Whirlwind Developments

So much is going on in the world of Winter Percussion; it has been hard to keep you informed, so here is a blitz to bring everyone up to speed! 

We had a great show last weekend, but the judges are having a hard time understanding some of the concepts. It is difficult, in a 6-minute blast, to clearly communicate the importance of needing death to have life…a “Perpetual Cycle.” (Some professors might say it isn't even possible in a whole semester!) 

We are approaching this weekend with a new voice-over, and a pile of changes and additions to the show that should help clarify the message. Our performance scores are consistently strong (how well we play), and our visual scores are not far behind…our job now is to clarify the design of the show and then start to perform and enjoy every performance. If we find our stride in performance energy and clarity, the general effect judge wil be on board from the moment we take the floor. Not to mention…we will have a great time performing it, no matter what the score!

A few new exciting updates:

1) New wires made for all the front ensemble keyboards…we are now using high quality connectors and wire that will keep unwanted interference out of our speakers!

2) New side panels so that the snares are completely offstage during transitions…no more distraction for the audience!

3) New miniature racks being built for the junior WP members’ equipment!

Can’t wait for the show in Mansfield, MA this Saturday evening…we are going to rock the house!

WGI Regionals - First Place!

The 2013 competitive season is now underway! We have performed at two NESBA shows and we just completed the WGI Trumbull, CT Regional and won our class with an 83.65.  We are very pleased with the start of the season and how the shows have been going.  The group has really stepped up in the past couple weeks and worked extremely hard to make this happen.  

The show is called "Perpetual Cycles." It was inspired by the Mayan concept of the Life Cycle: With Life, comes Death,! and Death is necessary for New Life to occur.  The show is therefore organized into three sections: 1. Life, 2. Death, 3. New Life.  An important part of this concept is that the Life Cycle is never ending.  Once death occurs, new life begins and the cycle starts again.  A simple example can be found by looking at the changing of the seasons.  In keeping with that idea, Spirit's show ends in the same manner it began and could be performed without ever stopping! 

The music for the show is heavily based on Joseph Curiale's "Adelina De Maya."  This is the main source material for the program and occurs in the opening as well as the closing production.  Also included in the program is a Brazilian "Batucada," Alberto Ginastera's "Lamentations of Jeremiah" and "Third Wind" by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays.  

Now that the WGI regional is over, we return to our local NESBA circuit for a string of shows over the next three weekends before we compete in the NESBA circuit championships on April 7 and finally at the WGI World Championships on April 18-20.  During these next three weeks, we will be implementing a series of changes to continue to strengthen the design of the show as well as simply cleaning it and making it as perfect as we can. 

First Show!!!

Show Weekend
The air was electric on Saturday morning as we prepared for the long anticipated first show in Dartmouth, MA. We had an excellent although brief rehearsal to brush up on tempos and ensemble unity through large chunks of the show.  Our loading process was a little rusty, having had the luxury of not loading or unloading all of tech week. Nevertheless, we got onto the road to Dartmouth soon enough. The buzz, confusion, energy, and excitement when we arrived at Dartmouth was only compounded by a steady freezing rain. We did our best to maintain a professional posture amid the melee. The battery warmed up in a tight little classroom, the front ensemble was moved around the school from one hallway to another and once settled, we all got together to run some larger chunks of the show. The confined space caused our sound to be total cacophony. The show was excellent, and we received a score of 85.1, coming in first place in our division, and more importantly our best first show score of all time.
Back at the school were we have stayed all week, we unpacked, dried off our equipment, had some pizza, and went to bed.

Perpetual Cycles

Today was our last full rehearsal day of tech week before our first show! We worked out the logistics of getting on and off of the floor with our plethora of instruments, props, and a set background. We closed off the day in ensemble with a full costume run getting on and off the floor in record time.

An overview of our show:

It is called Perpetual Cycles, and it is all about the importance of the balance of life and the necessity death in order to have new life. We include Brazilian drums including surdos, tamborims, repiniques, agogos, rocar shakers, samba whistles, and our traditional marching percussion instruments. One of the coolest parts of the show is that the ending is also the beginning!
We can’t wait to get outside tomorrow, smell some fresh air, and do a great show!

Sundaes!!

We have officially hit the one week mark at North Bridge Middle School as day 7 has come to a conclusion. The day started out hard, not only were we tired but we also knew we would get even more tired as the day went on. After stretches, we ran 20 laps around the floor to wake our tired bodies. Which seemed to help since the blood started pumping again.
Rehearsal started with a good 'break down' (set to set) of our second half of the third book. Which was based off of Joseph Curiale's "Adelina De Maya". It has the same music as the first book - It is a fast paced part of the show that shows the difference between the old life and the new one. 
After lunch we finished our ensemble battery rehearsal - then broke into sectionals for some 'cleaning' - and finally put it together with the pit.
After a fantastic Brazilian dinner we made some final changes and did our last full runs.
After the last run (which was awesome!) we had make your own sundaes (with all the toppings) sponsored by all our parents! The sundaes really lifted our spirits for the Last day before our performance.

The show is almost ready to put into competition, all that's left is some transitional moments that are a little awkward. We are looking forward to kicking some serious butt on Saturday - our first show.

Day 6 - Just Keep Going!

Today was one of those days where the most important thing is to just keep going, and trust that the work will take you where you need to go. I won’t lie to you, as the day began, we all felt sure that we didn’t have the energy it was going to take to get through another 16 hour day of running around the floor and fine tuning the show. But, I think we’ve all begun to realize that once the choice to dig-in is made, the energy and the drive always follows. I know I felt that way.

Today was slated to be a day to "deep clean" the first half of the third and final section of our show; the part where we realize the ‘life’ on the other side of death leads to a newer and more exciting life. And how necessary that death is to bring that newlife.
The music for this first portion comes from Third Wind by Pat Matheny- a driving ostinato in the keyboards is laid on top of a fun and rock-like rhythm in the string bass and synth. The tenor and marching timbales are a really unique sound to the activity - then add fun interchanges in types of Brazilian percussion and you've got yourself a bucket-load of fun.

At first it was a lot of just repping to get into the tempo and groove of the piece, but as we began to find it, it really began to breathe and have some life and character. As a member of the snare line, the entire show began to fall into place.

Dartmouth is just two days away!!

Day 5 - Book 1

Today in Whitinsville, we focused on Book 1.
There are three main parts to this chart:
a) The first section is a segment of Joseph Curiale's Adelina de Maya.
b) The middle part is a batucada (a Brazilian samba) wher we use traditional Brazilian instruments and gather on the floor for a groove party.
c) The last part is a continuation of the beginning and a transitioning into Book 2.

Book 1 improved a lot over the day thanks to various sub-sectionals and great instructors.
Tomorrow we're moving to Book 3
We've hit the half way point.

Yeah!!