Well, seems an interesting event has taken place at my school. Generally, I am too far out of the loop to hear about things in school, but this one kind of hit home since it took place in the fine arts hallway. A girl got caught smoking in the girls' room. Unfortunately for her, there was a girl that was allergic to secondhand smoke that went directly afterwards. When the school checked the contents of this young lady's purse, they found vast assortments of pills, razor blades, condoms, and finally the cigarettes. I go to a Christian school, so this is grounds for immediate contacting of parents, suspension, and high threat of expulsion. To make matters worse, she tried to blame a guy that was dating another girl she didn't like. Of course, the school checked his car as well, and found cigarettes and several hunting knives. He was suspended also.
I like to think that incidents like this don't happen all too often, but the things I hear when I'm forced to sit with people other than my friends lead me to think otherwise. I'm glad idiots like these do get caught, and I wish more of the non-fine arts students would be checked more often. Maybe all the football players who get drunk on the weekends or the cheerleaders who participate in promiscuous activities could get looked into every now and then. If the teachers would just hang around to listen to what I hear...Anyway, just thought I'd reveal a bit about the nature of the darker corners in my school.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Trumpet vs. Baritone/Euphonium
Alright...so now I'm pretty much completely trumpet for concert season after I was trumpeting all marching season...although I am a baritone player for the most part. I figure it would be appropriate for me to compare and contract the two now that I have decent experience with both.
Trumpet is definitely the more difficult instrument by far. The range is generally 2-3 octaves within a song. Mid-range is the comfort zone, maybe bordering on high. Low range is good for warming up, but very difficult to sound nice in it. High range will be where most mid-grade and greater pieces will leave you. Runs from mid to high range are common, and expect sessions of vigorous playing followed by long bouts of rests within the same piece. Trumpets' tuning is fairly simple: the higher you go, the further you need to bend the pitch down. If you are standing in the high range the entire song, tune flat. Difficult tonguing articulation and grace notes are common as well. On the plus side, you never have to really play very loud to be heard; the piercing pitch is the cause for that. This is certainly the superior instrument if you are looking for more challenging parts in music. Trumpet is definitely a sprinters instrument: you get to play really loud, high, and fast, and then you break for a while.
Baritone is quite opposite mostly. Slow, cumbersome, bass parts plague the songs that most bands play. However, some songs (usually written low brass player composers) contain boisterous melodies in the middle of songs just for the baritones and trombones. But mainly, half notes on slow songs, and polka bass parts on marches. Playing the euphonium is quite easy. Playing the euphonium right is a completely different story, unfortunately. Beginners have the tendency to sound somewhat pinched (constipated, if you will) with their playing. The corners are the only firm part necessary for decent sound, I've found. The rest tends to set into place by itself; just don't try and cram your whole face into the mouth piece. Range in songs generally contains one octave, and you're rarely escaping the lower midrange. In solos and other pieces written especially for baritone, however, be prepared for a completely different world. Short runs with extreme low or high long tones ending them is common in these pieces, and octave jumps and slurs are constantly thrown in for no real reason. Those are the types of songs that trombone players write, because they want to do all sorts of things, but can't with their lack of convenient buttons. Pitch is somewhat of a problem with the horn itself, but the large mouthpiece makes bending pitches quite easy.
So, if deciding which instrument to start on...I'd say go trumpet because it isn't very difficult in beginner band, and you won't be terribly bored. Also, you will advance quickly. If you are being tossed into a new instrument for marching band however, baritone is an easily played instrument with simple parts. The size is the most difficult part of marching though. While both trumpet and baritone require decent shoulder and arm muscle, baritone is the heaviest of the brass that doesn't use the shoulders for support (sousaphones, contras, etc). That means your arms will get tired if you are parading for more than 20 minutes or so, so be prepared for that. Trumpet has the issue of being extremely light...which makes forceful horn moves easily overdone. Especially coming from baritone to trumpet, my first "horns down" tossed by mouth piece several yards, and I hit myself in the chest with the bell.
Anyways, depending on what stage of learning you are, and what exactly you want to do, trumpet or baritone can generally suit your desires. They are also great transition instruments, so picking these up may not be your final choice.
Trumpet is definitely the more difficult instrument by far. The range is generally 2-3 octaves within a song. Mid-range is the comfort zone, maybe bordering on high. Low range is good for warming up, but very difficult to sound nice in it. High range will be where most mid-grade and greater pieces will leave you. Runs from mid to high range are common, and expect sessions of vigorous playing followed by long bouts of rests within the same piece. Trumpets' tuning is fairly simple: the higher you go, the further you need to bend the pitch down. If you are standing in the high range the entire song, tune flat. Difficult tonguing articulation and grace notes are common as well. On the plus side, you never have to really play very loud to be heard; the piercing pitch is the cause for that. This is certainly the superior instrument if you are looking for more challenging parts in music. Trumpet is definitely a sprinters instrument: you get to play really loud, high, and fast, and then you break for a while.
Baritone is quite opposite mostly. Slow, cumbersome, bass parts plague the songs that most bands play. However, some songs (usually written low brass player composers) contain boisterous melodies in the middle of songs just for the baritones and trombones. But mainly, half notes on slow songs, and polka bass parts on marches. Playing the euphonium is quite easy. Playing the euphonium right is a completely different story, unfortunately. Beginners have the tendency to sound somewhat pinched (constipated, if you will) with their playing. The corners are the only firm part necessary for decent sound, I've found. The rest tends to set into place by itself; just don't try and cram your whole face into the mouth piece. Range in songs generally contains one octave, and you're rarely escaping the lower midrange. In solos and other pieces written especially for baritone, however, be prepared for a completely different world. Short runs with extreme low or high long tones ending them is common in these pieces, and octave jumps and slurs are constantly thrown in for no real reason. Those are the types of songs that trombone players write, because they want to do all sorts of things, but can't with their lack of convenient buttons. Pitch is somewhat of a problem with the horn itself, but the large mouthpiece makes bending pitches quite easy.
So, if deciding which instrument to start on...I'd say go trumpet because it isn't very difficult in beginner band, and you won't be terribly bored. Also, you will advance quickly. If you are being tossed into a new instrument for marching band however, baritone is an easily played instrument with simple parts. The size is the most difficult part of marching though. While both trumpet and baritone require decent shoulder and arm muscle, baritone is the heaviest of the brass that doesn't use the shoulders for support (sousaphones, contras, etc). That means your arms will get tired if you are parading for more than 20 minutes or so, so be prepared for that. Trumpet has the issue of being extremely light...which makes forceful horn moves easily overdone. Especially coming from baritone to trumpet, my first "horns down" tossed by mouth piece several yards, and I hit myself in the chest with the bell.
Anyways, depending on what stage of learning you are, and what exactly you want to do, trumpet or baritone can generally suit your desires. They are also great transition instruments, so picking these up may not be your final choice.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBoBo
Okay, so far you have seen nothing but good anime/manga that I have talked about. Welcome to bashing #1. My target tonight will be BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBoBo. This is quite possibly the worst show I've ever seen. This show makes "Hannah Montana" seem like an Oscar-winning television program. I had the misfortune of encountering this manga in the Shonen Jump magazine a year or two back, and the preview wasn't too bad. Not good enough to go out and buy, but it wasn't too bad. There was a recognizable plot and, while the fight scenes were kind of strange, it didn't seem all that annoying. However, when I saw the anime come on Cartoon Network last year...ugh. I watched the 1st and 2nd episode (I was hoping that only the 1st one was bad because 1st impressions can be decieving). Needless to say, I never went out of my way to watch it again, and I avoid it when it does come on. It was terrible. There wasn't really a story to be told, the characters are too random and annoying to get to know, and the situations were about as random as the characters. The best description would be Excel Saga except without the funny...or the girls. Just the randomness and the stupid, at least the animation isn't awful. Luckily that was the last I ever saw of it....but wait!
2 or 3 months ago I was reading my Shonen Jump magazine, and what do I see? They said that they would be replacing almost all their solid manga that had been in the magazine for years. I figured: well, that can't be too bad, there's been some good stuff coming out of the previews lately. Maybe it'll be some of those. Note quite. Turns out BoBoBo worked his afro-headed self back in there. Bah, so now it's not funny, not entertaining, and it takes up space that something good could have been using. Someone at Shonen Jump must have be on some new meds...
Rating: F
2 or 3 months ago I was reading my Shonen Jump magazine, and what do I see? They said that they would be replacing almost all their solid manga that had been in the magazine for years. I figured: well, that can't be too bad, there's been some good stuff coming out of the previews lately. Maybe it'll be some of those. Note quite. Turns out BoBoBo worked his afro-headed self back in there. Bah, so now it's not funny, not entertaining, and it takes up space that something good could have been using. Someone at Shonen Jump must have be on some new meds...
Rating: F
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Well, went by the mall today and bought me some manga. Neon Genesis Evangelion (not that Angel Days soap opera crap) volumes 9 and 10 happened to be there together, so I couldn't pass up this opportunity. I've noticed that when I start buying a series that has been out for a while, they always seem to have the ones before and after what I need...but never the one I'm missing. But fate smiled upon me today and the next two I needed were on the shelf. Oh, happy day.
Anyways, Eva is about 14-year-old Shinji who gets called in by his distant father to pilot a giant robot to battle these giant critters that are attackin' the city. Sounds like a giant robot battle anime/manga, but that isn't really what it's about. It's about the psychological journeys of Shinji and his fellow pilots, the melancholy Rei and superiority-complexed Asuka. They're all actually pretty messed up in the head, although you can't really tell until towards the end. The giant robots vs. the "Angels" that are attacking the city is really just to keep the seriousness of what's at stake in perspective while you learn way more about these kids than you ever wanted to know. But overall I think it's probably one of the best series I've ever watched/read. The final episodes are somewhat of a bad acid trip, but the movies and manga make the last two episodes make sense. It's a bit difficult to grasp watching the last two by themselves. I know it left me confused. Also, they are redoing many of the episodes in movie form currently, so I can't wait for those to come out in English. The anime at least is definitely worth checking out, if you like that then maybe check out the other stuff. It's got a really strong fan base, so apparently I'm not crazy for enjoying it.
Rating: B+
Anyways, Eva is about 14-year-old Shinji who gets called in by his distant father to pilot a giant robot to battle these giant critters that are attackin' the city. Sounds like a giant robot battle anime/manga, but that isn't really what it's about. It's about the psychological journeys of Shinji and his fellow pilots, the melancholy Rei and superiority-complexed Asuka. They're all actually pretty messed up in the head, although you can't really tell until towards the end. The giant robots vs. the "Angels" that are attacking the city is really just to keep the seriousness of what's at stake in perspective while you learn way more about these kids than you ever wanted to know. But overall I think it's probably one of the best series I've ever watched/read. The final episodes are somewhat of a bad acid trip, but the movies and manga make the last two episodes make sense. It's a bit difficult to grasp watching the last two by themselves. I know it left me confused. Also, they are redoing many of the episodes in movie form currently, so I can't wait for those to come out in English. The anime at least is definitely worth checking out, if you like that then maybe check out the other stuff. It's got a really strong fan base, so apparently I'm not crazy for enjoying it.
Rating: B+
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