Ladies and Gentlemen-

Time to get ready for the summer!  We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us this summer, especially considering that we are planning on adding several instruments to the battery this fall.  I want to remind everyone that if you are in town, you are expected to be at rehearsals.  If you cannot make it, its not going to be the end f the world, please just email me to let me know so we can plan ahead.

A couple things you’ll all be needing:

• A 3 ring binder with plastic inserts for music, exercises, and all the other stuff that goes along with that.  A 1/2 inch size binder should do the trick for now.
• For those planning to march in the battery (snare, tenors, bass drum), you should all buy a pair of marching sticks to practice with during these rehearsals.  I know there are plenty of half broken sticks laying around, but I’d rather use those as kindling that listen to uneven rolls for the rest of the summer.  Check out local stores like Encore Music for Vic Firth Ralph Hardimons, although I think snares will switch to the Vic Firth Mike Jackson’s this year.  Tenor guys should have a normal pair of marching sticks as well, as nylon tipped sticks don’t work very well on wooden sawhorses.
• For those not planning on marching, you should buy yourself a pair of Vic Firth SD1s.  They’re strong enough to take a beating in our preparatory exercises, and you’ll be using them quite a bit this coming school year.  Again, I can’t stress the importance of a good pair of sticks.  Practicing with a slightly broken or mismatched pair of sticks is like playing basketball with a slightly deflated ball, or surfing with a waterlogged board:  It seems like it could get the job done, but it just doesn’t work very well in the long run.