So, I sat down with Mr. Jackson a few weeks ago and watched some of your all's videos dating back as far as 1999. I really liked what I saw, and was quite impressed with the show designs and the rapidity of movement and difficulty of music. Because of the speed and difficulty your shows possess, it also causes some problems with cleanliness of drill, but more than that, it causes problems with the QUALITY OF SOUND the you all produce as a hornline. Here are some major things that we will work on this season:
- AIR!!! - Perhaps the most important aspect of our playing (and the easiest to fix) is the amount of air we put through our instruments. This is why being in shape helps our playing. If we are gasping for air just to stay alive, where's the good air to put through your horn to produce a great sound?
- Marching Technique - The faster you go and the bigger the step, the harder it is to keep the feet out of the sound. This goes back to separation of upper body and lower body. Pull up from the ribcage and roll your feet. Let your technique help you, not hinder you!
- Instruments - Make sure your instrument is in good repair, as well as all the stuff that goes with it, including your mouthpiece, pads, valves, reeds... We don't expect you to march with your Bach Strad, your wooden Leblanc Clarinet, or your Mark VI alto; but we DO expect what you use on the field to WORK. The less time we have to spend on making sure your instrument works, the better!
- Intonation - Buy a tuner or borrow a friend's, and start exploring your instrument. Each instrument has tendencies; each note is never going to be perfectly in tune, so you need to know which notes are sharp and flat so that you can find alternate fingerings to use, or adjust in your emboucher. In tune hornlines sound HUGE. It's easy to tell which hornlines are in tune at a show.
- One last thing... PLAY YOUR INSTRUMENT!!! - Don't wait until band camp to get your chops into shape. Just imagine how far we could go if everyone showed up to camp in shape, knowing their music, and ready to play for hours without getting tired. Best band in the United States? YOU DECIDE.
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