My Freshman Year in the THS Band - Parades!

First thing to write about, the football games, half time show, and Tuesday Night Rehearsals. The football games are just so fun. We're pretty much louder than the cheerleaders when it comes to chanting and cheering in the stands and we all have a good time. It's pretty much one of the most fun things I do. You can dance to the music and get really pumped. It's such a thrill, I wish there were more football games or some other sports game we can play at because we just love being supportive and showing off our PRIDE, RESPECT, & TRADITION for our school. I really don't care if my friends or someone else makes fun of our uniform and our top hats and plumes. When I'm in uniform, I'm just the happiest girl. I'm proud to show that I represent and play in the Torrington High School Marching Band. Also, you stand out in crowds of people when you're in uniform at games and I love when people like my friends say that we did a great job and actually took the time to watch the half time show. The half time show gets me pumped too because all eyes are on the band when we get announced and start playing. The announcer says something like please welcome the Torrington High School Marching Band, what parades or events we're doing and that we're representing Connecticut in the July 4th 2010 parade in Washington D.C. in the summer. Drill isn't too bad. Rehearsals are fun and you can do so much in just an hour or so. For the first football game, we couldn't do the whole half time show because we weren't ready. If we could all cooperate a little better, we would look so good. I'm not saying we look and sound bad. We're good enough to perform in front of a crowd and for them to think we're doing well and we have mistakes here and there, but no one's perfect. Also, we only rehearse every Tuesday and I wish we had rehearsals Tuesday and Thursday or even everyday if that could happen. But now, we have the whole show down and we look pretty good. Just again, we have some work to do and it's sad how rehearsal is only a little over an hour now.
Second thing, parades. Sadly, we didn't march in the Bristol Mums Parade because the weather was just horrible and it was wet and raining outside, so there was no way we were going to march in that weather and risk getting sick and ruining our instruments and uniforms. But if we did march that parade, I know we would've done a great job. And for the Big E. Oh boy, was that a fun day. A lot of great times. Marching for the Big E is not bad at all. The route is easy and there's always people watching you with their cameras or are cheering for you. The bands there are really nice and they support us too. There was also an officer there who had done band and etc. and he was marching with us and Mr. S told us that he said that we were the best band he's seen. That's just great to hear, I love when we get compliments for what we're doing. It was a tad hot and everyone was all sweaty, but thank God we had time to go eat and go hang around after we marched. That was a really great day. The North Adams Parade is probably the most tiring parade, honestly. But you can deal with it, just push yourself a little and that's all. Nobody has ever drowned from their sweat. It's competition and that's understandable for it to be tiring. We played 4 times passed the judges without doing band horns down, but we still sounded good. We marched 2 miles playing and marching, and wow drumline must have been really tired. Most important things to focus on while we're marching: feet, posture, horn angles. Marching is honestly not hard, at all. As long as we tried our hardest, no one's going to be happier than Mr. S.
And last, but not least. Concert band. I do like the music. We still have a lot to work on and then our first concert is in December, but we still have a lot of time to practice and go over things. The music is definitely harder, but hey, that's high school for you. Practice makes perfect.

My Freshman Year in the THS Band! - 1st Football Game

Okay, so I haven't been writing blogs lately but band honestly always makes my day better and it's the best part of the day. We have a football game to perform at this Friday and I'm insanely excited and kind of nervous. I'm not totally nervous because I think I know what I'm suppose to be doing, so there won't be much problems. What I'm bummed about is that we don't have the drill down for the songs Midnight Special and Hey Pachuco for the half time show at the football game, so we're just going to stand and then scatter and then get into some form of an arch. We kind of did crappy today. I don't know how people feel about this Friday, I know with all the excitement or being nervous and etc. and then letting that energy out during our time, we can pull it off. I just know we will do good even though we don't have everything down. I've noticed that whenever we're marching or just playing I don't think about anything but marching. I tested myself tonight, and I just blocked everything out of my head and focused on what I was doing at the present time. Marching is like a stress reliever and worry blocker to me, and I'm so glad to be in the Torrington High School Marching Band. I know I've said that like a million times before, but it's the truth. I'm stoked for Friday, what else could I possibly say? OH, and we have a few parades coming up! I'm really nervous for those. I'm worried if I'm not in step or my flute angle is horrible or I'm not align with everyone. Pressure is put on you because you know there's going to be a lot of people watching you and everywhere we go, somebody has seen us for the first time. First impressions are deadly and everyone will be watching what we do. It's nerve wrecking. And I'm actually more nervous than excited for marching. Especially how I'm up front and towards the center of the front line and our shiny flutes will draw attention. I don't think we'll do horrible at all, I think we'll do great in my opinion. And like Mr. S said, if we don't win anything then that's our fault because we were too busy talking or not paying attention and we deserve it. Mr. S actually gives the best pep talks ever, in my opinion. Every time he talks, I just have to improve on what I'm doing and so does everyone else. I don't get how you cannot be proud of being a part of this band. If I could be in this band, the Torrington High School Marching Band, for the rest of my life and with the people in it now. I'd definitely do it.

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".