Fremont Percussion

Band Camp Approaches!

2009-08-03T23:42:00.001-07:00

There's only a little more than a week before band camp starts - Wednesday, August 12th at 1pm. There are a couple more things to note…

Make sure you arrive prepared for the practices! Get plenty of sleep, eat beforehand, and bring appropriate supplies. Take a look at this older post for a good list of the items that you need to bring every day: Band Camp Supplies

We have a few more updates to exercises, so go check them out on the Media page as well!

See you Tuesday, and then the following Wednesday for band camp! (make sure to look at the percussion schedule from the previous post)

Drumline warmups on the web

2009-07-24T00:12:00.001-07:00

If you haven't seen it already, you can download copies of our exercises from here: https://sites.google.com/site/fremontpercussion/fall-2008-media

Upcoming Events

2009-07-24T00:10:00.001-07:00

Here's the upcoming schedule for the rest of the summer through band camp:

Tuesday, July 28: 6-9 percussion

Tuesday, August 4: 6-9 percussion

Tuesday, August 11th: no practice (before camp)

Wednesday, August 12th: 1-9 with the band

Thursday, August 13th: 9-12 percussion (All staff), 1-9 with the band

Friday, August 14th: 9-12 percussion (All staff), 1-9 with the band

Saturday, August 15th: 9-12 percussion (All staff), 1-9 with the band

Monday, August 17th: 1-9 with the band

Tuesday, August 18th: 1-9 with the band

Wednesday, August 19th: 9-5 with the band

Note the extra percussion practices during band camp–on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 9am-12pm.

DCI Quarterfinals in Theaters: August 6th

2009-07-17T00:54:00.001-07:00

This is one of the best ways to see drum corps this summer! Championships quarterfinals will be broadcast into theaters on August 6th.

DCI Cinema Event

It ends up being about a 5 hour show, where you can see the full performances from the top 15 corps and other short things that they show in between the groups.

Last year a bunch of us went to see the show at Cupertino 16 and had a great time. Hopefully we'll see you there!

Clearing out the cobwebs

2009-07-17T00:15:00.001-07:00

We haven't been too active on here since the beginning of winter season, but that will change as we head into fall. Be prepared, more updates coming soon…

Early February Updates

2009-02-02T00:23:00.001-08:00

The push is on to make it to our first show! Here are some recent bits of news:

Starting in February the Saturday practices now go until 4pm. We will still have a short break in the mornings, and add an extended break around 1pm for lunch.

The battery has music for the whole show, and individuals should be making progress playing through it. Letters A-D and F-G should be memorized by next practice (Feb 3), and you should have looked at G-H and I-K. Solo sections need to be looked at and worked on, but we will have time to refine them as we go along. Make sure to ask the staff if you have any questions!

The pit has gotten music for letters A-D, and should continue working through it and begin memorizing.

Audio for the show has been posted on the (private) school site, so make sure you have downloaded a copy and listen to it at least once a day. The more familiar we are with the music, the easier it will be to put everything together.

For everyone–keep working at it! Things are looking and sounding great so far!

Winter Percussion - warmups for Thursday 12/4

2008-12-03T22:42:00.001-08:00

The files for drumline warmups can be found on the Google groups site:

https://sites.google.com:443/site/fremontpercussion/

…specifically:

8-16 Legato, acc-tap (not worrying about the accent tap part until we go over the techniques on Thursday)
8th Note Timing Exercise

Eventually we'll get to 16th timing and others, so feel free to look though all of them… (though some will change for this season)

Battery Warmups online

2008-08-04T22:16:00.001-07:00

We have posted the first batch of battery warmups online here:

https://sites.google.com:443/site/fremontpercussion/

The media page has pdf files for most of the things we have handed out so far - so now you can print a copy whenever you want :)

DCI Quarterfinals in Theaters!

2008-08-03T00:42:00.001-07:00

This Thursday the DCI Quarterfinals will be shown in theaters - it's a great chance to see the top 20 groups performing at the end of the season.

You can click on the image above to get more information from the site, or use the following link to get tickets for the showing at Cupertino 16. Alec and I will be there, and it should be a fun show!

Purchase tickets for the Cupertino 16 show:
https://www.movietickets.com/purchase.asp?perf_id=558211193

-Corey

New Fremont Percussion calendar

2008-07-28T23:49:00.001-07:00

Here's an easy way to see the upcoming schedule…

You can view the calendar online:

Fremont Percussion on Google Calendar

Or you can subscribe to it in other applications, like Apple's iCal or Microsoft Outlook:

Fremont Percussion .ics file

The calendar should stay up to date, but please send an email if you see any errors - fremontpercussion [at] gmail [dot] com

Fall 2008 is fast approaching!

2008-07-28T22:47:00.001-07:00

The fall season will be here soon, and the work that we've been doing this summer has been a great start!

There are two more summer percussion practices before band camp:
Tuesday, July 29th, 6-9pm
Tuesday, August 5th, 6-9pm

More posts will be coming soon, and this will be the place to look for exercises, recordings, sheet music and more. You can also look back through the archives to see and hear things we've done in the past, and look at some great information about practicing and equipment for band camp (still true even today!).

Until next time,
Corey

Practice Tips/MIDI/PDF

2007-12-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

Heyhey everybody. First off, thank you all so much for coming to the audition workshops and showing interest in our Fremont High School Winter Percussion. It no doubt will be a great season.

I'm posting this entry to give some helpful tips as to how to approach, play, and become confident with the music for this year. It is very unique and challenging, but we need to be able to present it as if it were stupidly simple. So, here's some helpful suggestions

1. LISTENLISTENLISTENLISTEN

This piece does not sound or feel "weird" to me anymore because I've just listened to it a while. Just like memorizing one of your favorite songs, after a while, you start to understand how the song moves, and what lyrics (or notes) are coming up. Having just a sense of familiarity with the piece will definitely help you approach and succeed with this music. Here's a .midi file of our opener.

2. Back to basics

Remember when you were just starting to learn how to read rhythms, and you wrote "1" "&" "2" "&" under each note? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, please do that now. Though most of this piece is in something-over-4 (3/4. 4/4, etc.), there are lots of rhythmic phrases that feel like they're in a different meter. Being able to identify where each note fits in the measure will be very helpful to keep the ensemble together.

-Note : Make sure to ALWAYS have a pencil on you at all times. We may be writing in these counting structures, or explaining phrasing, or anything else.

3. METRONOME

After doing step 2, make sure that you can play all your rhythms in relation to a metronome. Obviously the 5/8 stuff it's so easily done, but definitely for anything-over-4, a metronome is a must. A big challenge of this show is that since the music doesn't move in a very..."traditional" way, we ALL must be on the same page at all times, or else it wont work. Metronome work, very important.

4. Memorize music

The quicker you memorize your music, the quicker your brain can start focusing on the meters and the entire ensemble. If your music isn't memorized, then your brain is trying to read the music, play the music, read the meter, and listen around to the ensemble. Try at all times to get your brain to do the least amount of (necessary) work as possible. Memorizing your music will help that a lot.

5. Double-check with friends

Find someone who has more experience than you do, and play a passage for them, or ask them questions. The staff of course will always help you with any questions you have, but there is lots of talent in our percussion program so most likely, they could answer the same question.

6. Think ahead

Once your music is memorized, or even when it's slightly memorized, you need to start thinking ahead. With how quickly this piece moves, by the time it takes you to focus on one measure, the following (which is probably in a different time signature) has already passed you.

7. Know your ensemble

Lots of parts (battery to pit, pit to battery) are written to overlap. Once you know how the ensemble is supposed to sound, it will help you be able to place your parts correctly within it. So, with that, here's a copy of the score. Read it up and down and notice what you play that may match what someone else also has.

Have fun practicing. If there's anything confusing or anything you don't understand, you can also ask me directly. Email to alec_swink@yahoo.com or call 408-431-3697.

(Alec Swink)

2007-12-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, here's the 16th note timing exercise we'll be playing for this winter season. Have any questions about it ready to ask us at rehearsal. Enjoy.

WP08 16th Timing

Also, here is the 8s exercise we'll be playing. Snares/Tenors is the same as fall season, but basses have a new split.

WP08 8s DS (Double-stops)

(Alec Swink)

Tapes from the Independence show

2007-11-05T02:04:00.001-08:00

Great job at the show this past weekend!

I've posted two tapes from the weekend to help us improve going into championships. In chronological order, they are:

Independence percussion tape - lots of great stuff from the judge up in the box for the field show. There are tons of comments about various performance issues.

Standstill performance - I put my tape recorder between the snares and basses for this performance, which gives a sound that's different from what we usually get from a tape.

And hopefully we'll end up with another practice or two this week to keep working on this :)

Cadence recording

2007-09-26T01:22:00.001-07:00

Here's a recording of the cadence that was passed out on Tuesday night. The sections that we worked on sounded really good, but any free time would be better spent working on the show music at this point :)

Anyway, in case you want to hear it:
Fremont 2007 Cadence

(There is a problem in the roll at the end where the tempo speeds up - don't play it that way)

Latest Recordings

2007-09-25T00:28:00.001-07:00

The music has finally settled down a bit, so I can point to 'final' versions of all the songs from this season:

Opener (9-3)

Ballad (9-24)

Closer (9-19)

Enjoy!

Finding the Latest Recordings

2007-08-15T09:42:00.001-07:00

Around this time of year I'm usually posting a new recording every day, and I will not always take the time to post about them here. If you want to find the latest files, just go to this site: http://cflake.org/fremontpercussion/2007/Fall (the same as the other links, with the file name taken off)

Once the updates are happening less frequently I will be sure to post about each one here.

Band Camp Supplies

2007-08-15T09:36:00.001-07:00

Here is a list of things you need to have at band camp - every day. Leave a comment with other ideas if you think of things that we've missed.

Water Bottle - larger than 20oz - we drink a lot of water since we are out in the sun most of the day

Food - be sure to bring food or money for lunch and dinner. You can also bring snacks for breaks where we say it ok to grab food

Sunscreen - enough to apply it multiple times per day. A lip balm with sunscreen would also be a good idea

Hat - so you do not burn your head and face - it will also help keep you from overheating

Sunglasses - ideally ones that do not block your peripheral vision

Clothing - loose fitting (no jeans), have appropriate items for both hot and cold weather

Shoes - comfortable shoes with socks

Dot book - multiple pages, with a string/shoelace to make it wearable

Music binder - 3-ring binder with plastic pages for music, which contains all music, exercises, etc

Pencil - with eraser, since we make lots of changes throughout the year

Most of these items are appropriate for all rehearsals, so keep them handy :)

Approaching Band Camp 2007!

2007-08-15T09:35:00.001-07:00

Some things to remember as we get closer to band camp:

Eat before you arrive - every year we have people that feel ill because they did not have anything for breakfast - come to practice well fed!

Let us know if you are not feeling well - make sure to tell us if you are feeling lightheaded or dizzy, if your stomach is hurting, etc. It makes it much easier to get you help and keep you healthy. Know your limits, and do not push yourself past them.

Bring supplies - Another post will have some specific items, but be sure to bring everything you need to camp and to each rehearsal block. If you have questions about what will be needed, ask!

I'm sure I will think of more as the week goes on...

Band Camp - Percussion Schedule

2007-08-13T15:56:00.001-07:00

Here is the percussion schedule for band camp, which includes some extra practice times in addition to when the entire band will be there. The extra times are shown in bold.

Date	9am - 12pm	1pm - Dinner	Dinner - 9pm
8/15 Wednesday		Band	Band
8/16 Thursday	Percussion	Band	Band
8/17 Friday	Percussion	Band	Band
8/18 Saturday	Band	Band
8/20 Monday	Percussion	Band	Band
8/21 Tuesday	Percussion	Band	Band
8/22 Wednesday	Band	Band	Band

Updated 8-14: added 'band' section for the performance after the potluck.

Current Music Files

2007-08-07T00:26:00.001-07:00

Versions of two of the songs from the fall show are posted online:

Opener (7-29)

Closer (8-6)

Enjoy!

1st Post - Welcome

2007-08-05T23:32:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the Fremont Percussion weblog. It will be updated with the latest information about the percussion section for the Fremont Firebird Marching Band, Winter Percussion, and other ensembles.

Here are a few links that you might find useful, until we get a chance to post more content on this page:

Fremont Percussion Website - with links to music, exercises, and other info

Firebird Marching Band Website - the main website for the band

Please check back soon for more updates, or subscribe to the RSS feed to get them automatically.