• First Formal Video Conference

First Formal Video Conference: Script

Robyn Duvall and Shannon Woolard: Intro

• (Orchestra set up on stage. All string buddies, including Jacquelyn Dillon and John Harrison, are standing in front of orchestra on stage; make sure that you are standing by your partner)(Camera closes in on Shannon)

• Shannon: Welcome to the kick off of our Strings, Kansas! project! I am Shannon and we here at Wichita State University are so excited to have you all involved. There are over 600 of you from all over Kansas. This project was initiated by John Harrison and Jacquelyn Dillon (Camera pans to Jacquelyn and John, who wave and smile) who submitted and received the grant from KanEd and Carnegie Hall that is providing our funding. I, along with the other students that you see here (camera show a wide shot of all string buddies), are basically in charge of making this happen. We have each played a part in organizing this Video Conference. Each school that is involved has been assigned a couple of 'String Buddies'. I am working with Katie. (Camera shows Katie)

• Katie: (wave) Hey! And we are string buddies with Southwest Elementary in Pratt! (remote operator in Pratt unmutes and Pratt students say "hi". Then remote operate remutes)(Camera pans to Tim, Erin and John)

• Tim, Erin and John: (Introduce themselves and shout out to their schools: Union Valley School in Hutchison and Flinthills elementary in Rosalia) (Remote operator in Union Valley unmutes and Union Valley students say "hi". Then remote operator remutes) (Remote operator in Flinthills unmutes and Flinthills students say "hi." The remote operator remutes) (Camera pans to Claire and Alissa)

• Claire and Alissa: (Introduce themselves and say hi to their school: Sunflower Intermediate in Liberal) (Remote operator in Sunflower unmutes and Sunflower students say "hi." The remote operator remutes) (Camera pans to Amanda S. and Amanda H.)

• Amanda S.: Hey! I'm Amanda Swenson, a Senior here in Music Education and I'm so excited you all are here!! Amanda Hoover and I had such a wonderful time at Obee Elementary and look forward to our next visit!!

• Amanda H.: Hi! I'm Amanda Hoover a graduate violin student from McPherson, Kansas. Amanda S. and I are excited to be working with Obee Elementary in Hutchinson! (Remote operator in Obee unmutes and Obee students say "hi." The remote operator remutes) (Camera pans to Jennifer and Brett)

• Jennifer and Brett: (Introduce themselves and shout out to Prosperity) (Remote operator in Prosperity unmutes and Prosperity students say "hi." The remote operator remutes) (Camera pans to Marta, Alyson and LaNora)

• Marta, Alyson and LaNora: (Introduce themselves and say hi to Lincoln Elementary in Wellington.) (Remote operator in Wellington unmutes and Wellington students say "hi." The remote operator remutes) (Camera pans to Laurien)

• Laurien: Hi, I'm Laurien! I am working with Robyn at Argonia! (Remote operator in Wellington unmutes and Wellington students say "hi." The remote operator remutes) (Camera pans to Robyn)

• Robyn: I'm Robyn! Laurien and I are also working with Buhler Grade School! What's up guys? (Remote operator in Buhler unmutes and Buhler students say "hi." The remote operator remutes) . This is the Wichita State University Symphony Orchestra! We are students just like you and are at WSU to learn more about music, ourselves, and how to teach others about music. Everyone in the orchestra shares a passion for music and we would not be who we are without it! Hopefully we can show you how interesting and awesome music can be!

• Robyn: The orchestra has many fascinating instruments that are divided into four families. The largest family of insruments is the string family! All instruments in this family have strings that can either be bowed or plucked to produce sound. Do you know of any instruments with strings?

• Response:

• Robyn: That's right!! The stringed instruments we will talk about today are Violins (Cameras pan to Violins), Violas (Cameras pan to violas), Cellos (Cameras pan to Cellos), and Basses (Cameras pan to Basses) (Cameras pan to Shannon by the violins)

• Shannon: The violin is the smallest of the stringed instruments. A violin can play very, very high notes and often plays lots of notes really fast! We use a bow made of wood and hair from horse tails to produce our sound and can also pluck the strings. (Shannon play fiddle tune) (Camera to Robyn by the violas).

• Robyn: The viola is an instrument like a violin, only bigger and with a different kind of sound. Look at how much bigger the viola is than the violin!! (Robyn holds viola next to person holding violin) A viola can hit lower pitches than a violin can. (Robyn plays Star Wars theme on low strings to demonstrate how the viola is lower than the violin). A viola is played the same way a violin is played. (Camera back to Shannon over by the cellos).

• Shannon: The cello is bigger than the viola, but smaller than the bass. It has the same strings as the viola but is much lower. It's big too --- much too big to hold under your chin. It must be played sitting down and in order to keep it from falling or sliding, it has an end pin that sticks into the ground. Let's hear Katie! (Katie plays tune)(Camera to Robyn by the basses)

• Robyn: The bass is the biggest instrument in the family. Bassists play their instruments while standing rather than sitting. It really looks like a big cello, but it's sound is very very low. You can see the way sound is produced by these instruments. Can you see the string vibrating when the bow passes over it? (Bass player plays on lowest instrument to demonstrate vibration) (Camera zooms in on string/bow on bass) This is what produces the sound for all of the instruments. The bigger the instrument, the bigger the vibration and the deeper the sound! (Camera to Shannon)

• Shannon: To get used to the sounds of the string instruments, why don't we hear something from each of the instruments. Watch as the different instruments pass this scale to each other! (Camera passes from Bass to Cello to Viola to Violins as they play up a D Major Scale) (Basses play one octave of D Major scale, pass it to cellos, etc.) (Camera to Robyn)

• Robyn: Now, orchestras aren't JUST stringed instruments. The orchestra you see before you also has percussion (cameras to Percussion)(percussion waves mallets and such), brass instruments (pan to winds)(brass hold up instruments), and woodwinds (woodwinds hold up instruments). The woodwinds are played similarly to your recorders by blowing into them!! The other important part of an orchestra is the conductor. (Pan to Dr. Laycock, who should be waving) His job is to keep the orchestra together! There are a lot of people in the orchestra, especially strings! Don't you think the conductor's job would be really hard?

• Response:

• Shannon: Wow! I think so too! To learn more about stringed instruments, we want to play parts of the music that you will be hearing in our concert. Here's Jennifer to tell you more! (Camera to Jennifer)

Jennifer Brown: Mozart's Magic Flute

• Jennifer: Hi, I'm Jennifer. When I'm not going to school or making music, I'm teaching kids like you how to play the violin. The stringed instruments all belong to one big family, and they sit by each other in the orchestra. Each of the stringed instruments has its own section. The violins even have two sections - called first and second violin! Let's hear how this family of instruments works together in a piece by Mozart. Mozart wrote a big story with actors, singing, and music. We are going to play a piece of music that previews the whole story. The music tells us about some of the people and events that will be in the story. I'll tell you the story, and then you can listen to the music and help us decide what part of the story the music is describing.

• Jennifer: Mozart wrote an action-packed love story. Our main characters are Tamino and Pamina. It's love at first sight, but the evil villian has kidnapped Pamina and taken her far away! Tamino must set out on a long and dangerous journey through unknown lands to rescue her. After lots of crazy adventures and close calls, Tamino finally finds and rescues Pamina and they get married and live happily ever after!

• Jennifer: To tell this story in music, Mozart passes a tune from string section to string section. XXX Schools: Do you know what a tune is called in classical music?

• Response:

• Jennifer: That's right! A tune is called a melody.

• Jennifer: In this section of the Magic Flute, Mozart has the second violins play the melody first and then has the first violins copy them. Next, the violas and cellos will play the melody together. Last, the basses will play it. We are going to play it for you now, and then I'm going to ask you what you think is happening in the story.

• Orchestra: Start at first Allegro in Mozart overture - m.16 - and play through the downbeat of letter "A". Camera jumps from section to section as tune is passed around in the fugue - second violins will play first (sit in middle left of orchestra - will be only ones playing at beginning), then first violins will start to play (sit to far left outside), violas and cellos start to play at same time next (sit in middle right and on far right outside) - it would be great if the first shot or some shots had both violas and cellos in the same screen, since they play this part together, basses last (basses stand in back up higher behind cellos - are standing up)

• Jennifer: What do you think is happening in the story and what did the music sound like that made you think of this?

• Response:

• Jennifer: Those are great ideas! Isn't it fun to think of a story that fits the music we hear? When you listen to that piece on our concert on October 30th, see if you can hear every part of the story and what the orchestra is doing to make it sound this way! Now Amanda is going to tell you about another piece we will play on our concert.

Amanda Hoover: Mars and Jupiter

• Amanda Hoover: Hello everyone! My name is Amanda Hoover. I have the privilege to tell you about two pieces by somebody named Gustav. Gustav Holst wrote a lot of music. If a person writes books they are called an author. Who out there knows what a person who writes music is called? How about you XXX schools?

• Response:

• Amanda Hoover: That's right! A person who writes music is called a composer!

• Amanda Hoover: Gustav Holst composed a lot of music, including a set of seven pieces, each representing a Planet. Today we will be playing two of these pieces, one representing Mars (the bringer of war) and Jupiter (the bringer of jollity). Jollity may be a new word for us, it means happiness. Listen to the orchestra play and I want you XXX Schools to decide if the music sounds like war or happiness.

• Orchestra: Play seven measures after VII at the 5/4 to XI

• Amanda: What do you think?

• School: Response.

• Amanda: Yes, very good! The orchestra played a portion from Mars, the bringer of war. What made the music sound like war?

• Response:

• Amanda: You are all very good listeners. Great job at describing what you heard. Remember in the introduction how Shannon and Robyn told you how the string instruments play with bows - made from wood and horse hair? Most of the time you see the strings using their bows with the horse hair on the string, like this.

• Strings: Play 4ms of II

• Amanda: However, at the beginning of Mars the string players are given an instruction to play col-legno, which means to play with the wood of your bow. Can you say col-lengo?

• School: Responds

• Amanda: Holst gave this instruction to make the string instruments sound like drums, listen.

• Orchestra: Play the first five measures of Mars.

• Amanda: Now listen to this next piece and be ready to tell me what it sounds like.

• Orchestra: Play Jupiter the beginning to 4ms after II.

• Amanda: What did you hear?

• School: Responds

• Amanda: Good listening! You just heard the beginning of Jupiter, the bringer of joy. Holst wrote the music to represent joy and happiness. We want you to help us write a story for the music. However, in order for you to hear the entire piece, you will need to listen to our concert on October 30th. I will give a start to the story. 100 4th and 5th graders from Kansas are very excited to participate in Strings Kansas. Running in an open field of wild flowers, they join 100 other students, and another 100...soon there are 600 students very excited and playing together on string instruments.

• Orchestra: Play Jupiter the beginning to 4ms after II.

• Amanda: Those of you that listen to our concert on October 30th be sure to bring a pencil and paper to finish the story. If you turn in your finished story...you will earn a free CD of our concert. Don't miss out!

Tim Jones: Batman

• Tim: Hi, everybody! I'm Tim!

• Tim: I'm from Wichita. I've played the violin for 12 years and I'm going to teach music in schools like yours after I finish college.

• Tim: Alright... so are you all going to write a story to go with the pieces Mars and Jupiter? That's the opposite of how the next piece we're talking about was composed. The pictures and the story came first. What is a story called that you watch on TV or in a theater -- how about someone from (insert school here)?

• School: A movie!

• Tim: Yes, exactly! A movie is a story that you watch. People write music to go with movies, and this next piece was written as part of a movie about a superhero. (insert school here), what movie do you think it might have been? -- What superheroes can you think of?

• School: [lists several superheroes, eventually says "Batman!"]

• Tim: That's it! This is from the movie Batman. The story is about Batman living in a dangerous city and fighting crime. Sort of like how you all just drew a picture to go with music, a man named Danny Elfman wrote this music to go with the movie Batman. The violins are going to play a melody for you now, and I want you to think about some words to describe the music and the pictures that might go with it; is it happy or sad, is it light or dark, is it joyful or scary...?

• [camera to 1st Violins]

• First violins: [play from the 25 through 29]

• [camera to Tim]

• Tim: Let's hear some students from (insert school here); what are some words you could use to describe that sound?

• School: Scary, dark, sad, etc.

• Tim: Great! Those are really good descriptions, and Danny Elfman did a good job of writing music to match the story of Batman, which is also scary and dark. A really important part of this piece is the rhythm. To make the music more exciting, there are a lot of triplets. Triplets are when musicians play three notes in the amount of time it normally takes to play two. Here's what it sounds like when I clap 2 notes (clap) and here's what it sounds like when I clap triplets (clap). Let's have the string sections play some triplets from Batman now -- listen for notes in groups of three.

• [camera to basses]

• [camera pans left from Basses through sections to First Violins as Strings play from 16 through downbeat of 25]

• [camera to Tim]

• Tim: Could you all hear how triplets were grouped in threes?

• [pause for off-camera school responses]

• Tim: Well, now that you've heard some melody and some triplet rhythms, let's put them together! The strings can play the triplets and the French Horns can play the melody. Can somebody from (insert school here) tell me what kind of instrument a French Horn is -- is it a string, a woodwind, a brass, or a percussion instrument?

• School: Brass!

• Tim: That's right! The French Horn is a brass instrument. Brass instruments are also wind instruments, because you blow into them, but they are made of metal and have metal mouthpieces, while almost every woodwind instrument used to be made of wood and has a mouthpiece made of wood. Here we go! Try to picture Batman while you hear this music from the movie.

• [camera to orchestra]

• [camera rests on French Horns then pans string sections left to right as Orchestra plays from 16 through 25]

• [camera to Tim]

• Tim: Can you imagine that music going along with a story about Batman?

• [pause for off-camera school responses]

• Tim: Awesome! Well, I hope you enjoyed learning about Batman -- I had fun. Now my friend Brett is going to come talk with you all about our next piece of music... this one's a little unusual. Bye, everybody!

• [camera to Brett]

Brett Wagner: The Cool Ghoul

• Brett: Hi everyone, I'm Brett and I am a second year music performance student here at Wichita State.

• Brett: The next piece we will be playing is titled “The Cool Ghoul” by David Rimelis. This song is a great fit for our upcoming Halloween Concert since it is labeled as “a Halloween hit for scary voices and orchestra.” The piece is used to illustrate a spooky poem by the composer, David Rimelis. We are going to have our conductor Dr. Mark Laycock recite the poem for you.

• Mark Laycock:

  • In the darkest dungeons of symphony,
  • Arising from the ca-coffin-y,
  • To walk through time over rotting trom-bones,
  • And fill the night with ghastly tones,
  • where woodwinds wail and trumpets growl,
  • Where violins rage and horror horns howl,

  • It is here that the musical monsters rule,

  • You hear the cries of the cool ghoul.

• Brett: The poem that Dr. Laycock just recited will be recited by our narrator during the opening of the song. That sounds like this.

• Orchestra: Play the first four bars of the Cool Ghoul without the narrator.

• Brett: That was pretty spooky, but it also is not very long. How do you think our narrator will be able to recite that eight line poem in such a short time?

• Prosperity: Answers.

• Brett: Great Answer(s). The orchestra will simply repeat the opening again and again until the narrator is done reciting the poem. This is called "vamping." Vamping is when people repeat a part of the music over and over again until something else ends or tells them to stop. Okay everybody, say "vamping" together. 1,2,3, "vamping."

• Brett: Could we now have the orchestra and narrator play the first four bars together?

• Orchestra: Play first four bars with the narrator.

• Brett: Another neat thing about this piece is that it is Con Funk. This is a term that even we aren’t really familiar with in the orchestra, but it means “in funk.” So after the poem is recited, the orchestra will be going into the musical style of funk. This funky mood is started off with the entrance of a set of drums in the percussion family called a trap set (camera looks over to the trap set). After the drum sets the feeling you will encounter a familiar theme. Could one of our bassists play the theme?

• Bassist (Reed:) Play the G Bb D G Eb theme. Straight forward.

• Brett: XXX School, does anyone recognize that theme?

• School: Answer(s).

• Brett: Good, you can often hear this theme in spooky cartoons. The theme is used when the characters are scared, tip toeing, or sneaking around. But this song is “Con Funk.” Reed, could you play the funky version of that theme?

• Bassist (Reed:) Plays measures 9-10.

• Brett: Now that we have some of the themes introduced, lets hear the orchestra play a little more of “The Cool Ghoul.”

• Orchestra: Play from measure 5 to the one beat of 15.

• Brett: We don't have time to play for you the entire piece, but I can assure you that in "The Cool Ghoul" there are many more surprises throughout the rest of the song. But don't worry; you'll see the rest of it at the concert.

Katie Horton: Accursed Huntsman

• Katie: Our next piece is by the French composer Cesar Franck, called the Accursed Huntsman. Does everybody remember what a composer is? How about xxx schools?

• Response:

• Katie: That's right! A composer is somebody who writes music. This piece is about a man, the Count of the Rhine, who goes hunting every day. He decides to go hunting on a Sunday morning, and everyone believes that is against the Church.

• Katie: This is a programmatic piece, which means that Cesar Frank wanted the music to exactly match the story about the Count of Rhine.

• Katie: The piece begins with a theme, sounding in the horns. XXX schools, do you know what a theme is?"

• Response:

• Katie: That's right! A theme is a tune. Now XXX Schools, do you remember which member of the orchestral family the horns belong to?

• Response:

• Katie: That's right. The horns belong to the brass family.

• Orchestra: Horns play the first theme in the opening measures.

• Katie: What do you think that the theme in the horns symbolize??

• Students: Response...

• Katie: Yes! The horns symbolize the beginning of the hunt. As some of you may know, horns were originally used as hunting instruments!

• Katie: Now listen to the next theme. This theme is played by the cellos. Actually when we are speaking about than one cello, we don't actually call it cellos. We call it celli. It sort-of sounds like jelley. Let's all say "celli" together. 1,2,3, "celli"

• Katie: Now listen to this next them beginning in the celli.

• Orchestra: Celli play the theme at sempre cantabile.

• Katie: XXX Schools, what kind of story do you imagine might fit with this theme?

• Students: Response...

• Katie: Yes!! This theme represents the hunter's sadness as he is saying goodbye.

• Katie: What is the orchestra doing or how are we playing that makes it sound so sad? How about XXX schools?

• Students: Response...

• Katie: Later in the piece a violent chase ensues, and then the hunters disappear into the distance.

• Katie: So those are just a few of the interesting themes from this piece,. Come hear us play this piece at the concert on October 30th!!!

Amanda Swenson: Firebird Suite

• Amanda: Now we're going to listen to a new piece called The Firebird Suite by composer Igor Stravinsky. Are you ready for this? Stravinsky liked to break the rules a lot and so be prepared to hear some crazy things. The orchestra will play a section for you now:

• Orchestra: Play from 11 to 14

• Amanda: What does this sound like?

• Students: Respond

• Amanda: Yes--good!! It sounds like a dance doesn't it? What are we doing that makes it sound like a dance?

• Students: Respond

• Amanda: Yes! And do you see what I mean by it sounding crazy? Did the trombone make you jump in your seat? Let's hear it again: (camera pan to trombones)

• Orchestra: Trombones at 6 after 12--hear the glissz. both times (camera to Amanda)

• Amanda: XXX school, which member of the orchestral family do you think the trombones are part of? I'll give you a hint: it's the same family as the french horns.

• Response:

• Amanda: That's right! The trombones are part of the brass family. In this last part you heard them doing what is called glissando. Glissando is when an instrument slides notes together really fast. Can you say glissando?

• Amanda: The piano and harp also have some glissandos--let's hear them now.

• Orchestra: Piano and harp from 19 to 21. (camera to Amanda)

• Amanda: That's so neat!! What cool effects!! Remember when Katie explained what programmatic meant? XXX Schools, what did programmatic mean?

• Response:

• Amanda: That's right! I programmatic piece is a piece which is supposed to tell in music a specific story which the composer had in mind. The composer of this work, Igor Stravinsky had a story in mind from a Russian folk tale about a czar, or Russian prince who finds a bird with feathers of fire called a Firebird. Later when a bad man wants to hurt the prince, the Firebird saves him by sending the bad man into a mad dance. So it's supposed to sound crazy and out of control. Can you picture the bad guy dancing around dazed and confused. Listen now to more parts Stravinsky put in to get this effect. He liked to have instruments do things they don't normally do. For example, listen to the strings now: (camera to strings)

• Orchestra: Strings play from 6 to 7 (camera to Amanda)

• Amanda: When string players throw their bows like this to get them to bounce, it is called ricochet. Can you say "ricochet?"

• Amanda: Ricochet can make a harsh sound which is what Stravinsky wanted here. Now we're going to hear something really cool. Remember when we heard the piano and harp glissandos? We're going to go back to that part but instead of just the harp and piano playing, we will hear the whole orchestra now. Listen for all the different parts going on at once.

• Orchestra: Play from 19 to 21

• Amanda: Sounds like a mess huh? Stravinsky liked to make the audience squirm in their seats. Did you squirm?

• Amanda: Well, that's all for now. Thanks for listening with me!! Pretty soon you can hear the whole Firebird piece at our concert!! See ya there!!

Laurian: Q & A

• Laurian: Before we go, we have just enough time for a question from each school

• Q & A

• Laurian: We hope you had fun today and learned about how composers tell stories through music by using different instruments to create various emotions and images. Do you remember all the words you learned today? (violin, viola, cello, bass, celli, composer, ricochet, triplet, programmatic) You can hear all of these pieces on our webcast concert on October 30th. Can't wait to see you there!