Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Regular Band Practice

played on chanters and pads - be prepared to go right onto pipes after the break

have a very merry christmas everyone.

December 8, 2009

Regular Band Practice

worked on both old and new medleys - be sure to keep practicing them.

Band Christmas celebration on December 15 - bring a tasty snack for later.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Regular Band Practice

worked on pipes and chanters and pads. Make sure you have a look at both the old medley and the new medley for next week. Also, do not forget to keep practicing Donald Maclean's Farewell to Oban.

Our last practice before Christmas will be December 15. We will resume practice on January 5.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Regular Band Practice

we began working on a new tune this week - Donald Maclean's Farewell to Oban (2/4). If you get the chance, be sure to look at it over the coming week.

thank you everyone who has been letting me know when you can't make practice - it's much appreciated.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Regular Band Practice

-we've been focussing on 6/8s for the past couple of weeks. We'll continue to do so.

Upcoming Events

-Musical remembrance (November 8)
-Remembrance Day (November 11)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Regular Band Practice

-pipers played pipes for a while, drums concentrated on pads for most of the evening.
-for future practices, please have your instruments in working order. have a look at 6/8s.

-decided positions for upcoming Robbie Burns supper.

Coming Events

Lacombe Ceilidh

-meet at 7:00 at the Lacombe Memorial Centre.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Regular Band Practice

Chanter and pad practice. Next week we will try to get up on the pipes and maybe do a little drill practice. Let me know if you can't make it. Have a good week.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Annual General Meeting

Just some notes from the meeting (these are by no means the minutes, just a quick sum-up).

-we will continue to have our practices at the legion unless otherwise notified.
-we have a new drum sergeant
-we will look into bringing in some outside instruction this year
-we are happy to welcome a large number of students - if you know of anyone who would like to take lessons, please let me know as soon as possible.

Have a great week and we'll see you next Tuesday for regular practice.

Upcoming Events

Joanne's Wedding - October 3, 2009 you should know the basic details.

Please wear your band uniforms, or Joanne has also suggested that family tartans would be welcome as well.

AGM - Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Red Deer Legion
7:00pm

Friday, September 18, 2009

Rebels home opener:

Reminder to one and all that we will be meeting at the Centrium at 6:30 in uniform and ready to go. Meet and park at the back doors so that we can be assured parking. Hope to see you there.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Regular Band Practice

Preparations for Calgary and Canmore Highland games have gone well - make sure your instruments are in good working order for the weekend.

Meet in Calgary at 12:00 (remember, venue has changed)

No practice next week.

Practice September 15 at the Westerner in preparation for rebels home opener September 18.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Regular Band Practice

Focussed again on competition tunes. All instruments (drums and pipes) sounded good. Make sure we don't let the medley get away on us - keep it controlled at all times.

Next week focus on the medley

Upcoming events -

Calgary/Canmore Highland games September 5 and 6

Rebels home opener September 16

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Practice night.

Focus on competition tunes again.

Pipers - Make sure I listen to your chanters next week so we can sort our tuning out.

Upcoming events -

Steamtrain - meet at 9:30 at Stettler train station.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Practice night

Regular practice, mostly competition sets again.

If you haven't spoken to Laurie about your rooms in Canmore do so quickly so we can finish booking.

I have started carrying a book with our engagement info and a list of members who expect to attend - make sure you let me know about each event so I can keep track of our numbers.

Remember the casino this week - talk to Frank about your time to work.

Have a great week

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Regular Band Practice

focus again on competition sets. Both are sounding good and we'll be ready for highland games in Calgary and Canmore.

Some discussion about upcoming Red Deer Rebels home opener in September.

Remember we will be playing on the steam train in a couple of weeks - I'll try to have sign up sheets so we can know our numbers.

Have a good week and we'll see you next tuesday.

Tueday, July 28, 2009

Regular Tuesday Practice

Practice this week focussed on pads and chanters, specifically in preparation for upcoming highland games in Calgary and Canmore.

The band agreed to play for the Rebels home opener in September - more details closer to the date.

See you all next week.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Regular Band practice.

Practice this week focussed on proper tuning of the pipes and competition tunes.

If anyone is interested in being part of a mini band for a party in August (evening of August 8th I think) let us know by next week.

It was suggested that we start having a sign up sheet for events so that we can keep better track of our numbers for each gig. I will try to start bringing these to practice.

Have a good week and we'll see you next Tuesday.

Fort Edmonton Highland Games

Congratulations everyone on our third place finish at the Ft. Edmonton Games - it's a long day, a lot of walking and a lot of work but we did well.

A reminder to everyone that band practice is cancelled this Tuesday due to the parade on Wednesday. More details to follow.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Ft. Edmonton Highland Games

I now have gate passes and would love to pass them out to everybody. We'll keep our meeting time of 12:00, but phone me if you need a pass and I'll try to meet you and pass them out.

See you all tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Regular Band Practice

Focused on competition tunes, both marches (Siege of Delhi, Cullen Bay) and the medley.

Ft. Edmonton Games this Saturday, July 11th. We will be competing with the marches, so do be sure to practice those up a bit over the next few days.

Grade four competition starts at 2:00pm. We will meet at 12:00 just to be sure we can get together and be ready for whatever the day brings. Usually we are given gate passes to get in - unfortunately, nothing has been sent to me so far. We may just have to rush the gate!

Have a good couple of days and we'll see you all on Saturday.

Red Deer Highland Games

Congratulations one and all - we did quite well this year at our home town highland games - 4th place out of 6. Thank you everyone for your hard work and ability to overcome some major obstacles.

Just a note regarding Canada Day this Wednesday: Spruce View parade starts at 11:00am, so we will meet at the community hall at 10:00am - dinner provided after by Robert at Sylvia at their house.

We are playing at Bower Ponds at 5:00pm: we only have a few passes, so perhaps we can carpool down to the site as parking is at a premium. We will meet at the legion at 4:00pm to drive down together and have a short tune up.

Just one last note: because Canada Day is this Wednesday band practice will be cancelled this week. Pass the word along.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Regular band practice. Played the new medley for most of the night.

Drummers deserve recognition for the hard work they've put in getting our new medley up and running in time for competition - good job everyone.

Red Deer Highland Games this Saturday. Our competition time is 2:40pm. Since that is the case we do not need to meet until 1:00 to tune up and work on the set a time or two.

Set up will be the night before at 7:00pm.

Make sure your instruments and uniforms are in order. See you there!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Regular Band Practice.

We've continued to work on the new medley - it's really coming together nicely and will be in good shape for the Red Deer Games next weekend.

Keep practicing and make sure you keep your instruments in good working order - if you are having problems with your chanter reeds on Tuesday, you will be given a new one to work on for the weekend.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Regular practice night - most of the night was spent on the new medley and it's really coming together nicely. We'll sound great for our first competition at the Red Deer games in a couple of weeks.

Pipes and drums worked separately for part of the night - drummers are coming along nicely on the new score.

Everyone make sure to work on the medley over the next week.

No upcoming band engagements this weekend.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Tuesday night band practice:

- pipers spent the night on pipes, drummers worked on drums and new strathspey

- next few weeks we will concentrate on the new medley in preparation for Red Deer games.

Friday 5th (evening): Relay for Life, Crossroads church. It looks like they want us to play at around 6:30, so we will probably meet at 5:45 to tune up.

Saturday 6th: Rocky parade. We will meet at the shoppers drug mart near the rodeo grounds (where the school used to be). 9:00. Don't forget your raincapes as there is a forecast for rain on Saturday.

June 27th: Red Deer Highland Games - don't forget!

Tuesday May 26, 2009

Regular band practice. Played pipes from 7:00 to 8:00 and mostly practiced the new medley. From 8:00 to 8:30 we practiced the medley on chanters and pads. Next week we will concentrate on competition tunes and parade tunes in preparation for upcoming parades.

Coming events:

Firefighters' games, Westerner grounds. Meet at the chalet at 9:00am, we expect to be playing by 10:00. Full uniform, make sure your kit is in order.

Relay for life, Friday, June 5 at Crossroads church. More details to follow

Rocky Mountain House parade. Saturday, June 6. 9:00 arrival time in order to tune up. Will set a place to meet next practice.

Reminder: Ft. Edmonton highland games is July 11. mark it on your calendars.