I had a nice month off..

I had a nice month off. During that time, I managed to practice a lot of rudiments, expose myself to new music, and relax. Hey, the CSO hired a new percussionist.

Mark Time, Mark!

Yesterday, I was in the Independence Day parade with the Wheaton Municipal Band. I played bass drum (I rather enjoy playing bass drum in that parade, having done so for the past few years) and tried to focus on something other than the weight of the drum and the pain in my back (ouch). So each time we stopped movement, I experimented with different ways to mark time. I originally learned how to march in the "high step" manner, meaning that your entire foot comes off the ground and comes back down, toe-first. This is difficult when you're carrying marching percussion instruments because those instruments will bounce around on the harness....and that's very painful. So usually, percussionists tend to "fake" marching and glide along, heel-to-toe.

Well, I realized that my body automatically seems to try and high-step when I mark time. I can't do the drum corps technique of just moving the toes...to me, that is more painful than high stepping. In order not to cause more pain, I just decided to stop moving my feet alltogether. It certainly is weird playing a Sousa march, standing up, without marching, but my knees certain appreciate it more.

Happy New Year - 2006

Happy New Year! I'm a bit late and things have been hectic, but I'm going to try and write more notes here this year.