Drum Line Camp Report and 2009 First Rehearsal Dates!!

     Greetings from cold Gifford Elementary School and the second of four drum line camps during our off-season!  Patrick Coughlin, our percussion caption head, is very excited with the line already and thinks great things will be taking place come June and July.  The focus of these camps is to get a head start on the warm-ups and street beat we will use in 2009 as well as getting the correct technique in place EARLY so that when band camp and the season starts - the battery has a strong foundation.  Judges have always found Brigade percussionists to have strong playing technique and musicality - and this season will be no different!  Our tradition of strong technique is due to many things: the talent level of our members; amazing private teachers like Mark Pulice and Tom Sorensen, and superior staff instruction.

     Once again, our terrific Junior Brigade has proven to be an awesome training ground and feeder program for us with four rookies joining the line - all of whom marched in Junior Brigade last year!  Patrick tells me that they are all very strong players and should be able to fit right in with the veterans.  Of course - the actual line has not been set as far as who will be playing what instrument or how many snares, tenors and basses we may march.  But - I would not be surprised to see the entire percussion section looks something like this when we hit band camp:

Snares - 5

Tenors - 3

Bass Drums - 5

Front Ensemble - 8

     These numbers would be fantastic and I wouldn't even be surprised if they end up even larger.  I can say without a doubt that the Lighthouse Brigade percussion section (battery and pit) will be a strong force to be dealt with all season!  Many thanks go out to students and the winter camp percussion staff of: 

Patrick Coughlin - Percussion Caption Head

Steve Lange - Percussion Technician

Tony Holm - Percussion Technician

FYI - I have the dates of the first meeting and rehearsals for the 2009 Lighthouse Brigade:

Thursday, February 5th - Recruitment Night and Member/Parent Meeting

 Gifford Elementary School - 7:00pm in the auditorium

(All current and prospective members are REQUIRED to attend this meeting!)

First Rehearsals

Saturday, February 7th - 9:00am - 5:00pm at Gifford Elementary School

Sunday, February 8th - 1:00pm - 6:00pm at Gifford Elementary School

I'll post another blog entry next week during the color guard "spin camp" number 2!

- Rex out

A Great Time!

     It was so much fun to see such a great turnout for the DVD party!  I really liked having it at Charcoal Grill.  No offense to Gifford - but all RUSD schools turn off the heat during the weekends to save money - so in past years the auditorium has always been freezing cold, the sound system is very muddled, and you can't have any food or beverages.  I was happy with the food choices and I thought the sound was pretty clear.  Maybe the actual screen could be a little bigger - but all in all I thought the night was a whole lot of fun!

     I would like to thank Paul Ruffolo for all of the work he did for this project.  There are a million little touches he adds to the DVD that most people won't even notice......but take it from someone who was there every step of the way - I notice all of them and I am so lucky to have someone like Paul to help me with this HUGE project.  I met Paul when I was a young (right out of drum corps) instructor and he was a senior marching member of the Band of the Black Watch from Kenosha.  He "gets" what marching band is all about and I really think that shows up time and time again on the season DVD's.

     It was also great to have my big brother, Gene, in attendance.  For those of you who may not know - he is the designer and webmaster of our Brigade website.  He lives in the L.A. area and usually visits in September so it was a real treat for him to be able to experience the DVD party in person.  Gene and I will be updating the Brigade website as well as adding some new features such as the alumni directory.  I count my lucky stars that I have Paul and Gene as resources for Lighthouse Brigade.  Much like my world class staff who bring the members to such high levels of performance each year, these creative people make the Brigade extra special.

     The 2009 Field show production is now up on the member's page and on the latest brigade news page and I will also put it here:

"Legacy - The Music of John Barnes Chance" 

Music selections:

Incantation And Dance

Variations On A Korean Folk Song

     This show will feature the music of one of the most important composers to ever write for school concert bands.  In the mid 1960's he was digging a trench in his back yard when he struck a live wire and was killed, leaving a legacy of some amazing music.  I have wanted to do this show for a number of years, now and our 30th anniversary year is a great time to do it.  The "Legacy" in the title of the show also references former marching member Matt LaBelle who passed away due to cancer in the 1980's.  Mr. Donald Young, band director at Horlick High School, was selected by the Lighthouse Brigade to compose a song dedicated to his memory and Mr. Young entitled it, "Legacy".

     Plans are well underway for the 2009 season.  I am looking at starting at the end of January.  I'll post more information as I go.

- Rex out

DVD Release Party!!!!!

     The wait is almost over!  The Release Party for the 2008 Lighthouse Brigade DVD is right around the corner!  Put Friday, October 24th on your calendars and be ready for an awesome reunion and viewing of the DVD!  I am working with Paul Ruffolo from Southport Digital again and this is, without a doubt, the snazziest project we have ever put out!  I think you will all treasure this terrific keepsake and record of our amazing 2008 season!  Here is the info on the Release Party:

Friday, October 24th

The Charcoal Grill (8300 Washington Ave.  Racine, WI)

6:00pm - 7:30pm - Social for all Brigade members, family, staff, alumni and fans.  Ryan Bloom, a former marching member and now manager at The Charcoal Grill is working with me to provide a great place for our reunion.  There will be an outstanding array of food for the social - and the price per person is $15.00.  Coffee and soda are included in this cost and anything from the bar is on your own.

7:30pm - 9:00pm - First public viewing of the 2008 DVD.  If you only wish to come for the DVD viewing - you will need to be at here by 7:30.  Food will not be available at this time - but you may still purchase beverages from the bar.  After the night is done - you will be able to purchase your very own copy of the DVD for $35.00 each (please make all checks out to: Racine Band Boosters).

If you wish to come to the social - please contact me at: rex_rukavina@lighthousebrigade.org 

- Rex out

New Executive Board

     In November the Racine Band Boosters will be starting a new era with a totally "new" executive board of directors.  I say "new" because all of these parents have already been involved for the last few years!  Just elected at the band booster meeting last night: Jenny Miller - President; Bob and Cheri Harms - Co-Vice Presidents; Michael Ziolecki - Treasurer; Cathy Behling - Secretary; and Faith Christian - Past President.  Congrats to all of our new executive board members.  I look forward to working with all of you on our continuing mission of keeping the Lighthouse Brigade bands moving forward.

     I would like to give out a HUGE thank you to our departing executive board members.  They have been in these positions for many years, now and it has been an honor and pleasure to work with all of them: Faith Christian - President; Cheryl Thomas - Vice President; Diane Sluga - Treasurer; Karen Ludwig - Secretary; and Mark Buhler - Past President.  They will still be around to help out and I am glad they are more than willing to lend a hand with the new executive board members.  It humbles me each year as I see the amount of hours, dedication, commitment and love for this organization our parents give time and time again.  Our parents may not be wearing the uniform our marching members perform in - but they are every bit as important to what you see on the field of competition each season!

- Rex Out

- Go Bears!!

     WOW!!  Congrats to all of the marching members, staff and support team of the Phantom Regiment - the new 2008 DCI World Champions!  I am so proud of my corps (you see, when you have "worn the helmet" of the Phantom Regiment you will ALWAYS be a part of the corps and its traditions and history).  They were already champions after hearing the crowd reaction - the ending in first place was just icing on the cake, believe me.

     Aside from a very small minority of idiots who only try out for a corps because they think they will have the best chance to win championships with them, most people march in a certain corps because they love the style of music they play or the way they approach performing.  ALL of the marching members are champions for all of the hard work they put in this season - it's just that someone has to be crowned the ultimate champion and it sure is great that the Regiment can bask in that glory!  Their only other title was a shared championship with the Blue Devils in 1996 - so having one all their own is pretty cool!

Now, I've got to get back to working on the 2009 Brigade music and the 2008 DVD!!

- Rex out

What a fun evening Thursday night!  I was at the Quarterfinals broadcast at the movie theater and it was great to see so many Brigade members also there.

I am very proud of the fact that we saw five former Brigade members on the big screen:

Matt Jacob - Blue Stars

Nick Taylor - Bluecoats

Mike Kowbel, Joe Bauer and Tony Holm - Madison Scouts

Awesome job, guys!!  Now - it is obvious that I have a special place in my heart for my former corps, Phantom Regiment and I was thrilled to see that their field show production of "Spartacus" has already become a drum corps legend.  They are really throwing it down this year and wether or not they take the championship title - they have my respect and admiration.  The picture at the top is from the 1982 version of Spartacus!!  SUTA!!

Here is how I would have (HONESTLY) ranked the top twelve corps last night:

 

1.  Phantom Regiment

2.  Cavaliers

3.  Carolina crown

4.  Blue Devils

5.  The Cadets

6.  Santa Clara Vanguard

7.  Blue Coats

8.  Blue Knights

9.  Boston Crusaders

10.  Blue Stars

11.  Madison Scouts

12.  Glassmen

- Rex out

No More Flutes? Really????

Greetings from beautiful Winter Park, Colorado! I'm on vacation, but since I have internet access where we are staying - I thought I would add a new post.

Yup - the heading of this post is true. For the 2009 Brigade season there will not be flutes in the horn line. The reason I have decided to do this is not because I hate flutes - but because I love the sound of the flute so much (heck, my wife is a flute player!!). It breaks my heart each season to see our flute players work so hard to learn and memorize their music - and then pretty much not be heard on the field of competition. Yes, you can hear them a few times during the show - but the sound of a flute just CAN'T be heard that well (1) outdoors and (2) in a horn line with much louder instruments.

If you are reading this thinking I only have it out for flutes - please understand that there are many instruments we don't use in our horn line set up. Examples: oboes, alto/bass clarinets, baritone saxophones, french horns and trombones. People may think we are not playing fair when we make trombone players learn baritone - but often Brigade is all about the members learning new instruments to help flesh out our instrumentation. Take the pit, for example. Of the six pit members we had this year, only ONE of them was an actual percussionist! We had woodwind players playing brass instruments, percussion instruments or performing with the guard. We also had actual brass players switch to different brass instruments to help with the balance of our sound.

I can tell you from experience that switching from a woodwind to a brass instrument was a lot of hard work, yes - but it was also a ton of fun and it opened up my eyes to the world of brass warmups and building up my "chops". Flute players will have many opportunities with Brigade in the future. They can switch to louder woodwind instruments such as clarinet or saxophone. They can learn a brass instrument. They can see if the color guard would be something they would want to try. They can join the pit, try out for a battery instrument or even try out for drum major.

In 2006 we won championships with a brass line that was mostly made up of woodwind players who learned a brass instrument that summer. So - here are the "new" opportunities for the Lighthouse Brigade:

Horn Line:

Clarinet
Alto Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone
Trumpet
Mellophone
Baritone
Contra

Percussion:

Snare
Tenor
Bass
Pit

and of course, Color Guard or try out for Drum Major.

- Rex out