This One Time At Band Camp... Season 3, Episode 1

Heeeeeeellllllllllllllloooooooooo, everyone!  Did you miss me?  I am sure you all had fantastic summers.  I sure did.  But, I was definitely ready to get back to school and back to work!

This year, as you may recall, I decided to do some work with the Temple University Diamond Marching Band.  You know, these guys:

Well, working with a college marching band again means only one thing the week before classes start: Band Camp.  Having just finished camp, I cannot remember being so tired in my whole life.  To quote Michaelangelo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

 

"My legs hurt.  My arms hurt.  My spots hurt.  Even my bandana hurts."  That being said, being out in the heat, bells glinting in the sun, horns blaring, battery bouncing off the buildings, it finally felt like college!

There were some things that I experienced during band camp that were different from my marching band experience (all those years ago) that are worth mentioning.  

1) The TUDMB (Temple University Diamond Marching Band) stops on their toes instead of on their heels.  Their penultimate step is on the toes and the final step lands on the toes before both heels hit the ground.  The effect is that on a halt, the band changes height all together as their heels hit the ground.  Neat!   

2) After being given a marching command, the band shouts it back.  This is a great way to make sure the band heard and remembers the command, as well as giving a good indication of whether they will properly execute the move or if commands need to be repeated.

3) The TUDMB parade block is set up in two halves with the tubas and drumline in the middle.  Instead of having the back half of the band set in the same order as the front half (example: trombones, trumpets, clarinets, drumline/ tubas, trombones, trumpets, clarinets), they set the back half of the band in reverse order (example: trombones, trumpets, clarinets, drumline/ tubas, clarinets, trumpets, trombones).  This allows the band to turn around, march back the way it just came, without changing sound quality.

There were some amusing moments from band camp.

1) We ate our meals in the dining hall for the week.  Near the end of band camp, the general population of students started moving in, so we ended up eating at the same time as them.  One day, at lunch, we happened to see what could only be a freshman eating a piece of pizza wrapped around a very large bundle of French fries.  You know, that didn't quite do it justice.  Let me try again.  This student had taken a slice of pizza... check that... two slices of pizza, put a large handful of fries on top of each of them, folded each slice around the fries, tried to stuff the whole thing in his mouth, failed, tried again, failed again, used both hands, and succeeded.

 

2) One day, the band was out on the field learning drill.  The field we use is circled by a track.  While we were out there, the dance team came out to run laps around the track.  The band suffered from a noticeable lack of focus each time the dance team ran in front of them.

3) Friday was a particularly hot day.  And we were outside for the bulk of the day.  In the early afternoon, when there were no shadows to be found anywhere, the other TAs and I were wandering around, trying to find some way to cool down.  Cory (one of the other TAs) came to the soul-crushing realization that "it's hot everywhere."

There was one incident at band camp that really made me think about how I would handle it if I were to end up the director of a college band.  The night before the last day of camp, there was rumor of a party.  So, the morning after was a pretty rough rehearsal.  There were a number of band members who were faking their way through the playing and marching, and some who looked like they were going to fall out.  I am not sure how I would handle that.  Many of the band members are of the legal age to drink.  How can does a band director teach the balance between having fun and not letting it affect your responsibilities, while not coming across as condoning partying?  I am not sure there is a good answer to that question, but it is one I may have to wrestle with sometime in my future.

Dr. B. did have a great quote one day during band camp.  He remarked that the band obviously enjoyed performing together, but that they needed to start enjoying performing for other people.  What a keen insight!  

On a personal note, I started gardening this summer.  I planted tomatoes, purple bell peppers, serrano chili peppers, kirby cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, and an assortment of herbs.  One day, I was watering my garden and something seemed a little off.  I couldn't put my finger on it until I realized that someone stole my bell pepper plant.  Yes, you read that right.  They STOLE MY BELL PEPPER PLANT.  Seriously, who steals a plant?  They picked it up, pot and all, and walked away with it.  The only trace of it was one solitary pepper lying in the middle of the sidewalk.  That's it; stop the world, I want to get off.

Also, this happened:

 Dammit.

It has been brought to my attention that some of you do not get the reference in my weekly sign off.  At the end of all his transmissions, Captain Kirk would say, "Kirk, out."

So, as this is the end of my transmission for the week,

Future Dr. Mitch, out!

The Pilgrimage. Season 2, Episode 18

I know you were all super upset that there was no post at the end of last week.  I am sure you all cried your eyes out when you went looking for it and couldn't find it.  Here you go:

Well, I wanted to wait so I could include my road trip in the post.  So, here you go: a combination first year wrap up/ contrabassoon pilgrimage blog post!

I will start with the wrap up of the semester.  I had two final "things" due in the last week of the semester.  The first was in Measurement and Evaluation.  The "final exam" was a collaborative effort, on the part of the whole class, to create what the final exam would look like if we were the teacher of the course.  It was a neat, low-stress way to wrap up the semester.  Dr. B. also decided that we woudl have a pot luck that evening, so we could eat as we worked.  I made my Toasted Orzo Salad, which garnered some pretty great compliments.  It is my riff on pasta salad; the toasted orzo gives a nice, nutty flavor and the tahini-based dressing is non-perishable so it lasts longer (especially outside) than mayo-based dressings.  For all you cooks out there, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 box of orzo
1 large cucumber, diced
4-6 roma (plum) tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced
1/2 large red onion, finely diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 - 1 oz basil, cut into thin ribbons
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 can of chickpeas
7 - 8 oz (half a can/ jar) of tahini
salt
pepper
extra virgin olive oil
vegetable oil

Directions:

• Lightly oil a skillet with vegetable oil
• Toast the uncooked orzo in the skillet over low - medium low heat until golden brown.  Stir as needed.
• Let orzo cool.
• Cook orzo as directed on the package.
• Let cool.
• Combine orzo, cucumber, tomato, onion, garlic, basil, lemon zest, and chickpeas.
• Add tahini and lemon juice and mix until evenly distributed.
• If the dressing is too thick, thin with extra virgin olive oil.
• Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

The other thing I had pending was my final Statistics paper.  Just like the midterm paper, this paper was based on a provided set of research questions and an accompanying data set.  We were instructed to analyze the data and write up our findings as if it was a research paper for publication.  The data were very interesting.  They looked at the effectiveness of school-based support groups for sexual minority youth in stemming victimization of and negative mental health outcomes in that population.  Well, I started analyzing the data and the results just didn't look right.  The statistical tests showed that the school support groups had practically no significant effect (and the effect size of the very little significance was so small that it was negligible) on victimization and negative mental health outcomes of sexual minority youth.  I figured that this had to be a mistake.  I must have done the tests wrong.  I mean, how is it possible that these support groups have no effect?  Also, I figure that there was no way the professor would assign an assignment where there was no significance.  So, I ran the tests again... and again... and again.  And kept getting the same answer, so I wrote it up and submitted my paper.  Here is what the professor had to say:

"Great paper- everything is exactly on target."

Bam!

Well, everything was submitted and all that was left was to wait for grades to be published.

Who got straight As this semester?  This guy!

So, as the semester ended, graduation came upon us and I saw people walking around campus in their graduation regalia.  I was struck with the realization that all the doctoral robes I saw people wearing were the standard black-on-black set ups.  This one:

I thought doctoral robes were made in the color of your institution.  These black-on-black robes are so lackluster!  So, I did a little research.  It turns out that only certain institutions have designed "special regalia" for doctoral degrees.  All other schools use the standard, black-on-black, though there is the option to use dark blue velvet instead of black velvet.  My heart sank a little.  I want color!  But then, I stumbled across the list of colleges and universities that have designed "special regalia" for doctoral degrees.  And Temple University is on the list!

Yes, those are the robes I will be wearing!

Well, all in all, it was a really great first year.  I learned a lot, got to experience so many things, and have been given some amazing opportunities.  I cannot wait to see what next year holds in store for me!

_________________________________

This past Sunday, I embarked on my first pilgrimage to the Fox Products Corporation factory (the people who made my bassoon and contrabassoon) in South Whitley, Indiana.  It was truly time for my contrabassoon to get back to the factory for servicing.  Nothing was terribly wrong with the instrument.  But, it definitely needed some cleaning and routine maintenance.  I offered to drive the Temple University contra out with me as well - an offer they accepted.  So, I packed up the instruments in my car (it took a while to figure out how to get them both into my car), and set out onto the open road!

The Fox factory is situated out in The Middle of Nowhere, Indiana.  There isn't even a hotel in the same town; I had to stay in the next town over.  But, early Monday morning, I rolled up to the factory.

When I arrived, I got to meet Chip, who is the guy who designed the Fox contrabassoon, built my horn, and who would be doing the servicing on my instrument.  He talked about all kinds of things and I wish I had turned on a recorder to capture everything he said!  Here are some tidbits of Chip-wisdom.

• Woodwinds most often get water in the finger holes due to how the instrument is held during rests.  The instruments are designed so the water runs past, not into, the finger holes when in playing position.  So, careful instrument position when not playing will keep water out of the finger holes.
• Instruments do not live as long as people think they do.  Chip equated the average instrument lifespan to the average human lifespan.  He may have been talking specifically about bassoons or contrabassoons at this point.
• I was curious about humidity, since we have been having such humidity trouble at school.  Chip said that instruments generally like a humidity level that is comfortable for humans.  He said that in-case humidifiers are generally pointless (again, this could be just a contrabassoon thing).  But, that if he had to throw out a number, to shoot for a 45% humidity environment for the instrument.

He talked about a lot of other things too, but I don't want this post to end up reading like a contrabassoon or history textbook.

 

I left my instrument at the factory for 24 hours and took a side trip up to Detroit and visited a meadery.  Mead is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey (beer is made from fermented barley, wine from fermented grapes, cider from fermented apples, etc.). 

I got to try:

• Mango peppercorn mead
• Apricot cardamom mead
• Wildberry pyment (pyment is a mead with grapes)
• Black tea and lemon mead
• Chai spiced cider
•  Lemon ginger cider
• Hibiscus cider
• Blackberry clove mead
• Apple and cherry mead
• Hopped cherry mead
• Sage lime wit (beer)
• Mexican chocolate and chili porter (beer)

 

 It was a super yummy trip!

When I went back to the factory the next day, Chip told me that my instrument had been in pretty good shape (he seemed surprised by this).  He polished all the silver, cleaned up the finish on the wood, oiled the instrument's bore, tightened all the pivot screws (he said a lot of mine were super loose), oiled all the moving parts, sealed a small chip in the finish, replaced the end pin stopper,  adjusted all the key heights, and a few more things.  She looks so pretty!  

Chip let me play on a couple other contras at the factory (in an attempt to sell me some modified keywork).  He succeeded.  I don't have the money for it right now, but the next time I am there I will be buying an alternate C# key and possibly a divorced low E mechanism.

Well, all is now well in contra-land.

And that just about wraps it up.  I will likely only post over the summer if something extraordinary happens.  Otherwise, I hope you all have a wonderful summer and will write to you once the semester ramps up in the fall.

Until then, Future Dr. Mitch, out!

Mitch vs. The Ice Cream Truck... Mitch Loses. Season 2, Episode 17

It feels so crazy to say it, but the first year of my doctoral studies is just about over!  There was only one day of class this past week and then we transitioned into finals week (totally a misnomer because it actually spans two weeks).

Monday was TA appreciation day in Dr. B.'s classes.  It was actually rather nice of him to do a public thank you in front of the class.  His sons made me a thank you card (this will show back up later in this post) and his wife baked cookies (if I am being totally honest, they did not last very long).

Remember that card Dr. B.'s kids made for me?  Hopefully you do; you just read it in the paragraph above!  Well, here it is:

In Teaching Jazz on Monday, Dr. B. spent a little time talking about improvisation.  He actually used an analogy that spoke to my own beliefs about creativity: he talked about the thank you card.  He said that he gave his boys the task of writing me a thank you card and told them only that it was a thank you card for his teaching assistant.  He left it up to his boys to fill in the rest.  He said that he could have very easily given them specifics of what was supposed to go into the card, but rather he gave them just as much direction as they needed and left it wide open beyond that.  He went on to say, and I agree, that choosing the appropriate parameters for an exercise in improvisation (regardless of the subject matter.  Yes, this applies to math, English, science, etc. too!) is of paramount importance to the quality of the improvisational experience and and scope of the improvisational learning of the student.  Set your parameters too loose and the students may get lost in the endless possibilities.  Yet, set your parameters too tight and there will not be any room for individual creativity.  (Shameless plug) If you want to hear more about my stance on this topic, come to the NAfME conference in Nashville in October!

Also on Monday, Dr. C. and I had a meeting to talk about next year.  Specifically, research next year.  She started out by saying how impressed she was with the work that I did on her virtual reality study this past semester.  Then, she corrected herself and said that a better word to use would be proud.  It felt really amazing for her to tell me she was proud of me.  That is not a word that I feel is thrown around much in education.  And after being on the receiving end of it, I think it is important for me to use that word in future dealings with my own students... when warranted, of course.  Like any word, it can lose its power if overused or misused.  She went on to talk about what she has planned for next year.  Just like this past study, I can't really talk about the upcoming research because it isn't my intellectual property.  But, she wants to do collaborative research with me.  This is not going to be like this past study where I was the research assistant, only in charge of the operation of the treatments.  Rather, I am going to be included in the question-asking, design, analysis, and write-up phases as well.  Also, my name will appear as second author on any of the studies that get published.  This is super exciting!

Speaking of research, Lionel approved my use of P.G. Co. data for my research project.  Woo!  Middle school orchestra teachers of P.G. Co., I am going to be in contact shortly!

Anyway, back to the meeting with Dr. C.  She also took some time to discuss some Night Owls issues with me.  I like that she genuinely wants to know my opinion on things.  These kinds of meetings really make me feel like she has taken me under her wing and that she truly is my mentor.  I certainly couldn't ask for a better one!

Later on Monday (yes, Monday was a busy day!), I had my final session of Dr. C.'s class for the semester.  There were a couple interesting take-aways from the class.  First, we were discussing how schools of music might need to change to address the needs of the modern music student and the modern musical climate.  One of the topics we touched upon was creativity. Woo!  I got to talk about some of the things I will be presenting at NAfME.  Our discussion turned to the interplay between the technical and the creative and whether one can and/or should exist without the other in higher music education.  My position is that technicality can exist without creativity, and not the other way around, but that it shouldn't.  The technical supports creativity.  It gives the artist the tools and know how to be able to convey his or her message.  Creativity comes from the individual decisions about how to use the tools at the artists disposal.  Creative direction is what gives a school of music its unique characteristics.  For example, the Mozart Bassoon Concerto is the same, technically, wherever you go.  The notes are printed on paper and do not move themselves around the page by virtue of the geographical location of the piece of paper.  But, the accepted interpretations and the freedom of the performer to explore his or her own interpretations sets an educational experience apart from that which a student might get elsewhere, where the interpretations and artistic freedoms are treated differently.  (Shameless plug) If you want to here more about this topic also, you should plan to attend my session at NAfME!

We went on to talk more specifically about music education programs in higher education.  Dr. C. talked about her discussions with undergraduate music education majors, where tells them that their instrument is not the instrument upon which they auditioned to get into the school.  Rather, their instrument, by virtue of being a music education major, is teaching.  And I had a thought.  Why do music education majors study an instrument as their primary musical endeavor?  Wouldn't they be better served if they were treated as conducting majors?  Does anywhere even offer undergraduate conducting majors?  What if the B.M. in Music Education was conducting focused, with weekly private conducting lessons, and the option to study an instrument as a secondary focus?  I remember my undergraduate conducting training: two semesters, one instrumental conducting and one choral conducting.  That certainly wasn't enough.

On Thursday, I got to go down to Maryland for a Category 5 Wind Ensemble rehearsal.  That's right, folks.  I get to play and conduct Cat5 again!  It was just a great to be back with that wonderful group of musicians again.  Some of the faces have changed, but it is great to see that the ensemble is still going strong. (If you don't know, I founded the ensemble with Dan Sitomer back in 2011).  There was a plot twist, though.  Dan was unable to make this rehearsal, so he asked me to step in and conduct Symphonic Dances from West Side Story in his stead.  I was happy to do so.  But, as I sat down to do score study, an ice cream truck parked itself outside my window and started doing its thing.  Imagine trying to concentrate on serious music while this is playing, loudly, in your close vicinity.

Gaaaaaaaah!

This week was my last rehearsal with the Temple Prep kids this semester.  Next week, they have reauditions for the program for next year and then the following week is the concert!  I am actually really excited about the concert.  We are going to do 5 pieces - as opposed to the 2 that we did in the winter - and I think they are going to sound pretty decent while doing it.  In this week's rehearsal, the group was pretty good about being careful to perform all the musical aspects we have been working on.  They were conscious of tempi, they made noticeable efforts to perform dynamics and articulations, and it is starting to feel like they are having fun through the music and not just surviving it.  

I tweaked the format a bit over the semester and it ended up not being straight sightreading like I intended when I started.  The final format, which I like a lot, was to take two sessions to get through a piece.  The first session starts with a discussion of the piece and sightreading, both done in conjunction with each other and in small enough sections of the piece that the information is easily digestible.  Then, there is enough time to run the piece, top to bottom, at least once before the end of the session.  The second session more closely resembles a "typical" rehearsal.  Sections of the music that contain key concepts and skills that need closer attention are targeted and time is left at the end for at least one full run through of the piece.  I think this format gave the students a good mix of fresh music and in depth study.

It turns out that, without realizing it, I was acting in harmony with the information I am learning in my creativity research.  One of the things the research talks about in fostering creativity is "mindfulness," a term the research uses to describe actively using one's mind.  The research says that by keeping things fresh and not relying on automated behaviors, creativity is allowed to flourish.  Go me!

In this last session with my Musicianship class, I set aside the time to talk with the students about how they felt about the new approach to music theory.  There was an overwhelmingly positive response to the class.  They really liked everything from learning how to subdivide rhythms (they said that they felt much more confident now in their ability to figure out rhythms on their own, without the help of their teachers), to the tuning exercises (which they said were really fun), to the writing music worksheets (which they said they enjoyed because they actually got to do stuff, as opposed to other theory classes where they get talked at).  Next year, I think I will have a focus on composition, so the students can apply the theory they learn to making real music.  After all, theory and practice must be related to one another or each loses its meaning in the eyes of the other.

I wanted to write some things about the Baltimore situation, but after attempting to write my feelings on the matter, I realized that they are not quite thought out well enough for public consumption yet.  All I will say at this point is that the issue is much more multifaceted than most people are acknowledging (thank you, media) and until those involved (on all sides) are able to step back and look at the whole picture, rather than just the piece that has entered their own lives, solutions will be much harder to come by.  Oh, and a big, giant "shame on you" to the American politicians who are using the deaths of American citizens to push political agendas rather than setting aside party politics and actually helping people in need.

 

(Yes, I know the flag is upside down.  You fly a flag upside down when in distress.)

Well, that is all for this week.  Go out and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Future Dr. Mitch, out!

FileMaker Pro, A Love-Hate Story. Season 2, Episode 16

I got an interesting text message from my department chair at the last school at which I worked.  Apparently, there are some outstanding invoices from J.W. Pepper (a sheet music company) from when I was teaching there.  I know that I settled all my financials before I left.  Though, what that actually means is that I submitted payment requests to the school.  I cannot say for certain whether or not the school actually followed up on those payments.  And, since I was leaving the school, I did not take any of that financial paperwork with me.  I can't even say for certain what happened to it.  I hope they are able to sort through the paper trail and get everything settled.  I guess some things get a little messy in a band director transition, especially when the school waits too long to hire a new person.

I don't remember whether I told you yet or not about this, so I am going to start at the beginning of this particular story.  If this sounds familiar to you, feel free to scroll down till you find new and interesting information.  If you haven't heard this before, then you better read it.  All of it.  Every word.  There may be a test at the end.

You may recall that I have had Pet Shop (the instrument storage room) duties as part of my assistantship.  Well, the Pet Shop signs instruments out to students using the old method: triplicate forms filled out by hand, which take forever to fill out and which create piles of paper records to keep organized and need space to be stored.  I had been using a Filemaker Pro database to manage my inventory and loan instruments when I was working for the school system, and I figured the same kind of system could be implemented at Temple to streamline the instrument sign out procedure and to cut down on the paperwork storage space we use.  I have some experience using Filemaker Pro and figured it would be a cakewalk to design an instrument inventory database.  I was wrong.  It turns out that what I know about Filemaker Pro barely scratches the surface of its functionality.  

What I knew when starting the project:

• You enter all your data in a spreadsheet, like the ones used in Excel.
• You can design layouts that display the information in the spreadsheet.
• Multiple layouts can be used to display data relevant to different situations.
• Layouts can be printed, so I assumed they could be emailed as well.

So, armed with what I thought was a pretty substantial set of Filemaker Pro skills, I set to work designing the database.  I was actually doing OK.  I even figured out how to write scripts (Filemaker Pro's version of custom action sequences) on my own.  But, I hit a wall when I tried to build the script that would enable me to email a signed loan contract.  And then I remembered that I have access to Lynda.com through school.  For those of you unfamiliar with Lynda.com, it is an online software training website.  So, I started watching Filemaker Pro videos and I pretty quickly realized I had been doing everything all wrong.  The biggest thing I learned is that Excel is what is considered a "flat database."  Meaning, all the information is stored in one spreadsheet and so the things you can do with the data is quite limited.  Filemaker Pro is a dynamic, relationship-based database.  Meaning, the data is stored across multiple tables (spreadsheets), which can be related to each other, making data manipulation and storage much easier.  So, now I have the database set up so that when we sign out an instrument, it automatically populates a loan form with data from the instrument inventory and from the borrower catalogue.  It also automatically signs an instrument in with the click of a button and saves both the loan form and the return receipt as individual records in a separate, searchable table, with each loan form and return receipt tied to both an instrument in the inventory and a person in the borrower catalogue.  I also have it set up to generate repair tickets for instruments needing repair.  The repair tickets, stored in their own set of records, are also saved and tied to a specific instrument in the instrument inventory.

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 This week was a concert-riffic week.  Monday night was the Night Owls concert.  I thought it went really well, overall.  My first piece, Scherzo Without Instruments, was an exercise in conducting strength.  Almost immediately, as we started the piece, the tempo got out of hand.  It took all the energy I had to try and control the tempo.  Dr. B. told me after the concert that he could tell how hard I was working to hold everything together.  I really was.  I had nothing left to give to gestures of style and interpretation.  It was all tempo, all the time.  But, we made it to the end together and the audience clapped, so I am going to count that one as win!  My second piece, Earthdance, went off really well, with just a minor exception.  The piece begins with 4, out-of-time measures of rain storm sound effects, followed by two measures of a bass drone and ambient percussion noises, followed by a clarinet and saxophone melody.  The past couple weeks, a saxophonist kept coming in two bars too early with the melody.  I took a minute to go through that section during my warm up with the group before the concert and we worked it out.  Yay!  But, then in the concert a clarinet player did the same thing the sax player had been doing.  The funny part of it is that when she came in early, the whole clarinet section turned to her and yell-whispered at her that she was early.  I could have sworn the whole audience heard the whispers.  But, it turns out nobody did.  The rest of the piece went really well.

Thursday was the last Wind Symphony concert of the year.  I played on two pieces, Donald Grantham's J'ai Ete Au Bal and Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.  I got the sense that a lot of the ensemble members did not like the Grantham, but I actually found the piece to be really cool.  And West Side Story is just awesome.  You can see the concert here:

http://livestream.com/accounts/1927261/events/377013

I managed to get the school to let me play just contrabassoon this year.  And I have been worried that, come next year, they would expect me to play bassoon as well.  In all honesty, I am not as skilled at bassoon as I am at contra.  I have just considerably more time playing contra over the past 10 years and, to be honest, I like it better.  Dr. T. approached be as we were preparing for the concert and asked me, in a way that I feel like was meant to sound nonchalant, if I would be playing again next year.  But, I could tell that behind the conversational facade of the question was the desire to have my playing contra next year.  I told her that she was going to be stuck with me for the next few years.  To which she replied that she was definitely ok with that.  Looks like I have claimed my seat as the contrabassoonist here.

Dr. C. has been critiquing me pretty consistently about my pacing when I present.  She says that I speak with a little too much energy and that I move too quickly.  This weekend, at Temple Prep, I finally heard it in my own speech: I do talk fast when I am teaching/ presenting!  Much faster than my conversational speech.  I made an effort to slow down and actually found that the students listened better when I spoke slower.  This is going to be a hard habit to break.  But, I am going to have to put in the effort to make it happen.

I realized that there are no pictures in this blog yet, so enjoy this one as we come to a close:

 Well, folks, that is all for this week.  

Future Dr. Mitch, out!

Open Mouth, Insert Foot. Season 2, Episode 15

Alright, folks.  I know last week I kind of phoned it in and wrote a lack luster post.  So, I will make up for it this week.  Strap in, and get ready.

Time circuits, on!

 

Flux capacitor, fluxing!

 

Here we go!

As you may remember, I have been TAing (I know it isn't a real word, but I am using it anyway) for Teaching Instrumental Music.  The students in the class play secondary instruments and take turns teaching each other.  One of the students has been having trouble with clarinet tone production.  As of yet, none of the teachers have addressed it.  At the end of class, I just wanted to suggest to students that they can address specific issues of technique and to give them something to focus on, I suggested that they do some thinking and research about how to help this one student with his clarinet tone.  But, what came out of my mouth ended up sounding  more like, "this student is squeaking up a storm."  I totally called him out by mistake!

Dr. B. did say at the end that my point was a valid one.  I just wish I had been able to word it a little differently.  I did take some time at the end of class to help him with his embouchure and we made some pretty good progress in only just a couple minutes.  He didn't seem scarred by my comments, so I think all is good!

Also, on Monday, Wind Symphony has rehearsal in the performance space, which you might remember is not in the same building as the school of music.  Well, on this upcoming concert, I am playing both the contrabassoon and baby bassoon.  So, I had to lug both horns across campus for rehearsal... and then we only played the part of the show that I play contra on.  At least I got some physical exercise carrying all that weight back and forth.  That being said, it would have been so much easier if I had that contra-/ baby-bassoon double case with the backpack straps and wheels.  I am still looking for a benefactor who wants to buy that case for me.  It's only $3,500.00!  Any takers?

In Dr. C.'s class this week, we talked about the identity of college music schools.  She asked the class what our perception of the Temple University School of Music's identity is.  It's funny, I have only ever earned music education degrees (I am working on my third one) and yet my mind went straight to the music performance side when I considered the school of music's identity.  I wonder why I didn't think of music ed. first.  I don't have any answers here, I just found it curious.

Night Owls this week went poorly.  I tried some new things in my conducting because of Dr. C.'s comments last week.  For some reason, the band and I just didn't connect.  I don't know if it was because of the new things I did, or because we were in the performance space and not the rehearsal space, or some intangible factor.  All I know is that it was the dress rehearsal and we get next to no rehearsal time before the concert this coming week.  I hope it all lines up!

This week, we had a project due in Measurement and Evaluation in Music.  We were tasked with creating an ePortfolio of our respective careers.  I have managed to save so much stuff from my years of teaching that it became quite the herculean effort to compile it all into an easily digestible product.  But, I think I did a pretty bang up job of it.  And so did Dr. B.

The two points I lost on layout were, admittedly, deserved.  There was one page that was not as well thought out or organized as the rest.  So, I will take the two point hit.  But, the rest of it was pretty great!

On Wednesday, I was definitely riding the struggle bus for Wind Symphony rehearsal.


I was gathering up my stuff for rehearsal and couldn't find my music (the whole folder was missing).  So, I had to go ask for extra copies of the music before rehearsal.  The rehearsal started with a sectional, which was not in the normal rehearsal room.  So, by the time I got down there from gathering up my instruments and collecting extra copies of the music, the room was quite full and it was difficult to maneuver my gigantic case into the space.  Moreover, I still had to go back upstairs and get the bassoon stands.  By the time I made it back down to the room with the stands, sectionals were already starting and I made more noise than I was comfortable with as I was getting unpacked and set up.  Because I was the last one in, I got stuck with the broken music stand, which I did end up rigging so it didn't dump my music on the floor every time I put something on it.  And then, halfway through the sectional, my phone decided to turn itself on and start making noise.  Gaaaah!  It was actually a good reminder to be understanding of students when stuff goes wrong.  To be fair, some students are just irresponsible.  But, other students are just having a bad day.  And when one thing goes wrong, it has the tendency to snowball.  Thanks, universe, for the slice of humble pie.

Well, it is official.  My session has been scheduled for the NAfME conference.
http://inserviceconference.nafme.org/sessions/
Tuesday, October 27, 2015 from 1:00pm - 2:00pm.
Let the freak out commence!

Well, that is all for this week.  Hope you enjoyed yourself!

Until next week,

Future Dr. Mitch, out!

I'm an Idiot! Season 2, Episode 14

Confession time, everyone: I am an idiot.   I was sitting in my office on Monday, getting some work done.  After all, I had some time; I didn't have to be at rehearsal until 3:00.  And then I got a text message from Cory: "Are you playing on this Wind Symphony concert or not?"  So, I said, "Yes.  On the Grantham.  It rehearses in 30 minutes.  I will be there."  And then Cory said, "You are on the Bernstein as well."  Well, crap!  I could have sworn that I was only playing on the Grantham.  So, just to double check before I told Cory he was wrong, I checked the part assignments again.  Of course, right there next to my name, it said I was playing contrabassoon on the Bernstein.  Crap!  So, I missed rehearsal for no other reason than that I was an idiot.  I apologized profusely to Dr. T. and I hope she actually forgave me.  I have seen what happens when you piss her off.  I don't want to be on that boat.






















Dr. C. gave me some interesting feedback in Night Owls this week.  I have been working on my conducting and trying to look less like a "middle school band director" and more like a "real conductor."  But, she told me that I need less finesse in my conducting.  She said the group needs something a little more rigid.  I will give that a shot next week and see what happens.

So, I found out that part of my assistantship next year will be me being the dedicated instrument repair guy for music ed at Temple.  I am super excited!  Dr. C. asked me to put together a list of tools and supplies that I would like the school to get me.  Can you say, "shopping spree?"  Here is what I have on my list so far:

• dent rollers
• pop rivets
• saxophone pad assortment
• clarinet pad assortment
• woodwind screw assortment
• Dr. T's Slide Knockerouter (yes, that's what it is called)
• sheet cork assortment
• large and small bell rim block
• flute body mandrel
• flute head mandrel
• rawhide mallets
• V block vice jaws
• trumpet bell stem mandrel
• dent hammers
• anvil
• canvas mallet
• leak light
• testing plug assortment
• emery cloth
• water key cork assortment
• rotary valve bumper cord
• felt bumper assortment
• key felt assortment
• felt washer assortment
• plastic tubs
• soap
• sonic cleaner
• brushes and snakes
• penetrating oil
• needle spring assortment
• flat spring assortment

and I am not done shopping yet!

Dr. T. said something really subtle, yet incredibly effective in Wind Symphony rehearsal this week.  She was trying to get us to play in balance and she told us to lose our own sound within the sound of those around us.  It was such a great way of saying that.  I am going to borrow that saying from her!

I know this was a short entry.  Next week's will be better.  See you then!

Future Dr. Mitch, out!

Better late than never... Season 2, Episode 13

Well, it seems I have disappointed you, my faithful audience, by being a couple days late with my post.  Rest assured, I have heard your outcry and here is this week's installment of your favorite blog ever!

I will start off this week right where I left off last week: on the bus.  You might recall that I posted last week from the bus, on our way back from Nashville.  I was pretty confident at that point that nothing else of note would happen that week.  Boy, was I wrong.  As the bus neared campus - and I must emphasize, "near campus" - the driver started muttering things like, "this is not good," and, "we're not going to make it."  Then he announced that we were losing coolant.  At this point, we were 3 blocks from Presser Hall (the music building).  Lo and behold, the bus gave a little shudder, and the engine cut out.  Interestingly enough, when the driver realized the bus was about to break down, he did not attempt to get over to the right lane.  He also did not apply the brakes after the engine shut off and allowed the bus to coast to a halt...  you got it, folks, right in the middle of an intersection on Broad Street in North Philly.  It's not a great picture, but this will give you an idea:

I met with Dr. C. this week to discuss my research proposal.  I still can't tell you what I am going to be doing, but - trust me - it is going to be super cool... well, maybe moderately cool... but, definitely very interesting!  Well, she asked me a lot of really great questions and was satisfied enough with my answers to give me the green light to move onto the next steps.  So, I now have to do my IRB (Institutional Review Board) training, get Lionel's permission to use P.G. County Schools data, and submit my proposal to the IRB for approval.  It looks like this is going to happen!  I am stoked!

On Wednesday, we talked stats in Measurement and Evaluation.  It was really great to get to talk about this stuff in a different setting.  It definitely helped me figure out which things I really understand and which I still have no grasp on, whatsoever.  Dr. B. actually explained some of the concepts in a much more accessible way than my stats professor had.  I definitely need to spend some more time banging my head against stats!

I had a really great week in Temple Prep.  For Wind Ensemble, I really needed a win after the literature choice debacle of two weeks ago.  I picked The Winds of Destiny by Eric Morales, whose music I tend to like a lot.  I was just hoping the students would like it too.  It wasn't an easy piece for them.  There were some significant technical demands, not to mention a quite brisk tempo.  But, the students actually tackled the technique quite well and didn't sound half bad doing it.  I can honestly say that their sight reading of the tune was the best they have sounded yet this year!  In Musicianship, we worked on tuning.  It was a very informal lesson, where students, in pairs, attempted to tune to one another.  At the end of the period, a handful of the students hung around in the room and kept trying to tune to one another.  It was a pretty good indication that they, not only understood the concepts and the related skills, but that the importance of being in tune was made relevant to their musical lives.  Score!

So, I have to admit something to you all.  I have not been to the gym since my little spurt of motivation weeks ago.  I keep making excuses, telling myself that I just can't find the time.  Well, enough of that crap.  You don't find time for things, you make time for things.  So, I am going to be making time to both go to the gym and practice.  This is happening.  It has to!

You know that research study I have been working on for Dr. C.?  Well, we hit a snag on Friday.  The computer crashed.  And not a little crash, either.  The computer decided to completely fry the hard drive to the point that Windows wouldn't boot up.  I spent over 3 hours on the phone with the lead researcher trying to resurrect the computer to no avail.  I am not sure what we are going to do!

The big news this week is that I have my next semester all planned out and ready to go.  I will be taking:

• Graduate Seminar in Music Education
• Learning Theory in Music
• Research in Music Education
• Instrumental Conducting Seminar
• Wind Symphony (pending the audition)
• Night Owls Community Band
• Independent Study with Dr. B. - College Marching Band Operations

It is going to be a busy semester, but that seems to be par for the course.  What's more, is that I talked with Dr. C. about transferring in my credits from the University of the Arts Summer Graduate Music Education Program.  She seemed to think that I could transfer them in.  If those credits go through, I can finish my coursework in 2 years, total!  That means I could actually finish my degree in 3 years, total!  Keep your fingers crossed, people.

Well, that is all I have for the week.  Next week should be a little more comprehensive.

Happy Passover to all!

Future Dr. Mitch, out!