Ricardo Munoz

Gango-5
April 15, 2016
Senior Project Logs
February 17, 2016
Today, I spent some time thinking about what I wanted to do for the physical project
aspect of my senior project. I had limited myself in what I can do in choosing music as my
general topic. Can I see how plant growth is affected by different types of music? Can I see how
a persons concentration can be changed based on the genre of music they listen to while doing
tasks? While these seem like good ideas for a science fair project, they do not fully display my
love for music. I have been in the school orchestra for over six years, and I felt that I wanted to
do something related to the orchestra itself.
Thats when it hit me: why dont I conduct the orchestra in the Spring concert? I was
inspired by an orchestral concert from two years ago, where a student also decided to conduct the
orchestra in the spring concert as well. I felt that I would be able to pull it off, since I have had
some previous experience in conducting the orchestra (on occasion, I was called to conduct
while the director was gone, or if he needed to do something else that required his full attention).
After looking through a folder full of previous sheet music, I have settled on two pieces
that I might take into consideration: Variations on a Well-Known Sea Chantey by Richard
Stephan, or For the Star of County Down arranged by Deborah Baker Monday.
Total time spent: 3 hours, 30 minutes
February 18, 2016
Today, I spoke with Dr. Brock, the orchestra director, about my idea for conducting the
school orchestra in the Spring Concert. He was very supportive of the idea, telling me that it
would be an excellent opportunity to develop my leadership skills. He also liked it because it was
a way in which I can demonstrate my love for the orchestra. He told me that he would help me
out, give me some tips on how to be a more effective conductor.
However, he told me some things that worried me about the music that I chose. He told
me that he was worried that the orchestra might not be able to get the music down by the time the
spring concert occurred. Either way, I still feel excited about this idea. It was a really good idea.
Total time spent: 30 minutes
February 20, 2016
Today, I spent some time listening to each of the pieces on YouTube so that I can have an
idea of what they are supposed to sound like. I had to listen to each of them multiple times to
listen to places where I felt the orchestra might have some difficulties on. I now understood why
Dr. Brock wanted me to think hard about which piece I wanted to play.
However, I was prepared to work with the orchestra the amount of time needed to get all
of those mistakes ironed out. I still felt excited for the idea, and I thought that I can accomplish
these goals. However, there was some doubt beginning to form in my mind about whether the
orchestra (and I) would be able to succeed.

Total time spent: 2 hours

February 22, 2016
Today, I spent most of the class period making copies of the instrument parts for
Variations on a Well-Known Sea Chantey. The first and second violin parts each require four
pages, and the rest of the instruments (violas, cellos, and basses) were made up of three pages.
Making the copies of the viola, cello and bass parts was relatively easy since I only needed to
make about seven copies of each.
It was making the copies of the first and second violin parts that took the longest. I had to
make about 24 copies of each part. Imagine having to wait for about 200 sheets of paper to come
out of a copier. It got monotonous, but it was necessary for me to stay there, since I had to be
responsible for providing everything I can for the orchestra.
When I finished the copies and took them to Dr. Brock, he allowed me to take home the
conductors score so that I can study it and annotate it.
Total time spent: 45 minutes
February 25, 2016
Today, I had a chance to conduct the orchestra with Sea Chantey for the first time. All I
have to say is that it could have gone worse. We were able to complete the piece, but near the
end, where it was difficult, the orchestra kind of fell apart. I know that we need to do a lot of
work if we want to be able to get the piece down by the spring concert, which was in May.
I still felt excited, but I started to have some misgivings in choosing Sea Chantey as the
piece to conduct. It was going to be a lot of work ahead of me, that I know, but I will do my best
to lead the orchestra in a great concert.
Total time spent: 30 minutes
February 28, 2016
I finally had a chance to annotate and take notes on Sea Chantey, taking into account
the sections that the orchestra had a bit of a problem on. I spent a lot of time doing this because I
had to listen to the video I recorded multiple times to discern problem areas. As I was going over
the conductors score of the piece, I began to think that choosing this as the piece I am going to
conduct at the spring concert might not be such a good idea; there are a lot of places where the
orchestra might not be able to play correctly. However, this does not mean I will change my
physical project; I still want to conduct the orchestra in the spring concert. I just might need to
choose a different piece.
Total time spent: 3 hours, 30 minutes
March 8, 2016
Today, I had another chance to conduct the orchestra for the day. Dr. Brock needed to
replace the bridge on a cello, so he let me take the reins and lead the group. To start off, I had
them play a couple of major scales (C, G, A, D, and F major), then we went on to play other
pieces that were not Sea Chantey or County Down. All day long, I was working with the
orchestra, listening to the types of mistakes that were common and doing my best to help them
overcome them. As I was doing this, I paid attention to the pieces we played, trying to see which
ones might be a good substitute for Sea Chantey.

I conducted it again today near the end of class, and Dr. Brock was able to watch the
orchestra try to play it. When the piece finished and the others were putting away their
instruments, Dr. Brock came up to me and told me that Sea Chantey was not a good piece to
play for the Spring concert. He said that there were too many problem areas in it, and that the
orchestra would not get it by the concert. I had to agree with him because I knew it was true.
Although I would be able to do my best to help the people, it was up to them to practice on their
own time. This they were not doing. I felt bummed out that my original idea was unsuccessful,
but I will look for a new piece to conduct.
Total time spent: 1 hour
March 11, 2016
Today, I had a chance to conduct Star of County Down for the first time. It did not turn
out so well. Although we were able to reach the end in one piece, the quality of the music was
not so good. There were a lot of mistakes (more so that in Sea Chantey), and when it ended,
Dr. Brock came up to me and said that there was no way we would be ready for it by the spring
concert. I agreed with him right away. There were too many technical sections, and most people
do not practice enough to get them. I guess I will have to throw Star of County Down out the
window.
I feel a little bit worried right now, because I dont know what piece I will be able to
conduct for the spring concert. Time for me to think up of something.
Total time spent: 30 minutes
March 13, 2016
Today, I began to watch videos of the orchestra concerts that I have taken part in with Dr.
Brock so as to study his conducting patterns and learn some things from him. Every concert
since junior high has been put onto a DVD by the father of a member of the orchestra; that
means that there are about 16 concerts in total. To make sure that I get everything, I watched
some of the videos twice. Not only was this some good nostalgia, but I am able to study a
master at work. Today, I only watched about four of the videos, but I will continue on with
them later.
Total time spent: 3 hours
March 16, 2016
Today in orchestra, the seniors began to discuss ideas of a senior piece for the spring
concert. Last year, Dr. Brock allowed the senior class to play a piece on their own since it was
their last year there. This year, he wanted to do it with the senior class of 2016. For most of the
class, we were discussing ideas for what we would play, throwing out some titles, rejecting
others. For today, we started off with a piece called Spring Breezes by Richard Meyer.
I think that a good idea occurred to me as we were trying to choose a piece to do. I
thought to myself, Would it be a good idea for me to conduct the seniors for the senior piece? I
will have to think about it for tonight.
Total time spent: 45 minutes
March 17, 2016
In class today, one of the seniors threw out an idea for a senior piece we can do. It was
Jupiter, a piece by Gustav Holst that was arranged for orchestra by Deborah Baker Monday. I

have not heard that piece for about five years. The last time I ever played it was in the winter
concert of 2011, the year before I began my high school journey. I felt nostalgia for junior high
memories, and I decided then and there that I would be conducting Jupiter as the senior piece.
It makes sense; we seniors had played Jupiter before we began our high school journey. Why
not play it again now that we were at the end of it? I will tell Dr. Brock about my excellent idea
tomorrow.
Total time spent: 15 minutes
March 18, 2016
Today, Dr. Brock passed out Jupiter to the orchestra. Looking at it, I felt a strong wave of
memories from the junior high pass through my mind. Things were so easy back then, and we
were all so laid back. Now, most of the students are feeling some sort of stress from everyday
life. I suppose that if I needed to come up with a reason as to why I chose Jupiter for the senior
piece, it must be that I wanted it to act almost as an elegy to times past (or to put it into laymans
terms, a throwback).
Dr. Brock conducted the orchestra today, and I watched him in person, trying to see what
cues he has, how he articulates the passages. I want to be a good conductor for the orchestra. At
the end of class, I told him about my idea of conducting Jupiter for the senior piece, and he
told me that it would be a nice touch, what with a senior leading the seniors in their final piece. I
feel excited again, now that I have gotten another chance to achieve my goal.
Total time spent: 45 minutes
March 30, 2016
Today, I finally finished watching the rest of the orchestral concerts that I have on DVD. I
had watched about half of the concerts that were recorded, and this time, I paid closer attention
to th conductor, especially since he was conducting the high school orchestra now. I paid
attention to how he led the larger group, and how they reacted to his commands.
In this set of videos I watched, I saw the concert that inspired me to conduct the orchestra
myself. In the spring concert of 2012, a senior named Michelle also conducted the orchestra.
When I saw that video, I felt glad that I came up with the idea to conduct the orchestra because I
love playing the violin.
Total time spent: 3 hours
April 4, 2016
Today, I finally got the conductors score for Jupiter from Dr. Brock. I feel happy in
that I finally got it, but I also feel dumb because I finally got it. We had just come back from
Spring Break, and I could have studied the score in the week we were free. However, this is fine.
The concert is not until the middle of May, so I have a lot of time to prepare for it.
I also conducted Jupiter today, first with the whole orchestra, and then with the idea I
had. I preferred playing with the seniors only because then, the music felt much more intimate.
Ive known these people for four years (some of them for six), and I have an idea of their playing
abilities. This time, I will not fail. We will play Jupiter in the spring concert.
Total time spent: 30 minutes
April 7, 2016

I had another chance to conduct the orchestra again today. When we played, I noticed that
we were doing much better on Jupiter than before. I felt ecstatic because I know that for sure
the orchestra (or, at least the seniors) would be able to play the piece with some proficiency.
Near the end of class, Dr. Brock let us put away our instruments earlier than usual. In the
time we had left over, he gave me some hints and tips about how to conduct the piece. He told
me that Jupiter has very complex phrases, each of them swelling up and then tapering down.
Overall, it should be calm, smooth, and broad. At the end, the volume should drop down, and
then crescendo for a strong finish. He also gave me a little tip on how to cue in the sections at the
end, after we have a little pause. I took all of this in, and I hope to implement them into future
rehearsals.
Total time spent: 30 mins
April 11, 2016
Today, I played with the orchestra, just trying to look at how the Dr. Brock directs the
orchestra. From watching him, I saw that being a conductor is not only just waving a baton
around, hoping that the orchestra follows it through the piece. The conductor needs to actually
sculpt the music, show some emotions as he conducts, and actually make the music come to life.
I need to perform the music as well. I need to LEAD the orchestra in their music.
For now, this is last I will be able to work with the orchestra this week. However, I will
be able to continue my work later on. The concert is on May 16 or 18, so I have about a month to
work with the seniors and perfect the piece.
Total time spent: 45 mins
GRAND TOTAL: 21 hours and 45 minutes