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    Welcome to The Concert Band

    This web site is dedicated to college and secondary school concert and wind bands. It contains information about the various instruments employed, as well as hints about band training (including technique and intonation), conducting, the physical laws the govern sound production, and anything else I think the young musicians who play in these bands might find helpful. Some sections (such as the one on interpretation) are more for band directors than players, of course, but overall I have tried to include something of interest to just about everyone.

    There is also a large section devoted to the activities of the Brass Band Jenderal (BBJ), a Salvation Army band based in Medan, Indonesia. If you are interested in this Band, click here.

    Some of the information on this website has been extracted from my book entitled The Band Director's Handbook: A guide for College and Secondary School Band Directors in Southeast Asia. The book also includes additional chapters on pedagogy and the varying characteristics of different wind band instruments that are not included in this website. It also has a chapter devoted to writing arrangements and transcriptions for wind band. To order a copy of my book, see the publication details below.

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    BBJ stands for Brass Band Jenderal. It means “The General’s Band” in English. The band is based at a Salvation Army Boys home in Medan, Indonesia. Sometimes called “The Medan Band” by foreigners, it was given the name BBJ in 1989 by General Eva Burrows (the Salvation Army’s international leader at the time) when she met band members in Bandung, Indonesia Read about it here.
    This is the section where I intend to post a variety of articles expanding on subjects not discussed in detail on other parts of this website. Click here.

    This website includes several free scores for both wind and brass band that you can download and use with your band. One of my favourites is an arrangement of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus that I wrote for brass band. To take a look as the music, click here. To take a look at the other scores currently available on this website, click here.

     

     

    This book has been written in response to the need for a comprehensive yet affordable guide for wind band directors. It is a practical manual, dealing with the principles of embouchure formation, tone production, and articulation for every major brass and woodwind instrument. Special chapters are also devoted to the fundamentals of conducting and writing transcriptions. In every case, the idea has been to approach the subject matter from the point of view of the non-specialist.

    You can purchase the handbook online

    http://www.mphonline.com.my

    Or From The Amazon.com

     

     

     

    This section discusses some of the basic principles involved in getting beyond the notes and interpreting the music.  Not all of the principles outlined here need to be understood by band members in order to produce a musically pleasing performance. However, the conductor certainly needs to be aware of them if he is to bring out the best in his band! Click here.
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    Learning to give

    In December 2010, BBJ members raised Rp 250,000 (US$28) from their meagre resources to help fund a Christmas party for children living in a remote village on Nias, one of the poorest islands in Indonesia.

    There was no band practice scheduled, but as I walked towards BBJ's rehearsal room I noticed that it was full.  Dispensing with the chairs, BBJ members lounged on the risers as one of their number sat on the floor counting money scattered on the floor. It mostly consisted of dirty crumpled notes in small denominations - the sort of thing regularly exchanged in the poorer back streets of Indonesia's cities.

    In recent years, as increasing numbers of  band members have left the Boys Home and taken jobs in Medan, I have grown used to seeing these young men take the initiative regarding band matters. Older members have also been increasingly active in helping each other find accommodation and jobs - something  I hardly expected when I first formed the band back in 1987. 

    But collecting money was something new. "It is for Nias," bandmaster Danias Karosekali told me.

    BBJ members had heard that former BBJ trombone player Yudhykana Laia (Yudhy) wanted to organise a party for the children who attended Sunday school at a remote village in southern Nias where he lived with his relatives. Lying 125km off the west coast of Sumatra, Nias is a rugged island about the size of Bali. Known for its poverty, and largely ignored by the rest of the world - including policymakers in Jakarta - it suffered a devastating earthquake in March 2005. The money was to go to Lawa-Lawa Luo village, about 65km south of Gunungsitoli, the administrative capital.

    What I didn't expect was that Danias would double that.
    "Whatever the amount is, I will double it," I told band members. And so I did. But what I didn't expect was that Danias would double that. Danias, who recently obtained a degree in accounting from a local university after years of part-time study, has always been especially generous in helping less fortunate band members. So, all in all, the children at Lawa-Lawa village received Rp one million (US$110) from BBJ.

    The report BBJ members later received from Yudhykana revealed that the children ate Christmas cake for the first time ever! About 100 children were expected, but more came with their parents without invitation, thus putting a strain on available resources. "But we had to welcome them," Yudhy said. The children were given four kinds of snacks, as well as books and pencils (needed for school). There were also special prizes for those who could answer a simple Bible question. And special gifts for regular attendance at Sunday School.

    "I tried to give everyone a present, but there was not enough," he said. "I promised to give them a present when we start Sunday School next week.". No prizes for figuring out where the money for that came from. Yudhy has a generous heart too.

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