Alex Meek

Spring 2018
University Band
Latin Ostinato for Percussion Ensemble
Self-Evaluations
3/8/18
Preparatory: 3
 Initial posture/stance is inviting, yet firm
 Starts with plane a little high
 Resulting ictuses are very bouncy and not similar to the piece’s style
 Good eye contact, remember to breathe
Beat Patterns: 3.5
 Pattern is clear for the most part, just not in style
 Ictuses seem to be in the correct spots, given the poor camera angle
 Work on decreasing the use of elbow
Prep and Release: 3
 Prep is clear, but not necessarily in style
 Will improve once ensemble becomes more comfortable with the piece
Left Hand: 2.5
 Use was fairly sporadic, almost unplanned
 Should also improve with familiarity of the piece
Interpretation: 3
 Difficult to tell interp, since this was the first run and the camera angle is not optimal
 A good start, but more musicality could have been shown despite the circumstances
 Lacking in facial features
Prep and Rehearsal: 3
 There was a lot of verbal instruction
 Good scope for the first lesson
OVERALL: 3
3/15/18
Preparatory: 3.5
 Opening gesture a little wide for this piece
 Good tempo, ictus, and rebound
 Not a bad start for LH, work on refining it
Beat Patterns: 3.5
 Very clear and concise, but not incredibly expressive
 Ictuses are better, rebound could be a little higher going from 4 to 1
Prep and Release: 3
 Start is a little lopsided
 Cut-offs are quite large for an ensemble of only six players
Left Hand: 3.5
 LH does a good job of giving crisp, individual cues
 Need to work on facing individual players in a more appropriate manner
 There were a few times where I began engaging LH non-discriminately, need to gain
more of a plan for its usage
Interp: 3
 Becoming more clear now that I have a couple reps under my belt
 Work on utilizing body movement/LH to communicate this
Prep and Rehearsal: 2
 Took me five minutes to give the first downbeat. Instruction of this length is not practical
in a rehearsal this pressed for time
 Not conducting was a good move
OVERALL: 3

3/29/18
Preparatory: 4
 Style has improved, conciseness has maintained
 Starting arm position is too drawn in, makes it look like I’m pointing a wand at my
ensemble
Beat Patterns: 3.5
 Concise and consistent
 They’ve gotten smaller, which is good! This allows more focus on stylistic influences
with the LH and body movements
 I’m still swaying quite a bit
 I also glued my feet to the floor, I cued the bells at the beginning and just kept facing her
Prep and Release: 3.5
 Cut-offs are smaller and more appropriate
 Still work on LH’s role
Left Hand: 3.5
 Use is more defined, just work on refining
 Use more when pattern changes sizes!
 Work to make it less choppy and more fluid/spontaneous
Interp: 4
 This has become a lot clearer with the use of LH
 Just work to convince them through facial expressions and gestures
Prep and Rehearsal: 4
 This was a good rehearsal content-wise!
 Great listening activity towards the end
OVERALL: 3.75

4/5/18
Preparatory: 3.5
 Prep into f section was clear and confident, following pattern was less clear though
 Opening gesture still stylistically inappropriate, too grand and crooked
Beat Patterns: 4.5
 Now I’m showing some style!
 Pattern is a lot tighter, which is more accurate to the thin Latin texture
 Nice changing between focal point and standard conducting to indicate style change
Prep and Release: 3
 Cut-offs are STILL way too big for this ensemble
 These are a part of my performance, I need to work on integrating them into the rest of
my conducting
Left Hand: 4
 Cues are especially clear and effective today
 A couple misguided gestures here and there, but overall no real complaints
 Try making cues and gestures tighter to match your RH
Interp: 4
 LH is now doing its job, which greatly improves this score
 Facial expressions are better, work on varying them more
Prep and Rehearsal: 4
 Great warm-up, comments were effective
OVERALL: 4

4/12/18
Preparatory: 4
 I like the new way starting the ensemble, maybe make it less forceful
 Prep into cues are clear, just make them a bit more subtle
Beat Patterns: 4
 Pattern has become more fluid with use of stylistic elements
 Patterns might be a bit too big overall for this ensemble
Prep and Release: 4
 Cut-off is in an entirely different manner now, but try making it a little less abrupt
Left Hand: 4.5
 Each cue looks clearly practiced
 Now just work on retaining their meaning, rather than going through the otions
Interp: 4.5
 Very clear through conducting and LH use, just work on tightening them up
Prep and Rehearsal: 5
  I hesitate to give myself a 5 in any section at any time since I believe there’s always room
for improvement, however, the speech at the beginning was a lot more effective than I
imagined
 The activity towards the end of the lesson paid off dividends in terms of balance as well
OVERALL: 4.5