My Freshman Year in Band - Band Camp August 21, 2009

Sigh, today was the ending of what I've been looking forward to all summer, Band Camp. Four straight days of seeing great, loving people and a wonderful band teacher. We did the usual today. Practice drill, music, and marching. But we did have a little party and a bunch of people brought good food and everyone just hung out and relaxed. And we finally know what song we're playing when we're marching which is "Stiletto" and it's such an awesome song. It brings lots of energy and it's positive song. But we have a lot of work to do on it, but that's okay because it's only the fourth day that most people got the music and I know we'll sound great. The drill for the half time show is memorized, all we need is a few tweaks and adjustments and that's what Tuesday Night Rehearsals is for! To practice drill, music, and marching some more. We watched some videos of other bands doing drill and marching, and we had our opinions. Since they were either good or bad, we want people to see us and we want them to give us a good impression of, "Wow, the Torrington High School Marching Band is really awesome!" So, we have a lot work to work on still. We still need to march in step and have good horn angles or else it just looks sloppy to people who watch us. Overall, I personally think marching is so fun. That's pretty much what I look forward to most of the time when I'm doing marching band. I noticed every blog entry I have written about band camp at least has something about being tired, which I am right now. And again, it's all worth it. Thank you everyone for good times at band camp. Here's to the future of the Torrington High School Marching Band 2009-2010. Let's go, band!

My Freshman Year in Band - Band Camp August 20, 2009

Today was such an exciting day at Band Camp. I started something new as Mr. S said! Haha, I got really pumped to just be in band, and the drill before the song "Midnight Special" I ran down the line to give people high fives. It just gives me a lot of energy and to see everyone being happy to be in band. I'm so proud to be joining the band this year. There is really awesome people and they're so nice and about everyone is committed. The flute section for this year are just the best people to be playing the same instrument with, we came up with this plan and it didn't really work out that well, but we showed the band that flutes aren't weak. I never knew marching had to be so exact. You have to stay align with everyone, have a good posture, make sure your instruments are in the right positions, and you really have to make sure you're marching right. You have to roll your feet and make sure you're stepping the same as everyone else. The way you march and horn positions are very noticeable to judges and band directors and if everything is out of place, it's shown as sloppy. Also, today while we were doing parade lapses we had to repeat At the Ready, Detail, and Attention about 3 times because we aren't suppose to move when we're at attention. Mr. S and probably the students want the people who are watching us to be like, "Man, the Torrington High School Marching Band is good!" As Mr. S says, everywhere we go at least one person has seen us for the first time and first impressions are deadly. Since that saying ever went in my head, I just have to make sure everything is turning out good and everyone is doing their job correctly. We represent the Torrington High School wherever we go, and that's a big job. Everyone keeps getting better and better everyday and I am so proud to be part of this band. I can't believe band camp is almost over, it's so much fun. But thank God that band is a class and there's also Tuesday Night Rehearsals. The Band Camp party is tomorrow and students are bringing things, so I'm making sweet cupcakes! I hope rain doesn't ruin the last day of Band Camp.

My Freshman Year in Band - Band Camp August 19,2009

My third blog entry:

A long day, but we did a lot in 8 hours! We learned half of the drill that we're going to be doing for the half time show during football season and we went over half time music and played it, and we also marched together and the drumline played the new, amazing cadence. It was very hot today when we were learning the drill, but everyone made it, and then it started getting cooler, so everything was fine. Good thing everyone memorizes what to do, we didn't have any trouble really with anything except for the half time music. But that's understandable because people haven't really touched their instruments all summer and we forget things. But that's alright. I'm pretty exhausted from today, but more practicing and learning tomorrow!

My Freshman Year in Band - Band Camp August 18, 2009

My second blog!

I'm so exhausted, but it's a good exhausted. And I'm exhausted from Band Camp! We learned how to march today and start building strong calf muscles. We went over Detail, Attention, Horns Up/Down, Marking Time, Forward Marching, Backwards Marching, Slides, and Box Drill. That's a lot to learn in one day, but thank God that the seniors were there to help us and make sure we're doing things right since they know what they're doing. They made it so much easier to get through the hot day, and they were super nice and they didn't give us trouble at all, well at least in my opinion. Since Mr. S is very picky and wants to make sure that everything is close to perfect, we had to repeat things over and over, but it's all worth it at the end. Like when we went over forward marching, backward marching, slides, and the box drill I had about 6 left feet and it took me about 3 tries to get everything down and right. When people see us marching, we don't want to just walk with sloppy posture and just overall not looking good. They want to see us with good posture, everything exact, and that horns are held accordingly to what's told. For example, since I'm a flute player, I have to play with my flute straight and parallel to the ground and it's not just me, it's every other flute player too. We had to keep our chins up since our feet weren't going anywhere from marching. And marching isn't just walking down a street and playing your instrument, you have to know commands and etc. and a good band teacher tops it off. Well, there was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. And everything was great, I love band camp and I'm stoked for the rest of the years of band in THS. We're going over drills and I think more marching for the rest. Today was a good day! By the way, I was kidding about the blood and tears.

This is Razina Rintharamy (Flute Class of 2013) and she will be blogging throughout the 2009-2010 School Year about "My Freshman Year in the THS Band".

My Freshman Year in the THS Band

This is Razina Rintharamy (Flute Class of 2013) and she will be blogging throughout the 2009-2010 School Year about "My Freshman Year in the THS Band".

August 9, 2009

"I am really excited and nervous for band. I'm very excited for Band Camp since I'm told by many that it's fun and even though I've been looking forward to Band Camp all summer, I am nervous about marching and how to do it correctly and if I mess up, would it be noticeable? Also since I'm a flute player, I have to play with my flute straight since I'm told it makes you look better, so that's going to be a little struggle for me. And if I'm feeling like I'm out of place, what should I do? Because one person can make a huge effect on a big group of people. I'm expecting numerous times around the track to practice for marching and numerous times of playing songs, so it sounds so close to perfect. I'm also expecting a lot of sweating while actually marching in a parade and getting tired easily. I'm excited for seeing friends I haven't seen and haven't played with in a year or so and I'm glad they're there, so if I'm having trouble with something, they can help me and make sure I'm doing it right. I am also nervous about marching in Washington D.C. next summer. It's unbelievable that the THS Band has been chosen for the bands in Connecticut to march in the parade. It kind of puts pressure on the new freshmen, which includes me, because we have to learn how to march properly, learn the music and actually memorize it instead of faking it. When you think about it, it's like "Whoa, how can I explain this?" Because I can't really describe about how I feel about just being a incoming freshmen and already getting ready to march in a parade viewed by more than 100,000 people. Well, Band Camp, Band throughout the school year, and just overall practice should lead me through my journey for THS Band. I am proud to become a band member and I'm looking forward to great memories that will last".

Band Camp - August 17-21, 2009

Band Camp will be held at THS the week of August 17-21, 2009.

Monday Aug 17 - 9:00am-3:00pm
Drumline Only

Tuesday Aug 18 - 9:00am-3:00pm
Freshman/New Students/Seniors/Drumline

Wed Aug 19 - 12:00pm-8:00pm
Everyone

Thursday Aug 20 - 12:00pm-8:00pm
Everyone

Friday Aug 21 - 12:00pm-8:00pm
Everyone

What to Bring
1. Instrument
2. Music
3. Sun block and hat
4. Water bottle - labeled with your name
5. Drill in a 3-ring binder labeled with your name
6. Food for Lunch or dinner breaks.

*Please wear comfortable clothing. *Sneakers w/socks only * - Proper marching technique cannot be achieved with sandals.

The goal by the end of band camp is to have all the drill on the field and by friday night - playing stiletto outside in parade block.

If you have any questions let me know

Preparation is the Key to Success!