Lingyuan's blog

While I usually talk about Linguistics or Computer Science on this blog, I wanted to share some details about my school’s winter concert this year.

Background On Jazz Band

Something you may not know about me is that I am a member of my school’s Jazz Band. I began last year as an electrical guitarist and I had a blast learning songs and getting to know other musicians at my school. The jazz music I played was very different from the music I played in my classical music background. While classical guitar is an extremely sensitive and intimate instrument, prioritizing tone and emotion on top of precision, the songs we played in Jazz Band, a combination of jazz and soft rock, is much louder and more energetic.

The instruments themselves are fundamentally different despite both being guitars. Classical guitar uses fingerstyle and finger picking while electrical guitar uses chords and picking. This is because classical guitar plays both the melody and the backgrounds while in jazz band, electrical guitar is usually a background instrument, barring solos. Needless to say, it was a rather difficult transition. The skills I learned did transfer a lot, but things like familiarizing myself with a guitar pick and memorizing chords.

This year, I wanted to continue playing in the jazz band, but we had a surplus of guitarists. This has been an ongoing problem with my band where we are a lot less balanced, with 6 or 7 saxophones, 5 guitarists, 5 percussionists, and virtually no brass. Because of this, I decided to try learning bass instead. That way I would get more songs as well.

The past few months have been sort of like déjà vu of familiarizing myself with an incredibly familiar yet foreign instrument. The bass has four strings as opposed to six, meaning I had to relearn finger positioning. The plucking method is once again different, using mainly the pointer and middle finger as opposed to the pick (electric guitar) or the entire hand (classical guitar). Most difficult of all, bass uses the bass clef, a completely different clef from the other instruments, meaning I had to completely relearn sightreading.

The concert

Going back to the actual concert, it was the second concert we had this year. The concert is made up of two halves: first the school orchestra plays 4-5 songs, and then the jazz band plays 4-5 songs. As is tradition with winter concerts, the theme was Christmas and the holiday season. We played Feliz Navidad Charlie Brown Christmas, El Alma de la Banda (a Jazz song), Deck the Halls, and Jingle Bell Rock. Of these I played Charlie Brown and Jingle Bell Rock. Playing Jingle Bell Rock was especially cool since it was the last song of the entire concert so I got to close out the whole event.

The Incident

What makes this concert unique, and worth a whole blog article was not the concert itself, but the ending. Certainly, we all worked really hard and played really well, but the ending was truly spectacular.

It was a few days before the concert when our band instructor decided to share the great news: we would be using confetti cannons at the end of the concert. Incidentally, not only was I ending off the concert, I also stood near the back where the confetti cannon was situated. I was still very fortunate compared to our drummer who sat right underneath the confetti cannon. These confetti cannons were placed on large boom mic stands, suspended nearly 2 meters off the ground.

During the fatal moment, we were finishing the song off and everything was going very smoothly. Before the concert, we were all be reminded repeatedly what would happen. As we were holding the final beat and the conductor raised their fist to the beat, the first cannon went off.

Suddenly, a loud explosion set off behind me, but I was prepared. However, I was stunned by how the stage had changed from a black, brightly lit stage to a pandemonium of lights, metallic strips, and oh so much confetti. The confetti filled the air and drifted down like rain. Each piece was made of some sort of metallic material, reflecting the spotlights every which way, bathing our stage in a bright, red and green glow.  

The conductor indicated the final beat, and the second and last confetti cannon went off. Unbeknownst to be at this time, the first confetti cannon had knocked the boom mic stand off balance, causing it to come crashing forward towards the drum kit, landing in a glorious crashing on the cymbal. The more amazing thing? It fell perfectly on time, and was so loud that it resounded through the hall, competing with the countless loudspeakers and sound systems projecting our music.

The crowd loved it, erupting in applause. That’s the best thing about my school: they loved giving ovations. The next part was a little less fun: We had to work together to clean up the two pounds worth of confetti now strewn across the entire stage. We found these pieces stuck in the most incredible places, from inside the grand piano, in nooks and crannies in the platforms, and even under our clothes after we’d gone home after the long day.

All in all, this may be one of my favorite concerts of all time. Not only was the song selection incredible, featuring jazz renditions some of my favorite Christmas songs, the confetti cannons made for a glorious, unforgettable memory that I will always remember. I have a strong feeling that in the years to come, I will continue to talk about the great winter concert of 25 and the occurrences of that night. Though incredible, I wouldn’t be disappointed if I never had to clean up confetti ever again.

Peace out.