[Storm]

I know you're out there... Bandies of the world, unite! I officially claim this topic for use only by band geeks, former band geeks and aspiring band geeks, solely for the purpose of doing what band geeks do best. I'll start this off by introducing myself for those that don't know me.

I'm Storm (duh), dubbed Poodle by Asa, and I'm a member of a drumline in the San Jose Bay Area, California. I've done percussion ensemble and have played in a steel pan band, and I hope to be on marching tenor toms next season. 2007 was my rookie year.

And just for grins, here's a smiley that fits me SO WELL (thanks, Spindrifter):
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The universe is really interesting. It's also screwed up, but that's what makes it so interesting.

Miho's Young Padawan

Dubbed "Poodle" by Asa and "Teh Stormy Poodle" by Ponce

[Allicat]

Does this count for choir geeks too? *puppy eyes*
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He who does not eat cheese will go mad. ~ French proverb.

Keeper of the fallen leaves. 'Cos they're still pretty.

[Spindrifter]

My name is Spindrifter, and I am an ex-band geek.

(Everyone: "Hi, Spindrifter.")

I was a founding member of my school's current marching band, and like Storm I'm a drummer, though I haven't done it much since I left two years ago. And I once marched by light of flashlight and cellphone, because the sun was not up yet. Oh, it is a terrible thing, band geekery...



And yes, Alli, choral geeks count to a certain extent, though you guys don't march (maybe you should.)

[Maeniel]

I played the violin for five years and the flute for seven. I was first chair my last two years.
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Keeper of Zaebos' and Jormand's powers.

[Lani]

Yay for band geeks, yay!

I've played the piano for about 14 years, and somehow got inducted into my college's symphonic band as a mallet percussionist. And absolutely fell in love with it. The school's best percussion major gave me a semester's worth of lessons (probably because he couldn't stand the racket I was making on the xylophone), and off I went. And I can't stop. Its like I'm addicted.

Rookie year was 2005, and I've gone on to do many other things. I play the timpani now (which is now my favorite)... and this past semester for Band we had so many pieces that needed auxiliary instruments (guiro, vibroslap, cabasa, and many others) that I ended up having to find volunteers and giving lessons in the back of the band room during rehearsals.

Mostly I play in the orchestra now, though... played triangle/suspended/crash cymbal for "The Pirates of Penzance." That was fun.
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Wherever you go, there you are.

I now posses a Bachelor of Science in secondary education. I am excited.

[Storm]

Okay, amendment: ORCHESTRAL AND CHORAL MUSICIANS WELCOME TOO.

Band geekism is so fun...

Anyone done Candide? I did triangle for that one. And Lani, I'm also a mallet percussionist; I'm doing a video documentary on percussion for a class, and I'm going to be playing marimba. My director's really impressed because it's only my rookie year and already I know all the mallet warmups, all the drumline warmups and cadences, and both this year's show and last year's show, and mallet runs from the past four years' shows as well. And I can do double mallets.

Question: if a mallet percussionist can play with two mallets in each hand, is it possible to do three as well?
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The universe is really interesting. It's also screwed up, but that's what makes it so interesting.

Miho's Young Padawan

Dubbed "Poodle" by Asa and "Teh Stormy Poodle" by Ponce

[Allicat]

Yay! Music geekery! I tried with the oboe a few years back, but couldn't get into it. My first love is singing. I'm an alto in choir, although I can sing tenor if I so choose (I'm a girl so tenor shouldn't really be easy )
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He who does not eat cheese will go mad. ~ French proverb.

Keeper of the fallen leaves. 'Cos they're still pretty.

[Tomato]

I was a part of our high school drumline, and did a bit of timpani playing back in the day.

Never went to band-camp though :O


Nope, not once :0
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:: I'm six foot four, an all-American guy, and handsome and talented as well! ::

[Lani]

3 mallets per hand...? Hmm... that has interesting possibilities, although I'm not sure how flexible the hands could be. With two, it's (relatively) easy to change interval spacing, but with 3... I dunno. You could maybe set them and just play parallels..


And you picked up a lot in your Rookie year... I just started learning double mallets. And it hurts a lot at first.
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Wherever you go, there you are.

I now posses a Bachelor of Science in secondary education. I am excited.

[Lithrath]

I've seen a mallet player with three per hand, but as Lani mentioned it looked and sounded like they were playing parallels. It was mystifying.

As for my geekery...I be an ex-String bean..."ex" only because I haven't really played for the past two years. Before that seven years of violin with one year shared on viola.
The viola playing was pure chance; in my senior year there were no rfreshmen violas, so my teacher gave out the all call for people who wanted to learn it and get an extra credit. Alto clef is weird.
Other instruments...er...the bodhrain and penny whistle with a local celtic dance a few years ago. I still have my whistle but I was borrowing the drum.

And no camp...well, the choirs in middle school went on "weekend retreats" so I've done a few of those. Especially for chamber choir...every fourth weekend we were gone -.-+
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Lithrath=Lisa according to Asa, though I respond to Lithy as well
Keeper of Tengu's boots and Alyss' sniffles

[Allicat]

Never went to a camp as such, but we did go on tour to Austria and Venice. We sang in St. Marks Cathedral and I was underawed. I won't go into why exactly now, unless you really want to know, suffice to say that the Salzburg Cathedral (for anyone who doesn't know, Salzburg is where Mozart lived) was far nicer and had the most amazing acoustics. I swear, the tones continued for a full five minutes (or at least that's what it seemed like)!
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He who does not eat cheese will go mad. ~ French proverb.

Keeper of the fallen leaves. 'Cos they're still pretty.

[Storm]

Yeah, parallels would be easiest with triple mallets. Let's just say that I'm a natural musician. How 'bout we list off all instruments that we play? Percussionists: cymbals, tamtam, concert bass durm, pep-band instruments (such as cowbell, sorry ) and chimes don't count.

I play the: violin, cello, a little viola (alto clef is REALLY screwey... I have to play a cello solo part entirely in it, and it effing MOVES!), contrabasso (standup bass), bass guitar, drum kit, quad toms, snare, marimba, xylophone and vibes (they all take different techniques, the way my band director has us play), piano, I sing soprano, clarinet, enough trumpet to play the Star Spangled Banner passably well, and a decent amount of "lap harp."
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The universe is really interesting. It's also screwed up, but that's what makes it so interesting.

Miho's Young Padawan

Dubbed "Poodle" by Asa and "Teh Stormy Poodle" by Ponce

[Virturealm]

Oho, this topic is going to induce a rant.

Band at my school was amazing. Unnaturally massive talent pool, replicated through sheer force of tradition (*cough* it's a cult) that can't be duplicated or manufactured anywhere else. (I can praise it so highly because I wasn't anywhere near the top of it) The acquaintances I made there are essentially what kept me sane through high school.

Anyway, as said, I happened to attend one of the top band schools in the state. Roughly one out of every four students was in the band (awesome because the the whole bando stereotype, geeks on the fringes, not true here), totaling 200+ people, with only two staff members. That made marching season a challenge still, because there wasn't the time or money to get the appearances done well, and we pretty much rode in to state contests every year on the quality of the music alone. It felt naughty donkey to have the theme of the show every year to be "whatever music we feel like playing this time" while everyone else is doing musicals and such with over the top props and effects. Naturally we were kings in the concert season but no one ever seems to care about that...

I happened to be yet another mallet percussionist, mostly because I didn't have the skills (or later on, the nerve) to compete for the marching drum slots, and probably didn't have the endurance to march anyway. Unfortunately, I was forced to play the dinky bell set every year, which I considered humiliating most of the time, even though it was a good decision by the directors (bells = very loud and piercing, and I was the one malleter who could be counted on to never lose the tempo AND had the best sense of volume) So I played for three years but never ended up learning the fancy stuff (double sticking etc) because I was regulated to the easiest/most important keyboard. I did get into the top concert band senior year though, on the basic drum audition (which surprised everyone), and that was awesome and enough of an accomplishment for me to not care about the rest.

Afterthought: and the band camp was on an island. How awesome is that? (I suppose the cult tactics work best when you can't escape)

[Tamir]

[horsin'around]

Do fife&drum choirs count? *puppy eyes to rival Allicat's*
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Fall down seven times, get up eight. --Japanese Proverb

If you fight for your limitations, you get to keep them.

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Ponce