GHS Cardinal Marching Band Recruitment Video!

Original title: "(You are) Welcome to the Show!" Join the Gainesville High School Cardinal Marching Band for its sixth season this fall! I was asked by Mr. Bryk a few months ago to make a shorter, condensed version of my banquet video for him to play in the middle school band rooms he visits during the spring for recruitment. I kind of lost track of time and was busy with other things, so instead, I made it for the New Marcher Clinic for next season. Featured interviewees (Thanks guys! You quite literally made the video what it is) in order of appearance: Aly (Drum Major, Clarinet) Tom (Former High Brass Section Leader, Mellophone) Emily (Percussion/Pit Section Leader, Bass Guitar) Rigel (No Marching Band Affiliation, Filipino Ambassador, Tuba, Ukelele, Piano, Voice) Aaron (Low Brass Section Leader, Baritone Saxophone) Nolan (Former High Brass, Trumpet) Simon (Former Woodwind Section Leader, Clarinet) Ritvik (Woodwind Section Leader, Alto/Tenor Saxophone) Emmanuel (High Brass, Trumpet) ... This was a LOT of fun to do. What was supposed to originally be a chilled-out slideshow of images from last season turned into this: an interview-centric recap of (for the most part) our last 5 or so years together as a program. The themes we talk about here-- community, friendship, discipline, memory-- were once shared by the people in these photos from years past, and many of them aren't in the program anymore. When you get as involved with it as I did, and when it starts to matter to you as much as it mattered to me, you start to have this sense for the future; the wish to help others who you see yourself in share these experiences as well because we know them to be good. That was why I became a section leader, and was why I chose to start posting videos to a YouTube channel and add "small" details to the descriptions. I think for anyone in the program who wants to do what I did, or maybe for their own program, they should know that this was originally all for fun. I did this because it mattered to me so much, and it mattered that I share the fact that I'm posting these videos with my friends, who I wanted to see them and reminisce on our memories. The main thing that got me to make this video was because it was fun. I have never been a professional editor, and I have never owned or learned how to use any professional editing software; I've been hap-hazardly downloading photos, videos, and music into the "downloads" section of my file explorer and I've just been importing them into ClipChamp, a free, bare-bones editing software by Microsoft. It's incredibly easy to do something like this, and you don't even really need the stuff that I used; you just need the videos/memories themselves, and a YouTube channel to post them on. As a last note, I recommend setting each video to "Not Made For Kids," which is misleading and makes you think you're posting something inappropriate. In reality, this allows other people to comment, and I know for sure that my future self would love to go back and comment on these. I hope to find you there as well. OTHER LAST NOTE, descriptions are optional but they're fun to write if you have time. I used to write them thinking, "who is ever going to take the time to read this?' knowing that those who do will appreciate the effort. Funny now, since the descriptions are what I'm known a lot for. My time in the GHS Band Program has been great and is well-summarized by this video, despite the fact that I don't provide any of the answers-- it's all my friends! Thank you to the OGs who came before me, and the next generations of the program who're doing well to carry on this community. Thanks finally to Mr. Bryk for even making this all possible; not many people would really understand how huge of an ask it would be to get any band director to build a band program from a new school, out of nothing, when music education and the arts are already as overlooked as they are. The results of the work we've all put in can be seen in the band hallway every morning, the homebase I will miss very much. I would love to see where the future of this program goes; preferably, through someone else's YouTube channel where more recordings of our competitions and concerts are posted! Thanks for watching! Like, comment, subscribe! Jacob Sarmiento