i love you

Fluboes

thank you for yesterday
thank you for
Flight and Flyer
When you believe,

I really believe
There can be miracles, when You Believe.
♥

On top of everything
I Love You

band outing 2011

HEY WANLIN WANGHUA HEXU XINYU!!

thank you for band outing 2011 it was really well planned and then everything was so organised plus the games were so fun i am very impressed and proud of all of you :D

and we had so much fun!!

OUR SECTION PICNIC with the company of birds and ants and flies and ALOT OF FOOD yayy we havent had a picnic in a long timeee :)

i love you fluboes!

♥

SECTION OUTING 070611 (:

HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN MERI! (:

OHOHO wheee lets have section outing WHOOHOO yay hmmm lets go to some faraway islandand bring along our flutes and blast all our high notes out eh. okay kidding hmm but it is quite cool lol x)
EH BUT YESHYESHYESH SECTION OUTING FTWWWW <3
withlotsoflove,
NATALIEEEE

SHALL WE HAVE A SECTION OUTING TO SOMEWHERE COOL?? :D

Post SYF

HEY FLUBOES

The emotions dont run so much anymore i am learning.

i think we have all learnt to get over the results

and move on.

i think its really important to learn to move on so we shall all move on together okay and it'll all be fine, we'll have our section outings/breakfasts again we would still go for practices its all the same right :D

its fine i know we still love each other a lot! :D its what matters the most at the end of the day right (:

when i look at our section photos i am reminded of all that we have gone through together and then it would seem like everything else doesnt matter anymore sometimes i tear because i am touched by the extent of our closeness we are like family! <3

thank you all for the encouraging texts and the seniors for coming back it was so nice and warm and comforting to have you guys around :D it made everything okay like you guys were supporting us all the way.

and kayyun and rachel who kept reminding me to be strong regardless of whatever happened, lien and qiuluan who were around the whole time who were always around to give us support, meiqi who rushed back for results and comforted us. (:

I feel really lucky now for ALL OF YOU. <3

Serene!

SYF 2011

Hey Fluboes!

How have you all been these days? Hope you guys are walking around in smiles!!! Was sick yesterday [what a coincidence:)] and thus did not manage to come to school- did go today though and yes i'm feeling a little better already:)

today, when my friends asked me how was SYF, i told them straight in the face that "we got silver". some of their reactions were shocked, upset for me. but there was this girl who upon hearing me say that we got silver, she said "Oh! Congratulations!" and my other friend said "eh why are you being so sarcastic." but then she said "Really. Congratulations."

upon hearing this i felt incredibly comforted, that no matter what happened, my friends still stood by me, and congratulated our success.

i guess what i really want to say, is that no matter what guys, it really doesn't matter what we get:) what we get only reflects upon our peformance. it does not reflect on what we had put into this SYF 2011- the countless frustrations, lunch practices, going home late. We really have to ask ourselves, if we have put in enough for his SYF 2011, if yes, then you have really done the band proud, putting your 300% best into this SYF. So actually what medal the judges gave us doesn't really matter! So what if can't see this? what's most important is that WE know what we have done, what we have strived for, and what we have achieved, which is not the Silver Award, but the Gold with Honours spirit in everyone of our souls. please this is not that easy to get can:) and knowing that not only we ourselves know, but our friends, the school knows, it really heartens me:)

tomorrow will be the MOZAC exchange, i believe we will be playing SYF songs again. i hope to feel, once again, the spirit that i felt on stage that fateful 11.04.11

i love you all very much,

hua xian

HEY EVERYONE! Firstly I'll like to congratulate everyone on making this day a success! Yes! Today was a success cause we put in our 300%, we showed to everyone that we have infinite potential! The results are really secondary to me. I wouldn't really think about the medal we get at this point of time because I know everyone has put in their best effort to make this day even possible. We've always been working hard as an individual, working hard as a section, working hard as a band. We were in this all together, and that's what makes me really happy.

We were on stage today just not long ago. I can still feel my heart beating really fast, just like how it was on stage. I can feel the music flowing through me, just like how it was on stage.

I know we may feel disappointed, and we may feel that we could have done better to get a better medal. BUT NO! We cannot turn back the clock right now. We have to stay strong and keep walking forward, keep improving ourselves so that we can do much better in other occasions, right? =D Let's be proud of what we've got, because we have really done our best and we do not have any regrets.

If the clock really does turn back, I want to make everything the same, so I can have another once-in-a-lifetime journey with each and everyone of you here. I'll really treasure and cherish every single wonderful memory of this whole SYF journey, so I hope that everyone will too. =D

The reward I got back from this whole experience: memories, fun, laughter, love. (and well tears of joy too! XD)

Less than 3 [<3],
Wanlin

FLUBOES FLUBOES.

SYF`2011 IS IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS.

are you guys nervous are you guys worried! :/

all the best kayy we have worked so hard on our runs and intonation and tone and meri had been packing lunch everyday to listen to us. the sacrifices we make ah. THANK YOU MERI. (:

anyway everything will be worth it, we will touch the hearts of our audience tmr because we are NYCB! :D

rest well for the rest of today and make sure you're mentally prepared for tmr!

see you guys tmr,

I LOVE ALL OF YOU. <3

Serene!

4 more days

HELLO EVERYONE! =DDDD now that blocks are over, i guess we can all concentrate on band! =D It's the last lap to chiong, so let's do it together!!! We're almost there! ^^

Anyway, I've got some stuff that the badminton coach said that day. ^.^

Peak Performance --> Be at your very best.
HAVE LOTS OF SELF-CONFIDENCE! Be proud that we are part of NYCB =D
FOCUS, GIVE YOUR VERY BEST! We need to always focus and give your very best everytime we play, and this includes band practices too!
STAY HEALTHY! Before you can go to peak performance, we must must must be healthy. So take care of yourself and look after yourself! Act responsibly! Rest well, and take loads of Vitamin C! XDXD

Mental Skills Training:
Learn, Acquire & Practice
Under the pressures of competitions/preformances, we will notice our most dominant and automatic response. We have to practice until the reaction becomes really automatic, we do what we have to do without our realisation. [oh my gosh i'm suddenly reminded of that instant when he wanted to hit me... >.<]
Multitask. This is really really important! We need to play our notes correctly, be in tune, and watch Ms Chong at the same time! It's as though our whole body is working. Eyes, ears, fingers, mouth, lungs, body.
POSTIVE THOUGHTSWe need to think positively! Usually people know what they need to do, they are just doubting themselves. POSITIVE THINKING IS THE KEY TO THE HOLE TO SUCCESS! =D Deep personal beliefs in your ability is extrememly important, at the same time realistic expectations is necessary. But i think, WE CAN DEFINITELY DO IT! =D
Create positive affirmation. Usethe statement I: I will give MY best today. Do your best.
Psychological barriers to success. The fear of failing and falling short of other people's (sometimes your own) epectations is what hinders us to success. These are self-limiting beliefs. This CANNOT. CANNOT. CANNOT. CANNOT. happen! Believe in yourself and everyone around you. [Refer to the point above. =D]

The difficult we do first, the impossible takes time. Even though we may not feel 100% today, it's okay. We will still give it our all and see what happens.
DARE TO TRY, DARE TO FAIL, DARE TO ACHIEVE. I think this is really really really important. There is nothing wrong with trying, and even more so in making mistakes. Everyone knows what will happen if we don't try, Nothing. But who knows what will happen when we try? The possibilities are infinite.
Don't be afraid to try and fail, be only afraid of failing to try. I like this sentence a lot! =D What's wrong with failing? We just have to adopt a 'dare to try' and 'dare to fail' attitude. Think: I can accept failure -- Everybody fails at something at sometimes. (No one is perfect.) But I cannot accept not trying.
I think trying and making a mistake is not failing. It's more of not trying, that's the real failure.
SO! WE JUST NEED TO TRY AND GIVE IT ALL WE GOT! =D



Hard work, commitment, perseverance is the key. =D

WOOTS~ WE CAN DO THIS! =DD LET'S CONTINUE OUR FIGHT AND FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT ALL THE WAY! Can we achieve GWH? YES OF COURSE! ^^

JIAYOU!

Love,
Wanlin

HEY FLUBOESSS <3

JIAYOU FOR THE LAST FEW DAYS

i know we can

i have faith

we will do awesome alrighttt :D

Take good care of yourselves

be at your best on 11th April

<3

15 more days.

This is madness.

it takes a lot for me to hold back the tears.

i understand i know its really really stressful for all of us now

since we're having block tests now

i am having a very tough time

revising through all my work

and making up for all the random lessons when i have stupidly decided to sleep/zone out/do weird and random things

okay basically not listening.

:/

i hope all of you are doing well now

i hope you guys are revising and working hard for tests

im sure we can all do this

we are a smart section with smart people ;)

and hey

if you think about it,

after blocks

you say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

it'll be the eleventh.

it'll be the day that we have been waiting for/dreading whatever you have been feeling

yes it'll be the day.

ah i refuse to think about it so much now

i get all emotional and stuff.

anyway the point of this post really was to encourage all of you

i think we've all been trying reallyreally hard to be in tune

yes we still have this problem

but we are already trying

i see our efforts.

(:

working on our runs and our tone

i know its not easy right

okay meri would say otherwise

whatever it is

at the end of the day

just make sure we all play properly

KAY EVERYONE ADD A LOT OF OIL

FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS.

Love,

Serene! <3

Sectionals with Meri!

I would like to say that today's sectionals with Meri was nice :D Maybe we should do this all the time. Our tutor also go through with us the running notes, but different style from Meri (and much lower expectations lol) I hope to play my running notes as well as her! :D I hope it's not too late to improve...we've been hiding in the background for too long.

I HOPE TO BREAK OUT OF THE BOX WITH MY PASSION! And bring the band to greater heights.

Btw, go to the saxes blog here, they have the recordings of us at SCH, professionally recorded by Mr Matthew Lim. I think we sound quite okay, quite grand and all. And yes, lack of passion. But passion is easy to put in, I think. What's so hard about putting feelings into music? Very hard, as you can see, but I personally find it nonsensical to put in so much time into building passion when it can be done so easily. We people just to need to sing out the song more. That's all. Very easy.

Furthermore, intonation problem... Oh well, we can't really prevent it totally, every band has intonation problem, and we must have some slight variation to the actual tune or else it will sound robotic. But of course varying too much isn't good. What am I talking about? Just make sure you're in tune.

And you don't stand out. Yes. All my sec one and two life when I had been really sucky at oboe was spent on trying to not stand out because I don't want people to hear my sucky sound. :) Hehe blending in is important!

AHHH I'M LISTENING TO OUR RECORDING NOW AND OUR INTONATION SUCKS AHHH!

AND I SOUND SO SOFT DURING MY *&^#!$#%&^%* SOLO!!!

Okay adieus! Good luck studying for blk tests! :D

HEY FLUBOESSS :D

we're having our soundcheck tmr, at SCH!

its going to be our one and only chance before SYF to be at the place itself to listen to ourselves and possibly change the way we play certain parts to suit the acoustics over there.

If you actually think about it, the only chances we ever get to play at SCH are soundchecks and SYF itself. So please treasure the time spent there, we are only going to be there for slightly more than one hour which is VERY short so every single second matters a lot.

Think of what you wrote in your cranes, think of what NYCB means to you and think of SYF as an event on its own.

Focus I REALLY MEAN FOCUS! in order to make full use of the time at SCH or any prac now, you really need to focus. when you focus, you dont talk you dont play around with people around you cause if you talk then you wont be conscious of your surroundings and what other people are playing.

We need to LISTEN to ourselves and people around us, how the different parts sound so different yet they sound like layers on top of each other and together its this huge big sound which impacts so many, evokes so much emotions within.

i think we just need PASSION, OUR EYES TO WATCH, OUR EARS TO LISTEN, AND TO FOCUS. Think of yourselves as individuals who can make a difference, yet we can only be powerful as a group, as a band :D

SEE YOU TMR okay actually you might not read this in time HEH

but it applies to all practices (:

PENCIL, FULL BAND U tmr.

Lots of love,

Serene! (:

20 more days.

Fluboes HUGA!

YOZ PPL

yes yes its me WANG HUA XIAN here to post for the first time HAHAHS. aww man recording today sucked for me because i found out from ANNE that i was too sharp so please don't be shocked when you hear the recording with an out of tune instrument- yeah that's me:(:(:(

i think the band is... KIND OF improving la but super slow:( the trumpets can't really hit high notes and when i asked the Horns right, they say they can't exactly tell whether they're in tune as they can't hear themselves. BUT I REALLY THINK WE CAN DO IT BECAUSE our BRASSES are becoming awesomer by the DAY MANZ.

i just hope it'll be faster you know, i get really sad whenever I see ms chong who looks like she's about to cry:( LIKE TODAY OH MANZ. and i really need to practice MORE!

everyone JIAYOUS for SYF alrightos we're good but we can be BETTER!

LETS GO LETS GO LETS GO!!!

<3 HUAXIAN!!

JIAYOU FOR SYF,

6 MORE WEEKS

<3

In response to Li Wei's posts

Hi all, I guess that while ya'll may be listening to the different versions of flight and getting a vague idea of what we can improve on, here's some suggestions that we can consider:

For the 1st (top) video:
Basically this is the best version of the three, coordination is not too bad, although the tempo is a little unsteady at places. The running notes in the woodwinds are very clear, every note has equal note length and is very well-coordinated within the different sections. This is what we must be okay! =) Also, we must listen to the intonation of yourself, the section, other sections and the band! While this may seem difficult, you just need to hear yourself and everyone else. If you feel comfortable, you're okay, if you feel like you're a little out-of-sync with the rest, adjust! Simple as that. :) This is really important because it shows the different between an excellent band, a good band, an okay band and a lousy band. It's really significant because that affects how the listener responds to the music whether in relaxation and awe or in shock and cringes everytime the music blares. yup, so basically this band is in tune, in coordination and sounds majestic and cultured that's why it is the best! (Note that we should NOT follow the tempo here as it is slightly unsteady and distracts the listener from the music!)

For the 2nd video:
Okay, the tempo fluctuations here are even worse, I'm sure you can all hear it as well... Basically, just keep thinking about the pulse. It's like the heartbeat of the music, you must keep it steady else you'll get heartattack! Also, the tuning was quite bad, making the music quite jarring. In addition to what I mentioned earlier about the tuning within yourself and band right, you must make sure that when you enter with the same note as the other person playing it before right, make sure that you do NOT play a different pitch!!! This was like so extremely obvious when the saxophone entered after the flutes and it was like omg that's nearly a semitone off... >.<

For the 3rd video:
It's basically quite similar to the 2nd video... oh! erm 1 more thing, please try to emphasize the first three beats of the first section the semiquavers part. Because the last beat is very projective and in the 2nd and 3rd videos it was the only thing that I could hear. So, make sure that you bring out the first three beats to make this section more consistent and smooth. Also, when holding long notes, please do NOT go flat!!! :( Esp when the trumpet played the solo, the last note went horribly flat and was extremely D= yup so please watch out for the tuning! (if you run out of breath, please - either take another breath or just stop playing esp when it's the last ntoe of a quiet phrase) Here, the main problem is tuning and so it is the 2nd best video - the 2nd video was out of tune AND the tempo very obviously fluctuating so it's the worst of the three.


In conclusion, just make sure that you have
- Tuning! (yourself, section, other sections around you, the band)
- Coordination! (esp when the tempo is changing, please please please look at Ms Chong)
- Balance! (we're often not the melody instruments so please just hover in the background, our part is not really meant to make the listener stressed up so just add a LITTLE excitement to the music...) (This also includes bringing out the lower notes and controlling the high register)
- Clear and even running notes! (the 1st video sounded very controlled and articulate in the running notes, be like them!)

Okay, i think that's all for now. Just take note of what I wrote in the conclusion it's to sum everything I wrote above. :) Happy chinese new year!

- Meri

Flight of the piasa

Hey FLUBOES! Yay I shall post here since it's fluboes haha. Lalalala I love blogging. Now I officially have like five blogs. My own blog, batch blog, class blog, a combined blog with my friends and this blog! Yay! But most of them are dead anyway. But I shant let this blog get dead haha!

Okay since we have finalised our SYF piece, we should totally work on it right now! Yay! So let's hear different versions of flight and comment on it, and take all their good points into considerations! Yay! (I can't find Singapore flyer -.-)

This is a version of flight. It's nice, the brasses and basses are great, oh my god I love how the horns sound like, so brassy and strong! But I don't really think the woodwinds are that great. They're so soft and so gentle. But of course we (fluboes) will sound better than this right? xD Haha and I can't stand how slow the slow part is. Hmm. Different conductors got different interpretations :)

This another version of flight. I like the fast tempo! It's so exciting :D The sound quality isn't as good (it's videod, can't help it...) But towards the end, the fast tempo sounded a bit rushed... And when they slowed down, it seems so unnatural... Oh well, but it was exciting... when the oboe solo came, IT'S NOT THE OBOE! I was so upset, I thought they didn't have oboe, but later on, I heard the oboe. God the oboe must have been so lousy the conductor didn't let him play or sth. Damn it lah. And the saxophone solo sucks too... And their intonation sucks too. -.- But in our last recording, I think we sounded worse than this, so we can't really scold them till we get better. (And the trumpet sound so horrible when playing the high notes! Argh!)

Oh well, the first video was so much better right? Let us all learn from the first video :) The third video, so much better than the second:

Though I think the trombones sound awful...Haha our Tay is so much better lol. The flutes aren't really good either. The oboe a bit too loud too (and I can't stand how the video focus on the bassoon when the solo is played...argh!) but it's nice i think. (I believe I can do better than that humph!) The saxophone solo and euphonium solo were great too! But the band's intonation sucks. But we aren't much better...so can't complain...

But it's still kinda nice sooooo...

Okay hope you guys know what it is like to sound great/horrible. If you want to know, I think currently we sound worse than all of them. But I believe we can/will improve! :D Just listen to other bands, and critique them, then we will improve :)

yay!

liwei

hellohello!(:
lol this is my first time posting on this blog! first time posting on a blog, in fact. Hahaha i am not into blogging (heh like Meri).
Anyway, i am also quite relieved that we have finalised our syf pieces. Woohoo now we know which pieces to work and concentrate on (:
Hehheh in my opinion, i like flight alot(: And i personally feel that it is a better choice piece than choreography (: since we have been playing it for a long timee(:
GAHH ohmygosh SYF is coming soon and i feel that i should be practising harder, especially since i am not up to par with all of you D:
hehh anyway yay jiayous! 71 days to SYF! ( i think (: )
love,
Natalieee (:

heyy section :D

haha oops I think I'm like the most inactive SL here ever heehee (I'm not that rly into blogging) =/ Anyways, since we've already (finally) chosen our pieces we can now put all our attention on these two pieces! :) I kinda know that all of us now have much more homework and lessons to prepare for and stuff now that the school year has officially begun. But we must all work hard tgt k? :) When you hear the music, feel it with the section & band and we'll all sound as one nice big family! :D
I guess lately our brasses have really sounded much better with the brasses, woodwinds sectionals. So we must also jiayou and work hard with our intonation (Prac with a tuner so you know when to turn in/ out esp if you don't trust your ears)! :) Basically that's the most important aspect we must work on now because being high-pitched instruments bad intonation is one of the worse things that could happen. The others being tone and coordination. haha I sound like i'm giving internet sectionals xD but seriously, I think we must all work on improving our tone and intonation k! (And when you're playing please LOOK UP AT MS CHONG and keep a consistent pulse - like your heartbeat, mustn't go erratic/ rush/ slow down else you'll get heart-attack! xD)
Oh, and just a reminder, please bring $10 section fund on Tues! :) Thanks

Cheerios,
Meri :)

For a while i freaked out a lot a lot,
and i could die
and kill myself.

because suddenly everyone around forgot the username and password to section blog.
D:
luckily luckily meiqi remembered ah,
I FEEL SO RELIEVED NOW.
(:

EVERYONE KEEP POSTING KEEP POSTING! :D

Serene! (:

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!

I shall do my part to relive this blog! We shan't let it die! =D *Performs CPR*

Anyway! In reply to serene's "crying while playing the music", i sometimes feel that too!!! =D And i think so long as we willingly work hard and do our best, we will definitely achieve what we want!! JIAYOUS EVERYONE!!! LET'S DO ALL THIS TOGETHER AS A SECTION! =DD

300% of infinite potential! (That's alot alot alot alot alot of unknown potential! So we can do this right? ^^)

<3,
Wanlin =DDDDD

FLUBOES ! :D

this post is just to RELIVE OUR BLOG HAHA. :D

okay anyway,

i would like to get everyone to work really really really hard for SYF, because i know it means everything to all of us right? (:

I AM SURE ALL OF US WILL BE ABLE TO PLAY FOR SYF, INCLUDING OBOES all of us must must play for SYF together as a SECTION alright!

i know that lunch practices and after school practices(optional) and band itself

is very tiring and stressful for all of us.

we have 9 weeks left,

we will go through this together

and become stronger at the end of it! :D

we will be playing Flight of the Piasa and Singapore Flyer,

and they are exactly what st margs will be playing!

ah i was really feeling very stressed because ms chong couldnt confirm our pieces.

They were only confirmed yesterday,

i feel like there isnt enough time. :/

and personally i prefer choreography cause i think it feels more

SYF-ish!

i just dont feel the same for flight alrd, after playing it for so many times.

I AM TRYING TO GET BACK THE FEELING,

but our basses are improving alrd,

i feel it i feel it. (:

sometimes when i play during band

i will have this sudden urge to cry and then my eyes would tear.

im not sure if you guys feel this way,

because if you do then its good! :D

YOU ARE FEELING FOR NYCB, SYF AND THE MUSIC.

but then i would suck the tears back in HAHA

because now is really not the time to cry -.-

Thank you entire section for helping me clean my flute ALL THE TIME

i am serious,

and waiting for anne and i after band every single practice to walk to the busstop together.

YOU GUYS ARE REALLY SWEET

i love all of you! <3

Serene!