Rare Brass Band Videos

http://www.brassbandtube.com/

This is a link one of the brass band members sent out with a bunch of rare video footage of brass bands, like the Black Dyke Mills Band and Grimethorpe from the UK. It's called Brass Band Tube, and is supposed to be like youtube. Go ahead, snoop around! I know I'm going to!

Worst Wednesday!

I won the Worst Wednesday competition! Woo Whoo!!
I was browsing on youtube a while back, and searched for "worst brass music" or something along those lines, and ended up finding this cartoon and really bad recording of "Space Odessy 2001" with brass and percussion represented in the cartoon ensemble. I was laughing when I saw it, and thought that even though it sounds as if there could be flutes or violins in the recording at the end, I was going to show it anyway. It turned out to be a hit! The whole class was busting a gut the entire time. We even passed around the tissues! The recording was so horrible, and the cartoon was so funny that people loved it.
I did have some good competition though. Dan brought in this recording of a young brass sextet that performed in a festival or something, and sounded terrible. It was LONG too, so it was bad and lasted a long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmzlIIQlio

Weirdest Wednesday

For Weirdest Wednesday, all I had prepared to play for the class was a J. J. Johnson and Kai Winding duet with rhythm section called "Going, Going, Gong." I had forgotten to sync my ipod the night before, so I didn't have what I wanted to play on it. Even if I had brought what I wanted to bring, it probably would've gotten disqualified due to the fact that it was not a brass ensemble. It was a recording of trombone and electronics, and this piece called "Hydra" which represents the Ancient Greek water monster with 3 heads. It is very unmusical (in my opinion), and displays a lot of strange methods of distorting sounds of water, and of the trombone. At one point, I believe the trombone is playing with his bell just sitting on the surface of the water, so it causes bubbles in his playing. I am trying to figure out how to get my itunes music transferred over to my blog, but so far I have been unsuccessful. Once I figure it out, I will come back and edit all of the posts that are supposed to have music links.

Loudest Wednesday

For the loudest brass ensemble music competition, I decided to submit a performance of the March from "The Pines of Rome" played by the Black Dyke Mills band and massed bands. It starts out very quiet, to the point where I couldn't even hear it on my laptop speakers at full volume. As the piece goes on, it keeps growing and growing until the very end, where there is a HUGE finale that gave me goosebumps and that natural high or rush feeling when I heard it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hirLZ-DLf4



I was going to also submit a movement of the "Mass for Mass Trombones," which is an ensemble of 77 trombones performing in a cathedral with approximately 11 different choirs spread out around the cathedral in different directions with a soloist in the center. I didn't think it was as loud as the "Pines of Rome," but it has its moments. I tried loading it onto the blog from my itunes, but I can't figure out how to get it onto here.

Loudest Competition

Well, I didn't win the loudest brass ensemble competition, but I did come in 3rd. I gotta say... the 24 sousaphones in a boomy gym were definitely loud. Congrats to Pat.


My listening was the Black Dyke Mills Band along with massed bands playing the March from "Pines of Rome." It was very impressive, and even though it didn't reach as many decibels as I would have liked, it would have been EXTREMELY impressive to see it live.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hirLZ-DLf4