Official SYF day 1 thread (SEC 2009)

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[jocelynnn]

Yup! I would say that this year the standard overall actually improved! After listening to SYF since 2005, I'm quite glad to say that the overall standards have really improved tremendously. =) One of them I would say is Katong Convent. For some personal reasons I actually started listening to their playing in SYF since 2005, and batch after batch, they never failed to surprise me. I guess technically there's certainly always room for more improvements, but the improvement itself over the years is something that I feel exceptionally touching. =)

hehe. I'm from KCCO, and i'm glad that people actually thought we improved. thank you very much for your comment. (: but however, everyone was disappointed with their results- our results didnt "improve". nevertheless, this makes me feel that not all hope is lost, and that our hard work did not go to waste. thanks for this comment! one para can mean alot of someone. (:

[alfred]

Not much to say.

Only the first two in the first row (I know you're the second one), and the first one in the second row were more outstanding.

woah.who are you.hahas.ohh.and im not talking about how much we move.hahas.im talking about the 音色 and stuffs like that.like any improvements to be made.

[MusicInstructor]

woah.who are you.hahas.ohh.and im not talking about how much we move.hahas.im talking about the 音色 and stuffs like that.like any improvements to be made.

I wasn't referring to the movement. Despite tone colour and pitch being quite a problem for most string sections, your school did okay.

[lleveme]

Is there a standard number of schools that will get invited for presentation night? or will all the gwh schools get invited?

[MusicInstructor]

Is there a standard number of schools that will get invited for presentation night? or will all the gwh schools get invited?

In the 2007 SYF Showcase, the top 3 out of 5 Gold (Honours) secondary schools, and the 2 Gold (Honours) junior colleges played. Namely:

Nanyang Girls' High School
Dunman High (Junior High)
Pasir Ris Secondary School
Hwa Chong Institution (College Section)
Temasek Junior College

I daresay it may possibly be the same this year. But no one is certain.

[lleveme]

Not much to say.

Only the first two in the first row (I know you're the second one), and the first one in the second row were more outstanding.

It may be just me but you dont seem impressed with cchmsco, may i ask why
?

[erhumeh]

Huh, since when there is an explicit points allocate that judges the CO's movements, I think you actually meant expression. And the judges aren't even looking at all. Prof Xia was spending most of his time reading the scores anyway.

On a side note, I think the so called movement will come in once you get more expressive.

[Clrnc]

I wasn't referring to the movement. Despite tone colour and pitch being quite a problem for most string sections, your school did okay.

i think cchmsco have the best yin se. their hu qin is one of the best of the first day, but prssco hu qin was good as well (their whole co was focused on hu qin thanks to their song)

[/Singhui]

Not much to say.

Only the first two in the first row (I know you're the second one), and the first one in the second row were more outstanding.

LOLS LOLS LOLS.

[waybackintolove]

i tink rvco realli did veri well y they never get gwh pity sia.
they used ai shi which is sort of their fav song or sth...
they like to play it alot ha ha.
but is nice and i think this batch realli play until veri well got their feelings there one
rvco mus jia you for the next syf i'm sure they can get gwh...

chh yishun co use a veri noisy song ha ha to me
may b the judges like ha ha but i dun tink veri nice 
there is also alot of argument about their movement
i tink their movement is too exaggerated and makes people cnt concentrate on the music leh?
or they use it to hide their flaws?

didnt hear the afternoon one was pasir ris nice?

[MusicInstructor]

While I may not wax lyrical about how impressive an orchestra/section is, I do appreciate their hard work in making their music as good as possible. There are some schools which have more quality in comparison with other schools. But schools being schools, there are limits.

It may be just me but you dont seem impressed with cchmsco, may i ask why
?

I appreciate what they have done with their pieces.

i think cchmsco have the best yin se. their hu qin is one of the best of the first day, but prssco hu qin was good as well (their whole co was focused on hu qin thanks to their song)

觅 does not particularly focus on any section. Good pitching and tempo from lower strings, quick and precise technique from upper strings, intonation from winds, and good overall orchestration are required to achieve high marks. PRSS fulfilled these requirements, as well as CCHMS.

[vonn]

There will be a SYF Presentation where the best few Chinese Orchestra(s) will be invited to perform !

ya, which schools do you think will be invited?

i think dunman high and nanyang girls should be still on the list

[alfred]

ya, which schools do you think will be invited?

i think dunman high and nanyang girls should be still on the list

hmm.nanyang wasnt invited once last time.if i didnt remember wrongly.hmmm.11 schools.i wonder......

[lalala]

personally, i feel that RV performed very well for their choice piece. i agree that it's really a pity that they did not get GWH.

[joyy]

Yup! I would say that this year the standard overall actually improved! After listening to SYF since 2005, I'm quite glad to say that the overall standards have really improved tremendously. =) One of them I would say is Katong Convent. For some personal reasons I actually started listening to their playing in SYF since 2005, and batch after batch, they never failed to surprise me. I guess technically there's certainly always room for more improvements, but the improvement itself over the years is something that I feel exceptionally touching. =)

Well, I guess RV is a pity. Their choice piece is great, but the dynamics in their set piece makes me feel like I'm riding a roller coaster. (Well, on a totally random note, maybe it's the curse of the choice piece, since they got gold also when they played the same choice piece in 2005 and got gold also).

CCHS(Y) is fabulous I would really say. I really do not think it's anything particular to do with the taste. What I really feel is that what they managed to do that others don't is that they really showed us what is really called 表演. And I really see so much confidence in them that it do not feel like they are in SYF, but rather they are putting up a splendid show for all of us. It just reminds me that performance is more than just playing the right notes and playing the score correctly. It's also about 表现 and 演绎.

Well, the spirit that they displayed still sort of strike me even after so many hours. Kudos to them! =)

Yes, RV was using the same piece as 2005.  I really like the song actually. Haha, the dynamics were like a roller coaster, up and down, loud and soft. As i know, RV has been performing this song quite oftenly since 1970s. And in 2007, they performed another song and they got gold with honours! I was really impressed by them and I thought the song was simply perfect. I even saw tears in some of the performers as I was sitting in front. Perphaps it is really the curse of the song. Its a great pity. When I went out for during the 20 minutes interval, most of them were crying.

[DiziRocks]

I thought CCHS Main choice piece was simply superb. Every part of the song had written GWH all over it. Not sure whether it was better than CCHS Yishun though, wasn't there for the morning one.

[Clrnc]

cchys was good, but i thought ACSB was on par with them with the choice piece(played the same song but different section piece). maybe they lost out on set piece.

but you are right cchms was better than them.

[jsdlzj]

But on the other hand, the song they chose (4th movement) was more complex than ours (1st movement).

But ACSCO did play with more emotion and expression than CCHYCO. That's what some people said when I was there.

[kimchi]

WARNING: this is gonna be a very PERCUSSION post.  

chh yishun co use a veri noisy song ha ha to me
may b the judges like ha ha but i dun tink veri nice 
there is also alot of argument about their movement
i tink their movement is too exaggerated and makes people cnt concentrate on the music leh?
or they use it to hide their flaws?

first thing:
Big congrats to all participating schools!
I see such energy and team spirit this year.
Truly heart warming to see and feel.
I regret not being able to be there on day 2 and 3 but I was there on day one.

Quoting to many of the above posts
I'd been with CCHY throughout their practice for the past month
Oh if only there were flaws to hide =P
you can make them play their set/choice piece section by section
or one by one and you can still be impressed.

I think CCHY chose their choice piece(which many said are noisy) as the set piece was a beautiful piece on the calmer side, to balance up and totally show their ability to play different styles they chose 西北组曲第4.

ah movements, were you guys referring to percussion?
imagine their choice piece without those carefully choreographed moves,
It would be disgusting!

We spent weeks perfecting those moves so it won't look exaggerated
Most of their percussionists(all girls!) are currently sec 2 and new to CO.
Imagine the practice they went through.
Do they look at all like new percussionists?
some exaggerated movements makes percussionist look and SOUND like
they are having a hard time playing right.
You can hear and see maturity in percussionists who practiced the right way.
Some percussionists on day one the movement was like counting beats.
(a bit like those guys in the arcade playing with terrible posture and grip)
overall I think CCHY had one of the more outstanding percussion section on day one!
nothing biased.


As a percussionist I paid extra attention to all the other percussion instruments on first day.

I'd like to discuss about

Instrument choice!

1. 小锣 used in the set piece was a problem for a lot of schools.
I do not know how to explain but maybe others could add in.

2.Snare drums! my favourite. another instrument used in the set piece
I belive there is MUCH to improve in the CO world in using western percussion instruments.
It seems like most of the schools do not tune their snares,
and worse, never change the skins of the snare.
I hear snare buzz problems in many schools.
I see pretty snares around but no one is taking care of them ='(

3. Stick choice-
ahh the vibraphone in the set piece.
most schools used the vibe provided by MOE, and maybe its the unfamiliarity with the instrument,
many bad stick choices were made. you know what I mean
Timpani sticks! the timpani was provided by MOE as well. tuning problems were most probably excused
but it will definitely affect the harmony of the orchestra the timp being such a loud and bassy instrument in the CO. Right sticks should be used depending on the piece, and I'd like to highlight one thing: In a very traditional chinese song, don't whack the timp till I hear more of a symphony than a CO lah =D
Chinese drum sticks. I noticed in one school's playing 打鬼, I can clearly and loudly hear the 大鼓心 but when 鼓边was hit.
I hear nth. this could be stick/drum problem. maybe its their preference but i sure would love to here the warm wooden oriental chinese 大鼓边 sound!

4. sidetrack a bit: placing instruments.
spare sticks? are you confident enough to bring no spare sticks?
or maybe a changing of sticks was required?
I noticed cchy had about 8 普架 placed for percussion alone (that could explain their SLOWNESS!)
ah and their seniors carefully placed those anti-slip pads on each one of them.
Schools placing their sticks/cymbals on score stands without the pads :
CLING CLANGS could be during the song, risk of dropping stuffs a big NONO.
some schools placed cymbals on the floor~
I saw a pair of orchestra cymbal on the floor =( take care of it..
plus bending down to take it on the floor is not very nice too.

...
...

I got so much more to write cos I'm a percussion freak...
but I want to sleep already hope to see more amazing discussion tomorrow after school!
PLEASE PLEASE 多多指教！

OH, I forgot one thing.

I heard bout 3 or 4 schools at least,
badly tuned YANGQIN.
set piece beginning one yangqin solo how can never tune!
Guzheng oso got!
agrrhhh.

hope my comments were useful and everyone will strive for the better.

CHEERS for CO in Singapore.

愿华乐在新加坡更进步！

[Clrnc]

But on the other hand, the song they chose (4th movement) was more complex than ours (1st movement).

But ACSCO did play with more emotion and expression than CCHYCO. That's what some people said when I was there.

yeah, but why are you guys cheering when you got gold? didn't aim for gwh or didn't expect?

[waybackintolove]

i'm sorry if i offended cchy fans or whatsoever, mayb it's jus our taste in co music. but whatever is the case, i still think that rv deserves a round of applause for their hardwork even tho they might hve missed gwh by a little bit.

jia you rvco and all other co in singapore 

[kt_jingle]

hmm.nanyang wasnt invited once last time.if i didnt remember wrongly.hmmm.11 schools.i wonder......

yup we were invited for syf showcase 07.

regarding a previous post about cchyco, i think it's great that they have big movements, i think it lets people feel their spirit and sense that they are totally immersed in their music this enhances the effect and the emotion of the music right.

[sweeteners]

Huh, since when there is an explicit points allocate that judges the CO's movements, I think you actually meant expression. And the judges aren't even looking at all. Prof Xia was spending most of his time reading the scores anyway.

On a side note, I think the so called movement will come in once you get more expressive.

i totally agree with tis. i guess, as long as one enjoys the music, he will be super into e music. lets not say abt movements 1st,e feelings will jus automatically flow out on itself, followed by movements. im totally agreeable that cchyco is rly entertaining and has totally captured me and the performers were not like in a competition with their 'not stressed up' look like many other schs. im sure tht they are nervous sm wat too,but they showed us they enjoying part instead. how many co managed to do so? im afraid, oni a few. anyway, i would wan to congratulate all co too xD tis yr's standard has improved so much and its sth to celebrate for! go CO! xD

[jsdlzj]

yeah, but why are you guys cheering when you got gold? didn't aim for gwh or didn't expect?

Clrnc,

Put it this way:

No matter what result we get, we will still be cheering. What matters is that we felt good on stage after we performed, and by right we should cheer no matter what the result is, gold silver or bronze. We've performed our best and if our best (in the judges' point of view) is a gold, I see no reason why we should be sad about it.

Of course, we want to get the Gold with Honours as well. Which school won't? We didn't have as much time as other COs to prepare for our choice piece, but we played our best, we felt good after we performed. That, in my opinion, is what matters and that's why we cheered. =)

[Clrnc]

Good point.

But from my experience, schools who didn't get the results they were aiming for or wanted will cry straight on the spot after the results came out. Eg RVCO this time round.

So I was quite surprised ZhongHua and Woodgrove was happy with Gold when I felt they should have gotten GWH

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