Madness

Madness. A feeling I experience and question whether or not I am truly mad. The song Madness by Muse is a song that is interesting at the same time that it describes my personality. 

This techno/hip-hop song has many different moving parts and a driving beat that make it appealing. To me, the slow start gives the climax a stronger effect. By starting out with a strong beat and a quiet entrance, there is more to build upon than if it was a sudden loud start. At the beginnings of songs I like quiet starts or low sneaking entrances; just like in Madness when the driving beat starts. I also like the mixture of techno bass with the electric guitar and sweet tones of the singer. 

Overall, there is a nice balance between new sounds with nice vocals to back it up. I like how Muse put together this song and the overall effect of the driving tones and strong harmonies.

http://youtu.be/Ek0SgwWmF9w

Rooms of Music

There are many different kinds of music: music that is soft and soothing, music that fills your soul with joy, and music that gets you excited. To me, music influences my actions. Without music I would not be able to function. 

I don’t have any one genre that pumps me up or makes me happy. I listen to all different kinds of music and it all depends upon which room I am in. For example, if I am alone and just trying to relax, I usually listen to jazz or some slow soundtracks, if I am in the weight room lifting, I tend to listen to rock or country. It depends upon the activity that I am doing as to what music I’m in the mood for. 

When I work out, I tend to listen to rock or music with a hard beat. It gives me more power when I hear the strong chords of an electric guitar rather than the soothing tones of a sax. Rock music makes me push harder than I would without music or any other kind of music. I’m not sure whether it is the beat of the drums, the hard bass, the rhythmic changes in the guitar, or the compelling voice of the singer that makes me feel this, but something in my mind changes whenever rock is turned on. There really is no other reason as to why rock has this affect on me. As soon as Thunderstruck by ACDC is turned on, the electricity flows through my veins, I feel more excited than I usually do. If rock music isn’t on when I work out, I feel as if I didn’t work as hard, as long, as much as I could have with it on. 

On the opposite side, jazz usually makes me feel more relaxed and mellow. If I need to unwind from the day, I can turn on the awesome beats of jazz players such as: Gerry Mulligan, Charles Mingus, Joe Lovano, Ernie Watts, Etienne Charles, Art Pepper, etc. The list goes on forever. That is what I love about jazz; each player brings a different element to the field, a different sound and style that no one can copy. When I listen to jazz I always hear something new: a new idea, a new technique, a new rhythm. Unlike another kind of music, jazz cannot be copied by another person. There can be new ideas and different styles of the same piece, but there are not two jazz players that are alike. If you look at other genres, the style and sound can be copied by a computer, but no machine can insert a human element into jazz. Jazz is, and always will be, the last of the genres that is truly soulful, that is played from the heart. That is why I love to relax to jazz, every piece is played with passion. 

Through music, my personality has changed, through music I am able to change my mood, through music I am able to create my mood. Music is the best tool for relaxing and for getting excited. Each person just has to know what each style of music does to them in order for music to be used for different situations. 

Band Teeter-Totter

Playing in an ensemble is harder than the musicians in penguin suits make it look. To be a successful and good sounding band/group, there has to be a balance of the vibrations of every different instrument. If one section thinks they are heroes and plays too loud, then the rest of the band will sound insignificant. The band is like a teeter-totter; without a counter balance, it wouldn’t be fun, and without balance between the sections the band wouldn’t be entertaining. 

I have to deal with this careful equilibrium every day in band, just as any other good musician would do. I am constantly listening to the people around me and fitting into their sound and balance of the band. The best balance that a band could achieve is more on the lower end and less on the higher end. That means that the low brass, such as tuba and trombone, have to play out more to achieve an amazing balance. It also means that the other sections have to listen to the lower instruments to fit into this texture. The whole point of an ensemble is not to make yourself sound good, but to make others sound better. Without careful balance, a song will be too heavy in one instrument; to the audience, if the trumpets play louder than the other sections—which is more rather than less—the other sections would sound small and like they aren’t even playing. Sadly, the Kennedy Wind Symphony has troubles figuring out what the correct balance is. Even though I, and my section, listen and fit our sound with the band, it doesn’t help if another section doesn’t listen. Band is probably one of the biggest team activities that I know. If one person plays the wrong note, or is too loud at a certain time, then the whole song has a negative effect on the listeners. 

Generally, in the Kennedy Wind Symphony, the section that usually sticks out is the trumpets. I don’t know what it is about the trumpets that makes them think that they are better than any other section but I think that is part of the problem. Because they think they are better than everyone else, they might think that they should be allowed to play as loud as they want, whenever they want. That is what makes the wind symphony sound bad; the trumpets don’t want to accept that there are other players in the band. What makes it even worse, is that the trumpets don’t have the best sound so when they do play out it drops the whole band a couple of levels. If the trumpets were good I wouldn’t be as upset when they play out when they shouldn’t. 

The key to a great band or small ensemble is balance; without it, bands would not sound as full or effective. Without balance the teeter-totter would merely be a stick lying on the ground. I always try my best to make the band teeter-totter fun and enjoyable, I just wish the rest of the band would see this and jump on. 

A Tribute to a Good Man

  This past week, a good man fought a battle and lost. A good man was ripped out of my life. A good man is now dancing with loved ones. A good man will never die, he will always live on. My grandpa was truly an amazing man; he touched so many lives and will be missed by all. 

My grandpa was a music teacher in many different places around Iowa. He taught in several small towns, then spent a long time teaching in Washington, Iowa, where he was the vocal director. Around the time that Kennedy High School was due to open, Grandpa, moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa with his wife and three children. He started his journey here at Washington High School, only teaching there for a year, before Kennedy opened. He applied and was accepted at Kennedy as the first vocal director in 1967. He was the man who created the foundation for all of Kennedy’s success in the future. Without my grandpa and grandma, there might not be an original fight song and Alma Mater. Our fight song might be a song borrowed from another school, but instead Mr. Feuerhelm wanted to create a legacy for his sons and daughter and their families to live up to. What big shoes I now have to fill. Who could possibly do anything greater than set up a school for success? Just look at all the trophies overflowing in the music departments; that all started with my grandpa. 

My grandpa didn’t stop with the fight song and Alma Mater. He decided to set up a new tradition ; he created the first show choir west of the Mississippi. Happiness Machine was the original name but that was shot down quickly by the students. This group turned into Happiness Incorporated shortly thereafter. This first show choir was completely different than it is today. It was set up as a way for kids to get involved in music and to just have fun. The first group wasn’t even involved in any competitions, as there weren’t any competitors, and everything they did would be an example for others to follow. Every jazz hand performed would be a basis and every kick and big hit would be a building block that others would improve and copy. Another difference from show choirs today is that there wasn’t a whole team devoted to costumes. In fact, the first dresses ever to be debuted in Happiness Inc. were bought at K-Mart. I have never heard of any other vocal director creating an activity that was made simply to get kids involved in popular music. My grandpa truly wanted to try to give every student the feeling that music gave him. He wanted to share his passion for music and he wanted to pass it on through many different generations. My grandpa gave the keys to the car of music for others to take the wheel to prove what they could do. 

  After his great success at Kennedy, he moved on to Grant Wood Elementary to become the music teacher there. This was the longest part of his journey in teaching music and he would eventually retire there. He wrote a Grant Wood loyalty song, too. Many people that I met over the past week that had him as a teacher all had great things to say about him. The most frequent comment was that he was passionate about music. In the time that I knew and loved my grandfather, I can tell you he was more than just passionate about music; my grandpa loved. That’s just it, the only way to describe him, all he did was love, that’s what made him great. He truly cared for his family and friends and would do anything for us. I can only hope to continue to make him proud.
        I am doing my best to keep my grandpa alive through my music. We had a great connection through music and he loved to hear every note I played, whether it was correct or not. I loved to play for him because he was always grateful. I knew if he was in the audience I would always have at least one fan by the end of the performance. I would get comments like, “How do you do that?”

         “You sound great, I loved hearing you play again.” 

         “You’ll do great, I know it.” 

I truly miss and long to hear those words in my ear again. Without my grandpa, I might not have ever gone into music; he was and always will be a true inspiration to me. No one can do what my grandpa did. He was my leader, he is what I want to copy. To the very end of his life he believed in me and wanted to see me succeed. Everything I do from this point on in music is through him, I love him and he will always be with me for every note I caress into the ears of my audience.

  Not only was he a music man, he was my favorite grandpa. Over the past 16 years I developed a relationship with him that a tank couldn’t pull apart if it tried. I remember when I was about 4 or 5 years old I would go over to his house to spend time with him over the summer. I remember that my parents would drop me off and leave me to hang out with my grandpa for the whole day. Each day, after lunch, around noon it was nap time. He would take me down stairs and sing me to sleep with “Old McDonald”. I loved this even though I didn’t realize it at the time. Every once and a while he would say a cow said ‘oink’. I’m sure he did this to see if I was paying attention or to see if I was really falling asleep, he caught me every time as I would realize the accidental and spring up to tell him the right answer. Gramps did this kind of thing with me all the time, until the very end he had a humor around him that was precious to me and I will miss it greatly. I always remember that he had a cookie jar, and every time I was about to leave he would say, “I wonder if the cookie monster got in here again.” That was my cue to race over to the counter to grab a cookie out of the jar. 

  In the recent years, my grandpa has become even more special to me. Gramps would have me come over and do simple tasks for him, like change his razor blades. When I got these jobs done in 2 minutes he would look at me, shake his head, and say, “How did you do that so quickly? Your old gramps would be at it for at least 30 minutes.” I would just look at him, smile and reply with, “I’m magican.” We would then both laugh and tease each other for another five minutes or so. Another little tradition, if that’s what you would call it, is that he hated milk so every time we sat down to eat I would say, “What do you want to drink? Milk?” He would laugh and make some witty remark followed by, “I’ll give my portion to you, ‘Lij.” He could always make me laugh, whether it was one of our traditional teases or a completely new phrase never heard before, I always laughed when he was around. If you never had the chance to meet him, I am dearly sorry because he was the funniest comedian the world has ever seen. He was also caring and kind to anyone he talked to, even when he was starting to get older and slightly crazy. I loved him to pieces and he loved me back with the same enthusiasm. 

  My grandfather was a great man, all he wanted to do was set people up for success and he would do anything to see them achieve their goals. My grandpa truly loved to teach kids and had a great passion for music. He was eternally grateful for his family and he always showed his love in every way known to man. There are very few left of the great generation, very few that would do anything to make people succeed. My grandpa was one of the greats and no one will be able to fill his shoes, to take music to his level of success, to love unconditionally and whole heartedly, to do anything for anyone no matter the request, to love his family more than words can express. He is now dancing with my grandma in a better place. Dance away you two!

  Thanks Gramps. Thanks for all the love, inspiration, and lessons I’ll never forget you. I love you, always have, always will. 

Moanin'

  I came across a new song to me that is amazing. It is entitled Moanin’, written by Charles Mingus. 

I first discovered Moanin’ because this song is actually one of my assignments for me to learn. I am excited to chow down and learn the awesome bass line that the Bari has. This song starts out with just the Bari playing the main melody and Ronnie Cuber just continually honks away. I am inspired and want to sound just like that, I want to sound like a crazy sax man who loves to play. 

I get to learn this piece/bass line to make me sound better at jazz. It will be a challenge but I am ready. I can’t wait to get the chance to sound like a professional musician playing awesome music.

Take a minute and listen to this piece. 

http://open.spotify.com/track/6n9GGoiLwNlY5Ro7NsdbJP

All-State Audition

  The most stressful part of the year has come and passed with a great sense of accomplishment. I’m talking about All-State Auditions. 

What is All-State? All-State is an honor band that is the toughest and most honorable to get selected for. High school musicians work for three months, August to the end of October, preparing music picked out by a panel of musicians. This music is supposed to be challenging so it eliminates some of the weaker players. There are three different groups that different people try out for depending on their instrument or voice: band, choir, and orchestra. Obviously singers try out for the choir, string instruments are going for orchestra, and wind instruments, band. The best group, my personal favorite, is the band. I love to play in band and wouldn’t dare try out on anything other than saxophone. However, wind players are sometimes accepted into orchestra to create a full orchestra. These players are usually brass and are the best of the best. In other words, even better than the band players. However, no saxophones play in orchestra so band is the top honor.

  This year I tried out on Bari Sax. To make All-State I had to play excerpts from a selection of two different etudes, I had to play scales (which are memorized and chosen randomly), as well as a solo of my choice. This year I was more prepared than any other year. I had my etudes mastered and scales known since 6th grade. The biggest spot that I felt even better prepared for was my solo. This year I played Introduction et Danse by Henri Tomasi. My solo was probably the key to getting into All-State. 
         When it was my turn to play for the judge, I stepped into the room and let my confidence spill all over the room. I took my spot behind the stand and started. As soon as I hit that first note and cadenza that followed I knew the judge was impressed. After I had finished my solo I wondered if there was any need to even touch the other material. But the audition went as planned and I played my scales and etudes wonderfully. Walking out of that room I knew I would have a spot in the All-State band of 2014. 

After my audition, I had to wait an agonizing hour for the piece of paper to be posted that would announce  my fate. I remember walking into the gym and seeing a man walk over to the ladder with a blue sheet of paper. Every step he climbed, I felt like an elephant was starting to sit on my chest. He reached the top, stuck the paper to the wall, and let it roll out. The paper got stuck, so it took an agonizing time to see. I looked up and saw my name printed under the accepted column and felt all the tension leave my body. I made it! My dad came running over to me and hugged me with a pressure only fathers can give. I was filled with joy as my dad started to cry. I had done it! I had done it for my grandpa. As he looks down on me from heaven I know he is proud. He gave me the strength and ability to completely blow the judge away. 

I can finally relax and let the stress of the week pass through me. I made it and can’t wait to experience a whole new adventure! Mr. Wacker told me, “You have more work now…it’s time to prepare for chair auditions next!”

                                  

Dream Saxophone

       Yanagisawa. A weird name but wonderful machines. This is a brand name of saxophones that is my personal favorite. Some people like Selmer Mark VI, which is apparently the highest quality saxophone (I haven’t ever tried one though). The only problem with a mark VI is the outrageous cost. A new tenor online is priced at $19,000! I could buy a nice car for that amount. The great part about a new Yani sax is it only costs about $9,000 for the top line. But there are Yani saxes cheaper than that that play just as well, if not better than any sax. The price of the horn doesn’t always mean that it is better or worse than an expensive piece of metal. 

My favorite sax is without a doubt Yanagisawa as they aren’t as expensive and they have a good sound quality. Besides the quality of the tone, they also look beautiful. There is one Bari in particular that looks amazing and I would love to add it to my collection…if I had unlimited amounts of money. Even though Yani’s are cheaper, 6 grand is a lot to drop on a piece of metal, especially for a high school kid. Just look at this beauty!