Bobby knight once said, “If a basketball team trained as hard as these kids do, it would be unbelievable.” What could one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time be talking about? In this case, he is talking about something many people think is dying in this country. Truthfully, it’s actually thriving. Many people know it as marching band, but I know it as Drum Corps. Drum Corps was more than music; it was friendship, hard work, dedication, and emotion. It shaped my entire outlook on life from an early age and is one of the reasons I am where I am today. We were all working hard together as one towards something. It was finals week, and we were fighting for the championship.
I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. Someone told me about this activity that happens in the summer for musicians when I was a freshman. “The worst thing that can happen is they say no, and you learn from the experience” my mother told me. Anything I could do to further appreciate music I wanted to give a try. The best part it was
…show more content…
only about an hour’s drive away from where we lived. September rolled around, and we drove up to the camp for auditions. Auditions for drum corps ran several months, and this was the first round. All I can remember is around 100 silver plated instruments lying in a straight line in the rehearsal hall, and about 300 people contending to play them. Never could I have imagined that an audition camp could be so packed. Here I was, someone who thinks he’s very proficient in his craft to make it. There they were, two hundred and ninety nine other people saying “Hey, we worked just as hard” with their eyes. Everyone was much older than me. In fact, the average age of someone in drum corps was around twenty years old. Being only fifteen, my work was cut out for me to say the least. “You’re up.” Audition time had come. I was ready, and I knew I was going to make it. Let’s neglect the fact that I was playing a 45 pound tuba that sits on top of your shoulder, and disregard the fact that I had never played an instrument like that before. Oh, not to mention that I had played close to 10 hours that day already and my lips felt like minced meat. Nervous would be the understatement of the year on how I felt. The funny thing was that was the was the best audition I ever had. Call it luck, but I like to think it was hard work and preparation. I had never played that particular solo better than I did at that audition. May others still had to audition, so I had to wait until the next day to know if I had made it to the next camp or not. So, Sunday rolled around and the weekend camp was over. Needless to say, I was getting nervous. I desperately wanted this opportunity, and they were about to tell everyone if they made it or not. The head of the brass section walked over and said, “Great audition. We’ll see you next month.” I was relieved, but little did I know my hard work was just getting started. The playing camps had come and gone.
I had made it through all the rounds. Now “move ins” were upon us. After school let out for summer break in May, I moved into the campus where we would spend a couple of weeks really working out the 13 minute show we would compete with. Never in my life did I think music, the thing that I loved most, would also be the thing I sometimes abhored. Move ins carried on at a grueling pace. 7 a.m. came, and we were on the field practicing until 9 and sometimes 10 o'clock at night. The only breaks we got were for water, and our three meals; though honestly I can say I never wanted to quit. There were over two hundred other people going through the same things I was, and they weren’t giving up. We were constantly picking each other up, pushing ourselves to the next level, and getting up and doing it all again the next day. I wouldn’t give up now, not after everything it took to get
here. June rolled around, and it was time to go on tour. We traveled all around the country playing at some of America’s biggest football stadiums. This included Mile High stadium in Denver, Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, and The Alamo Dome in San Antonio. While we traveled, we were also tweaking our show and making it better. We were starting to nitpicki the little things to get us to that next level. All the while we had no days off and always playing and practicing. It was most assuredly some of the hardest work in my life. Everyone kept pushing that summer, and we were playing great and moving as one. We were desperately trying to hang on around 12th place. Why is this special? 12th place is the cutoff for the final performance at the world championships. The year before, we didn’t make finals, so we wanted this to be the year we bounced back. August had rolled around, and it was time to prove it to us and everyone else that we were capable of making it. Here we are, the Drum Corps International World Championship. Finals week was here, and we were ready. We had worked 9 months to get here, and we weren’t going to take no for an answer. Our days were getting cut shorter, and you could tell these were going to be the last shows for us. It was an exciting year, and what an experience it had been. Quarterfinals came around, and we were still barely in 12th place after the performance. The next day was the semifinals performance. In many ways we saw this as our last chance to prove ourselves. If we didn’t make it to the final show the next day, this was it. We weren’t going to let that happen to ourselves. Our semifinal performance was by far the best of the year, but it was also our competitor’s best show too. It was going to be close. The scores came out after we were done with the show. We couldn’t believe it; we made it! All of that hard work had paid off, and we would get to play the show one more time. Relief set in, and we were just happy to be there. I have to admit that our finals show wasn’t as good as our last, but that wasn’t the point. That show was more about what we had done as a whole all summer, and not necessarily what the score would be at the end of the day. We ended up finishing 11th that year, surpassing was we thought we could do. I marched the next two years after that summer, and had the same great experiences. Those experiences and friendships will last a lifetime.
Sweat dripping down my face and butterflies fluttering around my stomach as if it was the Garden of Eden, I took in a deep breathe and asked myself: "Why am I so nervous? After all, it is just the most exciting day of my life." When the judges announced for the Parsippany Hills High School Marching Band to commence its show, my mind blanked out and I was on the verge of losing sanity. Giant's Stadium engulfed me, and as I pointed my instrument up to the judges' stand, I gathered my thoughts and placed my mouth into the ice-cold mouthpiece of the contrabass. "Ready or not," I beamed, "here comes the best show you will ever behold." There is no word to describe the feeling I obtain through music. However, there is no word to describe the pain I suffer through in order to be the best in the band either. When I switched my instrument to tuba from flute in seventh grade, little did I know the difference it would make in the four years of high school I was soon to experience. I joined marching band in ninth grade as my ongoing love for music waxed. When my instructor placed the 30 lb. sousaphone on my shoulder on the first day, I lost my balance and would have fallen had my friends not made the effort to catch me. During practices, I always attempted to ease the discomfort as the sousaphone cut through my collar bone, but eventually my shoulder started to agonize and bleed under the pressure. My endurance and my effort to play the best show without complaining about the weight paid off when I received the award for "Rookie of the Year." For the next three seasons of band practice, the ache and toil continued. Whenever the band had practice, followed by a football game and then a competition, my brain would blur from fatigue and my body would scream in agony. Nevertheless, I pointed my toes high in the air as I marched on, passionate about the activity. As a result, my band instructor saw my drive toward music and I was named Quartermaster for my junior year, being trusted with organizing, distributing, and collecting uniforms for all seventy-five members of the band. The responsibility was tremendous. It took a bulk of my time, but the sentiment of knowing that I was an important part of band made it all worthwhile.
...join so long ago I never really knew I 'd end up here doing what I do. It seems like the common theme for me is seeing something and saying “I can 't do that” then pursuing it until I can. One of my fondest memories is watching someone at the percussion concert play a marimba solo when I was in sixth grade and just looking over at Justin molder and laughing saying “wow I can 't do that” now I do that all the time. I didn 't think I could ever be the leader of a group like this it seemed like too much for me, but now after watching and being in this program and seeing where it could go and what I can do, I want to help take it there. I feel great about next year no matter what happens but I 'm ready to step up, I 'm ready take on whatever I have to to make this year the best year yet. Not just for me but for us all every last one of us in this great family I call home.
On Tuesday, October 17, 2017, I attended a musical concert. This was the first time I had ever been to a concert and did not play. The concert was not what I expected. I assumed I was going to a symphony that featured a soloist clarinet; however, upon arrival I quickly realized that my previous assumptions were false. My experience was sort of a rollercoaster. One minute I was down and almost asleep; next I was laughing; then I was up and intrigued.
My older sister loved the marching band, so I always got dragged to their performances. I could not tell what was so appealing about it all; it consisted of walking on a field while playing instruments and flags being swung in the air. Participating in a marching band was never what I intended nor wanted to do. The idea bored me, but my mom insisted.
What started out as a hobby transformed into a passion for an art form that allows me to use movements and expressions to tell a story. Whether I’m on stage in front of an audience of just friends and family, hundreds of strangers and a panel of judges, or the whole school, performing over thirty times, has helped me build lifelong
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has a website that announces its programs. Anyone can easily find and choose a concert. I chose a concert for Sunday July 25, 2010. This concert was emerging artists from Ipalpiti Festibal 2010. It included the four pieces of music that are described below. One of these was Fantasiestucke, Opus 88, both Romanze and Duet were preformed. This concerto was performed by pianist Luiza Borac, violinist Vladimir Dyo, and cellist Yves Dharamraj. The second piece was Ahnung, a new discovery piece from Kinderszenen. This piece was U.S. Premiere, played solo by the pianist Luiza Borac. The third piece was Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Opus 47. This piece was an Andante cantabile piece. This concerto was performed by pianist Luiza Borac, violinist Conrad Chow and Adelya Shagidullina, and Cellist Kian Soltani. The last piece was Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Opus 44. What I discovered about my own musical understanding by attending this concert is the following thing. I know how to appreciate and to enjoy music that is a little bit familiar, but my understanding stops when a very new type of music is performed. I made a conclusion from this experience. My conclusion is that learning about music will increase the pleasure of listening to music, but that musical learning is not, perhaps, as easy as learning subjects like Math or History.
There are many famous and important people who were a part of the Civil War and drummer boys are some of those people. R.C. Murphy said, “When most people think of the Civil War, they think of famous generals or battles fought or how politics entered into an Army operation. But when I think of the War Between the States, I think of quite possibly the most important member of either side--that is the drummer.” Drums and drummer boys played a crucial role in wars, mainly in the Civil War. The first time that drums were used in America in battle was during the Revolutionary war and they were used for several different reasons. Drums became crucial during the Civil War. Adult soldiers were not the ones that were playing drums in battle, but more on that later. There are a few drummer boys that stand out among the rest because of what they did during the Civil War.
DCI, an acronym that not too many people know the meaning of, but for those who do, you’ll soon learn that it is more than marching band. Started over three decades ago, Drum Corps International has “delivered the message of ‘excellence in performance and in life’ to over 7.2 million young people” (Drum Corps International About). That motif of excellence is echoed throughout their 60 day tour around the country. While learning their music, drill and visuals, the participants learn something more important, something that can’t be judged on finals night. Having to support themselves for more than three months on the road, the kids learn values and skills that they’ll use for the rest of their life, skills such as “the value of teamwork, improved self-confidence, meeting and working with people with diverse backgrounds and origins, and making new, lifelong friends” (For Parents).
I looked out at eighty sets of frustrated and tired eyes. It was my job as drum major to take these eighty marchers with their multitude of attitudes and unite them under the umbrella of productivity. When they let up, I push harder. When they push, I push harder. When they push harder, I push harder. On and off the field, I am their leader and their most dedicated servant.
The championship game loss helps the audience, especially young adults with high, aspiring dreams, to understand, that even if you do work-hard and aren’t awarded with winning your goal, this isn’t the end of your journey. It only means you have to work harder in the future, if you want to succeed at your goal. This conclusion shows young children how to lose properly and how to be grateful for what they have, since being good a winning is a much easier task. For like a quote from Colin Powell, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” The under-class, basketball players learned from the mistakes in the title game, so they could go farther and win next year’s championship, because failure should never be your excuse to not attempt something.
Then, three years ago, I broke through those walls. My conscious urged me against it, ran through all the “what ifs” of the situation, as usual, but this time I couldn’t help it. How can one ever truly test his abilities if one is too afraid to even take any initial risk? So, one cloudy, brisk Saturday morning, and joined the football team. Immediately after the first practice, the option of quitting crept its way into my mind. But how could I ever reach my goals if I couldn’t take on a high school sport? There will be thousands of students in college competing with me, professors looking to make scholars, not dropouts. If I couldn’t face this, I couldn’t face them. So, I endured practice after practice, game after game. Every day, I had to rebuild the courage I had to walk out on the field that first day to step out on the field. I was weaker, smaller, and less apt at the game than man of the guys on that team, but I the constant threat of fear couldn’t hold me back anymore.
I walked towards the gym red nosed and puffy eyed. My tears had finally subsided, but they would return. I accepted that once I left Oakland Gymnastics that day, I would never return. I knew in my mind that this day would come, but I hadn’t expected it to be so soon. I wanted to move on and try new things, but the thought of leaving the place I spent the last 12 years of my life made my heart shatter. However, I finally made the decision that I was going to quit club gymnastics, but continue on as a high school gymnast.
What I thought was sweat streaming down my cheekbones turned out to be tears. The kind of tears that reveal the hundreds of hours of work, pain, and sheer motivation to be the absolute best performer I could be. As a part of East Coast Percussion (An A-Class WGI group), I realized I hold a talent mostly overlooked in America: the talent not only to be a performer, but a percussionist--not only to be a percussionist, but an inspiration. This journey all started from one YouTube video. One twelve minute and thirty seven second video that forever changed my life.
The military can influence many important characteristics in a person’s life. The military is much like a mentor, and. They help mold and shape your personality, and often times your future. They can teach you the importance of trust, and being trustworthy. The military should also be able as well recognize each the military as an individual.
At last we had brought all our practicing skills into work at the final stages. After working hard for three solid months it all paid off, the competing mat was beneath our feet. It was as if I could almost hear the girl?s hearts thumping before we walked onto the mat. I couldn?t stop smiling, I had the biggest grin on my face as if I were the cat who just ate the canary. Only when I thought that was enough, my facial expressions were amazing, all the nights I spent in front of the mirror or watching my self through the reflection of the glass door in my kitchen. It?s hard to go first because watching all the other teams compete makes you think, how did I do?