Nothing Left to Say
Fifth Hour
"Oh my god. There's so many of them."
"Yeah. We've been pretty successful." An older man with a bald head, a green "Concord Band" windbreaker, and big black circles under his eyes walked over to me and Nic.
"Ah you must be our transfer from.....uhm....where again?"
"Anaheim, California."
"Ah I see. Well, welcome to Concord Miss," he looks down at the clipboard he is holding, "Flynn. We are staying indoors today. I'll have Nic get you a score and we'll get you on an instrument tomorrow."
"Okay. Thank you." I look over at Nic and he motions for me to follow him. We walk out of the doors and down a ramp to another room. We walk in and I realize that this must be the drum room. There are at least fifteen people in the room when we walk in. A girl my height stands up from cleaning a snare.
"Hi. I'm Joy!"
"Olivia."
"Hi Olivia. So I'm assuming you're a percussionist?"
"Uhm yeah...kind of. I was a percussionist during marching season and a flute during concert season at my old school. I was center snare and first flute last year." She seems shocked when I say that.
"Okay two things. Where did you transfer from and what grade are you in?"
"Anaheim, California and I'm a freshman this year. Some California schools march seventh graders. We start band in third grade."
"WHAT?!?! We don't start until sixth! That's crazy. Well hopefully we can get you situated here at Concord, but right now we might want to get back to the band room." I smile a little bit and then follow. We make our way back and I decide to sit up in the front by the flutes for today. The director, who I still haven't found out his name, is standing on the podium in the front of the room. He gets the band quiet and then motions for me. I stand up and go over to the podium. He clears his throat then begins to speak. "If you haven't found out already, we do have a new student. This is Olivia and she's a freshman who transferred from Anaheim, California. Now I'm going to let her take it away." I turn and face the gigantic 260-member band. "Uhm...hi. I'm Olivia Flynn. I'm originally from Plymouth and have family here so I know this area pretty well. I moved to California when I was 4 years old. I've been in band since third grade because that's when we started band at my school. I play multiple instruments, flute being my primary, but I also play alto sax, trumpet, mellophone, and I'm a percussionist. This will technically be my fifth season marching because my school marches 7th through 12th grades and I did both years of Winter Drumline. And yeah....that's about it."
"Does anybody have questions?" A couple people raise their hands. He choses a flute in the front row.
"What instrument do you march?"
"At my old school I was in the snare line both years and got the opportunity to be center snare last year." There's a collective gasp in the room and then the percussionists start going crazy. I start laughing a little bit before the band director calms everybody down.
"Any other questions?" Another hand goes up in the low brass.
"How many people did you guys march?"
"Last marching season we were about the size of Homestead so I mean we were marching somewhere around 290 I believe." Finally the questions stop and the director turns back towards me.
"Well hopefully you'll have a good season with us...oh and I'm Mr. Spradling. Hey Nic! Can you, Joy, and Nick go grab Olivia," he turns back towards me, "Do you prefer Olivia or a nickname?"
"Livvy is fine." He turns back to the snares.
"Can you go help Livvy get a harness." They go to walk out the door but then stop. Nic turns back around. "Bass, Tenor, or Snare?"
"Snare, but would you like to try tenors?" I realize he was talking to me. I stutter over my words when I reply. " Uhm..It doesn't matter to me. I can try them. To be honest I'm kind of scared about the weight."
"Well why don't you try on a pair and then if you want just stand here in the band room during rehearsal. Look off of the tenor's music."
"Okay!" We all walk out of the band room. Nic turns to me.
"I hope you like tenors. We just lost one of our quads so there's an extra spot." He finishes his sentence with a wink that makes my stomach flip and turn in a good way. We walk into the drum room and they all tell me to stand in the middle of the room while they get everything sorted out and ready. I learn that there are two tenors(quads) named Tyrus and Ryan. They seem pretty cool. I also meet the bass line while Ryan goes and gets the extra tenors. I put them on and they aren't actually that heavy. We walk back to the band room right as the winds get done with their warm-ups. Mr. Spradling gives me a thumbs up and I smile. I take a look at the music for the section and realize it's a drum line feature. Just my luck. I look through it while the snares and basses are getting worked with. Ryan and Tyrus help me with techniques, sticking, and the music. Finally, Mr. Spradling and the drum tech ask us to play. I take a deep breath and then look up at the drum major. I watch the count off. Dut. Dut. Dut,dut,dut,dut. We start playing and before I know it we are done.
"Okay Olivia. I know you just saw the music, but can you try to play it."
"Yeah. I can try." I look up at the drum major again for the count off. Dut. Dut. Dut,dut,dut,dut. I play until she cuts it off and 260 eyes look straight at me.
"Did I mess up that badly?" Both Ryan and Tyrus take off their tenors and run over to me, blocking me away from both the snares and the basses. Ryan says, "CAN WE KEEP HER PLEASE?!?!"
"Welcome to the Concord drum line Olivia."
Best. Day. Ever.
"Yeah. We've been pretty successful." An older man with a bald head, a green "Concord Band" windbreaker, and big black circles under his eyes walked over to me and Nic.
"Ah you must be our transfer from.....uhm....where again?"
"Anaheim, California."
"Ah I see. Well, welcome to Concord Miss," he looks down at the clipboard he is holding, "Flynn. We are staying indoors today. I'll have Nic get you a score and we'll get you on an instrument tomorrow."
"Okay. Thank you." I look over at Nic and he motions for me to follow him. We walk out of the doors and down a ramp to another room. We walk in and I realize that this must be the drum room. There are at least fifteen people in the room when we walk in. A girl my height stands up from cleaning a snare.
"Hi. I'm Joy!"
"Olivia."
"Hi Olivia. So I'm assuming you're a percussionist?"
"Uhm yeah...kind of. I was a percussionist during marching season and a flute during concert season at my old school. I was center snare and first flute last year." She seems shocked when I say that.
"Okay two things. Where did you transfer from and what grade are you in?"
"Anaheim, California and I'm a freshman this year. Some California schools march seventh graders. We start band in third grade."
"WHAT?!?! We don't start until sixth! That's crazy. Well hopefully we can get you situated here at Concord, but right now we might want to get back to the band room." I smile a little bit and then follow. We make our way back and I decide to sit up in the front by the flutes for today. The director, who I still haven't found out his name, is standing on the podium in the front of the room. He gets the band quiet and then motions for me. I stand up and go over to the podium. He clears his throat then begins to speak. "If you haven't found out already, we do have a new student. This is Olivia and she's a freshman who transferred from Anaheim, California. Now I'm going to let her take it away." I turn and face the gigantic 260-member band. "Uhm...hi. I'm Olivia Flynn. I'm originally from Plymouth and have family here so I know this area pretty well. I moved to California when I was 4 years old. I've been in band since third grade because that's when we started band at my school. I play multiple instruments, flute being my primary, but I also play alto sax, trumpet, mellophone, and I'm a percussionist. This will technically be my fifth season marching because my school marches 7th through 12th grades and I did both years of Winter Drumline. And yeah....that's about it."
"Does anybody have questions?" A couple people raise their hands. He choses a flute in the front row.
"What instrument do you march?"
"At my old school I was in the snare line both years and got the opportunity to be center snare last year." There's a collective gasp in the room and then the percussionists start going crazy. I start laughing a little bit before the band director calms everybody down.
"Any other questions?" Another hand goes up in the low brass.
"How many people did you guys march?"
"Last marching season we were about the size of Homestead so I mean we were marching somewhere around 290 I believe." Finally the questions stop and the director turns back towards me.
"Well hopefully you'll have a good season with us...oh and I'm Mr. Spradling. Hey Nic! Can you, Joy, and Nick go grab Olivia," he turns back towards me, "Do you prefer Olivia or a nickname?"
"Livvy is fine." He turns back to the snares.
"Can you go help Livvy get a harness." They go to walk out the door but then stop. Nic turns back around. "Bass, Tenor, or Snare?"
"Snare, but would you like to try tenors?" I realize he was talking to me. I stutter over my words when I reply. " Uhm..It doesn't matter to me. I can try them. To be honest I'm kind of scared about the weight."
"Well why don't you try on a pair and then if you want just stand here in the band room during rehearsal. Look off of the tenor's music."
"Okay!" We all walk out of the band room. Nic turns to me.
"I hope you like tenors. We just lost one of our quads so there's an extra spot." He finishes his sentence with a wink that makes my stomach flip and turn in a good way. We walk into the drum room and they all tell me to stand in the middle of the room while they get everything sorted out and ready. I learn that there are two tenors(quads) named Tyrus and Ryan. They seem pretty cool. I also meet the bass line while Ryan goes and gets the extra tenors. I put them on and they aren't actually that heavy. We walk back to the band room right as the winds get done with their warm-ups. Mr. Spradling gives me a thumbs up and I smile. I take a look at the music for the section and realize it's a drum line feature. Just my luck. I look through it while the snares and basses are getting worked with. Ryan and Tyrus help me with techniques, sticking, and the music. Finally, Mr. Spradling and the drum tech ask us to play. I take a deep breath and then look up at the drum major. I watch the count off. Dut. Dut. Dut,dut,dut,dut. We start playing and before I know it we are done.
"Okay Olivia. I know you just saw the music, but can you try to play it."
"Yeah. I can try." I look up at the drum major again for the count off. Dut. Dut. Dut,dut,dut,dut. I play until she cuts it off and 260 eyes look straight at me.
"Did I mess up that badly?" Both Ryan and Tyrus take off their tenors and run over to me, blocking me away from both the snares and the basses. Ryan says, "CAN WE KEEP HER PLEASE?!?!"
"Welcome to the Concord drum line Olivia."
Best. Day. Ever.