Відео

Hello! Congrats on taking the first step towards the program! My main portfolio piece for my application was the start of a [broken] Skyrim mod; I thought it was crazy they let me in with that (and I still kinda do), but in hindsight, there were a couple of key things that I accidentally did with it that ended up being really good: 1. I started teaching myself Creation Kit, which is the engine you learn in semester 2 of the program (for us, it was Fallout 4 levels, but they're switching over to Starfield this year); total coincidence, but it was a nice little boost to show that I could at least poke around in a 3D engine (even if I didn't understand very much of it) 2. More importantly, I talked about my level progress, WHY I made certain design choices, and how it changed over time. The number one thing Guildhall teaches is rapid iterative development, which is essentially when you start with the most basic version of a game (or level) possible, and keep building on it one layer at a time: you take what's fun and throw everything else away. Especially for designers, they want to see you be able to talk about your design and why you made the choices you did. Because of that (and because I applied super last minute lol), I don't have much advice over the assignments, other than for the 2D map, make sure it is super easy to understand; documentation is pretty key, and we even had an assignment where we had to give our paper designs to someone else to build - meant to be an example of "your paper design should be so easy to understand that literally anyone could build it". Other than that - I hope the above is helpful! Iteration and the "why" are the two biggest things. Best of luck!

That is a bit of a complicated question - since I wrote this for school, I didn't need to get the rights to 'Sleep', so other people performing it is a bit of a weird situation. I think it'd be okay if the ensemble is in an educational environment, otherwise, I'd have to look at getting the rights for it officially. If you have an ensemble interested in performing it, send me an email at kirkbaltzell@gmail.com !

I wrote this for school so didn't need to worry about rights (since no one is making money off of this arrangement)!

the tuner is Tonal Energy!

thank you, it took a lot of cranking to get that pitch haha! thankfully no broken heads - I did around 4 full head changes throughout the season so they were kept reasonably fresh!

we're unfortunately not allowed to share the sheet music, but nothing is stopping you from trying to transcribe the show! it would actually be a really good exercise for timpani and drum corps in general to try and figure things out on the fly, and to really listen deeply and challenge your musical ear! best of luck!

they're all Vic Firth! from least to most articulate (ish), we had GEN 1 Rollers, T6 Custom General, GEN 5 Tonal, GEN 6 Hard Tonal, Corpsmaster Generals, T3 Stacatto, T4 Ultra Stacatto, and T5 Wood. I personally really like the feel of the Tim Genis line and the T4's!

on all instruments, and suspended cymbals actually work with it and sounds that can make the show sound slightly more decent (i.e. like talking or other stuff). On a side Note. Lol I didn't even try to make a pun! On the Vibraphone I recommend adding pedals if it exists. I use Musescore so yeah... Great piece overall! I Like It!

@@503music6 This is sibelius broski

Hey! First of all, congrats on the callback! One thing the staff is looking for is a trajectory of improvement, so try to show them that you have taken the comments they gave you and applied them to create a tangible improvement from your video to April Camp. Especially as the timpanist/a member of the racktronic section, there will be plenty of times where you are not being worked with, so try to show them that you are driven and hardworking even if you think no one is watching. For example, at the December camp, there were two other timpanists, and I would make a point to play the exercises on my pad when it was my turn to rotate off the drums, and the staff said they really appreciated that. Lastly, they want to see how you fit in with the group! This can be tricky, but I would advise not to try and change your personality or anything - just be yourself, positive, and kind, and try to meet and talk to as many people as possible! There are so many wonderful people in this activity. Ultimately, just work hard and do your best, and try not to be too nervous; if you put the work in, you will have done all you could, and maybe Crown will be a good fit, or maybe another corps will be better for you. Things will eventually work out! Congrats again on the callback! Maybe I can send you a care package this summer :)

Oh, also! Try to adapt quickly to the listening environment - it can be a lot different than just private practicing with a met in your ear!

lol dude me too

Hey! Sorry for the late reply! Definitely the biggest challenge for me this season was adjusting to the listening environment; because the timpani aren't in the center, you have to lock in to a timing center that might be 30 feet in front of you (so from my perspective, I would have to play on the front side of the beat). I would also try and find someone to teach you how to effectively tune, clear, and change the heads, as maintenance is at least 50% of the life of a DCI timpanist, where the environment is literally working against and hindering you every second of every day. However, much of that will be learned through many hours of trial and error, especially during Spring Training. Probably the other biggest thing for DCI timpani is that the pedaling is much more active than anything I've ever played in any orchestral or concert setting; try setting your feet and thinking about pitch changes like they have rhythms. Ideally, the note shift should be instantaneous, without any sort of glissing between notes. You can set your drums to a specific top note to act as an 'upper bound'; for this show, I did 32 at A#, 29 at D, 26 at F#, 23 at A#, 20 at C#. It can be really helpful to map out where your feet need to go and what notes go on which drums, etc (plus it's kinda fun lol). I definitely would not have made Crown without learning from Dr. Diana Loomer (shameless plug bc she's a total badass and the best timpanist I've ever seen - look her up on UA-cam to be amazed), so I would highly recommend trying to find a teacher to focus on melodic timpani! The techs at Crown really want to see that you are on a trajectory of constant improvement, and they want to see that you fit the vibe of the group and are enjoyable to be around. Drum corps is naturally an extremely intense environment for timpani, but melodic timpani is so crazy and it's often extremely rewarding. I wouldn't trade my time at Crown for anything. Best of luck, and I'm always happy to answer any questions you might have!

Jason Dhonau haha glad you enjoyed the show! It was a lot of fun to perform!

noah Loesel hey! From what I’ve heard, there were about 5 auditionees in 2017 and I only saw 2 others in person this year, but there may have been others who sent in videos. Really the best thing to do is try not to worry about the competition and just prepare as much as possible!

• •Gregory• • No, this is Sibelius; they have a deal where if you register as a student you can get it for like, $8 a month. I think someone made a battery plug-in for MuseScore but I haven't done much percussion stuff with MuseScore

Kirk Baltzell Oh ok I just looked like Musescore

• •Gregory• • Use the Musescore drumline extension

yeah