of patience, but if you work at it, you won't sound horrible when you go higher (like A LOT of people do...). Something you MUST KEEP IN MIND about ANYTHING related to trumpet playing is that everything requires air. Without pedal tones, slurs, and long tones, your current range will probably be better if you push your air much more so than you are now. The stuff I mentioned above will help you to sound better while you work your range. Because...let's face it...playing high with a horrible sound is NOT cool. It's really more of a nuisance than anything. I have a modest range I would say (pedal F# to a really flat double G), but I don't care to play high if it sounds bad...I work on my range because...well...as a trumpet player, it's kind of in you to just want to. Well, hope all works out for you, and best of luck!

Want me to send you the song? I am not sure if I can send it through PM, but if not, how about email?

The joy this show gives me brings tears to my eyes...

Your woodwinds may never forgive your director... Just kidding...

High notes without warm up = bad idea It's like running sprints without stretching...sure you can do it, but why would you?

Can't confirm this because I am just flat out too lazy to look it up right now, but if I am not mistaking, El Paso is ALMOST the midpoint between LA and Houston...it's about 50 miles closer to Houston, or something like that... *end random geography fact of the day*

You had to see every show in finals to really understand why the placements came out as they did. Brazoswood was actually one of my favorite shows of the night (I was in Houston too and absolutely shocked about you all not making finals). I would agree with you all not breaking the top ten, but I must let you know....Marcus and Bell were really on a whole different level. Just to let you know first, I am a BIG TIME traditionalist when it comes to what marching band should entail...I don't like props, I don't like dancing, and I sure as heck do not like electronics on the field (except for solos). I think a competition should be won by playing and marching; however, Marcus and Bell deserved 1st and 2nd because they did play and march. I still believe Bowie deserved music at night, but Marcus was really on a whole different level on music difficulty and execution. Bell crawled around, yes, but they march very well and play very well. BOA contests, unfortunately for some, are based heavily on GE (20 music, 20 visual, 60 GE, the GE being broken down into categories as well). If Bell creeped you out, they did what they were trying to do. I know it's a horrid feeling not to do as well you would have liked, but this contest was not easy. I was kind of surprised at some placements as well, but I do agree with the top 7. The only thing I don't agree with are the actual scores, but eh....that's another discussion for another time. By the way, congrats to you all on a great show. You all REALLY worked to get where you got in SA. The drill especially came a long way.

Perhaps...I thought so because as well as they played, Marcus seemed to slump A SMINGE during finals for music. While playing at fffffff was definitely exciting to listen to, I feel Bowie really explored their dynamic spectrum to its fullest. While all this was done, the sound remained balanced, no matter the dynamic, which whether you admit it or not, is extremely impressive. I admire a band's ability to control sound at every dynamic more so than technical features (double tonguing, runs, etc.). I'm not trying to take anything away from Marcus's obviously mind-blowing performance, but based on what I heard, I truly believed Bowie would take music. *edit* Now that I think back a little, I think the softest Bowie played was maybe mf....I can't quite remember. Even then....from mf-ffffff control is great....

I really thought Bowie was going to take music in the finals.

In what way is it biased? He did say it was just for fun...besides, although it was not 100% accurate, for anyone to call SCORES of all things at a BOA contest that closely is something worth praising. Good job mbui...mad props to you and thank you for taking the time to do something tedious like this.

When you compare show concepts, but more importantly performances and execution, it wasn't hard to see why some bands did and did not make finals. I made the mistake of thinking this regional would not be stacked...upon seeing it (more importantly finals) I see how wrong I was to think that. There were a lot of bands that could have made finals based simply on concepts, but the execution during those days is what decided the finalists. I admit I was kind of shady on some of the finalists myself, but even then, the bands I felt were less deserving of finals were still spectacular.

I would agree with that. I feel Bell hardly played at all, but they were playing quite a bit...most of it just happened to be chords. I learned Bell has one fairly good pit, though...

Marcus was absolutely phenomenal during the prelims. I feel their performance slipped a little during the finals, as did Bell's. I can see why Marcus beat Bell, and it was simply execution. Marcus also had a more difficult book in terms of music and drill. I will say that I feel Bell deserved GE, but I am not sure how many people REALLY understood the show....it was WAAAAAAY out there....like, hanging off the edge of a cliff out there. Bell performed extremely well too, but I feel today belonged to Marcus.

Never, EVER let a trumpet player that plays high notes make you feel like you aren't that good. I can play high, yeah...so what? Sound quality and technique matter a WHOLE lot more than being able to play high. I admit, playing high is "cool," but it does not make you a better player. I know one too many guys that play high that REALLY REALLY suck because that is all they work on rather than the stuff that matters. Not to mention 90% of them use mouthpieces for screaming wimps. By the way, I agree with the :Well that was.... un-trumpet-like" comment...HA HA HA....

If the show design is anywhere near as great as it was last year, I too wouldn't be surprised to see Vanguard at or near the top...

Never count the Cavies out... That'd be like counting the Blue Devils out...maybe in the past you could have counted out the Cavies, but not now...they still have too much going for them to let one "off year" get them.

I don't quite know why, but this contest does not seem as "stacked" as it traditionally does... Is it just me, or am I really going crazy? The usual finalists are there, but it just doesn't seem to have the depth it usually has, you know?

I was at the region 15 UIL, and here are some thoughts... 4A: Roma was CLEARLY the dominant one as far as 4A goes. They played the Planets, and they played it well. Despite this, I think their drill is a WEEEEE bit difficult and it showed in the performance. If they hope to go to state (which I am sure they probably will), they REALLY need to clean it up. The music performance was a little unbalanced from time to time, but that isn't anything that can't be fixed in a rehearsal or two... I was quite surprised Mission Vets got a 2. Drill was clean, but music was a little weak. Still, it was played well, and I thought it was worthy of a 1. 5A: I'm really proud of my old high school, Sharyland, for being where they are at right now. They have made big strides since BOA Houston, and I only hope it continues that way until BOA San Antonio. They are young group right now, but they did not sound like one last night. They are maturing rather fast, which is always a good thing. I would say the visual part of the performance (individual and ensemble) was a little weak, but just as it has since Houston, it will also continue to get better (I hope). Out of everyone last night, I would say it's a coin flip between Sharyland and Roma for hardest drill. Both schools have A LOT going on... My favorite of the night was Rio Grande City. These guys have come a LONG way in recent years. They have always had killer concert bands, but most people would probably have never guessed it based on the marching band. The band has developed a WICKED sound on the field and has really gotten better at marching as well. Their only weakness in all this development is that they have yet to march a show that seems difficult. I think if they field a harder show next year and actually pull it off, they will be on their way to the dome next year. My hats off to Rio for continuing to improve, and I hope to see them at SA next year. Edinburg was another outstanding group at UIL. They played Moon Dance, Jupiter, and I cannot remember the last one. They actually had a guy singing Moon Dance, and I tip my hat to him; he did a great job. They played Jupiter BEAUTIFULLY too...one of the best arrangements of it on the field that I have heard (yes...it MAY even rival Cedar Park's 2004 arrangement, but that is subject to opinion).

Region 28: 2A? (I THINK) Progresso 2 2 3 Santa Maria 2 3 3 Santa Rosa 1 1 2 3A Raymondville 2 2 2 Port Isabel HS 1 1 1 La Feria 2 1 2 Rio Hondo 1 1 1 Lyford 3 2 2 4A Weslaco East HS 1 1 1 Edcouch-Elsa HS 1 1 1 Mercedes HS 1 2 2 5A Harlingen South HS 1 1 1 Los Fresnos HS 1 1 1 Porter HS 2 1 2 Rivera HS 1 1 1 Weslaco HS 2 2 2 Lopez HS 1 1 1 San Benito HS 1 1 1 Pace HS 1 1 1 Donna HS 1 1 1 Hanna HS 1 1 1 Harlingen HS 1 1 1 Region 15: 4A NV VALLEY VIEW 1, 1, 3A HIDALGO 1, 1, 1 4A ROMA 1, 1, 1 MISSION VETERANS 2, 2, 1 MISSION 2, 2, 2 5A LA JOYA 1, 1, 1 EDINBURG NORTH 1, 1, 1 EDINBURG ECONOMEDES 1, 2, 2 PSJA NORTH 1, 1, 1 PSJA MEMORIAL 1, 1, 1 RIO GRANDE CITY 1, 1, 1 EDINBURG 1, 1, 1 McALLEN 1, 1, 1 PSJA 2, 2, 2 SHARYLAND 1, 1, 1 McALLEN MEMORIAL 1, 1, 1 McALLEN ROWE 2, 2, 2