I started attending band rehearsals during the first week of the school semester. The club is called the Engineering Music Society, or EMS. I had found out about the group a couple of months earlier while I was looking up different clubs at Melbourne Uni, and I was particularly intrigued by EMS because of its large size (a 50-person orchestra, 35-person concert band, stage bands, and a choir) and the fact that they welcomed all musicians to join regardless of their academic background or musical ability. There aren’t even any auditions required to participate; all you’ve got to do is show with an instrument, pay a small member fee and play!
I haven’t really played clarinet since high school, although I do own one. My music classes in school were pretty lousy to start with since most of my peers at RHS didn’t care much for the class and never really practiced. I personally loved to play, but despite being first clarinet in all our performances, I wasn’t challenged because our level of skill as a band was very low. You can imagine how excited I was when I found out I could finally play again in a real serious band! McGill doesn’t have anything like the EMS as far as I know.
In the first week I tried out the orchestra and concert band. I was immediately hooked to the concert band; the people were cool, the music was challenging and lively, and there was free food! I committed to stick to the band and try to improve my skills so I could reach the level of the other musicians in the band. Some pieces we’re playing include Forbes Street (Aussie), Cajun Folk, March Slav by Tchaikovsky, and my personal favourite, selections from the musical Les Misérables (including I Dreamed a Dream, as recently made popular by Susan Boyle :P )
The orchestra, however, was WAY over my head. The music they played was very impressive, with epic orchestral pieces such as the Barber of Seville and Sheharazade. Just sitting and listening to the cellos, violins, violas, brass, and woodwinds was an experience in itself. I just couldn’t bring myself to play a single note, I was much too intimidated by the difficulty of the piece and the extraordinary talent of the musicians. So I had to give up on it, but we will be playing in the same concert in the last week of the semester at a grand hall.
Band Camp is EMS’ highlight of every semester besides the concert itself, organized by the executives of the club. And what a camp it was! After about 40 or 50 of us arrived at Candlebark Farm in Healesville (in the middle of nowhere about 90 minutes from Melbourne), we began the traditional “Happy Happy Fun Games”. We were previously broken up into colour teams, and were encouraged to come to camp wearing our colour (I was red). It started off with everyone tying balloons to their ankles, with a free-for –all of us chasing each other trying to pop each other’s balloons in a very small space. Pretty hilarious, and an effective icebreaker. The rest of the night included name games, races, and Bang!, culminating in a huge boat race face-off. The typical chant before the beer-chugging begins is as follows: “Thumbs on tables, chins on tables, face the amber... SKOL!”
By the way, no one uses the word “chug” here. The proper term is apparently “skol”.
The party that followed continued late into the night. Suffice it to say that many people had a hard time to get up in the morning, especially to rehearse with a slight hangover!
Unfortunately (or fortunately), the concert band had the whole morning free, since despite the excellent organization of the camp, the execs had somehow forgotten to bring the sheet music to camp! I made the most of it by meeting the professional conductor and having some private clarinet lessons. Not only did I learn some valuable tips about fingering and playing, but I was also lucky enough to have my clarinet serviced by him for free! I was more than prepared to give it my all during the afternoon rehearsal, which lasted for quite a few hours until the delicious dinner (spaghetti, garlic bread, lemon cordial, and peach cobbler with ice cream). The night continued with trivia night followed by yet another party.
Some interesting things I learnt at trivia:
- Australia invented the dual flush toilet.
- Canada, the US, Brazil, China, and Russia are all geographically larger than Australia.
- There is presently an election going on in Australia, with the possibility of Julia Gillard becoming the first female prime minister. Her opponent, John Abbott, is often made fun of for running marathons in “budgie huggers”, which are short and tight red bathing suits.
- At one time, members of EMS somehow stole traffic lights and crosswalk lights. They then re-programmed them to flash to the music. I was amused by these at the parties.
- EMS consistently wins the majority of Prosh events, and has often won the massive week-long frosh-like competition event. This year’s Prosh actually starts today. I’m quite looking forward to seeing some of the ridiculous events, which include Billy Kart Racing, Slime Wrestling, boat races, a huge scavenger hunt, the Amazing Race, lecture stunts, and the Long Drive.
In short, the camp was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed it. As for this week, besides Prosh, I’m looking forward to the Cat Empire concert. Cat Empire is one of the biggest bands in Australia, and is known all over their world for their unique indie/big band sound. Apparently they are spectacular live performers.
Until next time, cheers!
Sean
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