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Thursday, July 24, 2008
So What?
9:21 PM
We may had gotten what most of us expected, we may had gotten 2nd place in the division. But what have we actually achieved?

Did our playing improve through this competition?
Did we figure a way out how to play with the person beside you, our sections and ultimately with the band?
Did we solved intonation problems which had been existing in our band for a mile long of history?
Did we satisfy our own expectation and target, and even others' expectations?

I don't know for the first 2, but the rest definitely did not happen.

I didn't know what happened to everyone during the competition - maybe you're nervous, maybe you feel pressurised, maybe you forgot your notes the last minute, maybe you forgot the style - they don't really matter anyway.

Do you all feel a empty feeling inside all of you?
Yes, for me. The reason is simple. We did not work hard enough! And not only that, we know it's not our best - for those who are unhappy the way the band performed.

Our results are not disappointing, but rather we know we could have done better - that's the thing that is bugging our hearts.

“If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.”
~Mercedes Lackey

If only we had worked harder, if only we had been more ...

They don't matter now.

What matters now is what happens after this competition. Are you still going to skip band due to unsatisfying reasons? Are you still going to slack and think that this route is a bed of roses?

You WILL not.

It is extremely aggravating to the secretary who needs to call you up(for rich people: you know out-going calls are not free right?), and for your section leaders, our alumni or Mr Lim to nag at us.

If you believed you had done well for the competition, treat the medal as a bonus. We MUST continue to strive for excellence. There's no end in learning and improving yourself.

Let's work hard in our coming endeavors.

We will do the should, the must, and the can.


Don't be late for Friday prac at 115pm!

xoxo
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Last words..
9:23 PM
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
- Vince Lombardi
Sunday, July 13, 2008
More POP photos
9:23 PM
Hey all! Here are more POP photos! These photos are all clickable! So click to enlarge!









































































Oh yes, and work hard for the upcoming SIBF!
Monday, July 7, 2008
POP Photos
9:33 PM
Hey all! Here are some POP photos taken by Fong Yee!





ShuanYong



Samuel



Dickson



ShaoMing
















































Yunhan



Ziana



Julie



Elijah



HuiYi



Inez
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Time for a change...
9:35 PM
AIRS for wind orchestra.

Bells, as suggested by Mr Lim and band;
practice the triplets until when you close your eyes and play you can play it PERFECTLY (i.e not hitting the box etc.)
section leader should try to conduct so that the player will have a better reaction in combine.

Flutes please come in confidently at the start, watch the cue, you won't go wrong.

AT A, there's a change in tempo (between beginning to A), so those who are playing directly at A, MUST pay attention to how fast you should play. Your mind must be active all the time. Also, all should watch the way mr lim conduct - whether does he wants a bigger sound, or lighter sound - it's all shown in his conducting, BE SENSITIVE! (eg, Melody should not cut abruptly which don't sound nice at all, and please take care of the phrasing - top notes should never stick out as it spoils the phrasing)

There should not be a cut during the cres. from a few bars before B to B, go straight into B without breathing. Forte is changed to Mezoforte for those who didn't come/care.

At C, melodies must catch the tempo Mr Lim set after the fermata. Horn and Eupho which comes in after must remember to play the notes short, and all those who are playing scale down/up must watch Mr Lim's rit. with properly sub-division of the quavers.

First quavers at new tempo of C (trombones, clarinets etc), must think of how long the note should be instead of how short should it be, and when it's longer it supposed to have the balanced and rounded sound of the chord, not just wacking it off when you see accented quavers.

2 bars before G as said by mr lin, T.sax and B.sax must EXIST.

Saxophones must have the saxophone quartet sound at G, currently it sounds like only one person is playing music.

During a transitions like the one 3 bars before D where you have a Mf cres. to a F then die away, please remember what mr lin said. The effect is at its best when you start from Piano and cres. with balance - which means the lower instrument have to do a lot more than the higher instruments and the higher instrument should never do too much to their dynamics as it destroys the balance during this transition.

3rd Bar of L, trombones and eupho must JUST come in when cued, no later or earlier.

At 5-8 bar, clarinets must know the rhythm EXTREMELY well because it's already rather hard to comprehend a 5-8 conducting and thus if you're extremely familiar with the melody, you can go on with relatively ease and little disturbance. Now it's just not practiced or not practiced well. Try practicing in various tempo with the metronome (I don't know why, but you all always slow down during the quavers). Section leader will help the most if this part is tried conducted.

At 4th bar of the 5-8 bar, trombones and horn must come in confidently with the conducting in 3 (you just need to find the 2, then PLAY). There will be a rit. so it gets slower and slower during that part but automatically picks up speed at tempo 100, and Mr Lim will conduct a sub-divided 3-N count for the semi quavers by saxophones and clarinets so DO NOT be messed up and come in confidently.

The last bar, MUST BE in balance. The sound cannot be harsh and like Mr Lin said, must be ended off soothing to the ear with the tuba wrapping the sound up. Think of the chord instead of the forzando.


People, today attendance was a good 97%, but if the playing still remain unconscious and same for this few weeks since we had been working at it, don't you all feel that you all are wasting time in this band? Do you all like to be compared at with other schools whether in passion, whether it matters or not, or in sound? Personally, NOT. If it is too for you, why won't you all take your pencils out and write down things that you may forget, and LOOK at what you had scribbled when you're playing? How many times in this year the majors and everyone else that care so much for all of you say that YOU DIDN'T CARE. Don't all feel so horribly tired of it? Why do the people that do not affect your intonation, dynamics and sound quality (i.e Mr Lim, Alumni, Sec4s) are more apprehensive about the competition than you all are? Despite all these irony and all those sayings when the alumni ask you whether you all want to do it, you all said you WILL. But actions speak louder than words. What happened to all the assurance? Are we all just a band capable to keeping unworthy promises. Are we all people without backbones? Doesn't all this contribute to the fact that we are not worth teaching?

We may have alumni who come back very often to watch things happen, and even better, play with us during competition. But it takes 2 hands to clap. Do we sound nicer or not depends on how much do we really want to improve. How many times are you GUILTY to skipping band practices for unimportant stuff? Are you being fair for those who came, learn and applied Mr Lim taught and then once in a while you come back to ruin everything, making band for those who always come, SO MEANINGLESS AND BORING?

The band is as strong as its weakest player, all it takes is just 1 person to screw everything up. Watch what happened today? Lesson learned? We can only improve if we; admit our mistakes, learn from our mistakes and never do repeat again. As much as this applies to band, it applies to everything in life.

We had already been stagnant for so long, some improved but majority won't come for rehearsals. Mr Lim and Lin said million of ideas, why only a faction went into the band? I don't want you all to just tell Yun Han that you all can do it. Talk is cheap.

I said this countless times; you prove your words.
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