Introducing Chris Sefton, trumpet section leader!

Hey everyone! I'm Chris Sefton and I'll be the section leader for the trumpets this season. I started playing trumpet in sixth grade like most kids in band and have enjoyed it ever since. I moved to North Carolina just before my freshmen year of high school from Cincinnati, Ohio. That being said I don't get a lot of southern things (sweet tea? grits? Okra?) and I think I've only eaten at Bojangles once unlike Matt. Over the summer I'll be spending a lot of time outside fishing, riding my bike, things of that nature. Oh, and I'll be practicing of course which hopefully all of you will be doing as well! Two quick random facts about me;  I'm looking forward to a great marching season next year!

• Favorite TV show: Criminal Minds
• Favorite Band: Muse  

I'm looking forward to a great marching season next year!

Quick note from Matt - 

I was just about to add to my post that my favorite band was Muse also when Chris sent me this bio so I've decided for the sake of individuality I'll say my second favorite band is the Avett Brothers. Seeing as two of the brass section leaders have the same favorite band you should definitely consider checking Muse out, they're a sweet group that makes pretty awesome music. Also, come to the concert tonight! See you there,

-Matt Hall 

Introductions & Announcements! 

--Announcements--

• Tomorrow (May 23) is the first night of band concerts. Symphonic band, indoor percussion, Mills Park Middle School, and the Panther Creek Jazz band will all be playing. Even if you aren't in one of the ensembles, you really should come; it's good to support the band and the music is actually really good, you might enjoy it. Bring a friend along if you want.

•  Thursday (May 24) is the second night of concerts, and concert band, wind ensemble and jazz combo will be playing. As I said before you should come even if you aren't in one of these ensembles, the wind ensemble especially is playing some ridiculous music.
   

--Introductions--

For the next few days I'll be doing a little bio for each brass section leader so that you've all got a chance to get to know a little about them before band really starts this summer. If nothing else, it will put a name to a face if you weren't able to attend rookie night, or give you a little bit about who they are and what they'll be like as your section leader.

Today's intro is for the mellophone section leader, which coincidentally is me, Matt Hall.

 So that's me (the guy obviously) in front of the WWII memorial in Washington D.C., where our band trip was over spring break. I've been doing band since 6th grade, and I am a trumpet player. I switched over to Mello last marching season to fill out the 12 mellos they needed, and I have loved it since. Swofford always writes the mellos absolutely sick parts that are a challenge to play, which makes it even more appealing to me personally. Here are some facts about me;

• Middle School: Salem MS (Go Spartans!)
• Years of band experience to date: 6
•  Favorite thing about marching band: Competitions; not necessarily winning, (although it's always nice) but just the feel of competing not only for a title but a crowd reaction is a really rewarding experience that I enjoy a lot.
• Go-to restaurant: Bojangles or IHOP. For fancier food, Daniels.

I'm really looking forward to next year's marching season and to see what the next year has got in store. Get pumped about the show guys, the Storm is coming!

Tomorrow's bio will be for trumpets! Goldenboy Chris Sefton will be introduced so stay posted and enjoy your Tuesday night.

-Matt Hall

Welcome Brass!

Hey everyone, Welcome to the 2012 brassline! This is the first post of the year so I am just going to welcome you all, returning and new marchers. I'll be posting on this DAILY since we are competing with the woodwind blog for the most posts. Whichever one of us gets more will receive a freezy pop break while the other section has to run laps, so the stakes are high guys. Basically this will be a tool for keeping you all in the loop over the summer and throughout the marching season. I'll post reminders about things we should be doing over the summer and upcoming events when we've got them. Obviously there's not going to be vital things to post about every single day, so I'll try and keep it interesting with some drum corps videos and stuff like that. Just stay in the loop especially during the summer and welcome again to the brassline. -Matt Hall, 2012 brass captain

Marching Season Final Words

It's all over now. No more competitions left for the 2011 marching season...

It's really disappointing to see it come to an end after what seemed such a long season. But I have to congratulate you guys so much for working your butts off from before PCI all the way through the end of the season. We proved to the staff that this hornline has what it takes to be one of the best. I'm proud out of you guys for working so hard and it really paid off towards the end of the season.

Now lets move into concert season with the attitude that we will be one of the best music programs in all of the state. Especially those of us in Wind Ensemble have a hard year ahead of us.

Make sure that if you are doing All-District that you continue to work on your solos! That is coming up in only a month or so!!

Keep up the good work.

School Starts This Week!!!

Jon was in Oregon at some point in time over the summer. (Who goes to Oregon??? Alek Ratzloff does.)

Hey guys and gals,

Just wanted to say a few things before the school year kicks off. So far, this summer has been really great and I know that most of you have really enjoyed the marching band experience so far. Let's keep that attitude up all the way till we arrive back home from USSBA Annapolis.

One big thing that I wanted to discuss was last Thursdays rehearsal. Every single one of you knows that we were not our best that night. I know what this horn line can do and I know many of the people in this horn line have the capability of being absolutely ridiculous. But, we also have to do well in rehearsals. It was very clear that many people did not have their dot books filled out. Tomorrow is a dot book check and I want every brass player to have his/her dot book filled all the way through set 35. From here on out, you can expect to receive drill at almost all of the rehearsals until the show is finished. Dot books are very useful and I don't feel like many of us are taking the opportunity to use them to their fullest potential. Drill books are nice, but they are bulky and it can be confusing to look at if you're setting your dot. So get those completed! Also, I think we should definitely focus on our rehearsal procedures such as not talking after a set is completed. The staff really needs to talk to each other and it is very distracting if many of the students on the field are having side conversations. Also moving once we finish a set is no good. They are trying to see the picture and if you are not on your dot, you will get called out. We just need to be more focused during our rehearsals so we spend less time fooling around and more time learning as many dots as we can. Our goal should be to push the staff instead of them pushing us. They enjoy it a lot more when they don't have to yell and scream at us and I'm sure we like it more too.

Keep working on learning Chaos!!! It is a very difficult song, but if we learn it and get it clean, it will be absolutely insane.

I know you guys are doing a lot and it really shows, but keep it up. School will slow us down dramatically, but don't let it take away your willingness to work hard!!

YAY BAND

- Jonathan

WOW Band starts soon...

Jon is doing so many things this summer!! He even went to a 3rd world country to do dental clinics and other various activities to help the people of Guatemala. (he loved europe too.)

OKAY!

It has been a long time since I last posted so here we go.

BAND CAMP?!?!?: starts in basically 4 days (Wednesday). I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I am super excited for this year and from the brass arc we had a bunch of months ago, I can tell we have a very good quality brass line. If you guys put in the work that is required to make this show awesome, it will be. SQUAD LEADERS, contact your squad and tell them about certain band camp things such as when its starts (8AM), when you should arrive on Wednesday for registration (7:30AM), and let them know about the things they should bring (notebook and sheet protectors, instrument, a hat, sunscreen, a bag lunch, a gigantic water jug). This should help everyone remember to bring all of that. Hats, sunscreen, water jug and a bag lunch is crucial to having good health during the week and one half of band camp.

OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF?!?!: Squad leaders and section leaders should be coming to the school tomorrow (Monday July 25th) to have a meeting with Mr. Robinson. After that those of you who are doing field lining will have a wonderful time out in the heat of the day. Also DCI is next Saturday! It is this next weekend right after the first 3 days of band camp. It should be a great time for those of us who are going. Those who are not, there is always next year. WE ARE MAKING T-SHIRTS for the entire brass line and will be available for purchase once they are designed. We will collect money before we order so that we don't have to pay extraordinary amounts of money out of our pockets. I will keep you updated though (expect a price between $10-20).

That is about all I can remember for you guys right now. If I remember something I will put it up. Keep checking the blog around once or twice a week to look for any updates on any of the blogs! Don't want to miss anything.

Have a great rest of the summer!

Jonathan.