From eclectic to random: The musical talents of UA
Ellyn's band play mostly original songs.
December 2, 2009 • Courtney C. '10
Filed under Entertainment
Dedication, passion, hard work….though you may think those adjectives only describe the Ursuline soccer team, basketball team, or perhaps the band, they also describe some less frequently recognized individuals at Ursuline who have incredible musical talents.
Ellyn S. ’11, Molly K. ’10, and Elizabeth A. ‘11 are three Ursuline girls who have dedicated themselves to enriching their musical talents.
Ellyn S. ‘11 raps in a rap/funk band called Rin Tin Tin. She raps with three other members including a bassist, a guitarist, and a drummer.
“It started when my friend Erin and I wrote a song together. The song was to be recorded on a CD that was a compilation of songs from young local bands through a music organization called Zounds Sounds. We were deciding who would rap for the song, and after a while Erin convinced me to rap for the sake of irony, if nothing else.”
Ellyn said that she has never been a fan of rap, but Rin Tin Tin is different.
“It’s real music,” she said. “We started playing gigs, and were astonished by the incredibly positive feedback.”
Rin Tin Tin performs at small venues, holding monthly performances at Saxby’s coffee house. They also have played at a couple of benefit concerts at the Lake Highlands YMCA.
A large part of the originality lies in the fact that Ellyn’s band writes its own music.
“Sometimes if we have requests for covers, we’ll do them. When we get an encore, we often play our favorite Michael Jackson or Snoop Dogg song!” she said.
Another unique thing about Ellyn’s band is that Rin Tin Tin has played in a few shows whose proceeds go to a foundation called Way Into Music.
“Way Into Music is a foundation dedicated to providing quality music instruction and musical instruments to students eager to learn, regardless of their ability to pay. Way Into Music is a very special organization and a very worthy cause,” she said. If you would like to learn more about the foundation, its website is wayintomusic.org , and to learn more about Ellyn’s group, visit their website at www.myspace.com/rintt.
Another interesting instrument, the bassoon, is the musical interest of Molly K. ’10, who only started playing the bassoon at the beginning of her junior year.
“I had already played the saxophone for seven years, and I guess I was getting bored with it, so when my director asked for someone to play the bassoon, I volunteered,” she said. Molly said that she has enjoyed learning this new instrument and practices every morning in band, going in a little early to practice the new notes.
“Who wouldn’t like playing the bassoon?” responded Karol when commenting on the new instrument.
The bassoon is very different than the saxophone. According to Molly, the bassoon is a double reed instrument while the saxophone is a single reed instrument. Also, the fingering is different.
She follows her passion for music by working at the Orchestra of New Spain, where she is able to experience many different types of music.
“I will continue to play the bassoon for fun for the next couple years,” said Molly, “but nothing too intense.”
A rap group…a bassoon player…What other talents do our student body have? Elizabeth Angus ‘11 has been playing the xylophone since first grade.
“My middle school has a very strong music program. So, from 6th-8th grade we were able to try out for certain clubs for specific instruments,” said Elizabeth.
“I chose to play the xylophone because it was actually the first instrument I my set hands on,” she said. “I started because my teacher encouraged me to try out.”
She said the xylophone club was called ‘Orff’ after Carl Orffs, a famous musician. “I was the first president of Orffs,” she said with pride.
Elizabeth received her first xylophone on Christmas in seventh grade. “I still like to play it and just mess around,” she said.
After having played in the Orff club for a couple years, Elizabeth has learned a lot about the instrument.
“The xylophone and the piano are linked,” she said, “If you are good at the piano, you will be good at the xylophone and vise versa. All the songs I play are mostly numbers.”
One thing that may not be known is that you can play the xylophone with more than two mallets. “I play some songs with four mallets,” she said. “I am able to hold two mallets in each hand which is kind of cool.”
Elizabeth still plays today, but just for fun and mainly because of her sister who is going to try out for the xylophone club at her school next year.
“When people think of the xylophone, they think that only little kids play it in music class, but it is much more than that,” she said.
So without knowing, we have all looked past some of the great musicians that are standing right in front of us at school.
Think about it.
You could be sitting behind the next Stevie Wonder or Lil’ Wayne in Spanish class. Young musicians are among us, we just have to keep an eye out for them.
— Courtney C. ‘10
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