Yayy auds are finally over!

It has been gruelling and tiring and frustrating preparing for them, so now that they're over, yayyy. Come to think of it, we spent so long trying to find a choice piece and practicing scales and rudiments and it was over in what, half an hour? I guess it'll be like that for the upcoming concerts too. All our hard work for the past few months, gone in a matter of hours on stage.

We don't think we'll get in considering out terrible performance, but it's not like we had high expectations before heh. Unexpectedly, we got in! Haha this may sound very dead/expected now but that's only because we received the news a while ago so the excitment lessened a bit. If not this paragraph would be peppered with ":D" all over.

So, naïvely thinking they would be so nice as to give us time to warm-up, I got there only fifteen minutes before the auds, before I realized we were supposed to go there early to warm-up. Oh no.Thankfully my number was E15 (Sharon's was E18 because she forgot to take it, and had to go back afterwards -.-), so I still had some time to warm-up while the others went for auds first. But there were no mallets to practice on! So I just pretended I knew where the keys were. And yet the glissando was impossible because everytime I did it, there would be a huge gust of wind and all the papers would fly away!

Then I met my church friend from St. Margaret's Girls' School Symphonic Band, who introduced me to her perc friends, Angeline and Zhen Ni, who had long and difficult scores from Legend of somethingsomething Hero. And they looked so pro and intimidating. Wonderful.


Honestly, we thought we were the worst percussionists present! There was a girl called Marianne whom I auditioned with, and she was playing the snare drum score from Overture No. 1 for Wind Bands! And Angeline could play the snare drum score from Technology. Great. One is SYF standard and the other is Cadenza standard. Who are we to go for auditions against these percussionists! We contemplated going home - at least we would never know if we could have gotten in, then face the rejection. But I'm glad we just went ahead in the end, because of the pleasantly surprising results!

Anyway, we reasoned that we've already come so far, so we shouldn't give up. We even had the courage to come to Ang Mo Kio Secondary School! So we had to go on. And they were bound to notice the only two RGS girls sneaking out of the compound with their bags, so we had no choice but to stay hehh.

But the fact that our numbers were so far behind, which we initially thought was a good thing, only made it a lot worse! Yes, we had time to practice, but we also had a lot of time to socialize, thereby finding out that people were playing much much better pieces than us and as a result losing our nerves. We were so close to the brink of insanity that we had to escape to the canteen to drink Milo and to the toilet to...use it. What else could we do there! Oh wait there's something else but I don't think Sharon wants me to share it hahaha.

The suspense was building up as the minute hand of my watch ticked by! Oh yeah I took it off when I went into the classroom and my auditioners gave me the oO look - I thought we were supposed to do that? Anyway then we both started having breathing difficulty because I was hyperventilating, and Sharon had blocked nose

But then we received a heartwarming SMS, so our breathing returned to normal. Or mine, at least, because Sharon still had a blocked nose. Soon my turn came! I didn't even realize it was my turn until Marianne called me! Oh no oh no I fumbled around with my mallets and sticks and scores before I realized Marianne took her whole bag with her so I wasted more time trying to put everything back into my bag again before I decided to just carry the bag on my back and my sticks/scores in my hands. Bad start!

Then I walked up the stairs with Marianne, and we started chatting and arguing - nice way to make friends - about who to go first. When we reached our final destination - pun intended - the teacher WHOM I THOUGHT WAS GLORIA - you'll get what I mean after reading about the actual audition below - commented on how we looked like we knew each other from 10 years ago. Huh, so you argue a lot with people you know from 10 years ago?

Anyway then we walked to the classroom for our auds. And we heard the guy before us playing the drumset and crash cymbals and tambourine and we actually concluded that he had come for different auds. Little did we know, what the auditioners had prepared for us!

We talked a bit more outside, and then I found out that somebody had stepped on my paper. Now it had a huge shoe mark at the top ohmygoodness. What a great way to leave a good impression. I wonder if they'll mark me down, thinking I step all over my scores or something!

Anyway, after Marianne went in, I heard her playing tambourine/drumset/crash cymbals too. And that's when I realized what a horrifying situation I was in! So I started freaking out again, and suddenly needed to go to the toilet really urgently.

But then Marianne came out, gave me a horrified expression and then whispered, "Good luck!" and shuffled away. Thanks for the luck, but I'm quite sure I didn't need that horrified expression of yours to scare me even more...

NOTE: The following experience is too horrific to be repeated. It's better not to know.

Then Sharon and I sat at the staircase staring at our auditioner and taking photos. Before we made calls and decided to have dinner together! I can't remember what happened already - the only reason why the above is so specific is because I wrote it on the following day, except I forgot to post it - but I know that my mother, sister and I ran into the MRT, but darling Sharon was too slow and was trapped outside! So we had to waste time waiting for her to arrive on the next MRT hahaha.

Sighh I can't remember anything else, so I guess that's all. I'm just so glad we both got in! Tomorrow's our first day yayy I can't wait!

Yup that's all I was just looking through the drafts and found this ancient post. Why I forgot to post it I forgot. Oh and Sharon you have 4 drafts about your song saved here...

Okay third post in like an hour.

Cadenza is in 86 days. I was really shocked when Yujia announced there were only a hundred days left that day. I went home and counted for fun, turns out there were only 90 days left. For Cadenza XI, we were keeping track of the days left way before it breached the double-digit mark. I guess it shows a lot of things, most importantly that we have very little time left. I hope that all of you will work hard and improve yourselves constantly by practicing the things you like, as well as the things you don't like.

I know all of you can do it! And you're almost there, but there's still a lot to learn. I'll leave y'all to count how many pracs, how many sectionals, and how many indiv sessions we have left til concert. So really focus on the things that need improving and I'll help as much as I can.

Yeah, that's about it. I think this sounded kinda disjointed, but I hope you get the point. We want to enjoy ourselves for concert, but we also want to put up a good, entertaining show for the audience so that it's worth their money, and we can walk off the stage with pride. I hope that by putting in all your effort now, you can play at VCH and leave with no regrets. This is probably going to be one of the last times we see VCH before it renovates, so treasure every moment of it - the process and actual performance.

Love,

Deborah

(As for Drumzout, I'm really thinking about it. and we'll see what happens.)

Okay uhm, photos from Inunion '09

You people need to learn to be more photo-friendly! Seriously not like me at all ):

So cute.

Seriously? The camera's up here.

Haha, the letters dropped off x)

Haha commanders photo!

Hi section!

Okay it sounds weird to say section, seeing as the sec threes almost never visit, and I haven't either,in what, over a month?

okay random photo i took of the marimba

uh this took 8 tries

this would've been perfect except when Emily took over the camera the angle changed and the sec twos looked strangely big

so I chose this one for section photo.

Although it really isn't the nicest one! But the programme booklet will be greyscale anyway, so it's not that bad. Okay I'm gonna start a new post because uploading photos is so troublesome, so I'm gonna dedicate a whole post to some photos.

Hello!
I came up with very short song for PERC today during Food and Nutrition class!! :D
hahaha you know the song for Teen Titans? It's like:
T-E-E-N
T-I-T
A-N-S
Teen Titans,
Let's go!

Then I changed it to:
P-E-R-C
U-S-S
I-O-N
Percussion,
Let's go!!

AH OMG SO NICE. 8D the number of letters and syllables are so fitting! :D :D

heheh XD
<3 sharon

Haha I'm going to post about Recruitment Drive to hopefully revive the dead blog, and stop Sharon from singing further ._.

So, on that very day during recess, I met this girl holding drumsticks in the canteen! So naturally I rushed up to her and started questioning her about joining band, or more specifically, percussion. And she wants to join perc 'cos she used to play perc in primary school! She seemed so keen on joining, and since she has the experience and will probably get in...YAY ALIZA AND XING ERN'S POTENTIAL DIRECT :D

Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet her again because our SB wasn't involved in Recruitment Drive! So sad...cannot see our juniors! Sharon can't see her mortal and I can't see my church junior :( Oh well. So we brought the tom-toms, snare drum and crash cymbal to the covered walkway (taking an unnecessarily long way because we were heading towards D-block at first, but then we match our batchmates on the way and changed our mind :D) and started indiving.

Um, yeah. So we indived.

And indived.

And indived.

Then we got a bit bored because there were no keyboard perc instrus...so we could only practice our techniques and try warm-ups at faster speeds and crash cymbals continuously (I still don't know how Mr. Oura can crash them 1000 times! My highest was 62 at one go, while Sharon's was...20/30something? And when I tried 100 times, I had to rest - without putting the cymbals down on the stand, but it isn't continuous anymore, no? - at least 3 times! D:).

Then Batch 11 started playing Perseus! So we played along, although I could only play my crash cymbal parts and Sharon had to substitue the bass drum with the snare drum (which made it sound very different, esp. at the rolls!). Worse, Lei-Chen didn't have the vibraphone so she could only continue to indiv...

Then Yi An came to find me to ask if the percs wanted to play Perseus with them! :D YESYES OF COURSE WE WOULD, so we moved to where they had gathered. But again, Lei-Chen couldn't play anything! Then how? We wanted her to play the beat, since if I was to clap my sticks together, I wouldn't be able to play the crash part, and it would also be conducting...? But she decided to just indiv, and the rest of the batch just tried their best to stay on time

Then some Sec Twos joined in! They kept coming to play then leaving, then coming back again. Maybe our playing was too messy for them? ><

After that, we gave up at around Bar 110? I don't know the exact bar, but I know we didn't play the Grandioso part 'cos it was starting to get REALLY MESSY...Perina and Qian Yi gave up trying to play as a batch - they moved away to indiv. The rest of our batch wanted to continue playing together, except they chased us away, complaining that the crash cymbals were too loud! ><

Then Wanyi asked if we wanted to play Perseus! Everybody was fine with it, except Ying Qin. But under peer pressure she caved, and we started from...Bar 10? I don't think it was the beginning, right? Ö And Lei-Chen and I just hit the air with our sticks for our mallets part :/

Um, then at the very end of the song I came in too early. So before they ended I already choked the cymbals and it ended up sounding very very weird ><

Thereafter, Sharon and I kept dropping our drumsticks accidentally, and finally we decided to wash them 'cos there was so much dirt on them ._. There were no perc seniors around, so we had to ask Vivian if we could go to the toilet, and she was very nice about it :) THEN OUR DRUMSTICKS TURNED BLACK WHEN IT TOUCHED WATER OMG ._. We quickly dried it, but it really turned black! As in, there were streaks of black running down our sticks. WHY?! ._.

Oh well, since we couldn't do anything about it, we just went back to indiv more. And that's when we started crashing cymbals continuously. It was so tiring I sat down (but it has nothing to do with legs right? I don't know why I sat down either oO) Then Sharon tried, just as Deborah came to ask us to move back to the band room.

Then came section photos! We took a very long time to decide which instruments to include the photo and where to put them and how to stand...and I had the brilliant idea of removing the gong and sticking all our heads in the gong stand! But then I figured, where would we put the gong in the meanwhile oO Or sticking our heads out of the bottom of the keyboard perc instrus? But they sounded quite...ridiculous compared to our final idea, so I'm glad I didn't suggest them HEHH.

So we took a lot of photos with the three of us sitting in front of the tom-toms and our seniors standing behind, pretending to play? Or were they just standing? Hahaha and why does Aliza find it so difficult to smile :(

In any case, can somebody pleeaase post the photos on the section blog? :D It's been so long since we had a post full of pictures! The last picture we had of was of...Bertrand (that's the orchid's name, right?)? oO

And nothing eventful happened after that. But the next day! When Sharon and I went to Far East together (I love Fridays 'cos we can go out as late as we want :D)! It was a lot of fun, eating Chippy's, spraying water, laughing until we...you-know-what, Sharon, and talking.

And we used the instrus to make up our faces! The bass drum is our head, the cymbals are our ears, the keyboard perc instrus are our hair (or braces for me, according to Sharon), the timpani are our cheekbones and forehead (assuming our forehead is made up of two bumps), two gongs will make up our eyes and the gong stand is our nose. I don't think there's a mouth? Hm, I can't remember the rest, but I know we didn't use all the instrus. Hahaha OMG I want to use the next ICT lesson to photoshop a face according to this and see how atrocious it will look! :D Meanwhile, here's a rough draft (without the timpani part 'cos I can't find it on Google ><)

After uploading it I just realized how horrible the face looks ._. With no mouth and such messy hair and a strange nose and shiny ears o___O

And we went to TOM N TOMS COFFEE! :D They should just remove the N from their name :D Unfortunately, we already going home, so we decided not to try their coffee. Haha one day we should go there for section...coffee time or something? :D

Yup, that's all that happened the past few days. And Sharon pleasestopsinging ._.

Hello I composed a song!! It’s to the tune of MY BONNIE LIES OVER THE OCEAN. :D I got the idea from my ‘hubby’ heheh :P Sorry, I don’t know what to post so anyhow compose a song… ><
Here it goes:
The section blog is so super dea-ad,
The section blog is so super dead,
The section blog is so super dea-ad,
Oh make the section blog alive!
A-live, oh a-live, oh make the section blog alive, alive!
A-live, oh a-live, oh make the section blog alive!
COOL SONG EH! 8D heheheh. Actually the blog is not that dead, just needed more syllables haha. XD Paiseh just wanted to make the blog alive. :P
Oh and thank you xin hui for helping me post! ;D
<3 sharon

INUNION WAS AWESOME! :)

OK it didn't start off very well, with me leaving the batch speech in the band room. Joanne left her keys so we (Yu Jia, who needed another stand, and I) had to wait for Ms. Tan to help us unlock the band room. Not a good start to Inunion because time was ticking and I was freaking out D:

Then came the batch speech! I was completely unprepared and nervous. And I couldn't even maintain eye contact with the audience because my spectacles kept slipping down and when I looked up I would just look like some grandmother. And I looked so short next to Perina! D:

But at least I'm taller than Aliza :D

Then came the concert segment, which wasn't much better. Crashing the cymbals at the wrong time, ending off later then the rest of the band for Imperatrix (haha thank you Aliza for saying it sounded like part of the song), etc. It was so depressing to screw up my own Inunion! D:

Then came the presentation of musicianship badges! I was the last person in the line, so I didn't get my musicianship badge because they ran out :( Yi Wye pretended to pin the badge on me, then I stuck my left shoulder to Sharon so the audience wouldn't see that I didn't have this bright red thing on my left sleeve like the rest of my batchmates >< After that, Jing Hui found a musicianship badge which she wanted to pin on for me personally, but changed her mind and passed it to Deborah :) Haha Sharon was so pissed because she wanted Deborah to pin it on for her too :D (I didn't want to embarrass her - she insisted I post this -.-)

Haha then came the batch items! Which ruined the depressing mood that was caused by screwing up the concert segment :) Especially Batch 11's skit! SO TRUE! The awkward conversation between seniors and juniors that I think our section always has XD Oh and Aliza and Xing Ern running around holding "SILENCE"...oO

Oh and the song that Batch 10 danced to (not Reach) - was it by some Korean band called Super Junior? Ö

THANK YOU ALIZA, XING ERN AND DEBORAH FOR PUTTING IN SO MUCH EFFORT FOR YOUR BATCH ITEMS :D

Then our batch item! Sorry Sharon for dragging you up at the last minute to make the introduction with me X) I didn't want to do it alone, so my -AHEM- kind and -AHEM- wonderful SBM finally relented after I pleaded with her to say it with me. Then she screwed up and we both couldn't stop laughing :)

Anyway, I really loved our batch item! The audience didn't really feel anything watching us but we really did bond a lot preparing for it, from listening to the song to the first time to rehearsing with props and actions :D I still remember for QC, Joanne said we looked like swaying seaweed oO So we had to add in all the actions and strange props (which Aliza and I later used to hit Sharon with XD)

After that was On My Way - I love that song! KODA FROM BROTHER BEAR IS SO CUTE <3

Ooh then after that we had band cheers! I'm so glad the Secondary Fours joined in :D Their voices were loud enough to make up for the lack of Secondary Ones' voices...we tried to follow but some parts we just went HUH. And the audience! When they didn't leave, our EmCees asked them again and it seemed like they were being chased away :D AHAHAH Our EmCees were so funny! :)

Then after keeping our instruments, we went for section dinner! So much happened on the way there. There was Yi Xian and Aliza standing next to each other while Sharon and I compared their heights, Aliza helping us carry stuff (thank you :D), Sharon and I digging inside our bags for our EZ-link cards, lagging behing our section like we do on all section outings, etc. Oh and playing with the bee Vivian's direct gave her! :D The one which Sharon thought was a butterfly -.-

When we finally reached we ran up and down the stairs trying to get seats, but in the end we just sat down on the floor near Lido.

As Aliza and Xing Ern were queuing up in the row next to us at MacDonald's, they brought a packet of french fries from which Sharon snatched one -.- Later on Aliza gets back at her by taking TWO of her fries oO

Thereafter, Sharon and I went to Starbucks. My $1 coin dropped and rolled under some table! D: -sigh- At least I still had money to buy a tall Caramel Frappucino (part of which Aliza drank. Actually she only ate the foam/whipped cream, whatever that was). Speaking of, Sharon didn't know what tall, grande and venti were. The guy over the counter asked "Would you like tall, grande or venti?" and Sharon just stared at him forever before he finally got the message and changed the question to "Would you like small, medium or large?" :D Oh and because I ordered first, he gave me my receipt and change which Sharon promptly took and put into her wallet! :D I stared at her in disbelief and she still looked up and said, "Huh? What?" before the guy over the counter said, "That's hers, not yours!" HAHAHHAHAHHA So funny. He even asked, "What school are you from?" I was thinking, OH NO WE MUST HAVE SHAMED RGS IN PUBLIC ><

OK then we went back to do the 1, 2, 3 tradition, although we already started drinking our coffee and eating fries downstairs ><

Oh then strange things started happening, like Aliza throwing things at a Secondary Four clarinet senior! And something about desert pizzas. And talking about RWinds, where Samantha and Deborah are performing, and band outing and whatnot, all of which I must miss because of church camp and going overseas! D: NOOO D: I'd rather miss church camp/my Bangkok trip for these (I want to watch my direct perform!) but my mother would never allow ><

Section photos! We took very long to get a normal shot...can somebody post the photos on the blog? :D

Then soon it was time to go home. Aliza kept asking who from my batch was from St. Hilda's! And even after giving her obvious clues ("She came to play perc!") she guessed Lei-Chen -.- Then at the tap-your-EZ-link-card place we were separated 'cos something was wrong with her EZ-link card, so I turned around and waved awkwardly at Xing Ern who had a very amusing expression on her face :) But then I saw them again because I had missed the first train, so by the time they came down I was still there. Aliza hit me on the head, making me end the call with Sharon! D<

Anyway, after they left, 2 trains came and I still couldn't squeeze in 'cos they were so crowded. I was sooo frustrated I just decided to take my dad's car. Then I met Sharon at Far East but she was already on her dad's car so we were shouting to each other at the bus stop - so embarrassing! After she left everyone was staring ._.

Then I went home to get scolded by my mom for staying out late ><

Yup that's about it :) Oh, and THANK YOU SENIORS FOR THE WONDERFUL PRESENTS! And sorry Aliza and Xing Ern for the letters ><>< (Xing Ern, did anything drop out from your drum...? D:) And I hope y'all like our tiles! :D (HAHAHHA this suddenly reminded me about the suspended cymbal Sharon drew that looked like chicken feet, which made the message become "SHARON LOVES CHICKEN FEET" :D)

LOVE,

XINHUI :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMANTHA! :)

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY LEI-CHEN AND HILLARY AND CRYSTALBEL! :)

Hello!

Long time no see! Or maybe not oO. Anyway, EYAs are over! So you all have a lot of free time now, right? I thought I'd introduce yall to some stuff that I found pretty useful online :D.

I think I mentioned it to some of you before? The Vic Firth website has a lot of videos/scores that are really quite useful, whether it's learning rudiments or auxilliaries or timpani, yup :D. Should be under the education section :D.

Those that I find particularly useful include:

1. Percussion 101! haha it has links to playing techniques, general characteristics, maintenance, rolls, etcetc for most percussion instruments :D, and videos which explain and demonstrate :D.
2. Rudiments! ALL 40 OF THEM :D. haha and they included recordings for various speeds, which is quite fun :D. The simpler flam, drag and paradiddle rudiments are quite useful for stick control and all. Yeah, essentially you start slow, make sure you get everything right, the sound, wherever your stick is supposed to be, etc, then you speed up.
3. Rhythmic reading? I think this is supposed to teach you how to read rhythms oO. You don't have to start from the start, you can try those at the back :D. Really fun! :D. And they have recordings at different speeds too, so it's quite exciting :D. Especially things like mixed and changing meters? :D

Yeah, so go and have fun la! Just go and explore when you have the time? It's really quite fun :D

Love,

Samantha

EXAMS ARE OVERRR~!

Maybe the blog will be more active now. 2 weeks since the last post ><

Hooray. The day after tomorrow will be the end of band break! And the start of preparation for Arts Fest and Inunion. Inunion! I don't think our batch is well-prepared >< Oh no. Helppp.

Cheers,
Xin Hui :)

hello percs!

Just came by to wish every single one of you all the best for EYAs/promos (for the J1s)/'A's (for the J2s)!!! - though I highly doubt they'd see it ><. Yup jiayou jiayou! :D.

(Oh, Deborah, the orchid plant you gave me is so lovely! It keeps flowering! Besides the 13 flowers on the 2 stalks, it grew 2 more stalks, with tiny buds that I think are going to flower really soon! It's really beautiful and lovely, and definitely a lot healthier than all the other orchids! My dad is impressed oO.)

See all of you tomorrow during band phototaking!

Love,

Samantha

hello. (:

i shall write more than 5 words. i promise.

kinda sad that it's band break now, but then again, when EYAs are over i guess it'll be cool to finally go back. let's just enjoy the break for now!

sorry, i really have nothing to say, so i'm just gonna say that the sec ones are really very luo suo. no offence, but you guys are talkative in a funny way. haha :D yup, but i agree that you all can really talk too much sometimes. and maybe talk alot of rubbish. i may or may not be referring to the section blog.

oh yup, WATCH YOUR BACK.

i'm watching. haha. im bored, paiseh sorry. ^.^

Happy Hari Raya Puasa! :)

Hi

Not everyone has so much time to tag/post everyday right -.- but it's good that yall are trying to keep the blog alive. I appreciate it(: though I dunno if you'll have as much time next year, or the year after that, for that matter. But I'm trying, so you should too! (when you get to sec2/3, that is)

Oh gosh, drama serials, of all the unexpected things... Ehm. Stress to her the importance of the blog and the emails, especially. I'm sure if she realised how important they are, she'd try to check more often. I see her using the computer in the Shaw Lab sometimes after RS, not sure to do what, though. I'll remind her to check her email more often too.

Haha, eh. The poems are quite cute lah. I think xh's would sound better if she didn't try to make it rhyme. And for the last time, I won't piggyback you for very obvious reasons, one very obvious reason, actually. So obvious that Sharon had to literally ask 'why' ten times before I caved and told her. Then she asked why again. -.-

Okay keeping this post short. I'd come up with a poem too, but I have other things to do. Maybe next time.

Love,

Deborah.

Hey! I've got a poem too! I don't know how to write a proper poem. So this is not a proper one. x) Free verse lah. Dunno how to rhyme it.
These are talking about all the funny things about you guys. x) Sorry if it is offensive, but it is meant to be funny. :P
There are parts about Aliza, Xing Ern, Deborah and Samantha. :P I did not say the names but I am sure you can guess (:

Remember...
How someone(s) came up with a great idea,
Of making me drink water from your bottle.
Saliva all over, (yucks!)
That’s so forced-able. (don't know what word this is but nevermind) ><

Remember...
How someone cleaned me with a mallet stick full of saliva,
Furious,
I smacked her on the shoulder,
But got smacked back instead. ><

Remember...
I asked someone,
Whether she would piggyback me,
If I jump on her back. :P
But sadly, she said 'no.' :'(

Remember...
How random I was,
When we were practising,
And then I turned around,
Telling someone her hair was weird. o.O

Remember...
That funny expression on her face,
Seems like she’s smiling.
Or rather frowning? o.O

Remember...
Everytime I walk past,
You give me that irritated sound,
Or give me a look as if you’re gonna smile.

Remember...
How you used to be strict,
But now I realise you’re very nice (:
You’re almost so perfect in every warm-up,
How I wish I can be like you. *cries*

o.O I really don’t know how to write poems. I anyhow write one x). So random. Haha. Really, no offence ah! :P Have fun guessing! o.O This is just for fun one. x) Do NOT take it seriously okay?

love,
sharon

Percussion, my passion.

Percussion,
My passion.
Although a snare drum hit me on the head
And made me feel like I was going to be dead,
I still want to learn how to play the timpani.
My seniors are very funny –
They play weird games (the martial arts thing!)
And have different names (sorry, I just had to find something that rhymes :/).
I remember during band camp,
Sharon was such a lamb (oO!)
She had to drink out of Aliza’s waterbottle
Which made her want to throttle
Er, our seniors.
Who are very fierce.
Not actually they’re not fierce, just strict but nice
"I just couldn’t find anything to rhyme!" Xin Hui cries.

I’m really bad at poems, so perhaps I should stop writing now before it goes completely off-topic just for the sake of finding words that rhyme. But, wait.

And back to the whole point of this
Which I have completely…missed.
Percussion
Is my passion.
:D
Nothing rhymes with an emoticon :(

TA-DA! A completely random poem that probably hardly makes any sense because I was trying to make it rhyme ><><

Today was the day RGSSB was supposed to perform I Got Rhythm! during assembly.
A pity we didn't get to...
:(

There's so little stuff happening now that there's hardly anything to post about! But not posting for a week makes it feel near-dead to me (although what Deborah said is still, er, "seeping in" oO) :/ Especially when the tagboard has died for a whole day as well D:

Oh, and I told Lei-Chen about the section blog but she says she only uses the computer for watching drama serials (oO) so she doesn't visit blogs nor check her emails (explaining why she didn't know about the band photo-taking thing ><). Er, so how do we get her to tag/post? :( And about the emails thing, updates about band are sent through emails so...how do we encourage her to, er, use the computer for other things? Ö

I can't wait for Band Break to be over :D But then it'll be Inunion soon, and we are definitely not prepared! D: We only have one song and we haven't even mastered it yet...how? :(

Cheers,
Xin Hui :)

Hi. Okay, so.

First of all, spamming has gone overboard, though some parts were okay. Like xh's tag about the bass drum falling on sharon... I seriously laughed, and not because I like to laugh at Sharon (and I really don't), either. Just don't ramble on and on about what the snare drum looked like and that it has two layers and so on. That belongs to a post. Yes, I know you, Sharon, haven't been invited. Actually, you were, but i revoked it cause I was angry at you. But that was a while ago and not something I want to discuss here.

Second of all, I like xh's post (: Gosh, all my secones' misadventures are so funny! Glad to see that you two are bonding well. I hope that and your apparent love for percussion/band will pull you through to sectwo - together. Sigh. Though the fact that Sharon lost her sticks is making me >:( you better pray it's in the band room. Check on Tuesday. Have I mentioned I don't like this face? :P it makes people look qian bian. Did you know that in sec one I left my sticks in the band room which I thought we weren't allowed to do so I freaked out and didn't dare tell my seniors (neither did I put it as my msn nick). The next time the band room was open I rushed in to get it, hoping that no one found out. Looking back and comparing to the present, things really have changed.

Xinhui and Sharon, can you please talk to Lei-chen more? Maybe you could tell her that you're getting a new pair of sticks and ask if she wants a pair too? Although she has already told me she wants one that's reddish brown like the really old pair Oo and I'm not sure where to get sticks of that colour. Just. Ask. Talk.

I have given up all hope on the sectwos. Either they're just not bothering to come and visit THEIR section blog, or they're standing in the sidelines giving that all-too-familiar look at all the tags. I think the latter is more likely of the two. Though I can't say I blame them. Sam, did you know their look is practically masterclass material?

Finally, secones, I don't know if you've noticed, but if I were you, reading these posts and our tags, I'd get the hint that my(your) tags aren't really appreciated. Which isn't what we're trying to say, really. I know that sounds a bit confusing but I'm guessing one of you has gotten the hint and the other one hasn't. Anyway, I don't mind your tags cause they bring life to this place and make me smile SOMEtimes. But I thought - and I think Sam must have thought so as well - that there were unspoken, yet obvious, regulations when tagging on a blog that is shared with seniors. I thought it was clear what you said and what you didn't say. This year has proved a lot of things different. They just don't catch on as fast as they used to - thinks of the sectwos. Though the sectwos shouldn't be too flattered, cause they're just too quiet.

For the sake of a lighter end to this post, I shall say that band break has started! I'm gonna miss the instrus a lot (though not so much the marching snare ><)! Have a good break, study hard, don't stress (xinhui don't think about RA so soon!), and don't you dare tell me you forgot the warm-ups. It's not funny. (Oh God this just turned serious again.)

Yeah okay. That's it. GOOD LUCK FOR EYAS SAM.

Good luck for EYAs, everyone else (:

Love,

Deborah

Um, I'm posting this just so there won't be a 1-month gap between every post :)

And to stop Sharon and I from spamming the tagboard (again ><) by reminiscing too much about that very day…

Well on Friday Sharon and I stayed back in the Shaw Lab to finish our Philosophy journal. Last-minute work! D: But we had our Poetry Projects due the day before, so we should get a lighter sentence :D

I’m digressing. Anyway, then we decided to go indiv at the band room. So, we…indiv-ed -.- This is getting very awkward because I don’t really know what to say >< I’m just blogging so this blog would stop being dead! Aargh.

OK so after that at exactly 4.30 p.m. a senior told us it was time and we took up too much time covering the instrus, so we had to rush out, and we don’t know if Sharon took her sticks or not :( Then we spent time talking in 101 instead of doing homework, as usual, before my sister called and told me I needed to get my own dinner. So we decided to have dinner together (sounds like a date oO)! :D Then we took 132 to Far East (I’m giving too much detail! This is so naggy! D:) when Sharon suddenly asked me if her drumsticks were in her bag. So I checked for her, and they weren’t. So she started panicking. Then she got over it because she thought they were in the band room. Then the bus halted to a stop, and she lost her balance. So her wallet fell. So she bent over to pick it up, before rushing out of the bus. After that, she started panicking again because she couldn’t find her handphone. So she made me check her bag again, and, lo and behold, it wasn’t there.

Then came a terribly unpleasant dinner as Sharon kept worrying about her handphone instead of having fun as usual. And she was reminded of her drumsticks because there was a band playing right in front of Far East Plaza, with the drumset and all (and yes we agreed that our drumset looks nicer :D). Thus, she decided to call her father to send her back to school to look for her handphone.

I waited with her until her dad came which was about 7.20 p.m., and I got a little annoyed so she agreed to send me home :D So we went back to school, but then the GO was closed. So we decided to go to her classroom, but when we stood at the top of the amphi we just freaked out! D: It was so dark…so deserted…so creepy…so eerie…and we could have sworn we heard noises…and we couldn’t see clearly…and if anybody fell we might die (like when a snare drum hits your head D:)...and it was the 7th month! We looked at each other and immediately understood that we were both clearly scareddd…so we took each other’s hands (AHAHA it would be romantic if not for the seriousness of the situation) and ran down the amphi, screaming! It was actually exhilarating :D Then Sharon got so excited she fell on her butt at the small slope leading up to the stage! :D I don’t mean to laugh at you but the way you fell was seriously funny (oxymoron :D)!

OK Anyway when we got to 101, there was no mobile phone not drumsticks to be seen D: So our hearts sank to the bottom of the ocean where the fishes ate them AHAHA OK not funny nevermind -.- So we held hands again and ran back up the amphi to her dad’s car. Did I forget to mention that we hummed the tune of I Got Rhythm!, albeit off-tune? It was hilarious, except for the fact that her handphone was gone and she was going to get scolded since it was the 2nd time…and I was going to get scolded for bad results but ignore that.

So on the car, we called 100 for the number to SBS Lost and Found department, but the first time we called some taxi company by mistake >< Then the second time Sharon couldn’t hear what the person was saying so she just put down the phone, giving up >< It was a complete failure trying to recover it, so she said she would just get a new phone. Her parents said they wouldn't get her a new phone since:
feels super sian x) says:
my parents say i'm very confused or sth
and mentioned sth about fengshui


Then we got lost trying to locate my house -.- I nearly made her father drive me back to RGS by a wrong turn! D: OK when I got off the car Sharon gave a very worried expression because according to her later:
feels super sian x) says:
thanks to your presence in the car my dad didn’t dare to scold me... yet

So, er, yeah that was the end of our adventures. OK AND WE PROMISE TO STOP SPAMMING THE TAGBOARD D: We got too carried away ><

Hello!

Today's farewell! Sorry I can't seem to phrase it any better, but yeah :D.

Hm I don't really know what to say, but I really wanted to post. I guess I'll write whatever I want to tell you guys individually in your farewell notes! Which I will finish and give to you after your EYAs! :D. I really hope you all like your presents :D. I'm sorry about all the knitted stuff, but I was hoping to make you all something useful and meaningful, so, yeah ><. And thanks for all the wonderful presents :D.

Presenting... -insert timpani roll-... that orchid that deborah gave me, aka Bertrand. I think. I'm not too sure about the name. But yeah.

 

[edit] uh, yeah. This is like, 10 days later? Anyway, look, it has like, 11 flowers!! :D!! If you can see the picture, yup >< [/edit]

HAHA I think it's actually going to be fine! :D My dad saw it, and proceeded to place it upon a pedestal, and promised that he would ensure that it was watered regularly, unlike my cactus. (Haha uhh, my parents do actually keep orchids, and they survive oO.) But I promise I'll talk to it everyday! :D. Okay I think I'm high oO.

And yay I didn't know the sec1s were so sweet. I didn't expect them/xinhui to give me a present, but yeah ><. I promise I'll give you one when we meet up for present exchange (part two).

Anyway, today was a fairly enjoyable day, and I guess it provided the much-needed closure to our band lives. It wasn't as emo as au revior in 2007 or last band prac in 2008, but it was still special and enjoyable luhh :D. Deborah, I really really really really love Bertrand! It's so pretty and purple and :D. (Okay maybe Bertrand isn't a good name oO. eeeeeek.) And I did enjoy the sec2s' video, but I see what Xing Ern means when she says it's somewhat (crap I can't remember the word you used, but yeah oO) It actually made people emo :O. Except for the BOF part =.=.

Sorry, no particularly pertinent Words Of Wisdom (WOW!), except that, yeah, please do continue to work hard and bring the section to even greater heights! I've seen every single one of you grow and improve, and I just want to say that I'm really proud of all of you :D. And I'm sure you'd do me, and every one of your seniors proud :D. I have learnt a lot from you guys too, and, thanks, really, for being such wonderful juniors (and uh, seniors, if you're reading oO). Please feel free to approach me if you have any problems, be it band-related, academics-related, or just about... life, in general. Jiayou! :D

And haha don't give Deborah a hard time! Aiyah I have full confidence that every single one of you will be brilliant yay :D.

PERC'10 FTW! :D.

Love,
Samantha

Whee my second time sharing a blog :)

I don't know how to contact Lei-Chen so I told Sharon about this blog after she kept asking to make one for Percussion in our blog http://xylophonexinhuiandsweetsharon.blogspot.com/

Um, yeah. Can somebody invite Sharon to post? She's so funny :)

OK bye!

Cheers,
Xin Hui :)

Hello!

I'm sooo glad the drumset's finally back. All along I thought it was Andrew Chia playing it, turns out it's Mr Mizar! I really cannot stand the way the teachers handle it >:C

First of all, they dismantled the toms to move it separately, which I guess is okay. BUT, they stacked one of the toms onto the floor tom which I think would damage the skin then they took the chair apart O.o and stacked the seat on top of the tom on the floor tom! D8 I didn't know whether to tell them not to do that, because then we wouldn't have enough hands and they'd have to leave the tom alone on the floor and come back to get it.

Secondly, Mr Mizar doesn't close the hi-hat, neither does he turn the snare off when he's done playing with it! So on Friday after NDP celebrations (which didn't end very nicely), the drumset got wheeled back into the band room and I turned off the snare, only to find that I couldn't turn it on again!

Thirdly, the screw INSIDE the right-side tom had come off somewhere between their rehearsals and the time the juniors and I helped move it to the recording studio. So Kai and I unscrewed the skin and screwed the nut back. I also took the opportunity to clean the extremely dusty toms. Underneath (hidden by) that, erm, cloudy exterior, the tom has a very nice looking wooden inside! Kai also says it has a nice smell, but I beg to differ.

This is the side of the inside of the drumset tom! Can see that it's wood :D but my camera *ahem ahem* phone couldn't get the color nicely due to lighting.

Yeah okay. I need to educate the directs on proper instru handling, and the juniors on how to screw/unscrew/fix instrus.

Okay random picture from Sam's last band cca day (I can't really say prac, since it wasn't a prac...) I just thought XE looked very funny staring into the, erm, I want to say water container? Not sure what Aliza's drinking out of.

Yeah i think that's all.

(See my nails, they're white!) Happy National Day, section! 8)

Love,

Deborah

i realise it looks like i'm monolouging but, y'know, i'm actually okay with it. i'm not really forcing myself to post. i just really really want to(:

okay so today, 30th july 2009, is/was last band cca day for the sec fours. it wasn't as solemn and dreaded as last year's, definitely, probably because it's been so hectic. i mean, it feels like band only just started, and we got new scores for arts fest, it never really had time to sink in. i dunno about sam and the juniors, but all i could (meaning allowed myself to) think about was chinese pt D: but i guess that's not necessarily a bad thing. it's sort of like a new beginning, new experiences, and it's not like sam's out of our lives entirely. besides, i have much more fun playing martial arts (THE FIRST THING THEY HAVEN'T SCORNED AT!) and taking crappy/normal section photos with a high tech camera than crying til my eyes hurt.

Okay so i'm SL now. i'm really glad i didn't lose out to Casper. it was a really close fight. i will try better than my best to be a good SL and i hope the juniors will cooperate with me (and take me more seriously). yeah. i'll make my seniors proud, i'm sure of it (: and i'll pass on everything i know to the juniors, and remind them to change timpani skins on the 1st of April, 2011.

The unexpected thing that happened today - to me, at least - was that i'm now commander. and i'm taking attendance for my batch. this is a job that belonged to the people i was most scared of in sec one and two! i hope i can get the same kind of respect i had for them (if not i really lose). this means the sec twos too okay! aliza, xing ern, don't you dare "HAR?" me again. so rude and predictable. Commander! the more i think about it, the more excited i get(8 although i'm kinda hoping i won't be taking the sec ones, for various reasons i'm too nice to type out. but if i am, once again i'll just do what i have to do and try my best not to lose my patience.

i would continue, but i should seriously do chinese pt now, then history pt next. and study for math, bio, english SAs, which are a day before history pt is due T.T which is also farewell day.

so i'll end off now. Sam, Thank you for being a great senior and friend. I'll miss your company! It won't be half as noisy without you! (if you get my drift) Thanks for teaching me new things and giving me support when I had to deal with my directs. Hope your, eh, future ahead will be musical - or filled with something you love to do! (8

love,
deborah
perc '10

One minute there's band, the next there isn't, and the minute after that there is again. Literally. Okay maybe not literally literally, but close enough.

Last last week Talia/ Eeiyn/ Mrs Kohby sent out an email saying there wouldn't be band, I felt sad. Then I kinda got used to the idea that there wouldn't be band so I started planning for other things. Two days later an email gets sent that there will be band (for last week). I felt sad-ish. My brilliant plan to use the extra time for Bio PT has been ruined! :O Then I felt happy again. heh.

Then surprise, surprise they cancelled Thursday's prac! On Thursday! At 3pm! I was sad cause Mr Oura was coming finally! Sigh. I want to play Perseus! Although I realise that the next few pracs would prolly be for National Day and Arts Fest -.- I want to play Perseus ;__________;

The school just made an announcement that though CCAs are cancelled for Week 4, there'll still be Arts Fest rehearsals which makes me wonder if they care more about our health, or Arts Fest. I'm really hoping they don't send a surprise email tmr saying band will restart a week earlier cause I need to finish Bio PT! Then I can concentrate on TOMS(!) for perseus (: (: (:

I miss the instrus! I wanted to bring the snare home, just for the sake of bringing it home. I don't think I'd actually play it cause it's really loud. But just for the sake of having it there.

Okay I think I've said a lot of random things already(8 it's hard having only 2 people who post here. Except for that one time that Aliza posted, I think? About band break being over, which turned out not to be true anyway D:

I shall stop here. Sayonara, friends! See you soon, or sooner, or later, or never, or whenever (8

Loves,
Deborah
perc '10

Hey percs!

Haha I'm here to post about band birthday! :D. Though I didn't get very many pictures because um, my hands were busy most of the time trying to ensure that potatoes were cooked/peeled and all, and the sec2s are camera-shy (though we really ought to change that yes :D)

OH RIGHT - THEY CUT THEIR HAIR! (and I think it's really cute :D - so does the rest of my batch.)

the sec2s cutting potatoes! (haha you know after cutting potatoes and eggs for the whole afternoon, then Xing Ern told us that she was afraid of knives oO.)

Haha mixing the mayo in!

(okay you know these pictures are all taken by me so it appears that I didn't do anything, which is not true, okay :D. I watched the timer and did all the stove-related stuff!)

And I think it looks quite gross, but it definitely tastes better than it looks :D. 

Haha right, no band for the rest of the hols thanks to H1N1 preventive measures, (though I don't see how it's going to help, considering that none of the other CCAs are being cancelled?) but hopefully there will be section outing on thursday so :D. 

Do post, to keep the blog from dying! Enjoy the rest of your hols!

Love,

Samantha!

hello :)

band break's gonna be over soon! let's all cheer! yay.

Hello!

Today we had band prac! Which was strange for a Monday. One thing to take note: Always uncover the bass drum even if we don't think we're gonna use it! And I have to remember not to give in to the juniors' laziness. Cause Mr Oura asked us to do crotchet beats on the bass drum so we had to get the cover off real quick O:

We played Perseus today! It sounds so lovely(: We've only played it a few times and I love it already! It sounds so majestic, exactly how "A Hero's Quest in the Heavens" should sound like! Ahh it's so nice... I'm listening to it now:D I love the Animato, Feroce and Cantabile parts the most. Aliza's timpani parts are so awesome! And the chimes make the whole sound of the song that much more, ehm, exhilarating! I just crash for added impact(: Sorry Sam I have no comment on your parts cause I haven't heard them yet! Don't get lost when you come back to play okay! Ehh Sam! We need to get our toms back! I tried the toms part but most of the time I had to hit the non-existent higher toms i.e. AIR *_____________* Sus cym roll upside down on the timpani is by far the scariest, yet most amazing sound I've ever heard. It reminds me of some extraterrestial sound. Oh and the ocean drum is really dirty D: but fun to play with!



Perseus - Unknown Artist

Zomg i hate imeem and their 30 second previews. Click the link and listen to the whole thing!
Doesn't it sound nice! Don't answer. IT SOUNDS NICE.

Oh yes, good luck for limelight, directs! All of us are going! I'm asking my directs tomorrow.

Love,
Deborah.

hey percs!

haha I'm here to spare Deborah the agony of monologuing! And to take a break from Pan Am and it's logo, whatever it's supposed to be ><. 

Right, if you all didn't read your emails, and for the various seniors who may see this, we have a band blog! Yup, so take a look at it? There are quite a few nice pictures of band camp there, and (for some reason) nice section photos :D. (I take issue with that one with the 4 of us staring intently at the metronome and looking remotely... emo ><)

By the way, this is Sam. (because for some reason that name thingy down there says boo!)

If you're really bored, go read the previous posts, they're amusing! :D. And we can't let the blog die! So um, poke Aliza and Xing Ern to post too! And someone, please tell the secones about the blog coughDeborahcough. 

And yup, thanks, Deborah, for fixing the html and for the photopost! Aliza and Xing Ern have a lot of... weird photos together oO. 

love,

Samantha!

Hello i'm posting again!

sam it's gonna be your turn to post soon! if not i'll be monologing both during sectionals and here! we must work hard to keep this blog alive!
anyway, i'm just posting to say that the time's been screwed up for really long and i discovered it's cause it was set to GMT -8! so i set it to +8 :D

band break's starting on wednesday! Have a good break everyone, and i'll miss you guys! (((:

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥,

deborah

hey percs!

((((: i made the blog look okay again! i feel so accomplished now.

okay going to do ss pt ><
♥deborah

Hey percs!

Oh dear this place is really dead. Sorry for not posting for so long! I don't know what to do about the weird HTML settings cause I can't find the button to edit it. Sec3 has been surprisingly busy and I should be chionging Physics PT now cause it's due this Friday! But I won't for now, cause we just had Band Camp and we took lots of really nice/funny/cute photos! :)

yay aliza's smiling!

haha the sec2s look so cute.

My directs - Lei-chen, Xin Hui, Sharon

why so gloomy! haha sam

sam & her directs!

Chair photo!

Section photo! With my very extra batchmate on the right.

The juniors! XE's giving the look haha.

Yeah that's all! (8 Happy holidays everyone :D See you juniors next band prac. Sam, I'll see you in what, three weeks? (:

Love,

Deborah.

hey percs!

this place is really dead. okay I'm really sorry about screwing up the html, so, does anyone have any inkling of how html works so that they can repair this? heh ><. 

oooh we're meeting sec1s tomorrow! And Deborah's going to be a direct senior! Seriously, time flies! haha I'm trying to imagine Deborah managing 3 sec1s and the image that's popping up is seriously... amusing. Anyway, you'll get all the help you can have from me and the sec2s, don't worry! 

SYF is honestly soon (I'm thinking about 50+ days?) so yup, do continue to work hard, and full speed ahead! 

love,

Samantha!

hey percs!

dead blog, anyone?? Anyway, Deborah - all the best for OBS! Drink loads of water! We'll miss you, for the one week you won't be here yup :D. But do enjoy yourself, okay! Then it'll be full speed ahead for SYF. 

Anyway, I probably didn't get around to wishing all of you guys a HAPPY NEW YEAR! All the best for 2009, which I'm sure will be a crazy year with SYF and another year of academics, PTs, SAs etcetc. So all the best, and jiayou! (haha yup this applies to the J1s too! - I actually can't believe you all are J1 already heh ><)

Do try and post so the blog won't be so. dead. ><.

love, Samantha!

hey there,

I'm here to revive this place! Yes, inunion's over and in my opinion, it was kind of screwed. Okay that's kind of an understatement, but never mind! Let's jiayou and improve and work towards SYF'09, alright! (I shall attempt optimism :D)

Anyway, I think the section played quite well so it's okay :D. YAY now Aliza and Xing Ern are part of main band and Deborah's going to get little, cute, adorable direct juniors next year -grin-. (I actually can't wait to see little sec 1s next year! wheee!)

I'm posting this from Peru, and it's really cold, and the internet's in Spanish. And I hope band prac today was okay, and I'm so sorry that I couldn't be there. And this place is really dead, can you guys tag and post more? And this place is really cold. brr.

Oh, does anyone have videos of the various batch items? I want to rewatch them haha.

Oh, the only times where we can go on some kind of section outing would probably be like, after Deborah comes back from her holiday? Or you all could go without me, I guess? Yeah Deborah comes back at around the 20th-ish? hm.

love, Samantha

hellohellohello! (:

D: it's quite dead here >< nevermind! i have time so i shall post!
i know it's a bit late but good luck for your O levels, directs! hope you did well (:

yay Inunion is on Friday so good luck Xing Ern and Aliza! one year has passed quite fast, to me. you guys have improved so much and are really really pro so i know you'll play well for your songs! and some of them sound quite easy like Furusato (with only 32 bars) and Ye Banks and Braes O Bonnie Doon! where you have so many rests ><

so yeah, just play your best and have fun as well! congrats on officially becoming a bandgirl :D

<3 deborah

hello!

yay new skins so cool :D oh but i won't get to see how they're doing it if it's on wednesday right D: darn. yay let's hint very obviously for new instrus!

yeah! eyas are overrr!!! (heh sorry sam, not for you. but soon!) hope we all did well/our best/really well. let's decide where to go for section outing! i'm fine with anything. oh is it a bit late to book a chalet already? i don't think i'm free during december so yeah.

yay can't wait til band starts again :)
love, deborah
(ah, why're my posts so short ><)

Hi percs :D

This blog is so dead you guys are not doing a good job at all! No I'm kidding, I just felt like being nice and posting.

DO YOU MISS US DO YOU MISS US DO YOU MISS US. Don't you dare say no.

Was just scrolling down the rather old posts here and thinking of perc ensem during Cadenza just makes me happy again. Till now I can hardly believe we pulled it off together, weak as we seemed to be. And it's really so cool that we were the only section with ensem. So yep, thank you once again :D

New drumskins sounds so cool, take good care of them and make sure you repeat a million times to your future juniors that they are new. Try negotiating for a new marimba hint hint.

Jiayou mugging!
♥, HILLARYYYYY

hello percs!

my first time posting here in quite a while, then again, there hasn't been many posts for a while ><. anywayyy, if you don't know, I'm guessing you don't, we're getting new drumskins! :D. YAY. for timpani and toms, that is :D. - 2 of my favourite instrus, I'm guessing that's why the snare doesn't seem to like me all that much. we're getting them on tuesday, I think, but I'm not really sure. but, yay :D.

best of luck for all your EYAs! (argh you guys are really lucky, you know, you finish your EYAs on the 10th! And 13th and 14th are marking days! And I finish on the 13th =.=) yeah good luck and have fun mugging :D. let's have a section outing after EYAs, I'll try to organise it once my rp papers end! and um, if you all want section chalet, you'll need to email/sms your free days during the hols soon, because I need to book it soon, if not there's no way we'll even get a chalet, let alone a good chalet.

love, samantha

hello my dear percs! :D

whee this is my first time posting here! so fun :)
i don't actually know what to post (i'm just procrastinating). yeah i'm reviving this blog!

deborah :)
[LOVES rgssbperc 08/09]

Hello little juniors, thanks for making me feel appreciated and loved haha even though I don't think I've been so awesome as to deserve your cute little gifts!

ALL THE WAY PERCUSSION 09!
Love, HILLARYYYYY

P.S.: Technology for teacher's day tomorrow hee hee let's just have fun la, no stress dudes!

hello percky percs! sibf was over today, and i hope that all of you feel okay about it. :) despite the horrible acoustics that the hall had, i think that we all had fun, right? haha oh and i'm putting up the nice and un-zipai photos taken today :) hillary has a hidden talent for artistic shots!

marimba, by hillary
chimes, by hillary

wind chimes, by hillary

artistic vibraphone, taken by hillary. :O their hands are a blur!
picture #1: xingern and aliza stoning.
picture #2: xingern and aliza happy! SEEE so much prettier :D i think this is the first proper picture i've had of both of them smiling at the same time! goodjob, keep it up! :))
heehee our section is cool! and im the second tallest :)))

band prac before SIBF! and everyone is in uniform :)
hello deborah :D it took her 3 shots to pose properly, haha!
kimberley and the piccolo snare.
ARTISTIC SHOT OF THE BELL TREE . i proudly proclaim that i took it, not hillary! :D
egg and tuna and crabmeat sandwiches...SO MANY PEOPLE THREW THEIR SANDWICHES AWAY!!! boo you evil waste-fooders!

I don't know what to say except for:

THANK YOU PERCUSSION 08
I LOVE YOU PERCUSSION 08
I AM VERY VERY VERY PROUD OF EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Hillary (:

hello!

I'm so sorry if I'm spamming this place, but I cannot resist posting some things :D. look below and see really pretty photos courtesy of wanting :D

kimberley!
aliza! (looking like she wants to murder the score)

and doesn't everyone agree, the little ball ball thingy is very cute! :D

anyway, in case anyone is still feeling down or feeling like they screwed up for ensemble or anything, WE DIDN'T! Besides getting the second loudest round of applause, we got compliments from all over the place (I mean, blogs). Like this:

(okay it's not just ensemble, but good comments in general as well!)

"What really impressed me was how in time the entire band was. Almost all (heck, all) the players were staring at Mr. Oura throughout the concert, and the rhythm was so precise (which made Metro Gnome really impressive). It looked like something out of Fantasia (Google's your best friend), and that really rocked.

Technology was really cool. I mean, no conductor and the percussionists still kept in time, what with all the super fast solos. Who thought percussionists would be so professional?

...

But yeah, on the whole, Cadenza XI was good (heck, excellent). *standing ovation*" - from some RI guy

"Carmen... sigh. Good ol' days of 2006. I saw Hillary practicing Carmen's part I solo and that got me wondering. Didn't know they were playing Carmen for Cadenza. On the whole, they did a great job, probably better than us two years ago (oh yes that girl playing my tambourine part did a much better job than me!), and it brought back lots of memories too (like Army of the Nile did in A Tempo). A bit on the slow side though." (DEBORAH LOOK YAY! :D you played tambourine, right!)

"Technology was SUPERB! Me goes, "Why can't WE have perc ensembles like that"

As the saying goes, quality beats quantity, and our two perc ensembles doesn't hold a Sacred Candle to Technology (oh come on, William Tell was a joke, and I don't want to have anything to do with anything that starts with an S and ends with a E). So cool! And if Monument was monumental, then Technology really is technological. They have managed to evoke a sense of modern-ness in that ensemble. So yeah, there you have it." -from Ben

okay see, we played well as a band and as a section :D.

Samantha

hello!

yay we survived Cadenza and we did a good job, okay! To whoever is still feeling zibei/sad/in a bad mood due to their so-called mediocre playing, you played well! everyone played well! :D

My parents said that the ensemble got the second loudest round of applause, the first being when the concert ended! which is really good, because people clap hard after the concert due to the random fun gimmicks! :D. Which means that we did really well for ensemble. (yes sorry, Sam is on a post concert high, which is quite weird).

Anyway, here are some photos that I've found, and yeah, posting them here for all to view!


perc ensemble: everyone except crystalbel and kimberley

argh I cannot get the next photo to load so I won't try ><. anyway, well done! :D and let's continue to strive hard for SIBF! rgssbpercs ftw!

Samantha

hello you guys (: haha its 4 days to cadenza, aren't you feeling the caterpillars hatching in your stomach? mine will manage to grow to butterflies with super-huge wings on the day of cadenza itself (: especially during perc ensemble. hee. but during perc ensemble i'll be distracted with the task of not laughing when it comes to D! anyway, let's work hard for cadenza so that it'll make a really wonderful memory for all of us (especially since we're the only ensemble :))

anyway, i shall add section photos into this post since we haven't had a photopost since eons ago











ALIZA SMILE LA YOUUUUUU!! and omgosh me hillary kimberley look like we're all the same height :DDDDD

Less than a week to go! Please push yourselves so we can pull through this. (push and pull, forces!) MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU.

Well actually, may the rgssb spirit be with you. And let us not forget that Cadenza isn't the only thing we're counting down to. There's still SIBF and quoting Deborah, the F-word. (Hint: It's a eight letter word).

Aren't you all excited and ready to go? Whooooooooo!
All the way perc (:

LOTSALOVE♥, HILLARYYYYY

We did it! We're bringing ensemble(s) back to the Cadenza stage. Let's impress and show them how much we've put in for this.

Now for two things before we can truly celebrate
1) Where is the last player and her score?
2) Getting through the real thing, ie. Cadenza itself

We're ready for this, yes? 2 Weeks to go.

Hillary

It's 28 days to Cadenza, about a month. Exactly 4 weeks.

Just would like to remind every single one of you to give it your all and chiong the last lap together. A lot can happen in 4 weeks if you really try to make it happen. Don't give up hope--that's the last thing we want you to do and I hope we've emphasized that enough. Now's the time to really be perfecting your parts to your best ability and remember your seniors are always here for you yeah? *waves*

On another note, let's also try our best for perc ensem. Even if it doesn't come to fruition as we wish, let's still be encouraged by the effort we've put in. Cliched as it may sound, the journey really does matter as much as or even more than the outcome. I hope you have gained many takeaways about playing, bonding, helping after all this time. Plus! If we don't get to do it for Cadenza, there's an open invitation to play during school's National Day celebration (hahaha but why not just put all this to something right? the audience's expectations will also be slightly lower!)

Alright, gogogo sPERCkle 08! I hope Band camp has motivated you to some extent to work harder. Let's do this together (:

<3 Hillary

I'll blog, since I'm bored.

It's 50 days to Cadenza. Our turn. Our chance to show so many people, including ourselves, that we have not let them down.

I want every single one of you to play with love.

Less than three,
Hillary