Google Day Presentations (12/15/11) and Reflection

Today we presented our Google Projects in band.  My presentation was fine, aside from the fact that it was slightly too long.  Many of the other projects were fun and enjoyable to watch.

Overall, I'm glad that we did the Google Project in band, and I think my product, if not the most musical, is still pretty interesting.  These projects allowed us to optimize our creativity and demonstrate what we can do if left without instruction (a skill that is quite useful in the real world).  If the option arises to do them during second semester, I would probably opt to do so.  

The one complaint/problem with the Google projects is the time commitment.  Class workdays weren't all that productive for me because I needed a piano, and I spend much more than 20% of my practice time working on the project. It seems as if other people also spend a lot more time than they predicted on their projects.  However, I still think the projects were a worthwhile experience overall.

Google Day Five (Update 12/7/11)

Today was our last Google day.  Since my project is already done, I practiced other music in a practice room.  We all signed up for presentation days, which will be next week.  I can't say I'm looking forward to presentations, but I am not too embarrassed by my final product. 

Google Day Five (Update 11/14/11)

This fifth Google day was definitely my most productive Google day yet.  I managed to get the piano in the auditorium, and I had it pretty much the whole time. I was able to play through my piece 3 times today.  There are certainly stronger parts than others, but I am ready to start videotaping it.

I plan to tape it at home, and, like I've said before, I will probably have a number of cuts in between so that I can turn pages (the music is 11 pages), empty my spit valve, etc.  I don't think my little finger is as much of a problem (when it comes to resting the weight of the trumpet on it) anymore, as it's resistance has been built up. See, there's something good already: my smallest finger has gotten stronger. That's the sign of any good project (this is sarcasm, for those who can't tell).  But, nonetheless, I am actually pretty excited to see how my final project will turn out.

Google Day Four (Update 10/31/11)

Today was our fourth Google day.  It was definitely more productive for me than the last one, because I managed to get some time on the piano in the auditorium.  I played it through once there, and then someone else needed the piano, so I played the trumpet part again once without the piano (which was great-the auditorium sounds awesome in terms of acoustics and echo if you can hear yourself play). 

Then I came back the band room, as the choir needed the auditorium.  I played the whole piece again with the keyboard in the corner practice room.  This time, I just adjusted to the shorter range by only playing the top note of some of the lower octaves.  When I finished that, I realized I had pulled my back because I had been holding my trumpet with one hand, hunched over the keyboard, so long.  

I have definitely made progress, and I plan to start recording the video presentation this month.  I'm going to capitalize on those extra weekend days, because it's no-school November.

In unrelated news to Google Day four, I figured that I would upload a snipped of what the music I am playing off of looks like.  The pencil is my transposition of the left-hand piano part (transposed down a step).

Google Day Three (Update 10/19/11)

In case you didn't read the title: today was our third Google day.  At this point, I think the Google day's aren't as helpful for me as they are for other people, because I am used to the piano I have at home (so an electric keyboard that is missing an octave takes some adjustment).  

However, I still managed to get some good work done-I've pretty much got the whole trumpet part of the song performance-ready, save two really speed and note intense parts I'm not sure if I will include or not.  The hardest part is definitely putting that together with the piano and making it sound good (although the pedal that sustains the notes is certainly a big help).

Google Day Two (Update 10/5/11)

Today was our second Google day in band. I spent the time in one of the practice rooms, where it was quiet (save one violin), and I finished transposing my music.  For that last four pages, I saved a lot of time by just writing one note over the measure, because the whole part was a bunch of high-low octave sixteenth notes. 

I also played through the song once on trumpet.  The hardest parts are going to be the piano riffs that are written with sixteenth, thirty-second, and sixty-fourth notes.  I may have to slow those down slightly, because I'm not sure if it is physically possible for me to finger that fast holding the trumpet with only one hand.  I tried playing with a recording of the song as well, but I stopped because I realized that I had transposed my piece down a key, so it was one key off and thus sounded bad with the recording.

Day One (Update 9/19/11)

I started my Google Band Project today.  So far, I have transposed about two pages of the piano left-hand part of "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant."  I also started this blog and explained the project.