Health and Safety

When taking my photographs I will need to consider health and safety. There are a lot of things that could go wrong. 

For example, my talent could drop their cornets, damaging their instruments and possibly injuring themselves in the process. 

If my vantage point wasn’t right and I had to stand on a chair to raise the viewpoint then I could fall off the chair or the chair could break. 

If their instrument cases were left near where we were shooting someone could fall over them. 

First Draft of my Front Cover

This is my first draft of my front cover but there are several things that will be different on my final draft. 

For example, I would like the masthead to look more like a metallic gold font. I would like it to be similar to the font below although when I tried this on my front cover it didn't look right.

The main image, although it will feature the same people and use the same pose, will have some sort of walled background and will feature the talent in their band uniforms. 

Also, depending on the font of the masthead, the font of the sell lines may change.

Finally, there will be a bar code and date of publication. 

Body Copy of my Main Article

Youth Brass 2000 – What Next??

Sarah Johnson tells you all about the award winning band and asks what next?

Those not involved in ‘Brass Banding’ don’t know much about its great appeal but for the people involved it becomes a huge part of their lives. Youth Brass 2000 is a perfect example of a brass band which offers hours of great enjoyment to all its young members. Youth Brass rehearse in Wilbarston, a small village in Leicestershire, not widely recognized in comparison to other places, and nor particularly was the band, until recently when due to its huge success Youth Brass 2000 is becoming increasingly well known.

Winning Streak

Every year the band enters a series of major competitions and of course their aim is to win but with such a busy schedule its impossible for them to perform a different programme in every one. Artistic director, Chris Jeans, therefore picks a theme which they base their music around for the whole of that year. With London holding the Olympics this year, 2012’s theme had to follow suit. However it wasn’t just Britain’s sporting stars that found themselves on a winning streak. 2012 turned out to be a productive year for the band as well and with so many opportunities for them to ‘get the gold’ they had a busy year right from the start.

Their first major competition was the Butlins Mineworkers Championships and the youth band has been the reigning champion for four years! Whereas previously only some band members could compete, due to numbers, last year they split into two bands and Youth brass 1000 was born. Both bands returned with first prize.

The bands next win came at the National Youth Brass Band Championships held at The Royal Northern Collage of Music (RNCM), Manchester. This competition attracts around 2000 young players from all over Britain making it a prestigious event to win. 2012 was the first year in the history of the band that they won and it left them all amazed.  “The immense challenge against 17 other top quality youth bands and for us to be crowned Champion Youth Band of Great Britain is the highest accolade that we have won in the history of our band "I am Over the Moon" Chris Jeans, Artistic Director.

The final cherry on top of their fantastic year was being awarded the title BBC Radio 2 Youth Band of 2013, something they didn’t compete for. A panel of the best brass players in Britain judge who wins this accolade each year and so when they received the news they were all ecstatic.  

Work Hard, Play Harder

I’m not suggesting that the band doesn’t work hard, they have to give up vast amounts of time to rehearsals often participating in full day practices close to a competition, but it always pays off. Once they get all the competitions out of the way they go on a summer tour somewhere in Europe. Tour is a chance for the players to let their hair down. Last year they stayed in Holland but played in Luxembourg, Germany and Belgium as well and, during their five days abroad, the teenagers enjoyed time visiting theme parks, and bowling allies.

On tour, rehearsals take on a slightly different format. The band tends to play their favourite pieces so all they really need to do is polish them up and in some cases add choreography. One of this tour’s favourite new pieces was Mr Sandman which involved some skilled hand bell and boomwhacker playing on the part of some players and the piece even sparked the band to produce a parody version in aid of their tour manager Don Collins appropriately named ‘Mr Collins.’

What next?

But what lies ahead for this excelling youth band? We’re only three months into 2013 and they’ve already been incredibly busy.

January saw them succeed in retaining their title at Butlins as well as giving them the opportunity to perform alongside Chad Shoopman, a leading American trumpeter. “Performing with Chad Shoopman was an unbelievable experience and something I'll never forget! Thomas Fountain, principle cornet. 

And of course we mustn’t forget their trip to the RNCM to compete in the BBC Radio 2 young musician of the year contest. Although they didn’t win their performance was aired on the radio later in February.

Then they went to Blackpool for the National Youth Brass Band Entertainment Championships where they performed a Glenn Miller themed set dressed in 1940s American style army uniforms. They came away with 9 out of 12 awards available.  

In April they will return to the RNCM to compete in the National Youth Championships where they hope to retain their title.

Finally, in August, they jet off to Austria for their tour giving a little bit more of the world the chance to hear their music.

Rising Stars

We wanted to gain a better insight into what it takes to win solo awards at these competitions so we spoke to Thomas Fountain (principal cornet) and Jack Wilson (Soprano cornet) who both won awards at the recent Blackpool Entertainment Championships.

Thomas - Principal Cornet

You’ve had a successful year so far being awarded BBC under 18 soloist of 2013, best soloist with both Youth Brass 2000 and Virtuosi GUS band at the Butlins Mineworkers and best solo cornet at the Blackpool entertainment Championships. What does it feel like when you win an award?

It feels good as you know you've stood out from the rest must have done something right

Is this the first award you’ve won at the Entertainment Championships?

No, I won the solo prize last year as well. It's nice to be the first person to win it twice and also consecutively

Having won so many awards you must be a good player. What other bands do you play in apart from Youth Brass 2000?

I play in the Virtuosi GUS band, National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, Territorial Youth Band of the Salvation Army, County Youth Band and the School Band.

You must be busy playing with all of those bands? How many hours do you practice in a day?

Yeah, it takes up a lot of my week I practice for at least an hour probably!

You’ve been in the band for 3 years now, what made you join Youth Brass 2000?

Well Chris jeans had spoken to my dad and so I went along for a rehearsal and loved it so carried on.

Jack- Soprano Cornet 

You won best soprano cornet at the recent Blackpool Entertainment Championships, have you won awards before?

Er, yeah I have won a few.  

When did you win your first award?

My first award was winning my local bands junior section solo award when I was around 9 or 10 but that was on cornet as opposed to Soprano Cornet.

How long have you been playing soprano cornet?

I started playing soprano cornet in October last year.

Wow, you must be really good to have won an award already? What does it feel like when you win an award?

It feels really amazing. I feel so glad that I played well and play such wonderful instruments.

What got you interested in playing soprano cornet?

Well I have always fancied playing sop from an early age because of all the really high lyrical lines that sound amazing when they sit on top of the big brass band sound. I also enjoy the role of which the soprano has with in the band.

Do you play in other bands like Thomas?

Yes, I also play for the virtuosi GUS band, Northamptonshire County Youth Brass Band and the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain.

What made you join Youth Brass 2000?

I originally came to help youth brass out at Manchester contest but I enjoyed it so much I decide to join.

Pixlr.com

In today's lesson we were experimenting with the photo editing programme Pixlr.com. What I learned today will be useful when I begin editing the photos for my magazine. 

In this image of Coldplay I have duplicated the image to form two layers before changing the saturation of the background image and making the top image black and white. I then went on to rub out sections of the top image to allow the colours of the background image to show through creating the effect below. Above is the origional image.

On the following edits I have duplicated the image, altered the saturation of the top image and rubbed out the area I wanted to be in colour:

Depech-Mode

The Saturdays

Ed Sheeran



My main article 2

I have now asked the two people who will feature in my main article the interview questions that I planned to ask them. At a later date I will use their answers in my article.

Tom - Principal Cornet

How long have you been playing cornet?

Since I was four years old

How many hours do you practice in a day/week?

I practice at least an hour a day probably!

Have you won awards before?

I hadn't really no, although I won the solo prize with the virtuosi GUS band at butlins

Was it you’re first award?

Erm yeah I think so not sure to be honest

What does it feel like when you win an award?

It feels good as you know you've stood out from the rest must have done something right

Have you won an award at the Entertainment Championships before?

Yes I won the solo prize last year as well so it's nice to be the first person to win it twice and also consecutively

What other bands do you play in apart from Youth Brass 2000?

I play in the virtuosi GUS band, national youth brass band of Great Britain, territorial youth band of the Salvation Army, county youth band and school band

How long have you been playing in Youth Brass 2000?

Errm haha I don't even know? 3 years

What made you join Youth Brass 2000?

Well Chris jeans had spoken to my dad and so I went along for a rehearsal and loved it so carried on

Jack - Soprano Cornet

Have you always played cornet and how old were you?

I started playing the cornet when I was 8

When did you start playing soprano cornet?

I started playing soprano October last year

What got you interested in playing soprano cornet?

Well I have always fancied playing sop from an early age because of all the really high lyrical lines that sound amazing when they sit on top of the big brass band sound. I also enjoy the role of which the soprano has with in the bad.

How many hours do you practice in a day/week?

I usually do at least 1:30 a day if I can

Have you won awards before?

Errrm yeah I have won a few

When did you win your first award?

My first award was winning my local bands junior section solo award when I was around 9 or 10

What does it feel like when you win an award?

It's feels really amazing. I feel  so glad that I played well and play such wonderful instruments

What bands do you play in apart from Youth Brass 2000?

I play for the virtuosi GUS band, Northamptonshire county youth brass band and the national youth brass band of Great Britain.

What made you join Youth Brass 2000?

I originally came to help youth brass out at Manchester contest but I enjoyed so much I decide to join.

Focus group results

I did a focus group to learn more about what my readers want in their magazine so that I can tailor my content accordingly. Here are the results:

What do you want in a new brass band magazine?

• Information about events where you could see brass bands - in advert form would be more interesting
• History of brass bands
• How a brass band works
• Brass band news - news letter/notice board
• Competition results - more about how they’re judged
• Different instruments – what they are, how they’re made, where they came from, their role etc.
• Why certain instruments play in certain bands as opposed to others
• QR code to allow you to watch/listen to brass music – just a good idea to listen to music – recent performance
• Some sort of introductory offer/feature
• Competition profile – best deals in area, information about competitions, restaurants, five star rating
• Reviews - public/audience reviews
• Links page – maybe on website
• Link to website – if website had other info from in magazine
• Brass band orientated comic strip/jokes

Do you have a connection to a brass band?

Yes my daughter plays in a brass band

Would you be interested in a brass band profile?

Yes

Would you be interested in a crossword?

No

Would you be interested in learning about the top players worldwide?

Not really

On a scale of 1-5 how would you rate these names?

• Brass forte – 2
• Forte brass – 2
• Blast - 3
• Brassed off – 4
• A blast of brass – 4
• The Bandstand – 4
• Battle of the bands – 1
• Brass bander – 3
• A bit of brass – 5

What colours would attract you to the magazine?

• Gold
• Silver
• Maroon – expensive

What price would you be wiling to pay?

• As least as possible
• £1 - £1.50 monthly? – yeah…more like 99p but more like 1.50 if offered a discount or free tickets
• Worth paying more if discount/tickets were offered

Would you be more likely to buy or subscribe?

• Yearly subscription discount
• Try out and then decide whether to subscribe or not

What competition prizes would you be interested in?

• Amazon discount vouchers
• Tickets

Would you be interested in themed issues - Christmas etc.?

In some ways can’t be avoided but as long as it’s not over the top

Brass Magazine Deconstruction

 

The colour scheme is surprisingly dull for a magazine called "'brass band world.' If I used this as the name for my magazine I would want to make it look fun and interesting to draw readers in. 

The dull colour scheme could mean that its target demographic is people who already play brass instruments who read it to find out about the latest competition results or what's happening with the best players and bands. 

The font is sans serif which make the magazine look modern and professional. This appeals to a younger demographic. 

The sell lines on the cover are relatively uninteresting but are about subjects the target demographic is likely to want to know about. 

The man in the main image isn't of a young 'new' musician so the magazine has probably already established a large demographic.

The main sell line is a pun for two reasons. Firstly the main image features a band who are dressed in an American army uniform and secondly they played a Glenn Miller set to take them to victory. The sell line is a quote from a song at the time.

The sell line font is the font typically associated with the army reinforcing what the sell line says.

The other sell lines are positioned at the bottom of the page as if they are less significant. These other sell lines are less amusing than the main sell line.

These other sell lines and the masthead are in a sans serif font making it look modern and professional appealing to a younger demographic. On this issue the modern feel is juxtaposed by the old fashioned style of the uniforms the band is wearing.

Every music magazine has an attitude that helps it appeal to its target demographic.

Top of the Pops Magazine

For example, the attitude of a magazine like Top of the Pops magazine is gentle and girly.

The main colour on this cover is pink a colour clearly designed to appeal to young girls.

It uses a sans serif font to make it look fun and gentle drawing their readers in.

All of the photos feature boy bands or male solo artists clearly appealing to the girlish fantasies young girls have about marrying a pop star when they grow up. 

The stories featured on the cover are about clean harmless subjects unlikely to influence their readers in a bad way. These stories also appeal to the magazines buyer. It is unlikely that the target readers of this magazine will be the ones buying it, they will probably get their parents or grandparents to buy it for them. The stories have to be clean and un-influential because a parent or grandparent won't buy a magazine for their child if they think it is inappropriate. 

Kerrang! 

In contrast, Kerrang!'s target demographic is teenagers over the age of about 14 who are into metal or alternative styles of music.

Their front covers convey the attitude of rebellion to the reader. The idea that they don't have to fit in with everyone else.

The colours, images and font all help to convey this rebellious attitude.

The colours are always quite dark with the occasional splash of colour. On this cover the red could convey blood or danger.

The font of the mast head looks shattered and fragmented. This supports the idea that the readers of Kerrang! are breaking away from normality.

The bands they feature on their front covers also back up the alternative genre of music their magazine is based on. Any magazine featuring Slipknot on their front cover is clearly not appealing to six year old girls or the parents and grandparents of their target demographic.

My Main Article

My main article will feature Youth Brass 2000, a youth brass band currently experiencing a winning streak.

Currently they hold all of the National Youth titles and this is why they will be featured in my main article. 

As part of my main article I will be interviewing two of the soloists in the band who won solo awards at the recent Blackpool Entertainment Championships. 

These are the questions I intend to ask them: 

Tom - Principle Cornet

• How long have you been playing cornet?
• How many hours do you practice in a day/week?
• When did you win your first award? 
• What was it?
• What does it feel like when you win an award?
• Have you won an award at the Entertainment Championships before?
• What other bands do you play in apart from Youth Brass 2000?
• How long have you been playing in Youth Brass 2000?
• What made you join Youth Brass 2000?

Jack - Soprano Cornet

• Have you always played cornet?
• How old were you when you started playing brass?
• When did you start playing soprano cornet?
• What got you interested in playing soprano cornet?
• How many hours do you practice in a day/week? 
• Have you won awards before?
• (If yes) When did you win your first award?
• What does it feel like when you win an award?
• What bands do you play in apart from Youth Brass 2000?
• What made you join Youth Brass 2000?