Day 22

Date: June 5, 2011
Time: 11:37pm
Playing on iTunes: "Ave Maria" performed by Chris Botti








Electronics, day...2...and a half? Well today wasn't filled with electronics but I solidified my cluster of cables everywhere. If I continued to have the mess of cables everywhere, it would still take me way too long to set up and would just be messy all around. So while the marimbas were working out a part of the percussion feature, I decided to take some time to organize all my cables so that when I set up my instrument, I could just have the cables right there ready to plug in and be set to go within seconds. Here's what I did:


This is where I started off with my first mounted microphone. I gave the chord a little bit of slack so that there is no tension right near the mic incase the sound guy needed to work on the mic or the mic mount. With all of the hiding of the cables, I needed to find the most efficient and secretive way to get around the underside of my vibes.





























Above you see that I taped the cables to the frame so that they run along the underside of the vibe without hanging. Then below you see that I snaked it around the corner in order to get to the other side of my vibe to reach the audio snake where they plug in.

After coming around the corner, I needed to run it up the side of the vibe so it reaches the rest of the cable where I coiled it. Since we don't have all very short cables, we have to use 25ft cables even if we only need to go 5ft. So, I need to coil up the rest so that there isn't this pile of extra cable.

 The coiled it taped together and hung on the side of the vibe very tightly wrapped. The other end of the coil leads directly to the audio snake (lower left hand side of picture above). The cables are just long enough at the end so that when I unplug I can just take those cables and place them in my mallet bag. Set up, plug in, play. Ready to go. Simple. Easy. Efficient. Done.

 If anyone has seen the All Access videos that I've posted either on my Facebook or in the emails I've sent or even in these blogs, the same guy who makes those decided to do "A Day in the Life of Samuel Ferrante". Sam Ferrante is the man you see above. He plays marimba in the Cadets pit. He is a hilarious person and they decided to have him put a camera on his head so that he could be video taped all day to catch all the funny things he does. Let me tell you it was a very entertaining day. We did some extra funny stuff just for the camera. I'll make sure to upload that link for the video when it gets posted.

 Tonight was the prom. Every year they have a prom for the Cadets towards the end of spring training. It's a time where the Cadets get to get together in an informal way and just have fun; dance, have some punch, socialize, etc. Above is the Cadets pit getting ready to go to the prom. This year's theme was Cowboys and Indians...wonder what we were?? The location of the prom was a little suspect. We had to walk down to the lower end of the UPitt Johnstown campus, walk down a dark trail, and go into a log cabin. But nonetheless, we had lots of fun! It was a great time, and a great opportunity to meet new members of the corps and just relax after the past 3 weeks. They also have Prom King and Prom Queen. This year one of the nominees for Prom Queen was Vanessa Wudyka (our section leader)...SHE WON!!! Congratulations Vanessa!


All in all, today was a great day. Only two more days left and then we pack up and get ready for tour! LET'S GO!!




Thought of the Day: "Setting goals is a great way to keep yourself motivated. If you're having trouble working at something set yourself a goal, even if it's small."