Flag Design Tutorial (Using Microsoft Paint)

When designing your own flag, a good place to start is looking at other already designed flags in Band Catalogs. I recommend Band Shoppe or McCormick's catalog. They both have websites you can look at for flag designs.

Flag Design Shapes: There are many variations of flag shapes that you can use when designing a flag, but remember that your show is in your creative control. So, if you don't find a flag shape you like, you can come up with your own shape.




What to use to Design your Flag: A great way to visualize your flag and it's colors is to use Microsoft Paint. Microsoft Paint comes standard on any PC running Windows. To access Paint, go to Start>Programs>Accessories>Paint. Open the Program and use either the line tool, the box tool, or the pencil tool to draw the shape of your flag. Next, use the same tools to draw the design in the interior of the flag.

In the image below, we use the box tool to draw the rectangle shape of the flag, then we used the line tool to draw the straight lines within the flag.



After you've drawn the outline of your flag design, now you can start to color it. Use the Paint Bucket tool to fill the different sections of your flag with the colors you want to use. (Tip: You can double click on the colors in the color palette below to create a custom color)




Now, you can play with the colors until you come up with the perfect color combination for your flag. (For more information on what colors mean, Click Here). Below, we copied our flag and pasted four different version, using the paint bucket to change the flag colors. To copy your flag use the selection tool (above the paint bucket) and select your flag. Next copy it (ctrl + C). Now paste the image (ctrl + V). Then, move the pasted selection away from your original flag.




After you've come up with the perfect design, Print it out and show it to your band director. After it's been approved find the colors that you want in a Catalog. Most catalogs will send you swatches of all the fabric colors that they have for free. Most of the catalogs also provide the service of creating the flags for you in the colors that you want...as long as it's their design. This can be quite expensive, ranging from $15-$70 per flag!



Source : http://www.colorguardcentral.com/howdesignflagtut.html

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Mengenal Musik Lewat Marching Band

Dikutip dari : http://www.detikbandung.com

Bandung - Banyak orang bertanya, “Marching Band (MB) itu sama dengan Drum Band (DB) gak sih?” Jawabannya, beda. Kalau DB, masih ada pianika, recorder dan bellyra. Sedangkan di MB tuh udah ga pake lagi pianika dan “kawan-kawannya”.

Kalau boleh dibilang, DB lebih buat anak-anak atau paling besar SMA. Tapi SMA pun juga sudah ada yang MB. Semua tergantung dari ketersediaan alat di masing-masing unit saja.

Saya mengenal yang namanya marching band sejak kelas 6 SD, sekitar tahun 1994. Saat itu saya main di unit sekolah saya -Marching Band Listya Dwijaswara (LD)- Cirebon. Kelas 5 SD -tahun pertama sebagai siswi pindahan-, teman saya mengajak main MB. Tetapi oleh mama disarankan tahun depan saja, karena saya harus beradaptasi di sekolah yang baru.

Saat baru masuk, saya ingat pertama kali disuruh mencoba meniup yang namanya trombone. Alatnya sih tidak gede, cuma nyari suara yang keluar dari alatnya susah banget. Pertama-tama malah tidak ada suaranya, cuma suara “ssshhhh…”

Saya tidak patah semangat. Hari berikutnya saya disuruh main trumpet saja. Masih juga sama, tidak ada suara yang keluar. Berhubung waktu itu boleh bawa alat ke rumah untuk latihan, jadi saya bawa pulang.

Saya masih ingat, jam 5 pagi sudah bangun untuk mencoba niup trumpet. Mama sampai bingung, bagaimana caranya supaya tidak terlalu berisik. Akhirnya, saya memasukan setengah tumpetnya ke dalam lemari supaya suaranya teredam. Akhirnya saya bisa juga meniup trumpet.

Setelah bisa meniup, saya diajak untuk ikut ke dalam pertandingan Grand Prix Marching Band (GPMB) di Istora Senayan, Jakarta. Dag dig dug jantung saya saat akan masuk ke dalam ruangan. Sukses masuk final di tahun sebelumnya menjadi beban dan menghantui saya. Benar saja, kami harus pulang dengan tangan hampa karena kalah di penyisihan.

Kami tidak patah semangat, kemudian memutuskan untuk main di Bandung Open Marching Band (BOMB) tahun 1995. Hasilnya, kami juara umum. Tidak ada yang bisa membeli kebahagiaan dengan menjadi juara umum. Benar-benar suatu kebanggaan bisa jadi juara.

Banyak sekali kompetisi yang saya ikuti bersama LD. Selain GPMB dan BOMB, juga pernah ikut bertanding di Langgam tahun 2002 yang diselenggarakan oleh Marching Band Udayana, Bali.

Saat itu saya main bass drum dan suatu kehormatan karena saat itu saya adalah satu-satunya perempuan yang memainkan alat itu.

Saya menutup karir di LD setelah main di GPMB tahun 2002. Akhir yang buruk karena tidak lolos ke final. Saya masih ingat saat menangis waktu dikasih tahu kalau kami tidak lolos dengan nilai hanya terpaut +/- 0,5.

Saya memutuskan untuk tidak main lagi. Tetapi ketika kuliah di Jakarta, teman saya mengajak main di salah satu unit di kawasan Monas. Akhirnya saya bersama empat teman lainnya ikut unit tersebut.

Kebersamaan kami tidak lama. Teman-teman saya kemudian berhenti. Tahun pertama saya main, kami sukses menjadi juara umum GPMB 2003. Penantian saya selama sembilan tahun pun terwujud!

Tahun itu adalah tahun pengorbanan. Saya mengorbankan waktu liburan bersama keluarga ke kampung halaman mama dan papa. Tetapi saya tidak menyesal.

Sampai saat ini saya masih main di unit saya yang kedua ini. Saya tidak tahu kapan akan berhenti. Karena dari marching band, saya bisa mendapatkan banyak hal seperti teman, keluarga, pengalaman dan sebagainya.

Pesan untuk yang baru mau belajar, jangan patah semangat. Orang yang dianggap jago, dulunya juga tidak bisa. Tetapi mereka selalu mencoba sampai bisa.

Punya niat bermain marching band? Coba datangi alun-alun di kota kalian. Biasanya alun-alun kota dijadikan tempat latihan. Mungkin bisa juga browsing di internet. Atau jika ingin, bisa kirim email ke saya, dan saya akan bantu mencari tahu unit yang ada di kota kalian.

Salam marching band!
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Marching Band vs. Drum Corps

Drum Corps and Marching Bands, to most observers, are the same thing. Under the surface, however they each have their own unique styles of music, marching, and pagentry.

People think that marching band and drum corps are the same thing. In truth while they share the same ancestry they are unique and entertaining in their own special way.

The marching band in one form or another has been around for hundreds of years. Over the centuries the old style fife and drum corps of the civil war era evolved into two distinct bloodlines the school based marching band and the organization oriented drum and bugle corps. Today’s modern drum and bugle corps can often trace their ancestry to veterans groups and youth groups such as the Boy Scouts of America dating back to the early 1900’s. In the mid 1900’s the school based marching band emerged playing performances at halftime of football games all across America. As the popularity of marching band grew, slowly but surely the drum and bugle corps enthusiasts also pressed forward. While the marching band remained a part of the high school, the drum corps emerged as a summertime opportunity for young musicians to continue and excel at their art.

In 1972 a national organization was formed to provide a foundation on which for the many different drum and bugle corps to grow and perform under a uniform set of rules. Drum Corps International today is a major international organization with over fifty corps in active competition during the summer months. But drum corps is not traditional marching band. It has evolved on a slightly different path than the high school based marching bands that we all grew up with in our local communities. For one thing, all drum corps are restricted to using only brass and percussion instruments. In 2005 for the first time woodwind instruments were allowed, but only in the solo and ensemble competitions that run separate from the massive full corps performances. Other recent changes have allowed the use of amplification through electronic means on the field. While high school marching bands have used amplification for years to provide such things as electric bass parts on the field it is a very new and experimental addition to drum corps competitions.

Another significant difference between traditional marching band and modern drum corps has been the marching style of the members. Very traditional marching bands still use what is known as “Big Ten” or “High Step” style marching in which the performers lift their knees to their waist level with each step. Drum corps today use what is known as “Corps Style” marching which uses a very low gliding rolled step from heel to toe. Another difference between marching band and drum and bugle corps are the forms used on the field. In Big Ten style the forms tend to be created in groups or squads of four to five performers. These squads work together with other squads to produce generally straight, angular forms on the field. In corps style marching the shapes can be angular or curvilinear depending on the mood and intensity of the music and each performer is totally independent of the others.

Regardless of which style you personally prefer, the differences between marching bands and drum corps are becoming less and less obvious. The drum corps movement has made a huge impact on the high school based marching band, and in general this impact has been very positive. For those of us that love the thrill and energy of music in motion, either drum corps or marching bands will do just fine.

Source : http://musicappreciation.suite101.com/article.cfm/marching_band_vs_drum_corps

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How to Polish a Trumpet

Don’t get worried if your trumpet gets a scuff or two — here’s how to take care of the problem.

Things You’ll Need:

• Soft cloth, like a cloth diaper
• Silver cleaning polish (only if your trumpet is silver-plated)

Step 1

Here’s the irony behind the idea of polishing your trumpet–unless it’s silver-plated, you don’t need to bother!. Your trumpet is coated with clear lacquer, so unless you have a silver-plated trumpet, all you need to do is rub those fingerprints and scuffs off with a cloth diaper, or non-scratching rag. If you do polish your trumpet, you run the risk of scratching off that lacquer finish, and doing a lot more harm than good.

Step 2

But what if you do have a silver trumpet? The first step is to be careful in the materials that you use. Do not use silver polish. Did you know that silver polish is a lot like sandpaper? Yes–and it’s just as abrasive. Using silver polish on your silver-plated trumpet will destroy the silver plating over time. Polish residue will cake in the areas that are difficult to reach, which will make your instrument look damaged. If you get silver polish in your valve casings, you will eventually need a new trumpet. Ouch!

Step 3
Instead, use a silver cleaning cloth on your silver-plated trumpet. One reliable manufacturer is Selmer. These cloths are coated with a mild agent called “rouge.” This polish will make silver-plated trumpets look as good as new–until the next time you pick yours up and put fingerprints on it again. Happy polishing!

note and warning : If you have a Getzen trumpet, never remove the plastic retainer on the third valve slide. Its job is to keep the “fast” third slide from falling out. Do not take it out.

Resource : http://www.ehow.com/how_2303002_polish-trumpet.html

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