Ms. Galligan's Music Class

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Drum Corps International: What does it look like?

In drum corps (pronounced "core"), not only are the participants playing at a high degree of ability, but they're also marching at a high degree of ability. Check out some of the following clips and links, and appreciate the amount of work they put into these performances!

Unfortunately, due to copyright laws, only snippets of shows are typically available on YouTube.

Phantom Regiment - "Spartacus" (2008 - World Champions)
Simulated violence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0cNHm2gCgk

Cavaliers - "Secret Society" (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrwlQpUHMs0

Madison Scouts - "Corps of Brothers - 75 Years of Survival" (2013)
This is a rehearsal run in 2 parts, with lots of drum cam angles since it's a Vic Firth sponsored video. (Vic Firth is a percussion company.)
Part 1:

Part 2 includes simulated warfare:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKJJgOQzu9Q

Bluecoats - "Brave New World" (2011)

Santa Clara Vanguard - "Les Miserables" (2013)

Full show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SDROg9jXR4

Star of Indiana - "Roman Images" (1991)

Drum Corps International: What is it?

School may be out, but that means that a whole new season is upon us: marching band season! Most people are familiar with high school and college marching bands (I'll post more about those in the future as we approach their season), but fewer people are familiar with Drum Corps International, or DCI.

What is DCI?
DCI is a nonprofit organization composed of many different drum and bugle corps (pronounced "core"), or competitive groups. (Don't call them marching bands - the participants will not be happy.) These groups are broken into two different categories, world class (higher level of competition, larger groups) and open class (lower level of competition, smaller groups).

Who participates?
Participants come from all over the world, including at least 15 countries. The average age of DCI participants is 19.4 years old, but there are some mid-teens and young adults as well. People 22 years and older cannot participate in DCI, but can participate in DCA, an all-age organization. As far as gender goes, all but two corps are co-ed, which means that boys and girls can participate. The Madison Scouts and the Cavaliers are males only.

DCI participants pay thousands of dollars to participate in this athletic arts activity. This money goes towards their equipment and/or instruments (provided by the corps so they're all the same brand and therefore most similar in sound quality across the group), uniforms, food, fuel for the buses they'll be living on during the two months of tour, and other fees required to run a drum corps.

People who participate are often in excellent physical shape, because drum corps is hard! Check out this short video on DCI athletes, in which scientists hook a percussionist from the Cavaliers up to a whole bunch of different machines to measure how hard his body works during the show. It's pretty mind-boggling. The subject's oxygen consumption (how much oxygen his body uses) was about as much as a well-trained marathon runner's...in the middle of a marathon. However, his heart rate looks more like someone who's running a far shorter distance (400 m or 800 m) at top speed.

What do they play?
Instrument-wise, there are only brass instruments (trumpet, baritone, euphonium, contrabass bugle - like a front-facing, shoulder-mounted tuba; in early 2014 it was ruled that trombones will also be allowed), percussion (including keyboard percussion, timpani, and auxiliary percussion in the front, what's called the pit), and color guard (who can use rifles, sabers, flags, and other equipment).

Music-wise, each corps pays composers and/or arrangers (as well as paying all copyright permissions fees) to create 11 1/2 minutes of music that fits their show's theme. Participants begin learning the music during weekend camps in the winter, after auditions. Corps also pay drill writers to create the forms on the field that the participants will practice during spring training (which begins in May). Drill continues to be tweaked all summer long, depending on judges' comments and show development.

There is a huge range of music performed in drum corps! I guarantee that if you attend a DCI show, you'll recognize at least one piece of music. It's not all band and orchestral arrangements, either - there's a lot of popular music as well. Corpsreps.com has a search function at the top of the page. See if any music you like has been used in drum corps!

Where can I see them around here?
Every summer, the season kicks off with the opening competition being displayed two days later in movie theaters around the country. This tour premiere will be shown on Monday, June 23, at 6:30 pm. It's a little over 2 hours long. Bay Park Cinema in Green Bay is our local movie theater that shows it. Tickets cost $15, which is a little bit cheaper than going to a live show.

The top 15 corps' performances in the preliminary round of World Championships will be broadcast live on Thursday, August 7.

There are a few shows in Wisconsin every summer. This year, those dates and locations are: Middleton (near Madison) on June 28, Cedarburg (near Milwaukee) on July 3, Whitewater on July 5, and La Crosse (hosting DCI regionals, which is a bigger deal than a "normal" show) on July 12. If you get the chance, it's a super-awesome face-melting event that's not to be missed!

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Spring Concert 2014: We All Have a Rhythm

The spring concert this year was an informance, in which the students informed the audience of things they learned through their performance. We started things out with our 4th and 5th grade bucket ensemble. These students worked very hard and gave up 8 lunch recesses to learn "Bucket Rock 101" by Mark Shelton (from his book Give Me a Bucket, Heritage Music Press, a division of The Lorenz Corporation; used with permission). They worked together to come up with a name, and they decided to call themselves The Big Bang.

The Big Bang

"Bucket Rock 101" by Mark Shelton (publisher information above)

K-5

"Fanga Alafia" (traditional Yoruba welcome song, from Nigeria)

Some of the 5th graders from The Big Bang volunteered to play buckets for our full school songs. They decided to call themselves The Bucket Rebels.

Kindergarten

"I Met a Bear"
“The Other Day I Met a Bear” (Sing along version)
Recording © 2005 by GIA Publications, Inc.
www.giamusic.com
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
"Charlie Over the Ocean"

1st Grade

"Doggie, Doggie"

"We Are Playing in the Forest"

2nd Grade

"The Water is Wide"

2nd and 3rd Grade

"Land of the Silver Birch" and "My Paddle's Keen and Bright"

3rd Grade

"Kookaburra"

4th Grade

"Li'l Liza Jane"

"Lady My"

5th Grade

"Goin' to Boston"

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"

K-5

"We All Have a Song"

By Heather Pierson, used with permission

Friday, June 6, 2014

Grandparents Day 2014

This year we celebrated Grandparents Day on March 21, right before spring break. This wasn't a music concert, but I was asked to teach the school two songs (an opener and a closer) for the program. Here are the songs the students sang for their special guests:

"Let's Go See Our Grandparents" (arranger unknown)

Friday, May 30, 2014

Music Notes: End of May 2014

Music Notes

May 2014

Greetings from the Lannoye music room!

I can’t believe the end of the year is here already! I’d like to thank everybody who was able to attend our spring informance. The students enjoyed sharing their learning with you, and The Big Bang was a big hit!

As far as new blog posts go, the International Jazz Day post has a bunch of jazz classics (including a few of the videos we watched in class to explore the genre) and the Jazz in Disney post has a variety of jazzy tunes from Disney movies (including The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, and Toy Story). A new post on contemporary composer Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choirs contains information about how the Virtual Choir idea began, the first four Virtual Choir videos (check them out if you’re not familiar with them!), and information on how to participate in Whitacre’s new Virtual Youth Choir. It’s not auditioned, it’s free, it’s for people 18 and under, and video submissions are due by June 8. Please share this information with any interested kids in your life! J

If you’re interested in checking out summer performances in the area, please refer to the list of events below. All events are free unless otherwise noted. As always, these will also be posted on the blog (you can click on the “Music Notes” label on the right side of the screen to find it if it gets buried behind subsequent posts) with live links for more information.

Sunday, June 22 7 pm Pulaski Area Community Band Concert in the Park

Shippy Park (Pulaski)

Thursday, June 26 7 pm PHS Concert on the Concourse

PHS Concourse

Sunday, June 29 7 pm Red Raider Jazz Concert in the Park

Shippy Park (Pulaski)

July 17 - 20 Varies Pulaski Polka Days

Fee varies: Thurs. $2, Fri. and Sat. $10, Sun. free

Sunday, July 20 11 am Pulaski Polka Days Parade

PCMS to polka grounds

Sunday, July 27 7 pm Pulaski Area Community Band Concert in the Park

Shippy Park (Pulaski)

Saturday, August 9 11 am Badger Band, Pulaski Band, and Seymour Band

World’s Largest Hamburger Parade

(Part of Seymour’s Hamburger Festival)

Bands will also play after parade until 3 pm

On Main Street in Seymour

Sunday, August 17 7 pm Pulaski Area Community Band Concert in the Park

Shippy Park (Pulaski)

As for what we’ve been doing in the Lannoye music room, here’s your monthly glance by grade:

The kindergarteners are impressive in their Rhythm Band chart playing! We’ve moved to the point where I just stand back and watch them instead of helping them track on the SMART Board. They’re going to finish out the year with Camille Saint-Saёns’ Carnival of the Animals and a Music Share Day (Monday, June 2 for Mrs. Babiarz’s class, and Wednesday, June 4 for Mrs. Hoverson’s class).

The 1^st graders are playing singing games and practicing playing keyboard percussion instruments (with so, mi, and la) while reading music to finish out the year. Their Music Share Days will be on Monday, June 2 (last name A-G), and Wednesday, June 4 (last name H-W).

The 2^nd graders learned and reviewed AB and ABA form, and they also tied in their prior knowledge of verse/refrain from earlier this year. Their Music Share Day will be on Wednesday, June 4.

The 3^rd graders are composing and reviewing their note reading skills to close out their year. Their Music Share Day will be on Monday, June 2.

The 4^th graders are composing rhythm patterns and will be watching Mr. Bach Comes to Call to build their knowledge of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Their music share day will be on Thursday, June 5.

The 5^th graders are leaving us! I’m excited for all of them and their future in music, whether they’re going to be in band, choir, or general music next year. A really neat opportunity came about for me this month, since I’m also certified to teach instrumental music and I’m teaching part time this year. I was able to help with 5^th grade instrument fittings at PCMS in mid-May on one of my non-Lannoye days. I thought it was really awesome to be able to see some of my students in a different musical light! I’m very excited for all of their futures, and I’m looking forward to attending their performances next year. As for the present, the 5^th graders are composing rhythm patterns and will be watching Beethoven Lives Upstairs to build their knowledge of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Their Music Share Day will be on Thursday, June 5.

Information will be coming home later this week about each grade’s Music Share Day.

At this point in time, I’m planning on updating the blog a bit this summer. Feel free to explore the current posts and I’ll try to surprise you with a few more!

If your child is looking for songs to sing, rhythms to explore, or music activities to do online, please feel free to email me for suggestions!

Finally, I’d like to thank you all for welcoming me into the Lannoye family. It’s been a great first year, and I’m looking forward to the future. J

Happy summer!

Ms. Corinne Galligan
(920) 822-0433
cmgalligan@pulaskischools.org
lannoyemusic.blogspot.com

Friday, May 23, 2014

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choirs

DRUM Card Opportunity: Using complete sentences and proper grammar, share your reaction to Eric Whitacre's use of technology.

Ideas: Is this a game-changer for contemporary (modern) composers? What do you think past composers could have done if they'd had this technology at their fingertips? What do you think the future holds for classical composers and technology? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Eric Whitacre, composer, 1970 - present

Technology is an amazing thing. When composer Eric Whitacre saw a YouTube video that one of his fans uploaded of herself singing one of his songs, he was inspired to create a "virtual choir." (In this context, "virtual" means existing on computers or the internet. The choir didn't actually get together - individuals sang along to a karaoke-like video and submitted videos of themselves doing so. Then the videos were edited together and the audio was combined to create a "virtual" choir.) 185 singers from 12 countries submitted videos of themselves singing "Lux Aurumque," and a whole bunch of video editing later, this was the result:

Virtual Choir was such a raging success that Whitacre decided to do it again. This time, 2,052 people from 58 countries sang "Sleep."

What came next? Well, VC 3, of course! 3,746 videos from 73 countries were submitted, and "Water Night" was the next virtual choir hit.

Last year, Virtual Choir 4 performed "Fly to Paradise." This video contains 8,409 videos of 5,905 singers in 101 countries. (Imagine how much more editing that video took compared to VC 1!)

Now it's time for something new. Eric Whitacre is doing a Virtual Youth Choir for anyone in the world who is 18 or younger. CLICK HERE if you're interested in becoming a part of it! Videos must be submitted by Sunday, June 8, 2014.

Whitacre is partnering with UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund), which provides long-term assistance to mothers and children in developing countries. They are joining together to create a special Virtual Youth Choir film that will be premiered at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games (and be broadcast to a global audience at the same time).

Here's Eric Whitacre's introduction to this project: