May 2010 - Circle City Sound

News and Views from the
Greater Indianapolis Chapter
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
THE BEAT
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Volume 41, Issue 4
May 2010
Circle City Sound’s mission is to perform with excellence in the barbershop style
and encourage singing within the community, because singing enhances life.
CCS Cabaret - March 19, 2010
Photos by Larry Tolle
Dave Fouts
Cabaret chairman
Randy Freeman
Anthem
Steve Massengill
and Dan Pritchard
THE BEAT
Page 2
THE BEAT
May 2010
Craft Corner
Singing in Tune
Fourth in a series of nine articles
by Freddie King
Jerry E. Troxel, Editor
129 Yorkshire Blvd. E
Indianapolis, IN 46229
317 891-1634
jtroxel@ameritech.net
The BEAT is published monthly
by the Greater Indianapolis, Indiana,
Chapter of the
Barbershop Harmony Society,
a proud member of the
Cardinal District.
Chapter Leadership 2010
President
Jerry Troxel
VP Chapter Development
Steve Cline
VP Music & Performance
Duane Henry
VP PR & Marketing
Randy Freeman
VP Operations
Larry Anthony
Secretary
Tom Bradley
(from the Dundalk, Maryland chapter’s Charivari, Tom Wheatley, editor)
Chapter 4
Breath control is certainly an important factor, and material is available to
make it possible to learn or to teach how to breathe properly. It's important
to avoid flatting in particular, because it is necessary to keep an adequate
supply of air exerting pressure against the vocal chords. Wasting breath
initially by uncontrolled attacks at the beginning of phrases or taking too
little breath causes the singer to run out of air before reaching the end of
the phrase. This will result in flatting.
Singing softly seems to cause special problems for many singers. They have
the tendency to not energize themselves sufficiently, thus permitting the
pharynx to collapse, eliminating the resonance and destroying breath
support. This results in a lowering of tone.
To control this, have the singer show his upper teeth slightly when singing
softly. This helps take the weight off the voice. An elongated movement of
the jaw should be minimized. On the other hand, singing loudly with too
heavy a tone quality also leads to flatting, as will excessive vibrato and
tremolo. These last two do not allow the other parts to tune to the problem
voice.
A quartet or chorus that fails to embrace the basic balance rules of volume
relationships as written up in the singing category and the Basic Barbershop
Craft Manual will sometimes produce a rough or dissonant sound. This
impedes the singers’ ability to hear good tuning. The dissonance also may
be perceived as being out of tune.
Next month, we will touch upon other causes of flatting. Remember, there's
a test coming. Actually, the test is given each time we have a chance to sing
together. Next month, we'll get into more of the discussion of control
aspects needed for good singing.
Treasurer
Jim Sauder
Board Members at Large
Jeff Boyd, David Fouts,
Andrew Myer
Immediate Past President
Jim Rosenau
Director
Garry Texeira
Assistant Director
Andrew Myer
Greater Indianapolis Chapter
Membership Statistics
Chapter members as of April 1, 2010: 99
Average member age: 56.6
Average years of service: 17.9
Number of active chorus members: 75 (75%)
THE BEAT
May 2010
Page 3
Strolling Down Memory Lane
A monthly look back at our chapter’s history
by Lew Gillespie, Chapter Historian
Five Years Ago
Ten Years Ago
Jerry Troxel, Chapter President,
urged all of the members of the
Indy chorus to think about attending the 2005 International convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. Cardinal District would be wellrepresented with the Louisville
Thoroughbreds competing in the
chorus competition, and Keep ‘Em
Guessin’ as our quartet representatives for the second year in a row.
Indy would be hosting the International Convention in 2006.
Plans were announced
by
Terry Silke to
organize a Sum-
Gene Newcombe, chapter member, wrote a nice article about Don
Harbin, Indy member who passed
away in 2005.
Don joined the
chapter in 1968, after singing barbershop music at Tech High School
in Indy.
Newcombe quotes,
―seldom do we meet a man with so
much magnetism, and again I use
the name Pied Piper to describe
Don.‖ Don held all of the chapter
offices and was an International
Stage Presence Judge. He was the
chapter BOTY in 1972 and Cardinal
District BOTY in 1982.
Three chapter quartets participated
in the Cardinal District Spring Contest held in South Bend, Indiana, on
April 1-3, 2005.
Keep ‘Em
Guessin’ finished in first place,
Breakthrough was awarded
fourth place, and Still At Large,
was the tenth-place finisher. The
Indy chapter did not compete in the
chorus contest.
(material taken
from The Beat, Vol. 36, Issue 5,
May 2005, R. Duane Henry, editor
and In-Ky Notes, Vol. 54, No. 2,
May 2005, Frank Ridoux, editor).
mertime
VLQ
to sing at local
churches during
Lew Gillespie
the summer of
2000. The purpose of this was to
expose men to barbershop music
and provide religious songs to
churches that do not have choirs
meeting in the summer. In 1999,
the group of men who participated
in this event received countless
thanks and praise for their singing.
The schedule for summer 2000 included: July 2 at First Church of
the Nazarene, August 6 at Old Bethel United Methodist Church, and
August 13 at Lawrence United
Methodist Church. The July 2 performance would feature a patriotic
theme, as ―An American Trilogy‖
and ―The AIC Closer‖ would be included with the sacred numbers.
The chapter added coaching sessions on April 10 and May 15, 2000,
in preparation of the annual show.
The chapter hired Bryan Hughes,
from Terre Haute, as its new coach.
The chapter was striving to increase
the number of coaching sessions
and to have someone help the chorus at least once a month. This will
help with improved performances.
Special guest quartet for the 2000
annual show would be The Jurassic Larks, the 1998 International
Senior Quartet Champions.
(articles taken from Inside The
Pride, Vol. 31, Issue 5, May, 2000,
Brad McAlexander, editor).
Reminder: Every Monday is a Guest Night!
Calendar
of Events
CCS Performance at
CIYBC Concert
Arsenal Tech High School
May 16, 3:00 p.m.
Chorus Retreat and
Coaching Session
with Mark Hale
Christ Lutheran Church
May 21-22
CCS Performance
at Relay for Life
Raymond Park Middle School
June 15, 1:00 p.m.
Annual Show
Warren Performing Arts Center
June 12, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Afterglow
Holy Spirit Gymnasium
June 12, 10:00 p.m.
Coaching Session
with Jean Barford
June 14
Friends and Family
International Send-off
June 21
CCS Performance at
Fishers Freedom Festival
June 26, 3:00 p.m.
For detailed information on all
chapter performances check
our weekly bulletin,
S OUND B YTES
or go to:
www.circlecitysound.org
and visit the
Members Only section
The deadline for the June issue
of The Beat is
May 27. Send articles to:
jtroxel@ameritech.net
THE BEAT
Page 4
May 2010
Preparation is the Key
I love the word ―preparation‖! There’s a lot in
that word. All Boy Scouts are required to ―Be
Prepared.‖ As a boy, my teachers used to scold
me for not being more prepared. Our minister
used to preach that we need to be prepared for
the day that we die. I’ve often felt that my whole
life is just preparation for what comes after.
Preparation is a good thing, right? Ask any
Olympic Gold Medalist and he’ll tell you that he
won his gold because he was prepared to do so.
I’m certain that during an intense time of preparation
most people ask themselves the hard questions. ―Will it
be worth it?‖ ―Do I really want this?‖ ―Can I do this?‖
CCS is in a time of preparation. Have you been asking
yourselves the hard questions? As a boy and a young
man, I think that I didn’t really recognize the value of
preparation. It has become crystal clear to me, without preparation things just don’t happen like they
should.
I must admit that I’m very excited about the preparations that we are currently making to travel to Philly.
I’m actually enjoying this time of preparation. That’s a
Randy Freeman
VP PR & MARKETING
“...without preparation, things just don’t
happen like they should.”
little surprising to me. Maybe this time the preparation
can be as much fun as the event itself. That’s my plan
anyway, to have fun along the way. All this preparation
has required a lot of effort on my part, but the work has
been so much fun. I particularly enjoyed our coaching
session this past Monday night.
There is no doubt in my mind that all of our effort will
pay off in Philly. Now I’m starting to believe that this
year’s International convention is part of the preparation
for the things that still lie ahead for CCS.
I’m willing to accept MY responsibility to prepare, how
about YOU?
Joseph and the 18-Wheeler
Adventures in Coaching
Circle City Sound had an inspiring coaching session with Jean and Brian Barford on Monday, April 19. Through their insights and instruction to the chorus on such things as ―baritones are the glue‖ and ―leads are only 25%,‖
plus ―Joseph in the balcony‖ and ―Joseph and the 18-wheeler,‖ the chorus
was able to make great strides. What’s this 18-wheeler thing all about?
Well, you just had to be there!
Photos by
Larry Tolle
May
Birthdays
5/6
Vic Kendall
5/7
Chuck McKinsey
5/9
Tom Davis
5/9
Tark Tarkington
5/10
Jim Sauder
5/17
Patrick McAlexander
5/20
Bob Whitacre
5/23
Howard Foster
5/24
Bruce Bellen
Secure the future of barbershop harmony through your generous gifts to the Founder’s Club, President’s
Council, Ambassadors of Song, and Tribute Gifts.
www.harmonyfoundation.org
THE BEAT
May 2010
Page 5
Get Your Uniform Ready!
The deadline to become a member and join us in
Philly on the contest stage has come and gone!
That deadline was March 15th. Now the emphasis
is on getting everyone in a uniform and up to
speed on the contest music. It is imperative that
all recent new members (in the last year) contact
me ASAP to get outfitted. It will be helpful if you
give me some idea of your sizes. I will need your
jacket/suit coat size, your shirt size (neck and
sleeve length), pant size (waist and inseam).
The complete uniform can be leased from CCS for
$125.00 for as long as you remain a member.
Our uniform consists of:
Black formal tux (Coat & pants)
White full collar 1/4" pleated tuxedo shirt
Full-back Mardi Gras vest
Luxury black satin pre-tied Windsor tie
Navy blue travel shirt (CCS monogram)
Name tag
Please note that the formal tux, vest and tie are to be
returned if you leave the chapter. The white tuxedo shirt
and the blue travel shirt are yours to keep. I would appreciate full payment of $125 if at all possible, but payment options can be arranged.
Steve Cline
VP CHAPTER DEVELOPMENT
and UNIFORM CHAIRMAN
“Now the emphasis is on getting everyone
in a uniform and up to speed on the contest music…”
Several of our regular members still owe for blue travel
shirts ($30.00) and the new vest, shirt, and tie ($50.00).
You should know who you are, but I will be reminding
you of any outstanding monies owed.
IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT ALL MEMBERS HAVE PATENT
LEATHER SHOES AS PART OF OUR UNIFORM.
I have a limited supply of used patent leather shoes for
$10.00 a pair. You can also purchase a pair of used patent leather shoes from most tuxedo shops for around
$15.00/pair. The most comfortable patent leather shoes
are the military shoes available at any Army/Navy surplus store for $30.00 to $35.00/pair. You can also contact CCS member Dan Grant who can get you a pair at
Ft. Knox, where he is stationed at this time.
I would hope every member would get his uniform
cleaned and the white shirt professionally cleaned and
lightly starched before Philly.
Please contact me ASAP if you have any questions or
help in financing your uniform!
CCS Schedule
Rehearsals
Wednesday, June 30, 9 a.m.
Thursday, July 1, 9 a.m.
Sheraton Hotel
Contest Preparation
Friday, July 2, 10 a.m.
Sheraton Hotel
CCS Celebration
Friday, July 2, after chorus
contest second session
Sheraton Hotel
THE BEAT
Page 6
May 2010
Greater Indianapolis Chapter Board Meeting Summary
April 2010
The Greater Indianapolis Chapter Board of Directors met
on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, in regular session. Ten
of the 11 board members were present. The meeting
was held at the home of President Jerry Troxel. The
following is a brief summary of the business transacted
at that meeting.
President
The director’s contract for 2010 was approved by the board. A decision on the chapter’s bid to
host the International convention in 2014, 2018 or 2019
is expected by the end of April. The Society is considering a two-year rotation of choruses competing at International conventions.
Secretary The minutes of the March 2010 meeting
were accepted as written. The board is pleased to announce that Kelly Andrews, Steve Erdosy and Brian
Waite (pending audition) have been accepted for membership in the chapter.
Treasurer The chapter’s checking account contained a
balance of $10,458.06 at the end of March. The board
received the Balance Sheet and the Profit & Loss Year-to
-Date Comparison for March. A financial summary for
the first three months of 2010 was also submitted.
Chapter Development The chapter has hosted nine
guests so far in April. It was emphasized that chorus
members must wear the proper shoes for all performances requiring formal uniforms.
Music and Performance One new song, ―Cry Me A
River‖ has been selected for the fall contest. We expect
to introduce ―Ring Da Christmas Bells‖ and ―Carol Of The
Bells‖ after the International convention. The following
coaching sessions are scheduled: Jean Barford, June
14, and Mark Hale, May 21 & 22.
Around the District
Upcoming District Events
The Cardinal District is trying a new
format for Cardinal Chord
College. This will be a one-day
event, to be held at the Holiday
Inn, Columbus, Indiana. Saturday,
June 5 is the date of this year’s
CCC, which will include classes for
individuals, quartets and choruses.
Tom Bradley
CHAPTER SECRETARY
The CCS Board meets the third Wednesday of each
month at 7:00 p.m. at Jerry Troxel’s house.
All chapter members are encouraged to attend.
PR and Marketing Presently, we have four committed performances (American Cancer Society’s Relay for
Life, the Fishers Freedom Festival, Youth Chorus Sing
2010 and an Indiana Fever basketball game).
Operations Alternatives for coordinating with Christ
Lutheran Church’s summer schedule are being evaluated. The chapter is considering the use of a fundraising consultant. The status of logistical aspects of our
International participation was presented. An update of
the Budget Comparison to YTD Actual and Remaining
Budget was submitted.
Standing Committees The status of several standing
committees was summarized. The board approved one
application for assistance.
Old Business An update of the Board Action Item List
was submitted.
Good of the Order The Barbershopper of the Month
for March is Brent Vaught for exceptional support of
fund-raising activities – Cabaret and Dave & Buster’s.
Scott Wiederoder and Lorna Kos will receive special recognition for outstanding service to CCS for the Cabaret.
Harmony Explosion Camp is being expanded this
year to 4 days. The camp will begin on Wednesday,
July 7, and conclude with a show on Saturday evening,
July 10.
Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion,
Indiana, will once again be the site of the camp. Be
sure to come out and support these young men and
women in harmony.
More information about these and other district events
will be available on the district website at
www.cardinaldistrict.org.
May 2010
THE BEAT
Page 7
THE BEAT
Page 8
May 2010
The Songs We Sing:
“With a Little Help from My Friends”
This is another song from our Beatles repertoire,
and originally had the title, ―A Little Help from My
Friends.‖ It was written by John Lennon and
Paul McCartney as a vocal feature for drummer
Ringo Starr. The song was deliberately written
with a limited vocal range, to accommodate Starr’s
capabilities. Only the final note stretched Ringo’s
range, and Paul worked with him to help him
achieve it.
The song is written in a conversational style, with
the other three Beatles asking questions (―Would
you believe in a love at first sight?‖) and Ringo
providing the answers. It first appeared on the
Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club
Band in 1967. The song is ranked #304 in Rolling
Stone’s list of the top 500 songs of all time.
―With a Little Help from my Friends‖ has been recorded by many other artists since its release,
starting with the Beach Boys in 1967. Other artists performing this classic have included Barbra
Streisand, Joe Cocker, Richie Havens, Bon
Jovi, and Ike & Tina Turner.
The line, ―What would you do if I sang out of tune,
would you stand up and walk out on me?‖ was
originally ―…would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me?‖ The songwriters changed the words
because they were afraid that audiences would be
tempted to bring tomatoes to their concerts and
throw them on stage. And for those who truly
have inquiring minds, you will be glad to know that
on the Beatles’ recording, it is John Lennon who
plays the cowbell!
—Source: Wikipedia
T HE B EAT
www.circlecitysound.org
Jerry E. Troxel, Editor
129 Yorkshire Blvd. E
Indianapolis, IN 46229
WANTED:
Men who love to sing!
Circle City Sound meets every
Monday at 7:00 p.m.
at Christ Lutheran Church
345 N. Kitley Ave.
Indianapolis, Indiana 46219
Guests are always welcome!