On Tuesday my brother and I started the day like normal by getting up an hour before everyone was required to be out of bed. We were both determined to be ready to go way before everyone else, a decision we had made purely so we could be first in line for food. The food provided at Summer Music Clinic is above average to say the least. We were served buffet style in one of the university's more modern cafeterias named Gordon Commons, and are allowed to fill our trays to whatever degree with all of kind of sustenance ranging from burgers to salads to chinese. The selection was a bit less exciting at breakfast time though, every American breakfast item you could think of but the variety limited itself to just that.
After Reez and I had both loaded our trays with cereal, chocolate milk, and some fried potatoes, we charged off to fight for a table on the first floor. We actually managed to obtain a decent dining area, right over by the exit and where all us instrumentalists were told to leave our big and heavy music making devices.
"So how was your first day?" I asked Reez as we sat down to eat and wait for our friends to make the nerve wracking journey across the hall to find us.
"Not great," he responded. "Zoe [Reez's girlfriend] has some class with the guy I did my audition for, and he used me as an example for what NOT to do in an audition. He said I could sing really well and act really well but the song I chose was to modern and had to much talking, and that that is why they put me in the lower musical theater group."
"That sucks." I replied, unable to think of a better response. To be honest this news didn't surprise me. Reez had done "Washington On Your Side" from the musical Hamilton, and even though Reez could sing the song fairly well (for a white guy), the likelihood of his group doing a song that had a rap in it was minimal to say the least. Plus Reez himself had said he wanted to the song for fun and not because he thought it would be a good piece to show his strengths in a musical sense. Eh, live and learn.
By now people had started to show up at our table, and since they were mostly Reez and my nerdy friends the conversation drifted to Dungeons and Dragons, a topic I was happy to tune out of to focus wholeheartedly on my cereal.
I had to leave all my meals earlier than everyone else. I didn't have to walk farther than anyone else, and all our classes started at the same time, I had just made the questionable decision to play Double-Bass in on of the Orchestras, and since there was nowhere to store our instruments I had to carry the largest and third heaviest instrument there is, only out done by the poor tubas players and the singular unfortunate harpist.
My first class of the day was concert band. I played percussion for this, and unfortunately there were more than enough percussionists at the camp, causing me to have to share parts with nine other people when the standard is to have four to six percussionists in a band. Because of this we all spent a fair chunk of time hiding in the back of the room sleeping or sitting on our phones. So even though our teacher was very good, band ended up being forgettable.
My next class of the day was orchestra.
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Monday, June 5, 2017
Why Rhythm Is The Same As Pitch
E=MC^2 tells us that mass and energy are the same thing, just on massively different scales. This is similar to the musicians theory of relativity that states rhythm, melody, and harmony are mathematically the same, but are measured on equally massive different scales.
To understand this concept, we need to understand pitch. Pitch is measured in Hertz, or cycles per second. So when a note is played, the instrument creating it causes a resonator to vibrate at a consistent rate. The higher the Hz, the higher note. For instance, when middle C is plucked on a violin, the string of the instrument vibrates back and forth a consistent number of times, in the case of middle C this number 261.63 vibrations per second, or 261.63 Hz.
So how can we apply this in our argument that Rhythm is the same thing as Harmony? Based on the principle above, if you were to take a stick click played by a drummer, and if the drummer were to click his sticks together 261.63 times per second, the result would be the pitch of middle C. Though no human could hit two sticks together 261.63 times per second, computer simulations easily prove this true. This theory can also be tested by listening to a fan. When fully sped up, the vibrations from the fan produce a consistent pitch, though not a defined musical note.
If pitch can be measured by a number, than two notes can display a ratio. Lets take the notes A (440 Hz) and E (660 Hz). Whats interesting about these two notes is the ratio of their two frequency's, 2:3. A 2:3 poly-rhythm is a standard of music, and most musicians can easily tap out this rhythm on their legs. If you don't understand this rhythm. Imagine two people clapping along to a song. One person is clapping two beats per measure, and the other is clapping three beats per measure. Whats fascinating about this rhythm though, is that if sped up 120 times, it will create the two notes A and E, or a perfect fifth. The same is true for all other rhythms, with different ratios supplying different intervals. A perfect 4th for example has the ratio of 4:3, a major 7th has the ratio of 15:8.
Though there are very few real world applications of this theory outside of computer generated music, the correlation between math, physics, and music is in itself fascinating. Hopefully we will continue to make discovery's of how these and other extremely unrelated fields of science relate back to each other in an interlocking map of how our world of art and science works.
To understand this concept, we need to understand pitch. Pitch is measured in Hertz, or cycles per second. So when a note is played, the instrument creating it causes a resonator to vibrate at a consistent rate. The higher the Hz, the higher note. For instance, when middle C is plucked on a violin, the string of the instrument vibrates back and forth a consistent number of times, in the case of middle C this number 261.63 vibrations per second, or 261.63 Hz.
So how can we apply this in our argument that Rhythm is the same thing as Harmony? Based on the principle above, if you were to take a stick click played by a drummer, and if the drummer were to click his sticks together 261.63 times per second, the result would be the pitch of middle C. Though no human could hit two sticks together 261.63 times per second, computer simulations easily prove this true. This theory can also be tested by listening to a fan. When fully sped up, the vibrations from the fan produce a consistent pitch, though not a defined musical note.
If pitch can be measured by a number, than two notes can display a ratio. Lets take the notes A (440 Hz) and E (660 Hz). Whats interesting about these two notes is the ratio of their two frequency's, 2:3. A 2:3 poly-rhythm is a standard of music, and most musicians can easily tap out this rhythm on their legs. If you don't understand this rhythm. Imagine two people clapping along to a song. One person is clapping two beats per measure, and the other is clapping three beats per measure. Whats fascinating about this rhythm though, is that if sped up 120 times, it will create the two notes A and E, or a perfect fifth. The same is true for all other rhythms, with different ratios supplying different intervals. A perfect 4th for example has the ratio of 4:3, a major 7th has the ratio of 15:8.
Though there are very few real world applications of this theory outside of computer generated music, the correlation between math, physics, and music is in itself fascinating. Hopefully we will continue to make discovery's of how these and other extremely unrelated fields of science relate back to each other in an interlocking map of how our world of art and science works.
Monday, May 29, 2017
How And Why Jeff Hamilton Is One Of The Best Drummers Of All Time
There are many great Jazz Drummers in the world. The Genre is old enough now, that it is no longer enough to be able to have super fast speed allowing you to fly around the drums at a loud and in your face rate. Neither can you come off as a pro by just having crazy syncopation knowledge, by playing super weird and off tempo rhythms that you somehow tie into the time signature. There are of course exceptions. Drummers like Buddy Rich are revered for the inhuman speed at which they play, and many a Latin-Jazz Drummer will show off with impossible-to-understand 5/4 and 13/16 rhythms. These are both cool, but in today's modern Jazz scene to stand out it is better to try and imitate a more musical approach of Drumming. Many Drummers play like everything is a solo, hammering out super loud and complex beats and accents underneath the most simple chords and mellowest lyrics. So how should a Drummer play? Well, an old saying among educated Drummers is to "Play to the Song." So what does this mean?
One perfect example is Ringo Star of The Beetles. Ringo has never been known for his super speedy skills and crazy chops on the drums. His infamy in this regard goes as far as John Lennon saying "Ringo isn't even the best drummer in The Beetles." when asked about Ringo's skill. Beside this, the Drumming Ringo did for the Beetles was perfect. It was loud when it needed to be, it was intense when it needed to be, it was quit and supportive when it needed to be, and it always perfectly accented the music. Because of this Ringo is now the most expensive Drummer in the world to hire.
So how does Jeff Hamilton fit into all of this? Well, like Ringo Star, Jeff Hamilton is well known for playing to the band. In addition Jeff is known for his pro level chops and skills, especially when playing with brushes. Outside of his band playing what I think makes Jeff standout is his soloing. His solos are musical and thought out to an extreme, and never show off a lick unless it fits the piece. Jeff is even known for emulating the melody of a song in his solos, showing a level of musicality above and beyond the vast majority of Drummers.
It's these reasons that make Jeff Hamilton one of the best Drummers, and outside of that one of the best Musicians in the world.
One perfect example is Ringo Star of The Beetles. Ringo has never been known for his super speedy skills and crazy chops on the drums. His infamy in this regard goes as far as John Lennon saying "Ringo isn't even the best drummer in The Beetles." when asked about Ringo's skill. Beside this, the Drumming Ringo did for the Beetles was perfect. It was loud when it needed to be, it was intense when it needed to be, it was quit and supportive when it needed to be, and it always perfectly accented the music. Because of this Ringo is now the most expensive Drummer in the world to hire.
So how does Jeff Hamilton fit into all of this? Well, like Ringo Star, Jeff Hamilton is well known for playing to the band. In addition Jeff is known for his pro level chops and skills, especially when playing with brushes. Outside of his band playing what I think makes Jeff standout is his soloing. His solos are musical and thought out to an extreme, and never show off a lick unless it fits the piece. Jeff is even known for emulating the melody of a song in his solos, showing a level of musicality above and beyond the vast majority of Drummers.
It's these reasons that make Jeff Hamilton one of the best Drummers, and outside of that one of the best Musicians in the world.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
My Show Choir Experiences
Out of all of the extra curricular activities I'm involved with through my school, Show Choir is my favorite. The concept isn't any more fun then say Jazz Band or Pep Band, all I do is play music which is reason enough to be a part of it. Some might even assume I would like Show Choir less, being in the band, I sit in the back barely visible and, if I do my part right, barely noticed. Yet despite all of this Show Choir is still by far my favorite activity, where I play Bass for the Band the Choir sings and dances too.
My first year in Show Band I was on auxiliary percussion. That first year wasn't as much fun as this past year, I didn't know very many people, my part was rather uninteresting, and I didn't put in enough of my own time/effort to know many other people in the group. This year was different. I knew a lot more people this year, and by the end I knew almost everyone. Also this past season we lacked a Bass player so I was promoted to a much more interesting position in the band. I also spent more time at practice and doing the social aspects of the club.
Being in the band I had an advantage for friendship over the people in the choir. There are only 11 of us in Show Band so by the end of the year we became a very close group, and I would say that a majority of my best friends are in/from Show Band.
In fact, my best memory so far from High School, and maybe so far in my life, was at one of the Show Choir competitions this past February. It was at Brodhead, a medium sized competition that we were all excited about. The other schools that were there weren't from huge city's with big budgets so we didn't feel like we would be at a disadvantage based on that. We played well when we performed at around 3 pm, not our best performance but for sure one of our top three. We felt confident as we went into the awards and the announcements for finals. Our night official started to go well at the first round of awards when we not only made to finals, but won two of the three soloist awards as well as best band. After that we as the band had a mini party and a big group hug in celebration of our achievement. Per tradition all the guys in both band and choir ran out to the woods to pee. A ritual started a few years ago that takes place whenever we get to finals at Brodhead. After this we had a few hours before we performed again since we were going second to last out of six groups that made it to finals. With our free time the band split off to celebrate some more and listen to the comments the judges had given us. Our second performance was our best all year, even compared to our later competitions. We gave it our all, we were all breathing heavy by the end, especially our drummer, and one of my fingers had started bleeding on the strings of the Bass. One of our singer/dancers stood out for an amazing performance as well. In the opening song he dislocated his shoulder. But without missing a beat he popped it back in and sang/danced the rest of the show as if it was nothing.
We were all obnoxiously happy, sweaty, and excited as the second round of awards started. We were packed together in the back left of the gymnasium, clenching our teeth and each others hands as we waited to see how we had done. It started strong for us, best male vocalist within a show, best vocals, best opener. By now we were hoarse from cheering and some of the seniors were already crying. Best choreography, best ballad. And then it hit, Grand Champions. We had beaten twenty other schools including groups that had out placed us in the past, and had swept 90% of the awards for the entire Competition. We were all onstage sobbing and hugging and jumping about in excitement. None of us had expected to even make it to finals let alone win pretty much everything. It was very emotional, I was sobbing and so was almost everyone else. Even thinking about it now is making me grin.
Anyway, that is probably the biggest reason Show Choir is my favorite extracurricular.
My first year in Show Band I was on auxiliary percussion. That first year wasn't as much fun as this past year, I didn't know very many people, my part was rather uninteresting, and I didn't put in enough of my own time/effort to know many other people in the group. This year was different. I knew a lot more people this year, and by the end I knew almost everyone. Also this past season we lacked a Bass player so I was promoted to a much more interesting position in the band. I also spent more time at practice and doing the social aspects of the club.
Being in the band I had an advantage for friendship over the people in the choir. There are only 11 of us in Show Band so by the end of the year we became a very close group, and I would say that a majority of my best friends are in/from Show Band.
In fact, my best memory so far from High School, and maybe so far in my life, was at one of the Show Choir competitions this past February. It was at Brodhead, a medium sized competition that we were all excited about. The other schools that were there weren't from huge city's with big budgets so we didn't feel like we would be at a disadvantage based on that. We played well when we performed at around 3 pm, not our best performance but for sure one of our top three. We felt confident as we went into the awards and the announcements for finals. Our night official started to go well at the first round of awards when we not only made to finals, but won two of the three soloist awards as well as best band. After that we as the band had a mini party and a big group hug in celebration of our achievement. Per tradition all the guys in both band and choir ran out to the woods to pee. A ritual started a few years ago that takes place whenever we get to finals at Brodhead. After this we had a few hours before we performed again since we were going second to last out of six groups that made it to finals. With our free time the band split off to celebrate some more and listen to the comments the judges had given us. Our second performance was our best all year, even compared to our later competitions. We gave it our all, we were all breathing heavy by the end, especially our drummer, and one of my fingers had started bleeding on the strings of the Bass. One of our singer/dancers stood out for an amazing performance as well. In the opening song he dislocated his shoulder. But without missing a beat he popped it back in and sang/danced the rest of the show as if it was nothing.
We were all obnoxiously happy, sweaty, and excited as the second round of awards started. We were packed together in the back left of the gymnasium, clenching our teeth and each others hands as we waited to see how we had done. It started strong for us, best male vocalist within a show, best vocals, best opener. By now we were hoarse from cheering and some of the seniors were already crying. Best choreography, best ballad. And then it hit, Grand Champions. We had beaten twenty other schools including groups that had out placed us in the past, and had swept 90% of the awards for the entire Competition. We were all onstage sobbing and hugging and jumping about in excitement. None of us had expected to even make it to finals let alone win pretty much everything. It was very emotional, I was sobbing and so was almost everyone else. Even thinking about it now is making me grin.
Anyway, that is probably the biggest reason Show Choir is my favorite extracurricular.
Monday, May 1, 2017
My Adventure In Little Italy (Remake)
It's funny how accurate stereotypes can be some times.When you meet someone and a lot of the things you assumed about them based on their appearance are very accurate. This was the case for me when we went on a school trip to New York City and visited Little Italy. As we walked down the narrow car-less street, the amount of stereotypical Italian flying about was almost uncanny. It seemed as if we had hopped right into an old gangster movie, the slang, the accent, and the fashion were all plastered on groups of loud and tan men, all half shouting why their store was better than the one twenty feet to the left. After a few minutes of hunting for a quaint little place to get food, we found a tiny little pizza joint near the edge of the district. The owner had popped out as soon as he noticed hungry tourists out on the sidewalk. He was very insistent that we come in to eat, saying that if we wanted "Real, amazing, Italian cuisine" we should come into his parlor, and if we didn't we should head up the street to "Olive Garden." Being unsure where to go and slightly intimidated we agreed to head in and get some supper. While the man, who we never got the name of, lead us into the restaurant and over to a table he asked us where we were from. Wisconsin we said, and from there the conversation went to cheese and football. It's funny, he had just as many preconceived notions of us as we did of him!
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
My Adventure In Little Italy
We went to little Italy and Chinatown as a group on the third day of our trip to New York
City. We were going there to allow us students a chance to explore the historic streets, do some
shopping, and most importantly to get some dinner before our trip to the top of the rock
conservatory. After we got off the bus and out onto a crowded sidewalk that smelled of fish it was time to divide up into groups as we weren't allowed to walk around alone. The group I usually hung out with wanted to go to Chinatown, which I was against as I don’t enjoy Chinese food and it seemed
like most of the options were either rice or weird fish, so I went with another group of my friends
that happened to consist of most of the vegan and vegetarians on the trip. Thankfully for me we
decided to go into little Italy, Italian is my favorite genre of food. My group somehow ended up
with both Mrs. Heinemen and Mr. Davick, the two teachers that were on the trip with us. This
was lucky for me though, as we ended splitting up again so me, my Friend Nick, and Mr. Davick
could get super greasy pizza, while the others went to look for a cheese-less option for my
friend Casandra who is dairy intolerant. Nick, Davick, and I were loudly ushered into a pizza
joint by an over-the-top stereotypical Italian man. There we ordered two Pizza’s. One cheese for
me and a meat lovers for the other two to share. I also had a gelato milkshake, which tasted
heavenly and is the best I have ever had. We were the only patrons of the place at the time so
the owner/host spent some time talking to us. He asked where we were from, and once he
discovered we were from Wisconsin the conversation went to solely covering cheese and Football,
a problem we had run into repeatedly through out our trip.
After we ate, we headed out to do some shopping. Mr. Davick wanted to meet up with his
son Soren and some of his friends to get some Cannoli, which we were fine with. We met them at a little bakery across the street where I ate even more and got to use an ATM for the first time. As we stood around outside the bakery we all admired the impressive street art that stretched up the side of almost every building in the area. The smell of the street and all of the restaurants was of pasta and food and was actually pretty enjoyable compared to the normal smell of New York. While we were outside eating our pastries the other group I usually hang out with came by so Nick and I headed out with them. They had gotten some Boba Smoothies, smoothies with big tapioca balls in them, in Chinatown but didn't really enjoy them so I got to suck away at those as well. After we looked around at some of the street vendors offering over priced t shirts and rip-off watches, it was time to head out. In total Little Italy was one of my favorite stops in New York, and I can see myself visiting there again.
City. We were going there to allow us students a chance to explore the historic streets, do some
shopping, and most importantly to get some dinner before our trip to the top of the rock
conservatory. After we got off the bus and out onto a crowded sidewalk that smelled of fish it was time to divide up into groups as we weren't allowed to walk around alone. The group I usually hung out with wanted to go to Chinatown, which I was against as I don’t enjoy Chinese food and it seemed
like most of the options were either rice or weird fish, so I went with another group of my friends
that happened to consist of most of the vegan and vegetarians on the trip. Thankfully for me we
decided to go into little Italy, Italian is my favorite genre of food. My group somehow ended up
with both Mrs. Heinemen and Mr. Davick, the two teachers that were on the trip with us. This
was lucky for me though, as we ended splitting up again so me, my Friend Nick, and Mr. Davick
could get super greasy pizza, while the others went to look for a cheese-less option for my
friend Casandra who is dairy intolerant. Nick, Davick, and I were loudly ushered into a pizza
joint by an over-the-top stereotypical Italian man. There we ordered two Pizza’s. One cheese for
me and a meat lovers for the other two to share. I also had a gelato milkshake, which tasted
heavenly and is the best I have ever had. We were the only patrons of the place at the time so
the owner/host spent some time talking to us. He asked where we were from, and once he
discovered we were from Wisconsin the conversation went to solely covering cheese and Football,
a problem we had run into repeatedly through out our trip.
After we ate, we headed out to do some shopping. Mr. Davick wanted to meet up with his
son Soren and some of his friends to get some Cannoli, which we were fine with. We met them at a little bakery across the street where I ate even more and got to use an ATM for the first time. As we stood around outside the bakery we all admired the impressive street art that stretched up the side of almost every building in the area. The smell of the street and all of the restaurants was of pasta and food and was actually pretty enjoyable compared to the normal smell of New York. While we were outside eating our pastries the other group I usually hang out with came by so Nick and I headed out with them. They had gotten some Boba Smoothies, smoothies with big tapioca balls in them, in Chinatown but didn't really enjoy them so I got to suck away at those as well. After we looked around at some of the street vendors offering over priced t shirts and rip-off watches, it was time to head out. In total Little Italy was one of my favorite stops in New York, and I can see myself visiting there again.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
My Trip to New York City
Last week I went on a school orchestra trip to NYC. The purpose of the trip was to expose me and several other students to the art, culture, and general layout of New York and parts of New Jersey. It all started on a Tuesday afternoon after school. As soon as the bell rang we began to congregate in the orchestra room. After a few minutes of waiting for the stragglers to show up, we were introduced to our guides. Their names were Sheryl and Jeff, they were a retired couple who had gotten the awesome gig of helping schools go on trips all over the country. After they had told us of all the boring rules and safety measures we had to follow, we went out to load the bus.
Helping us load the bus were our two drivers: Joe and Daryl. We needed two drivers becuase for time we would be driving straight through the night and it would be unsafe for only one to have to drive for close to sixteen hours straight without sleep. The bus itself was small, not much bigger than a school bus with only slightly more comfortable chairs. Because of this the ride was fairly uncomfortable, and sleeping was difficult, but after several hours of driving we managed it.
The next morning was when our one fiasco for the trip took place. We had stopped at a McDonald's to get some breakfast and allow everyone to brush their teeth and change their clothes. During this time one of the senior girls on the trip named Addie managed to get a contact stuck in her eye. This led to us taking a detour to the ER so that she could have help getting it removed. During that time we all got to go a Walmart to pee and waste time. While we were there Alex and Soren, two Juniors I know since we all play bass, decided to buy Nerf guns, which managed to not be a distraction on the bus, but became very amusing once we all reached the hotel. When we finally reached our New York our first stop was the Intrepid Museum, an old WWII aircraft carrier that now contains lots of old plains, spaceships, and other air related memorabilia. It was pretty cool for a museum, and I had a pretty fun time walking around with friends.
From there we went to the Hard Rock Cafe in times square. The food was OK, we had to order off a different menu designed for large groups and it didnt't have many options. But we got to see a lot of cool metal and rock things like signed guitars and costumes from music videos, so that was pretty dope. After that we had about an hour to shop around times square. That was super overwhelming, all the lights and shops was a lot to take in, and though I saw some cool stuff I didn't buy anything. After that we were in for one more surprise treat back at the hotel. All the Toilets were bidets, which seemed to please almost every guy on the trip and was even claimed to be a "highlight" by more than one.
On the second day we took a bus tour around NYC with three distinct stops. The first of these was at Lincoln. This was amazing as we got to see a Broadway theater right next to the met, which was right next to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, whcih was right next to the music library, whcih was right across the street from Julliard School of Music. From there took a walk through central park which was cool but pretty dismal and foggy. After that we went and had lunch at grand central terminal, where I had a twelve dollar slice of avocado on rye toast. After that it was time for our Broadway show. We saw On Your Feet, which was about a Cuban-American Pop singer and her life's struggle to get to the top. I really enjoyed it because of all the amazing drumming and dancing, and most other people in our group seemed to like it as well. After that it was time to sleep again.
Our third day in New York we started by going to see the Statue of Liberty. I found it underwhelming as I thought it would be bigger than it turned out to be. From there we headed over to the 9/11 memorial which was extremely moving. From there we headed to what was the highlight of the day for me, Chinatown and Little Italy. There I had some super good pizza, canoli, and other foods. Plus I had the best milkshake of my life. The most surprising part for me was the amount of stereotypical Italian men swearing at each other. All of the street sellers were pretty cool as well, and the amount of people who asked me if I wanted to buy a watch was almost comical. From there we went to the top of the rock observatory and got a pretty cool view of the skyline.
Our last day was probably my favorite. We started the day at the Guggenheim where we saw a lot of cool paintings including a few Picasso's and a Van Gough. This was also where I got all of my souvenirs. After that we headed to the Museum of Natural History, which I found rather boring. There was just so many exhibits and we only had about an hour there. Plus we ate lunch there and it cost me thirty dollars to get a sandwich and some watery mac-and-cheese. From there we went to Rockefeller plaza I had a lot of fun as my friend Ben and I were the only people who thought to go ice skating, which was super cool! From there we went back to times square to eat at Dallas BBQ. This was my first BBQ restaurant and everyone teased me because I thought the little packets on the table had BBQ sauce in them instead of wet wipes. Although to be fair they had BBQ printed on them! After that we had a little time left in times square, so a few friends and I wandered around without buying anything. I was pretty annoyed when we got picked up from the bus as we were right across the street from Birdland, which is one of the worlds most infamous Jazz Club, and we didn't get a chance to go into it. Plus it was a Saturday Night so there would have been some great band playing!
After times square it was time for our Opera at the Met. We saw La Traviata, which is a romantic tragedy about a prostitute who leaves her profession for the man of her dreams but is then forced by his father to give him up. Then she dies after a half an hour of death scene. I didn't pay much attention to the plot as I had a direct line of site with the pit and kept looking down at them. Plus it all was obviously in Italian and I didn't want to try and read subtitles. The design of the Opera was very modern and minimalist which I found very cool. The only set pieces were a few couches and the only props were a couple bottles of alcohol. After the Opera it was time for the sixteen hour ride back home. Luckily we were all so tired that I was only awake for about two hours of it.
The End.
Helping us load the bus were our two drivers: Joe and Daryl. We needed two drivers becuase for time we would be driving straight through the night and it would be unsafe for only one to have to drive for close to sixteen hours straight without sleep. The bus itself was small, not much bigger than a school bus with only slightly more comfortable chairs. Because of this the ride was fairly uncomfortable, and sleeping was difficult, but after several hours of driving we managed it.
The next morning was when our one fiasco for the trip took place. We had stopped at a McDonald's to get some breakfast and allow everyone to brush their teeth and change their clothes. During this time one of the senior girls on the trip named Addie managed to get a contact stuck in her eye. This led to us taking a detour to the ER so that she could have help getting it removed. During that time we all got to go a Walmart to pee and waste time. While we were there Alex and Soren, two Juniors I know since we all play bass, decided to buy Nerf guns, which managed to not be a distraction on the bus, but became very amusing once we all reached the hotel. When we finally reached our New York our first stop was the Intrepid Museum, an old WWII aircraft carrier that now contains lots of old plains, spaceships, and other air related memorabilia. It was pretty cool for a museum, and I had a pretty fun time walking around with friends.
From there we went to the Hard Rock Cafe in times square. The food was OK, we had to order off a different menu designed for large groups and it didnt't have many options. But we got to see a lot of cool metal and rock things like signed guitars and costumes from music videos, so that was pretty dope. After that we had about an hour to shop around times square. That was super overwhelming, all the lights and shops was a lot to take in, and though I saw some cool stuff I didn't buy anything. After that we were in for one more surprise treat back at the hotel. All the Toilets were bidets, which seemed to please almost every guy on the trip and was even claimed to be a "highlight" by more than one.
On the second day we took a bus tour around NYC with three distinct stops. The first of these was at Lincoln. This was amazing as we got to see a Broadway theater right next to the met, which was right next to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, whcih was right next to the music library, whcih was right across the street from Julliard School of Music. From there took a walk through central park which was cool but pretty dismal and foggy. After that we went and had lunch at grand central terminal, where I had a twelve dollar slice of avocado on rye toast. After that it was time for our Broadway show. We saw On Your Feet, which was about a Cuban-American Pop singer and her life's struggle to get to the top. I really enjoyed it because of all the amazing drumming and dancing, and most other people in our group seemed to like it as well. After that it was time to sleep again.
Our third day in New York we started by going to see the Statue of Liberty. I found it underwhelming as I thought it would be bigger than it turned out to be. From there we headed over to the 9/11 memorial which was extremely moving. From there we headed to what was the highlight of the day for me, Chinatown and Little Italy. There I had some super good pizza, canoli, and other foods. Plus I had the best milkshake of my life. The most surprising part for me was the amount of stereotypical Italian men swearing at each other. All of the street sellers were pretty cool as well, and the amount of people who asked me if I wanted to buy a watch was almost comical. From there we went to the top of the rock observatory and got a pretty cool view of the skyline.
Our last day was probably my favorite. We started the day at the Guggenheim where we saw a lot of cool paintings including a few Picasso's and a Van Gough. This was also where I got all of my souvenirs. After that we headed to the Museum of Natural History, which I found rather boring. There was just so many exhibits and we only had about an hour there. Plus we ate lunch there and it cost me thirty dollars to get a sandwich and some watery mac-and-cheese. From there we went to Rockefeller plaza I had a lot of fun as my friend Ben and I were the only people who thought to go ice skating, which was super cool! From there we went back to times square to eat at Dallas BBQ. This was my first BBQ restaurant and everyone teased me because I thought the little packets on the table had BBQ sauce in them instead of wet wipes. Although to be fair they had BBQ printed on them! After that we had a little time left in times square, so a few friends and I wandered around without buying anything. I was pretty annoyed when we got picked up from the bus as we were right across the street from Birdland, which is one of the worlds most infamous Jazz Club, and we didn't get a chance to go into it. Plus it was a Saturday Night so there would have been some great band playing!
After times square it was time for our Opera at the Met. We saw La Traviata, which is a romantic tragedy about a prostitute who leaves her profession for the man of her dreams but is then forced by his father to give him up. Then she dies after a half an hour of death scene. I didn't pay much attention to the plot as I had a direct line of site with the pit and kept looking down at them. Plus it all was obviously in Italian and I didn't want to try and read subtitles. The design of the Opera was very modern and minimalist which I found very cool. The only set pieces were a few couches and the only props were a couple bottles of alcohol. After the Opera it was time for the sixteen hour ride back home. Luckily we were all so tired that I was only awake for about two hours of it.
The End.
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