It’s #tbt aka Throwback Thursday. So why not throwback to 2004?
Ok, I only knew cause it was stated in my pictures that this was 2004.
They were scanned from prints so you can still see scanlines back then and slightly weird contrast balances. It was probably an assignment for basic photo class during poly and instead, I took trip to my secondary school’s ECA (now called CCA) aka the military band.
Actually, they changed to concert band when I graduated so… no more military at the time I took these pictures.
I’ll probably get the film actually scanned properly and replace these whenever I find the originals.
That year was the first year for Bedok South Secondary School after they moved to the ‘new’ location of Jalan Langgar Bedok.
It usually starts where everyone in their sections get out and go forth and conquer for their own places around the school.
Naturally, sound travels and the band can make a huge mess of sounds.
We usually had to figure out what pieces we needed to play for SYF or some performance for school.
And then, depending on who your section leader is, sometimes you might just run away for a break after you managed to play something.
Then it’s back to the bandroom. Where we’d at least try to play together.
Quickly scrambling to get into our own seats and making sure we didn’t forget anything outside.
Like our chairs.
Or stands.
We’d begin to see if we did get through the whole piece. Mostly, some others would talk but ehhh, yeah we try to keep quiet.
And then we’d begin.
If you’re wondering why I keep taking pics of the clarinets, it’s because I’m in the saxophone section and the clarinets are across. I’d be in a weird position to take my section instead since I’m sitting amongst them.
I don’t know how the band is now. I haven’t visited the school since ever. Maybe there’s a picture of me in the band archives there if they did actually move the photo albums and have them stored in the lockers properly. I was the bandmajor there. If there wasn’t a picture of my year there, it’ll be difficult to find any of my year in their storage.
What we did notice though, that in every year or ‘generation’ when we looked in the archives while I was a student there, that there is always someone or a few people looking really similar to the previous few batches. Which was kind of weird in a time travel-y way.
Still, I’m not in band any more but I still kept on with the music.
I couldn’t help it, out of secondary school and it felt too silent.
I saved up for a tenor saxophone in poly and had a second hand one from some shop in Peninsula Plaza. I got to play it and well… It’s underneath my bed now.
I can still play it, it’s the same fingering as a recorder after all! It’s just that I now play a ukulele because I can’t sing and play the sax at the same time for obvious reasons.
