Band camp was great. I consider it to be the best so far. (Heather, I'll adress your issues with it specifically at the end, as I can see you reacting to that statement right now.... -_- )
To start, there were the new freshman. Lemme tell you, they are much better than last year's. Maybe 'cause I'm not stuck with the 'Miahs and Murphys of this year (many of which, BTW, are gone this year. w00t!), because the Cabin 4-ians were muchly... misguided, and nobody likes Brennan, but the fresshies by me on the field this year are cool. Megan (who, like som many Megans in this band, is short) not only was not annoying, but she picked up on marching and all that fast. Ethan needs a little work, but he admits when he's wrong, unlike Murphy, and he tries to fix it. He just needs to learn the right way to go about doing that. (Read: guide off of those he can see, not look around and stop in place due to the looking)
Plus, I'm actually making freinds with the freshmen this year, and already know most of their names. (If I don't, it's because I only heard the name once or twice... or not at all) Heather's little sister & her freinds are muchly fun to be around, and I'm sure Heather would agree about Liz if she weren't her sister.
Of course there are some bad things, like the general suckiness of the dances and JR (More on him later), but I felt that the good more than balanced that out. Plus, I have "asponsability". I'm a.... well, we used to be called squad leaders, but they got rid of squads this year... so... I'm one of the people who get to carry around drill sheets and tell people where to go.
Oh, and the show and music this year kick ass. Saxes have been moved from the back left to front right, and we have interesting moves for a change. This year I'm in three meshes, and start meshed w/ the flutes in the first form. I wasn't in a mesh ever before. And I'm not in a single diagonal the whole show. And the woodwinds are either key to the form or highly visible, so we won't be ignored when we make mistakes! Woo!
Of course, the drill is harder than in years past, but thanks to the new system of doing things, it's muchly possible.
And now, Heather, I disagree with you.
For all of you not in the band, our directors hired a guy to write the drill for the first time in ever. Our directors used to write the drill themselves, and (rightfully) took pride in that fact, especially because we repeatedly got ones at state. But after last year, they're heavily overcompensating. The music, the drill, the new system of placing... But the thing is, they've been doing everything for the past twenty-something years. They need a break. So, when they have choices for who they could have write the drill, they pick the only guy who is going to come to out camp and help us learn the drill. The guy who uses a system the directors once tried, but couldn't execute well because they weren't sure how to pull it off. A guy who seems to work on the same wavelength of the directors, and who is willing to use their input.
Now, sure, things are different. Sure, JR is a bit of an ass when he's working. But he has to be, because otherwise, we'll completely ignore him( and he isn't when he isn't working. And no, I'm not just saying that because he said it. It's true). Sure, his block is annoying, and I think I might snap if I hear him say "and one" again, ever. But if you look at where we are after that one week of camp, compared to the last couple years (even at the end of last year...), it's totally worth it.
I don't think that K&O "sold out", because they did all they could to preserve what the could of the "old band" while improving our marching (which was, as anyone involved with our band knows, the marching. The drill included.). They could've paid less to get just a drill, and teach us marching and the drill themselves, but they paid for the guy who would come and teach us his drill and the proper marching form (as opposed to generics, which is all we really got from K&O), and improve our band beyond what K&O could do themselves. Selling out would be buying just the drill and leaving our marching as sucky as it was before.
Plus, I like the new coordinate system. Forms are bloced faster, you know all yous spots yourself, and can check where you're going during the short "on field breaks" you get when they're working on another part of the form. And looking at the coordinates, you can always tell which way you'll be going beforehand. ANd it dies help with the "thinking ahead to the next phrase", because you start doing it whether you want to or not due to the guy, and you know where you're gonna go, and it makes marching the drilll so much easier than the "okay, I'm here at this form, where's the next?" thought process I used in the past. When you know where you're going psartway through a move, and can see it, then you have time to think ahead. I never thought of that until JC told us to do it, and it makes the drill a drill, not a series of almost disconnected moves, and... Well, I guess I'm just trying to say that I have my reasons for liking the new way things are going, and I don't see why you're so averse to it.
To start, there were the new freshman. Lemme tell you, they are much better than last year's. Maybe 'cause I'm not stuck with the 'Miahs and Murphys of this year (many of which, BTW, are gone this year. w00t!), because the Cabin 4-ians were muchly... misguided, and nobody likes Brennan, but the fresshies by me on the field this year are cool. Megan (who, like som many Megans in this band, is short) not only was not annoying, but she picked up on marching and all that fast. Ethan needs a little work, but he admits when he's wrong, unlike Murphy, and he tries to fix it. He just needs to learn the right way to go about doing that. (Read: guide off of those he can see, not look around and stop in place due to the looking)
Plus, I'm actually making freinds with the freshmen this year, and already know most of their names. (If I don't, it's because I only heard the name once or twice... or not at all) Heather's little sister & her freinds are muchly fun to be around, and I'm sure Heather would agree about Liz if she weren't her sister.
Of course there are some bad things, like the general suckiness of the dances and JR (More on him later), but I felt that the good more than balanced that out. Plus, I have "asponsability". I'm a.... well, we used to be called squad leaders, but they got rid of squads this year... so... I'm one of the people who get to carry around drill sheets and tell people where to go.
Oh, and the show and music this year kick ass. Saxes have been moved from the back left to front right, and we have interesting moves for a change. This year I'm in three meshes, and start meshed w/ the flutes in the first form. I wasn't in a mesh ever before. And I'm not in a single diagonal the whole show. And the woodwinds are either key to the form or highly visible, so we won't be ignored when we make mistakes! Woo!
Of course, the drill is harder than in years past, but thanks to the new system of doing things, it's muchly possible.
And now, Heather, I disagree with you.
For all of you not in the band, our directors hired a guy to write the drill for the first time in ever. Our directors used to write the drill themselves, and (rightfully) took pride in that fact, especially because we repeatedly got ones at state. But after last year, they're heavily overcompensating. The music, the drill, the new system of placing... But the thing is, they've been doing everything for the past twenty-something years. They need a break. So, when they have choices for who they could have write the drill, they pick the only guy who is going to come to out camp and help us learn the drill. The guy who uses a system the directors once tried, but couldn't execute well because they weren't sure how to pull it off. A guy who seems to work on the same wavelength of the directors, and who is willing to use their input.
Now, sure, things are different. Sure, JR is a bit of an ass when he's working. But he has to be, because otherwise, we'll completely ignore him( and he isn't when he isn't working. And no, I'm not just saying that because he said it. It's true). Sure, his block is annoying, and I think I might snap if I hear him say "and one" again, ever. But if you look at where we are after that one week of camp, compared to the last couple years (even at the end of last year...), it's totally worth it.
I don't think that K&O "sold out", because they did all they could to preserve what the could of the "old band" while improving our marching (which was, as anyone involved with our band knows, the marching. The drill included.). They could've paid less to get just a drill, and teach us marching and the drill themselves, but they paid for the guy who would come and teach us his drill and the proper marching form (as opposed to generics, which is all we really got from K&O), and improve our band beyond what K&O could do themselves. Selling out would be buying just the drill and leaving our marching as sucky as it was before.
Plus, I like the new coordinate system. Forms are bloced faster, you know all yous spots yourself, and can check where you're going during the short "on field breaks" you get when they're working on another part of the form. And looking at the coordinates, you can always tell which way you'll be going beforehand. ANd it dies help with the "thinking ahead to the next phrase", because you start doing it whether you want to or not due to the guy, and you know where you're gonna go, and it makes marching the drilll so much easier than the "okay, I'm here at this form, where's the next?" thought process I used in the past. When you know where you're going psartway through a move, and can see it, then you have time to think ahead. I never thought of that until JC told us to do it, and it makes the drill a drill, not a series of almost disconnected moves, and... Well, I guess I'm just trying to say that I have my reasons for liking the new way things are going, and I don't see why you're so averse to it.
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