#11 Dealing with Braces
Our guests today
Brenda Bressler - Huron School District; New Boston, Michigan
Nicole Rubis - Rocky Top Middle School; Thornton, Colorado
Brian Mahler - East Sac County Middle School; Sac City, Iowa
Aaron Carnahan - Charter School; Aurora, Colorado
Beginning Band Pick of the Week
On the Edge of the Sword by David Shaffer
Published by Barnhouse
Listen/buy - https://tinyurl.com/ydfjke9m
#10 Randall Standridge - The Man, the Myth, the Legend!
Show Notes
Randall’s Bio - https://tinyurl.com/y87cqcq5
Randall’s Epic TicTok collection - https://tinyurl.com/ycuoaeas
Randall’s Favorite Beginning Band Piece - https://tinyurl.com/y7eur42c
Beginning Band Pick of the Week
Starfire Fanfare - Randall Standridge
Published by Randall Standridge Music, LLC
Listen/Buy - https://tinyurl.com/y9899pkg
#9 Starting Oboe Players with Sammy Charriez
Full Biography - Click here
Oboe Tips - Click here
Oboe Equipment - Click here
Oboe Links - Click here
Her favorite beginning band piece “Majestica” by Balmages- https://tinyurl.com/yca7u76o
Another favorite “Along the Crystal Coast” by Oare - https://tinyurl.com/yd5jcnuq
Sammy’s Contact info - Samantha.Charriez@lcps.org
Beginning Band Pick of the Week
Dark Adventure by Ralph Ford
Published by Alfred
Link to Listen/Buy - https://tinyurl.com/qw36ljj
#8 Success at small schools part 2
Karen Doyle’s Full Bio - Click here
Mindy Hooker’s Full Bio - Click here
Study of how various factors effect festival ratings - https://bit.ly/2WqELuA
Guest’s Favorite Beginning Band Pieces
Procession of the Cyborgs by Wlliams - https://bit.ly/2SEdfZq
Dragons of the Ancient Court by Williams - https://bit.ly/3fqFW5J
Let it Rock by Story - https://bit.ly/2WrTYeM
Mystic Dance by Sweeney - https://bit.ly/2YBRf53
Beginning Band Pick of the Week
The Streets of Madrid by John Moss
Published by Hal Leonard
Buy/Listen here - https://bit.ly/3b4VtEW
#7 Success at small schools part 1
Karen Doyle’s Full Bio - Click here
Mindy Hooker’s Full Bio - Click here
Study of how various factors effect festival ratings - https://bit.ly/2WqELuA
Guest’s Favorite Beginning Band Pieces
Procession of the Cyborgs by Wlliams - https://bit.ly/2SEdfZq
Dragons of the Ancient Court by Williams - https://bit.ly/3fqFW5J
Let it Rock by Story - https://bit.ly/2WrTYeM
Mystic Dance by Sweeney - https://bit.ly/2YBRf53
Beginning Band Pick of the Week
The Streets of Madrid by John Moss
Published by Hal Leonard
Buy/Listen here - https://bit.ly/3b4VtEW
#6 Recruiting During Quarantine
We’ve set up a google voicemail box and we’d like people to call in with their stories on how the pandemic has effected them and/or their students. We’d also like to hear what you have been doing to continue instruction with your students. Call (540) 324-8186.
My recruitment video - https://bit.ly/3bT7YUP
Scott Lang’s instrument video - https://bit.ly/2xQ71Ok
Pick of the Week
Dark Ride by Randall Standridge
Published by FJH Music Company
Listen/Buy - https://bit.ly/39zAolq
What mic should you use for online teaching?
Products
Dynamic Mics vs Condensor Mics
Dynamic mics are really good at rejecting sound. This is great if you have a noisy appliance, kids, dogs barking in your neighborhood, lawnmower, cars passing outside. The only downside is that you need to be pretty close to the mic to pick you up. But a good pro is that dynamic mics have a good “proximity effect” which means the closer you get to it, the more bassey your voice sounds.
Condenser mics are great at picking up lots of detail and really quite dynamics. This is great if you have a large instrument like marimba/piano but not so great for voice if your room isn’t acoustically treated because it will pick up a lot of reflections off the wall and every little sound all around you.
How to connect to a computer?
For most people working at home, I would recommend a USB mic. This is the simplest setup option and the most worry free. If you’re trying to do a multi-mic setup, you’re going to need an audio interface because you can’t run multiple usb mics at the same time. If this is the case, I would do a saffire 2i2 for a 2 mic setup and a saffire 18i8 for a 4 mic setup. There are also ways to use a Zoom H4n/H5/H6 for multi mic setups as well, but that’s outside of the scope of this video.
Dynamic mics
For most people, the Samson Q2U is the best bang for the buck. For 50 dollars you get the usb cable, desktop stand, a nice mic with an on/off switch. And some nice extras like the ability to plug in headphones in the back and hear what’s coming through the mic. It also has XLR if you want to connect it to a soundboard or usb interface as well.
Condensor mics
There are a wide option of good condenser mics. Just be aware that these only sound as good as your room, so try to record in a carpeted space, or if you don’t need video, you can record in a walk in closet or put a comforter over your head for the best sound isolation.
Small and cheap, the Samson Go Mic (30) is a good choice on a budget. It will get you better sound than your computer. The Blue Snowball (50) is also very popular and will do a decent job. If you want something more substantial, the Samson G-Track Pro offers a lot of features and is usually cheaper than the Blue Yeti Mic.
Multimic Using a Zoom Mic
If you have an H4n, H5, or H6 you can connect to your computer and use it as an audio interface. These have camera tripod mounts as well, so they can be easily mounted with someone you probably already have. The built in mics are condenser, but you can plug in a dynamic mic via XLR. You can have a dynamic mic on your desk for voice and the zoom pointed at an instrument and use all audio at once. This is a good cheap way to do a multi mic setup without buying an audio interface.
Blanket Booth - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VRlubjTUBo
#5 Building your band culture with Susan Waters
Show Notes
Susan’s Full Bio - https://bit.ly/2WyCVtj
Oliver Band Facebook Page - https://bit.ly/2xfJzKi
Popcorn Prelude by Mike Hannickel - https://bit.ly/2wvEM7u
Beginning Band Pick of the Week
Byzantine Dances by Carol Brittin Chambers
Published by Excelcia Music Publishing in 2018
This piece is fast paced and fun. It explores the Byzantine Scale so there are a healthy amount of accidentals. There are a lot of fun ornamental grace notes and trills as well. In the B section, we breakdown into a slower more seductive dance with a solo saxophone part. This is accompanied by the band snapping their fingers to give it a characteristic feel. In the end we recap the material from the beginning with a little bit of a round and a big finish.
Trumpet 1 goes up to D in the staff and trumpet 2 only goes to B natural in the staff. Horns go up to C in the staff a few times, but spend most of the time in their comfortable range. Also of note, there is only 1 trombone part and it goes up to Eb above the staff quite a few times. There is a healthy amount of percussion parts, but you’re going to want to make sure you have a really confident player on tambourine as it’s the most important percussion part in the faster sections of the music
Link to Listen/Buy - https://bit.ly/3bcHwFA
#4 Taming the Beginning Clarinet with Catina Sweedy
Show notes
X-Ray of Clarinet Tonguing - http://bit.ly/2U0K4PU
Clarinet Youtube Playlist - http://bit.ly/2W9k6fV
Rubank Duet Book - https://amzn.to/2U2G5lY
Poly Crystal Mouthpiece - http://bit.ly/2W22lPH
Vandoren M30 Mouthpiece - https://amzn.to/3cR6xYr
The Clarinet Project - https://www.theclarinetproject.com/
Beginning Band Pick of the Week
Spanish Rose by Joseph Compello
Published by Carl Fischer
Amazing for showing off your clarinet section!
There are 2 clarinet parts. Neither go over the break and the parts are mostly the same, there are just splits here and there for harmony. The range for them is low A to Bb in the staff.
There are 2 trumpet parts. The first part goes up to A and the second part only goes to G in the staff. These parts are split into harmony most of the piece. The horn part is very accessible and only goes to G in the staff as well
The low brass parts only range from low Ab to F.
Link to Buy/Listen - http://bit.ly/2TU5EWq
Listen to full version - http://bit.ly/2WcDM2E
#3 Recruitment Strategies for the 21st Century
Links in this Episode
Habits of a Successful Middle School Band - https://amzn.to/2wUL9B3
PDF of 5th Grade Flier - Click here
My cringy Musica.ly Video - http://bit.ly/38cmUey
My School’s Instagram - http://instagram.com/shelburneband
Susan Waters’ program at Oliver Middle School - https://www.facebook.com/OliverMiddleSchoolBand/
Beginning Band Pick of the Week
Tuba in Cuba by Victor Lopez
Published by Alfred
Amazing at recruiting tuba players!
Put them front and center for this one!
Trumpets go up to C in the staff, but only a couple times
Clarinets don’t go over the break
1 part per instrument
Link to Listen/Buy - http://bit.ly/2T6UeQ2
#2 Why Won’t My Kids Play Mallets?
Links in this episode
Musser 4.3 Kelon Marimba (recommended) - http://bit.ly/38MeuM4
Yamaha Low A Padouk Marimba (cheaper) - http://bit.ly/38Ov0ev
Basic Yamaha Vibraphone (non graduated) - http://bit.ly/2VaeYYz
Slide with the percussion rotation - Click Here
Rudiment PDF - Click Here
Beginning Band Pick of the Week
Creepy Crawlies by Michael Story
Published by Belwin Mills (Alfred)
Trumpet and clarinet go to Bb in the staff
The piece uses the first 6 notes of the C minor scale for all instruments.
Link to buy/listen - http://bit.ly/2wDkyZh
An Example of our percussion rotation system
#1 Welcome and Introductions!
Welcome to the Flying Baton! This is a beginning band podcast made by Charlie Nesmith, a 13 year educator in the Shenandoah Valley of Virignia.
Links from the episode
http://shelburneband.com
Beginning Band Pick of the Week
And it Begins - By Haley Woodrow
Link to buy/listen
Things I like
- The low brass has the main melody!
- There are good use of accidentals
- there are nice contrasts of style and articulation
- awesome snare drum part
- The euphonium and bassoon parts are different than the trombone
Special Considerations
- Clarinet 1 goes to C above the staff
- Clarinet 2 plays B in the staff (over the break) a lot
- Trumpet 1 goes to E in the staff
- There are two trombone parts, the 1st part goes to D above the staff.
- you MUST have a really good snare drum player. In fact, you may have to train a backup just in case