sbo may 2009
DESCRIPTION
SBO May 2009TRANSCRIPT
MAY 2009$5.00
Report:Drill Writing
Roundtable:Uniforms and Footwear
Jay WebbA Commitment
to Excellence
SBO_COV1 COV1 5/6/09 10:08:16 AM
SB&O School Band and Orchestra® (ISSN 1098-3694) is published monthly by Symphony Publishing, LLC, 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494 (781) 453-9310, publisher of Musical Merchandise Review, Choral Director, Music Parents America and JAZZed. All titles are federally registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Symphony Publishing, LLC. Subscription Rates: one year $24; two years $40. Rates outside U.S.A. available upon request. Single issues $5 each. February Resource Guide $15. Periodical-Rate Postage Paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offi ces. POSTMASTER/SUBSCRIBERS: Send address change to School Band and Orchestra, P.O. Box 8548, Lowell, MA 01853. No portion of this issue may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. The publishers of this magazine do not accept responsibility for statements made by their advertisers in business competition. Copyright © 2009 by Symphony Publish-ing, LLC, all rights reserved. Printed in USA.
Cover photo by Nate Crouch, Avon, Ind.
4 Perspective
6 Headlines
44 New Products
45 Playing Tip
46 Classifi eds
48 Ad Index
Columns
Features
12 UPFRONT Q&A: NEIL GROVERNeil Grover, president of Grover Pro Percussion and active percussionist with the Boston Pops, presents an overview of the essential mallets and drumsticks every school music program should have on-hand.
20 GUEST EDITORIAL: EQUIPMENT LOGISTICSSBO contributor Nancy Clark ponders solutions for the logisti-cal challenges of handling marching band equipment.
26 COMMENTARY: ARMED FORCESBob Spiegelman urges band directors to consider performing in honor of the Armed Forces at their school’s graduation cer-emony.
28 UPCLOSE: JAY WEBBFresh off of fi rst-place fi nishes at the Bands of America Grand National Championships and the WGI World Championships, Avon (Ind.) High School’s Jay Webb sits down with SBO to talk about developing a commitment to excellence and achieving success on the national stage.
38 REPORT: DRILL WRITINGSBO catches up with three accomplished drill writers who share their secrets to designing a great marching band fi eld show.
48 ROUNDTABLE: UNIFORMS AND FOOTWEARDirectors from around the country give advice on getting the most out of an ensemble’s performance apparel.
Contents May 2009
28
38
26
To read this month’s Technology column, visit www.sbomagazine.com.
SBO_2 2 5/6/09 10:08:55 AM
Perspective®
May 2009Volume 12, Number 5
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4 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
Bring the Stimulus Package to SchoolT
he effects of the current economic crisis have had dramatic repercussions within all levels of the education community, leaving many music teachers extremely concerned about the survival of their programs and their jobs. According to an article in The New York
Times, March 21 edition, part of the national economic stimulus package that is slated for education, in many states, will fi lter through to the music and the arts. One concern, though, is that states and local districts have signifi cant leeway in how these dollars may be used, and they may be vying to divert the stimulus dollars to support a variety of other programs. This presents a
critical time when arts programs must again rally for the sup-port of their respective communities to ensure that they are deemed integral parts of their local systems.
With nearly $40 billion in economic stimulus slated spe-cifi cally for education, many schools will be receiving between $1,300 and $1,800 per student over the course of the next year. However, some states are considering cuts to existing education funding, which in essence is redirecting funds to
shore up their budgets in other areas. In The Times, Molly Hunter, the executive direc-tor of the New Jersey-based fi nance-advocacy group Education Justice, indicates that, “States have big shortfalls in their budgets, and there’s going to be the temptation to use the stimulus money for that purpose.” She notes that the practice of “supplanting,” or replacing, state funds with federal funds is generally highly restricted by federal guide-lines, but there are always loopholes through which some of these rules can be skirted.
The second concern about the education stimulus package is the equitable distribu-tion of the funds between under-funded systems and those that have signifi cant capital resources. “Utah, where a $1.3 billion budget defi cit has threatened deep school cuts, will get about $655 million in education stimulus money, or about $1,250 per student, according to the federal Department of Education. Wyoming, which has no defi cit and has not cut school budgets in many years, will get about $1,684 per student.” This situ-ation, unfortunately keeps music out of the schools of many districts that simply can’t afford to support a program even with the economic recovery money.
Although the stimulus package is far from perfect, it could serve to alleviate some of the drastic measures that would have been necessary in order to maintain current levels of funding at the local level. Music and arts programs are still in a precarious position as far too many districts regard them as enhancements to their curriculum rather than core subjects like Math and Science. This is a pivotal time to rally support and write letters to local, state, and federal politicians insisting that stimulus funds be directed to their proper destinations.
Rick [email protected]
“Arts programs must again rally for the support
of their respective communities.”
SBO_4 4 5/6/09 10:02:53 AM
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6 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
HeadLines
Theo Wanne Classic Mouthpieces Granted Design Patent
T heo Wanne Classic Mouthpieces were granted a patent for the internal shape of their saxophone mouthpieces. The interior design patent encom-passes their signature True Large Chambers, a step baffl e, and rounded
inner side-walls. Theo Wanne uses the term True Large Chamber in referring to his mouthpieces because his mouthpiece chambers are 30 percent larger than traditional large chamber mouthpieces. Although the larger chambers, especially with their complex curves, are much harder to manufacture, they are said to sig-nifi cantly improve sound and playability.
For additional information on the Theo Wanne Classic Mouthpieces, please visit www.theowanne.com
Tracy Leenman Given Friend of Music Business Award
Tracy Leenman, CEO of the recently-formed Musical Innovations, received the SCMEA Friend of Music Business Award at the South Carolina Music Educators Conference annual In-Service Convention in Charleston, S.C.
This award is given annually to thank, honor, and recognize a member of the business community who has shown ex-emplary support for local music education programs. Nomi-nees must be recom-mended by a music educator, a school administrator, and a student or parent who benefi tted from the nominee’s contribu-tions. Mrs. Leenman was nominated by Da-vid Allison and Maria Lee, band directors at Summit Parkway Middle School in Co-lumbia; Sig Tanner, principal at Summit Parkway; Linda Phipps, a second grade teacher; and a parent of two band students.
Mrs. Leenman has been a member of SCMEA since 1994, and has served on their executive board as music industry representative and chairperson of the S.C. Coalition for Music Education since 1997. She has been active in the music industry, supporting school music programs at the state and national level for over 15 years. Musical Innovations, which she formed in 2008, is based in Greer and provides musical products and services to music educators, music retailers, music students, and their families. In addition to providing in-service clinics and workshops to educators, administrators, and community groups, Musical Innova-tions also provides consulting services and musical products to music retailers. The company has also recently begun selling musical instruments, accessories, and print music to area music students and educators.
To learn more, visit www.tracysmusic.biz.
Tracy Leenman (center) receives the SCMEA Friend of Business Award.
email: [email protected]
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8 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
HeadLines
Buffet Crampon & Antoine Courtois Paris Brass Artist
Antoine Courtois Paris Brass, distributed in North America by Buffet Crampon USA, announced John Marcellus, Professor of Trombone at the Eastman School of Music, as the newest Antoine Courtois
Paris Trombone Performing Artist. Professor Marcellus was recently at the Buffet Crampon USA headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., to select his trom-bones: an AC440BR tenor trombone and an AC430TLR tenor trombone. Dr. Marcellus is a legend in the trombone performance and pedagogy world and is a world-renowned trombone virtuoso and teacher.
For more information, visit www.buffetcrampon.fr.
Cascio Interstate Music Present the Bucks Wild! Drumline
Cascio Interstate Music has partnered with the Milwaukee Bucks in an ef-fort to provide an opportunity for Bucks fans to be further entertained at select games by the Milwaukee Bucks Wild! Drumline. The 21-person
percussion ensemble made its debut during the fi rst quarter break at a Bucks game back in February and has continued to perform for the fans.
The group was selected via an open audition that was advertised the on Mil-waukee Bucks Web site. The 21 percussionists feature – eight on snare drums, three on tenor drums, fi ve on bass drums, and fi ve on cymbals. Cascio Interstate Music has outfi tted the entire squad with Pearl equipment and instruments.
More information about Cascio is available at www.interstatemusic.com.
Visit www.sbomagazine.com and let your voice be heard in the current
online poll – results to be published in the next issue of SBO.
Online Survey ResultsDo you expect your school/program to be impacted by the federal governments latest economic stimulus efforts?
Yes
47%No
35%I have no idea
18%
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10 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
Green Anthem Eco-Music ProjectThe Green Anthem is a modularized eco-friendly teaching curriculum created
by Julie Lyonn-Lieberman. Seven lesson plans complete with student handouts and mp3 fi les are free to all music educators on the Green Anthem Web site. The project includes three national competitions, interdisciplinary cooperation within schools, community out-reach and a school concert program. The project will culminate with a national concert for Earth Day’s fortieth anniversary, April 2010.
For more details, visit www.greenanthem.org.
Boston Landmarks Orchestra’s Summer Festival
Charles Ansbacher, conductor and artistic director of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, has announced the highlights of the Orchestra’s 2009 season, which will include re-
turning to DCR’s Hatch Shell for the third consecutive sea-son of Landmarks’ Festival. For the fi rst time, the Festival will include the screening of three performance fi lms The Sound of Music, Swan Lake, and La Traviata., and a com-missioned new work by local composer Thomas Oboe Lee called The Story of Frederick Law Olmsted. The Orchestra will perform nine concerts at DCR’s Hatch Shell on Wednesday nights from July 15 through September 9. Boston Landmarks Orchestra will collaborate on some of the concerts with a number of Boston area arts orga-nizations, including the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, which is in residence at the New England Conservatory this summer.
For performance schedules, visit www.landmarksorchestra.org.
Charles Ansbacher, the conductor and founder of Boston Landmarks Orchestra, speaking with Gerry Wright, the founder and president of Friends of Jamaica Pond.
Instrument Repair Forms
Walking Bird Music has introduced two new repair forms designed to help band and orchestra directors keep track of their instruments that are out for repair. The fi rst form contains no “services listed” section,
leaving directors free to write in their repair requests and making them suitable for use with any instrument. The second repair form is identical to the fi rst, only it includes a prelisted work request checklist in an organized and concise format for band and orchestra instruments. This form also includes blank lines that can be used to write in additional repairs. All Walking Bird forms use carbonless pa-per, have three full parts, and have two product ID stubs. These forms are also available with a school imprint.
For more information, visit www.walkingbirdmusic.com or call (800) 525-8247.
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12 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
SBOUpfrontQ&A: Neil Grover
In order to help make sense of how the differences in these products can af-fect the sound of your ensembles, SBO recently caught up with longtime, and active, orchestral professional, Neil Grover, who is also president of Grover Pro Percussion and SilverFox drumsticks. In this exclusive interview, Neil provides an overview of the essential sticks and mallets that every school band or orchestra program should have on hand.
Ball, acorn, barrel, or olive tip? Wood tip or nylon?
Hickory, maple, rattan, bamboo, or birch? Umbrella,
standard, or replaceable felt-mallet head? Wound string
or rubber? These are just a few of what seems like an
infi nite number of questions to be considered when it comes to
outfi tting the percussion section of a school band or orchestra
program with sticks and mallets.
Tips on Sticks and Mallets
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Gary CampbellFlorida International University
P. Mauriat Berklee Faculty Saxophone QuartetTim Mayer, Bill Pierce, Dino Govini & Shannon LeClaire
Harvey PittelUniversity of Texas, Austin
Greg OsbyBerklee College of Music
Paul HarrUniversity of Nebraska
Jon GudmundsonUtah State University
Don AliquoMiddle Tennessee State University
Bill HarrisUniversity of Bridgeport
Debra McKimHastings College
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14 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
School Band & Orchestra: Hi Neil, let’s get right to it. What are the essential mallets and sticks that music directors should have in their band room?
Neil Grover: The fi rst thing any orchestra program needs is a good set of timpani mallets. Manufacturers usually offer fi ve or six models, but typically, a program should have three different mallet types: a general mal-let, which is good for general purpose
playing; a staccato mallet, which is good for slightly harder playing; and ultra staccato, for the most articulate passages.
In addition to those three, it’s good to also have a legato model for very soft passages and a pair of wood headed timpani mallets. However, if I had to make a choice, I would go with the ultra-staccato over the le-gato. Young players often have dif-fi culty articulating on timpani, so a
pair of ultra-staccatos should help them play rhythmic passage with more clarity.
SBO: Is weight a factor to be aware of with timpani sticks, as well?
NG: Yes, but every manufacturer is different and there’s no standard-ization on this front. There are num-ber of different brands that have good quality, well-balanced mallets. I would stick with one of the more well respected brands. I can’t tell you that 23 grams is better or worse than 50 grams because it’s a matter of individual preference. For a school, I would recommend a good qual-ity, solid, maple-shaft timpani stick. I would avoid the bamboo, which is very delicate and won’t take any abuse. Even though professionals use bamboo quite often, I wouldn’t recommend it for most school pro-grams.
Another thing that should be con-sidered for timpani mallets is that it needs to have a good quality white felt. The better quality mallets usu-ally have very high quality outer felts, which are softer than low qual-ity felts. The low quality mallets produce an undesirable “tick” when struck on the timpani.
SBO: The felt affects the tonal qualities, correct?
NG: That’s right. There are really three different kind of mallet heads for timpani sticks: a parachute style, which doesn’t have a seam; a remov-able ball-style mallet which allows you to replace the heads without sewing; and then there’s a mallet called a cart-wheel mallet, which is more like a cyl-inder than a ball.
SBO_14 14 5/6/09 10:05:22 AM
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16 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
SBO: Perhaps the second of those three might be best for a school ensemble?
NG: Any of the three would work fi ne for schools as long as the players take care of the mallets. I can’t tell you how many times I see percussion mallets thrown around on the fl oor of band rooms! Make sure that the tim-panists have a secure place to store the mallets and emphasize the importance of taking care of the equipment.
SBO: Moving beyond timpani, what other sticks and mallets would you deem essential to a school music program?
NG: Typically, drumsticks should be the responsibility of the students. The percussion students need to be invested in the program somewhat, and sticks and mallets are what I think they should own and bring to rehears-als and concerts.
SBO: But considering that many kids don’t have much experience purchasing orchestral mallets and sticks, they often turn to the band director for guidance. With that in mind, what advice do you have that might help the educators point their students in the right direc-tion?
NG: Purchasing sticks and mallets is a very personal thing. I would highly suggest engaging a professional per-cussion educator to get recommenda-
tions. Some of the better percussion specialty retailers can also recommend appropriate models.
One thing people should know is that drum set sticks should not be used to play concert percussion, and con-cert percussion sticks won’t work well on the drum set, either. This is some-thing that happens all the time, and it really makes it much harder to achieve the right sound in the ensemble.
SBO: What are the distinctions?
NG: A concert stick is usually heavi-er and has a thicker diameter than a drum set stick. The SD1 or SD2 mod-els are appropriate for band and or-chestra playing. Drum set sticks, like a 7A model are too light for a concert snare, so they won’t give you a full snare sound. I had a situation recently where a band director asked me to come in and help one of his student drummers who was playing with a school jazz band. Right off the bat, I saw that the kid was using heavy con-cert sticks, playing 10 times too loud, and dragging! Of course, in jazz, you should use a light stick, because the sound should be lighter. It would be like going to little league and giving kids a major league baseball bat. You
“The most important thing is that the stick is appropriate to
the genre being played, but you also have to fi nd
something that the student is
comfortable using.”
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18 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
would never do that because the kid would swing late every time. Just like a baseball bat, drumsticks have to be size and weight appropriate to the age and use. On the other hand, sometimes it can be easier for a younger child to handle a bigger stick that is easier to grip.
The most important thing is that the stick is appropriate to the genre being played, but you also have to fi nd something that the student is comfort-able using. It’s a balance.
Marching band, of course, is a whole other specialty, with dozens and dozens of varieties of sticks available. A generic stick, like a 3S, is a pretty good middle of the road stick for marching band. It might be a good place to start, but I’d also suggest talking to march-ing band specialists because that is not my area of expertise.
SBO: How do the variations in tip, taper, and other stick characteris-tics affect the sound that the stick produces?
NG: I prefer a ball tip for my concert work. Many symphonic players prefer an acorn tip, but for a student, I think you can’t go wrong with a general or-chestral or band stick with a round tip. The round tip makes the stick a little easier to control, gives a consistent re-bound, and helps execute rolls, I be-lieve. It’s a little easier to play. Some of the professionals believe that they get a bigger, fuller sound out of a concert snare drum by playing sticks that have an acorn tip, and maybe a little bit of a darker sound, as well.
If you’re playing a fi eld drum, you might use those sticks as well. For con-cert toms, you’d probably want to use something different. It depends on the piece: sometimes they do call for a wood stick, in which case the concert stick would be appropriate, but other times you might want to use timpani sticks or a felt mallet.
Other things to consider are that you don’t play rubber on concert toms un-less it’s specifi cally called for. Hard rub-ber mallets are used on xylophone, and a soft rubber mallet is used for practic-ing. On suspended cymbals, you want to use a wound mallet, like a marimba or vibraphone mallet; avoid using a tim-pani mallet on a suspended cymbal!
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School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 19
SBO: Among wound mallets, what are some of the various character-istics to be aware of?
NG: There are hundreds of varia-tions among wound mallets. For ex-ample, you have to decide whether you want rattan handles, birch han-dles, or synthetic handles. A synthet-ic handle doesn’t break very easily, but professionals usually stay away from them because they are usually too fl exible. They are most applica-ble to a school situation because of their durability.
For vibraphone mallets, you want a rattan handle mallet because it has a stiff fl ex to it, and you need that fl ex to play effectively. Typically when playing marimba, while there are ex-ceptions to this, you usually want a long birch or maple handle to give you more control and a wider reach when playing with four mallets.
In general, wound mallets use cord on the vibraphone mallets and yarn on the marimba mallets. That’s to get the right sound out of the bars.
On glockenspiel, you want a hard plastic mallet, and occasionally a brass-headed mallet for specialty use.
For xylophone, you want to use a hard rubber or soft plastic mal-let. You should not use hard plastic mallets on rosewood instruments because those may damage the rose-wood bars.
SBO: That makes sense. Do you have any other words of advice for music educators?
NG: I would highly recommend speaking with a local professional
or percussion instructor, and there are also many resources available on the Internet. One of the greatest re-sources around is the Percussive Arts Society, which is the premier organi-zation for professional percussion-ists and percussion educators. They have a wealth of resources and infor-mation available on their Web site, www.pas.org.
Neil Grover has spent 28 years with the Boston Pops. During that time, he has also performed with the Boston Sym-phony Orches-tra, rock band Aerosmith, on the soundtrack for Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom, and at countless concerts, clinics, and events throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.
Neil is the author of Four Mallet Primer and Triangle, Tambourine and Cymbal Tech-nique (co-authored with Gar-wood Whaley), both published by Meredith Music.
Neil Grover is also the found-er and president of Grover Pro Percussion Inc, which specializes in instruments for the percussion industry whose brands include Grover Pro Percussion, SilverFox drumsticks, and Spectrasound Mark Trees.
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SBOGuest Editorial: Equipment Logistics
BY NANCY A. CLARK
Effective Equipment Logistics for Marching Bands
The logistical challenges inherent with han-
dling marching band equipment – when met
properly – can positively reinforce the ex-
cellence and discipline necessary to stage an
award-winning performance on the fi eld. While ev-
ery marching band program is unique, creativity and
coordination are two valuable keys to success.
20 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
Creativity: Sharing Ideas, Finding Solutions
While competitive on the fi eld, most marching bands have a collegial, team spirit off the fi eld and are willing to share their creative ideas and advice. Other programs can offer invaluable insights.
“Since day one, we’ve modifi ed everything I don’t know how many times after seeing how others do it,” comments Wayne Ivers, band director at Marshall High School in Mar-shall, Minn.
In the staging area at competitions, Ivers and his assis-tants often walk around networking, observing, and asking questions. They request permission to look inside trailers to examine how different groups organize their equipment.
To provide fl exibility for changing needs, the Marshall band decided not to customize any of their trailer interiors. Last year, their props included seven large backdrops, each 8’ x 18’, along with bases to support them; other years they have had no props.
Grand Rapids High School in Grand Rapids, Minn., travels with a 40’ trailer featuring E-Tracking along the in-side walls, enabling equipment to be tied down or two-by-four lumber to be added as cross beams to create a second level if necessary.
Ivers says networking questions can also extend to on-fi eld details; the Marshall band learned to effectively mic their marimbas by asking another band for advice.
Many of these parking-lot discussions focus on the cre-ative transportation solutions utilized by marching bands – usually wheeled carts, racks, and other containers. While commercially-made options are available, some bands use solutions that are handmade by either band parents or stu-dents.
“A lot of our specialty equipment was built by our school’s technical education department,” says Dale Gunderson, band director at Grand Rapids. These technical programs – where students receive hands-on instruction in welding, wood-working, automotive repair or other skills – are often looking for meaningful projects.
SBO_20 20 5/6/09 10:06:40 AM
School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 21
“I buy the materials and these kids love to do projects,” notes Gunder-son, who believes such cooperation provides valuable cross-curricular benefi ts.
Avon High School in Avon, Ind., has benefi tted from hands-on cre-ativity and expertise among its band parents, including adding a second level and built-in mechanical lift to the band’s semi trailer. Other custom solutions built for the Avon band in-clude wheeled uniform boxes, each designed to hold 15 uniforms during both off-season storage and travel. These boxes include space for shoes and several shelves for hats and other miscellaneous items.
Avon band director Jay Webb says some of his band parents utilize their expertise working at local fi rms that manufacture precision auto-racing components. As in auto racing, suc-cess in marching band often comes down to the right set of wheels.
“We’ve learned that high-qual-ity wheels on all our carts make a big difference,” explains Webb, who says that small, hard wheels do not roll well over varied surfaces such as grass, gravel, dirt, and pavement. Pneumatic tires offer defi nite advantages.
According to Ivers, Marshall’s band ordered a heavy-duty marimba chassis with eight-inch pneumatic tires. “It’s strong and sturdy,” says Ivers, adding that a cart with small, indoor casters might collapse while being moved across uneven or rocky terrain. “We can use these carts indoors or out-doors – we can’t afford to buy two sets of everything,” he notes.
Before you purchase any cart or make your own, ensure it’s designed for fl exibility. Will its wheels work in-doors and outdoors? Can it adjust to suit different sized equipment? Does it fi t easily through a three-foot class-room door or inside a 6-foot-high trailer?
Ideally, any transport cart should serve double-duty by also providing storage capability. For example, the same cart might hold uniforms in a storage room but also roll outside onto a fi eld, bus, or trailer for competition. This saves time both distributing and collecting equipment.
Coordination: Improving Organization, Promoting Responsibility
Particularly during busy seasons, the challenging cycle of “pack-travel-compete-travel-unpack” demands careful attention to detail. As much as possible, successful marching pro-grams strive to be organized.
“Logistics can be a nightmare,” comments Ivers. “There’s hauling, moving, storing, setting up, taking down – it all can interfere with the performing and teaching.”
Ivers says they pack up everything in their trailers by the middle of Au-gust to be sure it all fi ts before hitting the road in September. He adds, “The more times you pack, the better you get at it.”
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School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 23
“Organization is our biggest asset,” agrees Gunderson. “When chaperones are helping with equipment, we meet with them each weekend to assign spe-cifi c items to each person, rather than just telling them to grab something.” He also says that fostering a strong leadership team of students pays off because the previous year’s section leaders train the new students.
Each of Avon High School’s home-made uniform boxes is supervised by one or two “Box Moms” who are responsible for 15 students and their
uniforms. While providing logistical assistance, Webb says “Box Moms” also bond with the students. “They get to know their 15 kids pretty well during the season – it’s a special rela-tionship.”
Consolidation can benefi t the lo-gistics of managing equipment besides uniforms. To improve the handling of electronic components like amplifi -ers, mixers, and synthesizers, Marshall purchased their own rolling rack sys-tem after seeing other bands use the same solution.
Ivers says it’s a tremendous advan-tage. “This saves a lot of headaches,” he notes. “We can organize our elec-tronics and cords much better, just running one large composite cable from the rolling rack out to the per-formance.”
Along with a rolling rack system, reliable electrical power is another important factor for consistent perfor-mances, particularly considering the growing use of electronics in the pit area. “Whenever we’re running an ex-tension cord to the fi eld, anyone could trip on it and we’d lose power,” says Gunderson, who is considering buy-ing a new-generation silent generator to eliminate this variable and source of anxiety.
Of course, the best and most reli-able “power” for a marching band is the enthusiasm supplied by the stu-dents themselves. Most directors rec-ommend harnessing this energy from the fi rst rehearsal, trip or performance. This includes fostering responsibility by insisting that students take charge of their own equipment.
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School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 25
“Kids need to take ownership,” contends Gunderson. “Once they en-ter the working world, nobody’s going to haul their laptop computer back and forth to work for them.” He believes students are fully capable and often have stronger backs than the adults.
Until last year, Marshall’s band re-
lied upon its “band staff ” for logistical support. This group, which consisted of non-playing students and friends, handled most of the loading and un-loading. However, Ivers says they were sometimes diffi cult to manage or count on.
“Our musicians weren’t paying enough attention, so we might get on the fi eld and fi nd we’re missing key equipment because so-and-so from the band staff wasn’t there to make it happen,” recalls Ivers. To avoid such problems, he introduced a new rule: ‘If you play it, you pack it.’ So far, this policy has worked out well, and he believes musicians are more careful with their own instruments.
How much equipment is being handled varies among programs, of course, although most directors agree that elaborate props seem to be less common today at competitions across the Midwest.
“In the 1990s, sets and props were pretty big,” recalls Webb. “Now I’m seeing more pit equipment and elec-
tronics, with fewer props.” Webb says his band has used very little props lately and been successful – Avon won the Bands of America Grand National Championship in 2008.
Trends may come and go, but logisti-cal challenges are a constant theme for marching band programs. The precision teamwork exhibited on the fi eld requires comparable behind-the-scenes planning and thoughtfully designed equipment. Through creative solutions and coordi-nated efforts, successful marching band programs can always develop their own winning formula.
Nancy A. Clark is a product manager with the Wenger Corporation of Owatonna, Minn., which manufactures specialty equipment and furniture for music education and the performing arts. She can be reached at [email protected].
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26 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
SBOCommentary: Armed Forces
Salute the TroopsBY BOB SPIEGELMAN
Whether at a parade, a formal ceremony, or a con-
cert, it is likely that at one time or another you
will have a group perform at an event to honor
the men and women of the Armed Forces. In
fact, in many communities, the school music program is the
only organization that can provide this very special service.
Throughout the last 16 years, our music students have par-
ticipated in many such events. Each time, our students have
come away with a deeper appreciation of their opportunities
and freedoms, and a better understanding of what it means
to sacrifi ce for your country.
Unfortunately, the crowds at these gatherings are often sparse and devoid of many young people. Perhaps a reason for this poor atten-dance might be reflected in a recent Gallup Poll, which revealed that only 28 percent of Americans knew the original intent of Memorial Day! Another reason for poor attendance could simply be that everyone’s lives are busier these days and attending these ceremonial activities isn’t high on the list of priorities.
With this in mind, it becomes ap-parent that encouraging attendance of a Veteran’s Day Parade on a cold November morning or a Memorial ceremony on a day off of school or work may not be the best way to as-semble a large number people who wish to show their appreciation.Three years ago, in a small effort to
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School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 27
pay tribute to those who served, we began playing a medley of Armed Forces songs as part of the prelude concert at our school’s graduation ceremony. A brief statement outlin-ing the history of the upcoming Me-morial Day holiday was read prior to the performance. We then asked all veterans, active duty, reservists, and enlistees to stand as the song from their branch of the armed forces was played. At the conclusion of the medley, the audience stood and gave them a rousing and heart-felt ovation!
With such a great response, the school administration asked that the medley be moved to the main part of the graduation ceremony for the following year. In addition, our principal contacted all the Armed Forces recruiting stations serving our school district and requested that a representative from each military branch be part of this new tradition. They all showed up and marched in wearing their full dress uniforms and carrying their service branch flag. It was an amazing dis-play of pageantry, community pride, patriotism, and gratitude.
Perhaps dedicating those five minutes in a graduation ceremony can be our finest, longest lasting gifts as educators. What better way to spontaneously teach everyone the significance of Memorial Day? What better lesson to impart to our graduates at the last teachable mo-ment? What’s it worth to see your students look into the eyes of our active duty, reservists, and veterans to see how special this recognition and appreciation is to them?
As music educators, we always talk about how important it is to make a difference in one person’s life. How true! But how often do we get a chance to make a difference
for so many? This simple gesture – which can only be provided by a music group, will unite your larg-est community audience of the year, your administration, and new gradu-ates in a way that will bring special meaning to your school’s ceremony and extraordinary, well deserved rec-ognition to the Armed Forces, your students, and to you!
Bob Spiegelman is currently Director of Bands at Lindbergh High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Missouri and has taught in the St. Louis area for 28 years.
“At the conclusion of the medley, the audience stood and gave them a rousing and heartfelt
ovation!”
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UpClose: Jay Webb
BY ELIAHU SUSSMAN
CommitmentExcellence
ato
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School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 29
What exactly is it that makes a high school music program great? Is the success of a school’s band or orchestra measured through victories at national competitions? Or is it found in something less tangible, such as a program’s commitment to providing the very best opportunities for its students?
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30 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
At Avon (Ind.) High School, take your pick. The school’s bands are the reigning champions of such prestigious events as the Bands of America Grand National Championships and the Win-ter Guard International World Cham-pionships. Yet, according to Avon band director Jay Webb, being successful isn’t all about winning; it’s achieved by sticking to that ever-so-basic philoso-phy of being the best that you can pos-sibly be at whatever it is you do. Don’t settle for anything less than being the best, trying the hardest, and making the most out of every opportunity you
earn. This sounds simple – these con-cepts are hardly revolutionary – yet few educators have the drive, desire, and resources to take a program to the national level. And according to Webb,
one’s accomplishments can only truly be measured by matching up against the very best on that national stage.
SBO recently sat down with Jay Webb to talk about what it means to have a commitment to excellence, and the motivation behind it all: the signifi cance of competing at the highest level – both for him and his students.
School Band & Orchestra: Would you mind sharing a bit about your own musical background?
Jay Webb: My dad played guitar and my grandfather led the singing in church. There was a piano in my grandmother’s house and I used to bang around
“Kids can do pretty much anything you can teach them.”
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32 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
on it. I was just naturally driven to-wards music.
In school, I began playing when I was in junior high, in Orlando, Florida. I started out on saxophone, then switched to trumpet, and then switched to percussion, all within about a one-year period. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to play, but once I got into percussion, I was pretty much hooked on that.
In high school, I played in just about everything: marching band, concert band, I played sax in the jazz band, I played trumpet in an-other concert band, played percus-sion in the top band. What really got me going in band, though, was joining the Florida Vanguard Drum & Bugle Corp. When I started playing with that group, my out-look on everything really changed.
SBO: How so?
JW: It’s just that it was so exciting and so discipline-oriented; there was
something about that that appealed to me. Watching the drums move in uni-son, the sticking, the hands, the rudi-ments, the technique that was necessary
– that level of detail was something I’d never seen before, and I really bought into doing it. From there, that really propelled my career.
Once I graduated from high school, I wanted to march in really a top-notch level corps, so I ended up moving to Bayonne, New Jer-sey to join the Bridgemen Drum Corps. They were one of the DCI elite corps at that time. I was there until I was 21 and that experience really changed who I was.
SBO: At what point did you start thinking about being an educator?
JW: I probably fi rst thought about it in seventh grade, and then didn’t think about it again until I was 24. [laughs]
When I was 24, I was in Bloomington, Indiana. I’d been
recruited to come here and teach the drum corps. Things fell through after a couple of years, and I really had to
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take assessment of what my life was like, and think about what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be. Playing in the drum corps, just traveling around the country and performing, wasn’t really a life that I could sustain. So I decided to go to college and pursue a music degree. I started at Butler Uni-versity, in Indianapolis, studying Mu-sic Ed. For a while I thought I wanted to play in an orchestra somewhere and teach college, but when I was getting close to graduating, I was about to turn 30, I realized that I’d prepared myself to be in this life as a teacher. I was ready to do it, so I just kind of took the plunge.
My fi rst job was at Sheridan High School, in Sheridan, Indiana.
SBO: Can you tell me about that experience?
JW: It was a JR/SR program, and a very small high school. They’d had some success in their marching band program, but when I got there, there were only about 23 kids participating. We went to a contest, and probably were not very strong. I made a few mis-takes, but I was able to learn through trial and error. I also spent a lot of time talking to some of my mentors. One of my biggest supporters was Tom Dirks from Center Grove High School, where I had taught the drum line for six years while I was in college. Working with Tom, I really learned a lot about how to run a program.
At Sheridan, I started trying to emu-late those things I saw at Center Grove. During my second year, we had 45 kids in the band, did pretty well, and came close to making the state fi nals. The year after I left, the program ended up making state fi nals; I think they fi nished fi fth. I was pretty pleased with what I was able to start building there, even though I didn’t really fi nish it.
SBO: What prompted you to move on?
JW: Sheridan was really kind of a ru-ral community, and I’m more of a city kid. It was hard for me to just exist out there, so I was looking for a school that I might be able to build a little bigger. Sheridan is still a very small school, 20 years later. I wanted to go somewhere where I could build a program in the manner of Center Grove.
When the Avon job became open, it was one of the two schools that I was looking at.
SBO: What was the Avon band pro-gram like when you arrived?
JW: Basically, all of the band, guard, and percussion students met in one class, during fi rst period. There were about 100 kids, total, and they all took marching band at the same time. That fi rst year, we ended up getting what we
consider a division 2 at the regional level. The people that were here before me were trying to build more of a jazz program and, in doing so, they were re-ally de-emphasizing marching band and concert band. My goals were to revital-ize those areas. I was hired specifi cally to bring the marching band back to the prominent position that it had enjoyed in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Bob Row, the man who hired me, had been at Avon for 25 years. At one
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34 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
time, it had been a small farm school that had over 225 kids in the band program – just a gigantic percentage of the school population, maybe 40 or 50 percent of the student body par-ticipated in the band. They really wanted to get back to that level of notoriety and public image.
SBO: So what were your fi rst steps toward rebuilding that culture?
JW: It was really trying to initiate a pride in our own prod-uct, a commitment to excellence. I split the concert band into two groups meeting at the same time, and I had the choir teacher help me out. I’d give him specifi c information about what I wanted during each class. I had an assistant, too, and we worked with the junior high school program. We would have someone come in and instruct the color guard, and I was also teaching the drum line. I was kind of going crazy un-til I was fi nally able to convince the administration to split the marching band class into four separate classes, so I could start teaching properly and meeting the needs of the kids.
It was a learning experience for everybody. I had a vision of what I wanted us to be, and I had to sell my vision to the band boosters, the parents, the kids, and our adminis-tration. Fortunately, they were very supportive in those day as far as help-ing me try to teach them how things should be. Once the program started on the right track, and it took a few years, then the band really started to grow.
It wasn’t until my fi fth year that we actually were successful and quali-fi ed for the state marching band com-petition.
SBO: It seems that sometimes it can take quite a few years to build a program up to the level that a direc-tor envisions when they start at a school. What is it that takes so long? Is it just sowing the seeds in the student body?
JW: That is one aspect, sowing interest among the students, and another is creating the necessary resources to maintain a great program. One of my biggest challenges today is what we call “feeding the monster”: providing the resources need-ed to sustain this kind of a program. It takes a long time to convince and educate administrators about your needs and the necessary tools that fi t into the realm of your school cul-ture and environment. Also, you have to get the kids to buy into the level of work ethic and commitment. Kids can do pretty much anything you teach them. If you can teach it, they can do it. It took us a while to teach the kids exactly what they were capable of doing. The other critical step was
developing a staff that could meet the needs of the students and the program.
SBO: What are some of the specifi c resources that you had to put into place in order to get the band program up to speed?
JW: For one, our facilities have been a big part of it. Avon is one of the fastest growing communities in the Midwest. Our facilities were way behind the times, but since I’ve been here, we’ve built a new high school, and more recently a new
Fine Arts wing. We’ve been very suc-cessful at amassing instruments and uniforms, the infrastructure of the band program. It’s also critical to have the kids and their parents buy into the need for really top-level de-signers and instructors. That really has made the biggest difference: we have some of the best designers in the country right here at Avon. With the instructional staff we have in place, our students are getting a world-class experience.
SBO: Speaking of that world-class experience, what are your goals with the program?
JW: I really have a national per-spective of what a band program can be, and what we’re trying to do is be world class in every area of our program. I would love to run a concert band that plays like Marcus High School in Texas and a percus-sion ensemble that’s as good as any one in the country, like the ones in California.
SBO: Besides the obvious of “It’s great to be great,” what are the primary benefi ts of being on the national stage?
JW: I think it comes down to a little bit about who I am. When I was in high school, I remember hearing about MBA (Marching Bands of America), only there were no schools in Florida that participated in it. I talked to my band director at the time and asked him why we couldn’t do something like that. He replied, “Oh, you don’t want to do that; it’s way too much work.” That comment sat with me for a long time. When I started playing with the Bridgemen, we were able to do some incredible things from a standpoint of being the best at what you are in the activity. In those days, we were trying to be the best drum line in the world, the best in the drum corps arena. I learned some things: in particular, why not aspire to achieve the best that is possible?
That’s why we’re involved in the Bands of America and that’s why we’re involved in Winter Guard International; that’s why we send tapes to the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. It’s all because I want my kids to have a world-class experience in everything that we do. That’s really what my
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36 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
philosophy is. And the only way to assess how are doing is to fi nd the very best programs in the country and see how we stack up against them.
SBO: So you’re in favor of competition in music education, then?
JW: I feel really strongly about this: competition is one of the greatest things that we teach kids. I have never shunned away from it; I have always embraced it. It is up to educators to keep it focused on the positive, and it is my responsibility to promote a system of excellence, work ethic, and dedication that creates an end product our students can be proud of. And the kids have been proud of the end product every single year, even as that prod-uct kept developing over time. Although the product has changed pretty dramatically over the years, the students’ experience has stayed pretty consistent. On Facebook and other Web sites, I get in touch with past band members and it’s always interesting to see how they’ve grown and devel-oped and the things that they have taken with them from the band program beyond just music. It’s absolutely criti-cal that we not only embrace competition but also teach it correctly and not get wrapped up in trophies or fi rst place fi nishes, but in the process of a commitment to excellence. That process is what changes kids.
Avon High School Marching Band at a Glance
Location: 7575 E County Road 150 S, Avon, Ind.On the Web: www.avonband.com
Students at Avon High School: 2390Students in the music department: 350
Ensembles and Participating StudentsMarching band: 250Wind Ensemble: 60Two Jazz bands: 50Four concert bands: 180Two guards: 51Two drum lines: 70 Recent Notable AccomplishmentsSeven-time State Champions for Marching Band BOA Grand National Champions 2008Winner of the Sudler Shield for Marching Band 2007WGI World Champion 2009 – World GuardWorld Guard State Champions for 2002 – 2009WGI National Champions for World Drum line 2002
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School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 37
SBO: Thinking along those lines, as an educator, how do you measure success?
JW: I measure success in different ways. I get to see those kids for a very important four-year span in their lives, from ages 14 to 18. For the most part, I try to assist my students with the pro-cess of maturing, fi nding their voice, discovering who they are, and learning about themselves and how to interact with each other. I usually interview ev-ery prospective band member before he or she joins the program so I can get to know him or her a little bit. Suc-cess comes for me when I look in their eyes during the last weekend I see them – on senior night, at graduation, or the last weekend of the school year – and I see how they’ve changed since the fi rst time I saw them in my offi ce their freshman year. That’s where I measure success.
Sure, my band room has a ton of trophies in it, we have all kinds of ban-ners, and we’ve had all kinds of success, but that’s just an end product to doing things that we believe in – trying to be world class in everything that we do.
SBO: Last November, you won the Bands of America National Champi-onship, and your program received the highest overall score ever given out in the fi nals. What can you tell me about the process of putting together a show of that magnitude?
JW: It’s really a team effort. I have a visual consultant, Danny Wiles, who’s been with me now for 12 years. I really trust his instincts. Jay Bocook, a very famous arranger, arranges our music. We have visual writers who come in and assist with various aspects of the program.
SBO: Are those folks on staff, fulltime?
JW: They’re basically consultants, although Danny Wiles runs our color guard program, which has also had a tremendous amount of success. He’s basically in charge of the visual compo-nent, which is one of the elements that propelled our scores at Grand Nation-als and other achievements that we’ve experienced in the past few years.
Those are just a few people – we have a great staff of about 20 that all work together, and they are some of
the very top educators in the country. Dean Westman has been a part of our staff, he’s from Texas, Stephen F. Aus-tin, and he’s now the orchestra director here at Avon. Matt Harloff, who’s the captain head for the Carolina Crowns, is my assistant director. These are full-time staff members. We have some fantastic talent and experience in our instructional staff. Our kids get some of the best teaching possible, as far as the marching arts are concerned.
SBO: There must be logistical complications with a faculty of that size. How do you handle it?
JW: Basically, what I learned from Tom Dirks at Center Grove was to sur-round yourself with great people, give them the resources they need to do their jobs, and just let them do it. I’ve followed that idea, and it’s been fantas-tic getting everyone involved because we have a great working relationship and we all trust each other throughout the process. We each have our specifi c areas of expertise, but we’re all work-
ing towards the common goal, which is achieving our potential.
SBO: What do you hope pops into the minds of your former students when they think of your band pro-gram 10 or 15 years after they’ve moved on?
JW: I’m sure if you asked my for-mer students about me, they would say, “That guy was crazy!” [laughs] But once we got past the funny stories and the good times, I’m hoping they’d talk about the way I taught them to be respectful of themselves, the environ-ment, of each other, and the opportu-nities that we have.
I’ve always treated music as a tool to reach kids that might not be reached in other ways. And I hope that through my teaching, my students will have gained a lifelong appreciation of music, but I also hope that they’ve gained a lifelong appre-ciation of life, and living your life to the fullest. Because that’s what we do at Avon: We go full out all the time, give 100 per-cent. That’s what it’s all about.
SBO_37 37 5/6/09 10:12:59 AM
SBOReport: Drill Writing
38 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
Designing A Marching Band Field Show
Whether for the halftime show of a high school football game or for panel of judges at
a national competition, a marching band fi eld show combines several critical elements
to entertain, inspire, and engage audiences. The coordinated combination of music
pageantry should be designed to create a unifi ed presentation of a musical, visual,
conceptual, or abstract theme.
Every band director and his or her staff will have a slightly different process when it comes to building a show, but the ba-sic steps of planning and design, implementation, and execu-tion remain fairly constant. SBO recently caught up with three experienced and successful drill writers who shed some light on the process when putting together a fi eld show, from conceptu-alization to the fi nished product.
BrainstormingCharles “Chip” Richter, a freelance drill designer and as-
sociate band director at Alief Taylor High School in Houston, Texas, begins by brainstorming music. “The fi rst step of design-ing a show isn’t even a formal step,” he explains. “We sit down as a staff and start listening to different music that we like. For next year’s marching season, we already started listening last fall. Right after marching season ends, we get together and talk about what we liked from that year’s show, how various things we did affected the audience or the judges, and come up for goals of what we want to do the following year. At that point, we can start putting those thoughts together with the musical
ideas that we’ve got rolling around in our heads. Really, it’s not until about January that we start getting serious about moving forward in a particular direction as far as what we’re going to do the following year.”
Once Richter and his colleagues have come up with a few ideas, they solidify their planning. “In January or February, the head band director and I will sit down and share ideas, whether those are themes or specifi c music. The last few years, we have focused more on our home crowd. Often, bands get caught up in trying to be heady or surreal in order to appease judges, but we have decided that while we’re going to do whatever we can to be musical and effective for the judges, we really want to
“At that point, the music starts to take over the design.”
SBO_38 38 5/6/09 10:13:38 AM
40 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
concentrate on our home crowd. So we’ve done shows based on R&B mu-sic the last few years, and our crowd has really gotten in to it.”
Performing for an audience of Di-vision I college football fans, Jeremy Pratchard, the associate director of bands at the University of Arkansas, has a slightly different agenda when thinking about the following sea-son’s shows. “The concept is the fi rst thing we have to fi gure out,” notes Pratchard. “We have to decide what
kinds of shows are going to meet our needs. A collegiate band like what we have here at the University of Arkansas will do four or fi ve shows each season, depending on the schedule. We try to choose show concepts that will be ap-pealing to college football fans in the stands, but at the same time give good, practical lab experience for our music education students. Balancing those two criteria is really one of the tricki-est aspects. We try to present a diverse cross-section of styles.”
Darrin Davis, the marching band coordinator for Broken Arrow (Okla.) High School and a drill writer with over 17 years of experience, uses two distinct methods to design a show: ei-ther building music around a theme or developing a theme around specifi c music. “We’ve taken two drastically different approaches that have both been successful for Broken Arrow High School,” says Davis. “One is that we’ve come up with a character-driv-en concept of what we want to see or
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School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 41
what we want to portray and then we match musical ideas or motifs to fur-ther illustrate that concept. The other is that we just pick good music for good music’s sake and then develop a visual program that portrays the music appropriately.”
Davis continues, “What has worked for us and what fi ts our character and what we like to portray can be as lit-eral as a person or a fi gure in time, or a concept of a time period. From a designer standpoint, how I view the design process, each year is extremely unique so we let whatever circum-stances we fi nd ourselves in dictate to us what the needs may be or what the show’s program is going to be. For example, a year ago, we thought we were going to do build a show around an old famous movie actress. When we began working with the students in our band and color guard, we noticed that they were really good at specifi c performance skills. So we evolved the
show away from that character we had initially selected to being more about what the students naturally excelled at – which in this case happened to be a model walk. So we ended up building the show around the theme of runway models. We defi nitely want to play to the strengths of our students and also infuse those strengths with our per-sonal preferences while trying to cre-ate something fresh and unique.”
From Inspiration to Design
The fl exibility to allow a show to develop naturally is key. Chip Richter uses a process of repetition for inspi-ration. “Rather than come up with a theme or a story line, I let the music write the drill,” he says. “I listen to the music over and over again, and as I’m listening to it for about the hundredth time – literally – then I’ll actually start to break down the count structure.
That’s when I put marks where I think a 16-count move might work, where a stand still needs to happen, where we’ll need to drop in a percussion break, or when there needs to be a big guard hit where they need to be integrated into the band or featured out front. At that point, the music starts to take over the design.”
Making the initial score marks can be among the most pains-taking aspects of design-ing drill. Richter notes, “Sometimes getting that fi rst page done might take a week. What kind of look do I want the audience to see before we ever play a note? It’s got to look great. And I’ve also got to decide what the music looks like in the beginning: is it expanding? Is it in your face? Is it quiet? What is it?”
“My mantra is that I want my kids to look great playing and sound great marching.”
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SBO_41 41 5/6/09 10:13:48 AM
42 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
Once that decision has been made, it’s important to proceed carefully. Richter tries to stay two or three sets of whatever he’s writing at the time. “For example,” he continues, “if I’m writing something fl owy, then I have to think, ‘where’s my next big hit?’ This means being aware of what’s happening 32 or 48 counts ahead of time, trying to fi gure out how I’m going to maneuver everyone so that they are where they need to be for those critical moments. I have to come up with something that is visually appealing and has a motion that works, but ultimately gets those people where they need to be. That’s really important and, in some respects, it’s more staging than anything else. I fi gure out where my staging moments are and what I want them to look like, and then I spend the rest of the time fi lling in the gaps in between those moments.”
Jeremy Pratchard also starts his planning by looking at the peaks in the music: “Once I sit down and start writing drill, I begin by fi guring out where our big hit points are within the show and try to get a nice story-board mapped out, beginning to end, and where the climax is, and how the show is going unfold. Then we try to put transitions together that are go-ing to make the whole story evident throughout the drill. Once we’ve got all of that down, it’s a mater of getting into the music itself and fi nding how the music lines up within our story-board – going through phrasal analysis of the piece itself and trying to fi nd the big moments where we’re really go-ing to get some crowd interaction. In the collegiate atmosphere, we want as many moments as possible where the crowd is going to ooh and aah. We’re trying to elicit as frequent a response as possible.”
Pratchard then tries to keep it sim-ple. “Everything I design drill-wise takes students in a straight line path,” he notes. “If you can’t go straight, don’t go at all. That makes transitions so much smoother for us, if students can just go from point to point. At the same time, they have to realize that it’s not all about the dots, because those are just singular counts within the piece, but we’re talking about what the
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School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 43
transition is like between the dots, be-cause that’s what makes up the visual content.”
The other concern Pratchard must contend with is logistical in nature. “With 320 or more people on the fi eld at one time, space can be a serious concern so when I’m coming up with the visual design, I do everything I can to use space effi ciently and also to con-vey velocity,” he says. “I achieve this through step size or by making smart staging decisions so that the audience’s attention is where I want it to be dur-ing the show.”
Darrin Davis and the staff at Bro-ken Arrow take a similar approach at this step in the process. “We look at the timeline of the big moments in the music and plan what we want to see and what we want to accom-plish visually at those points,” Davis explains. “That allows us to go back and fi ll in the blanks when we have a more complete outline of what we want to see later in the process. From there, it’s literally the nuts of and bolts of using the charting soft-ware to put the ideas together and make sure that they’re married from an artistry standpoint. It’s critical to make sure that what you see on the fi eld corresponds to what you hear, and what you hear makes sense with what you are seeing.”
Fill in the BlanksWith the primary “hits” or “staging
moments” decided upon, the next step is to come up with choreography that fi ll in all the points in between. Chip Richter, Jeremy Pratchard and Dar-rin Davis all turn to software at this
point, eschewing the graphing paper approach in favor of sophisticated technology that facilitates visualizing drill maneuvers, synchronizing them with music, and much more.
“I’m not one of the pencil and paper guys,” avers Chip Richter. “I graduated college in 1996, and when I was studying drill in class, we spent half the time with pencil and paper, fi guring out algorithms, and the other half using Advantage, which was the drill design software program at the time. We spent time fi guring out how many people can fi t around a certain sized circle and the mathematics of all that. My second year teaching in high school was the when I designed
my fi rst show, and by that time Py-ware 3D had basically taken over. It is such an effective tool that I’m able to play around and look at pictures on the screen as if I’m drawing them out by hand. Using that software, I can confi gure a move and it’ll tell me what the step size would be, so I can see if my kids will be able to perform the maneuver while playing their in-struments or if I need to adjust the picture. It allows me to monitor what every student is doing and make sure that what I have planned is going to work for each person in the band. My mantra is that I want my kids to look great playing and sound great march-ing. We want to be able to do both.”
SBO_43 43 5/6/09 10:14:01 AM
44 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
The alternative to using software, according to Richter, is cumbersome, at best. “The other option is to put your band on the fi eld and just move the band members around, one at a time, saying, ‘Then you go here and you go here,’ until it all works out. Some directors can make that work, but I just can’t. I see that as not an ef-fective way, for me at least.”
Darrin Davis keeps his options open,
using the software only as a rough guide to preliminary ideas. Maintain-ing fl exibility when the students start to work out the design on the fi eld is also important to make sure that the show has enough energy and fl are. “As much planning as we do, once you put it all to work on the fi eld, you always want to keep monitoring and adjust-ing,” Davis says. “Sometimes we end up going in a different direction once
we see it on the fi eld. You can visual-ize what it will look like – the chart-ing software is very powerful and it will let you produce an animation of what you’re going to get before you actually teach it to the students – so we already know that what we chart for the students is going to work, but for that extra bit of coordination, that pizzazz, whatever, you always make adjustments so that those moments that stand out are as powerful as they can be.”
Show and TellOne of the major benefi ts of mod-
ern technology is to be able to simulate a completed performance. “I’m able to upload my completed drill, including music synced up to a completed anima-tion of drill transitions,” says the Uni-versity of Arkansas’ Jeremy Pratchard. “The students can download a viewer and watch the simulation online, just like I see it on my computer. When I design the drill, the last step is to assign each of the dots in the simulation by position (Horn 3, for example) so the students can click on their instrument and their parts will be highlighted, al-lowing students to see exactly where and how they are supposed to move around during the show.”
The latest versions of drill design software offer new possibilities for sharing show designs with students. “From fi rst rehearsal,” says Pratchard, detailing the evolution of the technolo-gy, “we’ll pass out coordinate sheets to everyone in the band. We used to copy the actual drill sets and pass those out to everyone, but that was extremely
The University of Arkansas Razorback Marching Band.
SBO_44 44 5/6/09 10:14:06 AM
School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 45
cost prohibitive, especially for bigger shows that had many sets. When we changed the software we use, it made things much easier because now we can print out sets in quarter-page size and the kids can know exactly where they are supposed to be at any given time. We laminate those smaller print-outs, punch a hole through them, and put them on a lanyard, so the students can wear them around their neck dur-ing rehearsal. We have done away with the notebooks and three-ring binders that we used to use. This new system eliminates a lot of the debate on the fi eld about where everyone is sup-posed to be, and that allows rehearsals to progress much more effi ciently.”
Before Chip Richter and presents the show to the Alief Taylor march-ing band, they fi rst prepare the fi eld. “We go out before we ever start intro-ducing anything to the students and make a four-step grid across the entire football fi eld, marked by dots (every four steps),” explains Richter. “We use fl uorescent marking paint to mark coordinates over the existing football lines, and that really helps the students visualize where they are supposed to be when they can see the fi eld as a graph.”
Once the fi eld has been properly marked, the students are given either drill charts, coordinates on the fi eld, or both. “A lot of times, students have a hard time visualizing what the entire picture is supposed to look like, so what we really like to do is give each student a set of coordinates and then give the section leaders actual charts, so they can make sure that everything looks the way it’s supposed to on the fi eld.”
The Pride of Broken Arrow rehears-es in a stadium with Astroturf, so Dar-rin Davis has had to devise a non-per-manent method of marking the fi eld. “We put down poker chips,” confi des Davis. “Every student will have four different colored poker chips, and we lay them out in order of where their fi rst four set points will be, from light-est color to darkest. So we can put four different pages of drill on the fi eld at any one time. If we put more than that on the fi eld, it gets pretty confusing, so we stick to four sets at a time.”
Closing MomentsMoving from the design process
to some of the more basic elements of teaching and rehearsing drill, Dar-rin Davis recommends teaching the fundamentals at the beginning of each year. “We educate kids on how to read a drill chart every year,” says Davis. “I always assume that my students are complete beginners, even though I have some veterans every year. We
go through the same initial steps in what I call my ‘Drill Class.’ We do this because I believe that you can teach things halfway several times and still not get the results you want, or you can slow down, take a little bit of ex-tra time and really get the fundamen-tals down, so that the students learn it right. We start pretty slowly, but I fi nd that as the season moves along, the students get much more experienced about how drill works, so we end up
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SBO_45 45 5/6/09 10:14:13 AM
46 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
moving faster and faster as the season progresses.”
The other piece of advice that Darrin gives is to keep an eye on the big picture. “It’s important not to get so caught up in the minute details that you lose the big picture of what’s happening on the field,” he notes. “Don’t get so caught up in specific moves or musical parts that you lose a sense of coordination between all of the elements. It all has to work together; the director has to be responsible for the entire package.”
Chip Richter agrees, acknowl-edging that getting caught up in the details can have an adverse effect on the overall show. “I probably spend a little bit too much time trying to make every picture look nice,” admits Richter. “One thing that took me a long time to learn as a drill writer is that if you’re going ‘16, 16, 16,’ and you’re not going ‘16, hold, 16, hold, 16, hold,’ then every set happens so quickly that the audience and the judges aren’t going to dwell on those images. It’s important to concentrate on the motion, and really pick the spots to speed up and slow down the move-ment.”
Jeremy Pratchard, meanwhile, stresses the importance of building a solid base of drill knowledge. “Noth-ing beats being able to develop the vocabulary for whatever transitions you are going to design by watching good drill and fi nding designers that you feel have a good style that you might want to emulate,” declares Pratchard. “Study drill the way you might study the English language. Young children learn language by im-itating what their parents say; it’s the same thing with drill design. Look and see what works, what people are using, and then use that to develop your own vocabulary and your own expression. Once you have that, the only thing limiting you is your own creativity and your own vocabu-lary.”
Report.indd 46 5/6/09 4:25:02 PM
SBORoundtable: Uniforms and Footwear
48 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
Anyone who has experienced the excitement of watching
a marching band understands that the visual aspect of
the experience can be almost as important as the music
that’s being played. While fi rst-rate choreography is a
key element of any fi eld performance, the design and feel of the
uniforms can have an equally huge impact on the ensemble’s
presentation. Uniforms create an image for a band. Whether
they are fl ashy, ornate, or subtle, one could say that the uniform
makes the band. SBO recently checked in with some educators
who have years of experience outfi tting bands. Read on as they
share their experiences, along with some helpful advice.
Balancing Comfort, Style, & ImageWhat is the most important element that you look for in a uniform?
Keith Rutledge: I think the key to a good uniform is the quality in the con-struction. I want to know that the uni-form will hold up over the years. Support from the uniform company is also very important.
Marc Mueller: The fi t. We put a lot of emphasis on having the kids not look dumpy, so fl exibility in design to try to create a slim look was desirable. Sec-ondly, we wanted the thing to stay put as much as possible. If a student lifts his or her arm up, we wanted the jacket to stay as still as possible. You also have to think about how the uniforms will hold up over time. Can they be cleaned easily? Will they move on a musical athlete or will they be cumbersome? In the South, they must breathe.
Brett Johnson: How it makes the band look on the fi eld. In other words, it isn’t as important how the uniform looks on an individual - the most important visual element is how the totality of the band looks from the fi eld. It’s also impor-tant to make sure the uniforms will wear well and look great during their entire cycle and are not made of fabric that will oppress the students on a hot day.
David Niemeyer: I like uniforms that use traditional fl air such as the traditional shako, plume, and even some basic ele-ments like a gauntlet and baldric. How-ever, when you take these items and add a more cutting edge to it, maybe a dif-ferent type of button, or different angles and colors, it adds a cutting edge to it. I like our current uniform because I believe
SBO_48 48 5/6/09 10:14:39 AM
Brent
Becker
“Great uniforms
should possess
great energy,
embodying the
essence of musical
and visual
performance.
The combination
of performance
excellence and a
great uniform
can achieve
tremendous visual
impact and yield
competitive
success.”
– Brent Becker
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SBO_49 49 5/6/09 10:33:32 AM
50 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
it combined some of these elements. Al-though I think our uniform could have been even more cutting edge. Our uni-form is in the DeMouline product cata-log. It is blue and gold with a W on the right chest. The Carolina Crown uniform is a good example of what I like. Design is the most important element.
Chris Miller: The design and features are most important, because I want the group to be recognized as soon as they step off of the bus. Identity and visibility are key to a good uniform. The features that are important include the sash or epaulets, something that makes it stand out from another school that might have a similar uniform. I feel that the identity of the group and how they look while marching is most important. I want peo-ple to know who we are when they see us, but I don’t want identifi cation marks to detract form the execution. Writing names of schools on the back of the uni-form is fi ne, but if students don’t execute a proper slide then they are easily picked out in performance. The same goes for stripes down the trousers. Practicality doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore. The companies seem to have gotten a real handle on that. I also look for quality and durability.
John Abucewicz: They have to be eye-catching. I want people to think they look sharp. Cost is always a factor as well.
John Arata: The overall appearance of the band is important. Having a rep-resentative who can help with the design phase is critical. Finding a company who can assist with designing a quality uni-form and who will be able to provide continuous service over the years when placements or fi ll-ins are required is very important. Most of the companies have made their uniforms very practical, so the appearance is, by far, the main thing.
Andy Walters: Design is very impor-tant. The uniform needs to fi t a number of body types with a look that is current and will also allow the band to look as clean as possible. Cost and the reputation of the company purchasing from is also a big part of it. We want a company that will stand behind their product. I think
Keith RutledgeBand Director & Music CoordinatorSiloam Springs High SchoolSiloam Springs, Ark.Keith Rutledge has been a band director for 30 years.
Marc Mueller Director of BandsMoore HS Moore, Okla.Marc Mueller has been the director of instrumental arts at Moore High School for 19 years.
Brett JohnsonBand DirectorThe Woodlands High SchoolThe Woodlands, Texas
David NiemeyerBand DirectorWarren High SchoolDowney, Calif.David Niemeyer is the director of marching band, wind ensemble, concert band, two jazz ensembles, and teaches AP Music Theory.
Chris Miller Director of BandsFrancis Howell High SchoolSt. Charles, Mo.
John AbucewiczBand DirectorBristol Central High SchoolBristol, Conn.
John ArataBand DirectorEureka High SchoolEureka, Mo.
Andy WaltersDirector of BandsLewis Central High SchoolCouncil Bluffs, IowaAndy Walters has been director of bands at Lewis Central High School since 2006 and is currently the president-elect for the Southwest Iowa Bandmasters As-sociation.
Dr. W. David SpencerDirector of BandsHuntsville High SchoolHuntsville, Ala.Dr. W. David Spencer has been a music educator for 31 years.
Ryan KellyDirector of BandsLincoln High SchoolTallahassee, Fla.Ryan Kelly is the director of bands at Lincoln High School and is a former head drum major of the Florida State University Marching Chiefs.
Joel CarlsonInstrumental Music TeacherMira Costa High SchoolManhattan Beach, Calif.
you have to choose a band uniform that looks good close up and from far away. Uniforms with small lettering or indistinct patterns may look good from three feet away, but as soon as you step back from the design, it can seem “unclean” from far away.
Also, with items like capes and other lapels, these can make a band appear “un-clean” in the wind. I try to design uniforms that are simple with clean lines, much like modern automotive design. School col-ors are appropriate for displaying school pride, but a design that is overly compli-cated can date a band and their uniforms. One should try to be as generic and clean as possible in design in my opinion. Also,
the less stuff on a uniform, the more cost effective it is.
Dr. W. David Spencer: I look for simplicity and style in a uniform. They should never be faddish. When wearing red, white, and blue, visibility is not an issue. So we tend to focus on style, and practicality.
Ryan Kelly: When it comes to our uniforms, we look for a visually aes-thetic appeal with a distinctive mem-orable signature or quality that stays in the mind of our audience after the band has left the fi eld—something that other uniforms don’t have. Quality of
SBO_50 50 5/6/09 10:14:43 AM
52 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
construction and durability is also important. Our uniforms last us ap-proximately 10 years because we pur-chase high quality uniforms that don’t fade or tear, even with all the use they get. There are many ways to achieve a creative and individual appearance to our uniforms while balancing the needs of budget and quality. I think quality must come fi rst, and then fl ex-ibility in the design process, between the uniform company and me, in or-der to achieve a look that satisfi es our budget.
Joel Carlson: We look for design, individuality, and the ability to make the wearer look stronger – bold simplicity. Durability and construction quality are also important when it comes to uni-forms.
How are uniform purchases funded, and what is your normal budget?
Keith Rutledge: Our uniforms are funded with the district budget. The bud-get depends on the bid for uniforms.
Marc Mueller: Our last uniforms were a part of an Oklahoma City tax called MAPS. After that, they are school bond issued. Color Guard uniforms are all we buy and usually cost about $3,000, but obviously dependant upon size of
the guard. We usually do not have a very large guard.
Brett Johnson: Our uniforms are funded through our school district. The budget for uniforms is determined through a bid process. There is a process in place to re-uniform every band at eight year intervals.
David Niemeyer: The band boosters and I are in charge of purchasing uni-forms. We have a savings account that we contribute to every now and then. We es-timate that we will spend about $50,000 on uniforms every time we purchase,
which is every fi ve to 10 years, depending on funds and durability of uniform.
Chris Miller: Generally uniforms are funded through the district, and we have to fi ght for every uniform we get. They don’t like to give more than the exact number that you will need for that year,
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“The overall appearance of the band is im-portant. Having a representative who can help with the design phase is critical. Find-ing a company who can assist with design-ing a quality uniform and who will be able to provide continuous service over the years when placements or fi ll-ins are required is very important.”
John Arata
Roundtable.indd 52 5/6/09 10:16:02 AM
54 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
since they don’t have a clue how it works. The budget depends on how many I am requesting. We purchase new uniforms every 10 or 12 years.
John Abucewicz: Through Board of Education funds, capital expenditures. These were budgeted over the last two years. There is no set budget for them. I needed them and spent two years pre-paring the Board for them through our supervisor. I just got new uniforms this year. I believe the previous uniforms were about 15 years old.
John Arata: Our district purchases uniforms. We are fortunate to have a dis-trict. The uniforms cost on average $300 each.
Andy Walters: Our school booster club contributes to a fund each year. The budget for our last purchase was $80,000. Next time it will probably be closer to $100,000, as costs will go up.
Dr. W. David Spencer: We purchase uniforms every eight to 10 years. Our
band parent by-laws mandate that we put $4,200 aside each year into a uni-form CD account. This will guarantee at least $42,000, plus interest, in 10 years. If that is not enough money, our school board will loan us the differ-ence at no interest. We try to purchase at least 150 uniforms.
Ryan Kelly: Unfortunately, our school district eliminated funding for
uniform purchases, so our entire cost will be funded by boosters, alumni, and outside contributors. Our cur-rent marching uniforms are approxi-mately nine years old, and we are in the process of planning for our next purchase. Our budget for this next
uniform cycle is somewhat unpre-dictable because we lost a big source of revenue from our school district. Annually, we budget approximately $10,000 to cover dry cleaning and necessary purchase of replacement items such as hats, plumes, and pants (we utilize a plain black trouser that permits us to replace them as neces-sary without affecting the jackets).
Joel Carlson: Uniforms are funded through our booster organization. When it comes to cost, our goal is a well-de-signed, durable uniform, at a reasonable cost. Our last uniform purchase totaled $50,000. We get new uniforms about once every eight or 10 years.
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“A supplier who keeps things in stock is im-portant. We use a supplier that always has them and gets them to us fast. Price is a real deal breaker as kids pay for their own shoes.”
Marc Mueller, Moore, Okla.
SBO_54 54 5/6/09 10:14:52 AM
School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 55
Do you prefer wash and wear uni-forms or ones that need professional dry cleaning?
Keith Rutledge: I think wash and wear is the way to go. If you take care of them, they are a smarter use of funds.
Marc Mueller: I prefer wash and wear, but they must be made well. Per-sonally, I’m afraid to wash them. We dry clean them, but I know they are fully washable and look great.
Brett Johnson: We highly prefer
wash and wear uniforms. The pros of our wash and wear uniforms are: they are lightweight; they smell fresh after washing; and we save the time and money of dry cleaning. The cons of the dry cleaned uniforms are the opposite of the pros of the wash and wear uniforms.
David Niemeyer: I like the wash and wear because they tend to be lighter. In Southern California march-
ing in a heavy hot uniform isn’t ex-actly comfortable for the performer. However, we still professionally dry clean anyway just so we can keep track of things. Obviously the life span of a wash and wear is far less than a dry clean only material, but I don’t antici-pate keeping our uniforms for a long time anyway.
Chris Miller: I prefer dry cleaning uniforms because of their longevity.
John Abucewicz: Even though I bought washable uniforms, I will still have them dry cleaned. I don’t believe teenagers could be trusted to take care of them.
John Arata: We wear uniforms that require dry cleaning. I’m sure that wash and wear has obvious convenience and fi nancial advantages to it. However, our uniforms maintain a very high quality look to them with the higher quality ma-terials.
Andy Walters: Dry cleaning is bet-ter quality. The wash and wear would be cheaper, but over time would show wear as different families would make differ-ent choices with cleaning and detergent. With dry cleaning uniforms we are in control of what happens.
Dr. W. David Spencer: We prefer a Dacron and wool blend. We dry clean all of the uniforms.
Ryan Kelly: I prefer dry clean uni-forms as it takes the responsibility away from students and parents and lets us en-sure that all uniforms are cleaned on the exact same schedule to prevent fading or discoloration of individual uniforms.
Joel Carlson: Dry Cleaning only uni-forms are more durable and will last lon-ger when treated properly.
How has your program gone about fi nding footwear suppliers/manufac-turers?
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SBO_55 55 5/6/09 10:14:56 AM
56 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
Marc Mueller: A supplier who keeps things in stock is important. We use a supplier that always has them and gets them to us fast. Price is a real deal break-er as kids pay for their own shoes. Price and comfort is important; I don’t want to hear groans when I ask them to wear them.
David Niemeyer: We have local sup-pliers and on-line suppliers. Comfort and style are both very important to me. New students purchase footwear every sum-mer, but we continue to wear the same footwear from year to year.
Chris Miller: Comfort is most impor-tant when it comes to band footwear. First we went with the most popular one. Now I choose one for better grip on turf surfaces.
John Abucewicz: We have found suppliers with good reputations through word of mouth.
Dr. W. David Spencer: We have found footwear through catalogs, uniform reps, and free samples. We focus on budget and comfort. We use black patent leather and most of the shoes last four years.
Ryan Kelly: We have consistently stayed with one manufacturer that a lo-cal company in town contacts and pur-chases from directly. Comfort combined with utility is important in footwear. The shoes we use enable our students to comfortably and successfully execute the marching style we teach. Students pur-chase new shoes upon joining the band, and replace them on their own as neces-sary due to change in size, damage, or anything else.
Joel Carlson: We have used the same footwear supplier since I was hired. Com-fort and performance ability is key when it comes to footwear. Students purchase footwear once, unless they grow out of them or the shoe wears out.
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SBO_56 56 5/6/09 10:15:01 AM
58 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
NewProductsMike Balter Mallets “Sounds of the Studio” Series
The Emil Richards Sounds of the Stu-dio Series includes specialty mallets devel-oped exclusively by Mike Balter in con-junction with Emil Richards.
The Slap Mallets feature an elongated cushioned head produc-ing a distinctive slap on marimba and vibes. The head is 3” tall by 1 7/8” wide with a 15 3/8” overall length, and a 5/16” natural birch shaft with a foam grip. Model ERSM retails for $60 per pair.
The Crotale Mallets feature a ½” brass head on a very thin 7 ½” handle. When played on orchestra bells these mal-lets have a full, light tone. The mallets are also suit-able for triangles. Model
ERCR retails for $36 per pair.The Super Rub Mallets produce a rub-
bing sound effect on an array of instru-ments: snare drum; bass drum; timpani; gongs; cymbals; conga drums; and cow bells. The mallets are 8 ½” in overall length. Model ERSR retails for $24 a set.
The Conga Mallets’ head has a fl at surface producing a full solid tone. They feature a ½” maple shaft with a vinyl grip, and are 11” in overall length. Model ERCM retails for $58 per pair.www.mikebalter.com
Row-Loff Productions 2009 Marching Library
Row-Loff has announced the publi-cation of 13 new marching percussion features. This collection of marching features sports a wide variety of play-ing levels (easy to advanced) as well as a roster of composers, including: Julie Davila; Tony McCutchen; John R. Hearnes; Ian Smith; Lalo Davila; David England; Chris Brooks; Dustin Schletzer; David Herrick; and Chris Crockarell. The instrumentation in-cludes standard battery percussion, timpani, bells, xylo and, in the more advanced literature, vibes and ma-rimba as well as percussion toys that are found in most band rooms. All fea-tures come with a score and complete set of parts. www.rowloff.com
Great Music for Wind Band from Meredith Music
Great Music for Wind Band: A Guide to the Top 100 Works in Grades IV, V, VI, the new book from Chad Nicholson, is a guide for concert plan-ning and programming for both en-try-level and experienced conductors. Brief incipits of prominent melodic themes are included along with cost, duration, availability, instrumentation, recordings, publishers, solos, and tips on programming. Music for this publi-cation was selected by: Frank Battisti; Ray Cramer; James Croft; Thomas Dvorak; Richard Floyd; Michael
Haithcock; Gary Hill; Jerry Junkin; Craig Kirchhoff; Thomas Lee; Stephen Pratt; H. Robert Reynolds; Mark Scat-terday; and Richard Strange.www.meredithmusic.com
Evans’ Corps Clear Tenor Heads
The Corps Clear Tenor Heads from Evans are a 2-ply design with 6.5 mil top-ply and 10 mil bottom-ply. The extra thickness (16.5 mil total) com-pared to standard tenor heads (14-15 mil total) make the Corps Clear more durable. This added durability is said to not only prolong the life of the head but keep them in tune longer. Evans tenor heads are able to withstand high tension and the impact of heavy sticks and mallets.www.evansdrumheads.com
SBO_58 58 5/6/09 10:17:53 AM
We’ve got you covered!Field Level, from Row-Loff, isthe ultimate band director’s guideto fielding the ultimate marching percussion section.
This 212-page manual by MikeLynch and Scott Brown will guide
you through everything from tying cymbalknots to explaining the 4-mallet grip for keyboard players. Exercises and warm-upsare included, as well as a CD-Rom containingthe music audio and printable parts for yourpercussion section.
P.O. Box 292671 • Nashville, TN 37229 • 1-800-624-8001 • Fax: 1-615-885-0370
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>> <<13 New Marching Percussion Features!5 New Cadences!as well as...
EZ Blazin’ Cadences >>A collection of 7 easy cadences for the Smokin’ Drum-Line! Comes with a score and a complete set of parts (including 2,3, & 4 Bass Drums).As well as a performance CD! Hear all of these and other hip grooves at www.rowloff.com!
NEW forSpring2009!
NEW forSpring2009!
SBO_59 59 5/6/09 10:34:08 AM
60 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
NewProducts
D’Addario Violin Fingerboard AppliquéThe D’Addario Violin Fin-
gerboard Appliqué, was devel-oped by noted music educator Peter Stoney. The Appliqué uses a tactile approach allowing the player to feel the touch point for the proper note and is avail-able in two styles: an “Optic” version with the touch lines colored gold to provide an additional visual cue, and a solid black “Tactile” version that is nearly invisible on the fi nger-board. The Appliqué installs quickly in just a few minutes and is easily removed without damaging the fi ngerboard. The Appliqué is available for violins in 4/4, 3/4, and 1/2 scale sizes. www.daddariobowed.com
Zoom’s H4n Handheld Recorder Zoom’s H4n offers built-in X/Y stereo condenser mics that
allow variable recording patterns at either 90° or 120°. Au-dio quality is improved through its new digitally controlled, high-quality mic preamp and the ability to use internal and external mics simultaneously for four-channel recording. A large LCD screen, a more intuitive interface, and onboard
reference speaker will take the user’s record-ing experience to the next level.
Zoom has incorporated several of the most popular fea-tures from its H2 to the H4n such as Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) compatible time stamp and track marker functions and its auto-record and pre-record features. The H4n records high-resolution audio at 24bit/96kHz on SD/SDHC media of up to 32GB and is USB 2.0. The H4n is also features a rubberized, shock resistant body for improved chassis protection, all-metal microphone design, and a built-in mounting joint for tri-pod and mic stand use.
The H4n has a more user-friendly multi-track recording capability along with Hi-Z Inputs for recording guitar and bass, variable speed playback capability for “phrase train-ing”, onboard studio effects, and over 50 guitar and bass amp modeling settings. In addition, a new stamina mode enables the H4n to operate for 10 hours continuously on a single set of AA batteries. The package includes a one GB SD card, wind screen, mic clip adapter, AC adapter, USB cable, protective case, and Cubase LE recording software. An optional remote control is also available.www.samsontech.com
New Marching Shoe from The Blue Devils & Drillmasters
The Super Drill-master marching shoe is the product of collaboration be-tween Drillmasters and the drum corps with the most DCI World Champion-ships, the Blue Dev-ils. The Super Drill-masters incorporates all of the design re-quirements that maximize stability - super-wide outsole, Achilles tendon heel lock, and the patented Rolled-Heel. Super Drillmasters also features a unique Forefoot Hinge that facilitates the “toes-up” visual effect. Constructed with materials specifi ed for long useful life and durability, the shoe is also low mass to encourage the fastest accelerations and decelerations of complex drills. Super Drillmasters will be available in limited quantities beginning August 1, 2009. www.superdrillmasters.com
SBO_60 60 5/6/09 10:17:59 AM
School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 61
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Classifi eds www.SBOmagazine.com
62 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
Classifi eds www.SBOmagazine.com
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School Band and Orchestra, May 2009 63
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All American Music Festival www.allamericanmusicfest.org 21Antigua Winds, Inc. www.antiguawinds.com 33Mike Balter Mallets, LLC www.mikebalter.com 19Band Shoppe www.bandshoppe.com 9Bari Woodwinds www.bariwoodwinds.com 10Barrington Music www.wwbw.com 27Bob Rogers Travel www.bobrogerstravel.com 6Burkart-Phelan www.burkart.com 35Cascio Interstate Music Company www.interstatemusic.com 44Charms Music Software www.charmsmusic.com 43D’Addario & Co. www.daddario.com 31DANSR, Inc. www.dansr.com 40DeMoulin Brothers & Co. www.demoulin.com 51Disney Festival www.festivaldisney.com 17Disney Magic Music Days www.magicmusicdays.com 7Drillmasters Marching Shoes www.drillmaster.com 55EPN Travel Services www.epntravel.com cov 4 Festivals of Music www.educationalprograms.com cov 2-1 Four Winds Travel & Tour www.FourWindsTours.com 61Gateway Shoes www.gatewayshoes.com 56Good for the Goose Products www.chopsaver.com 60Grover www.grotro.com 46Hawaiian Music Festivals www.himusicfest.com 58Jarvis Industries Inc. www.jarvisonline.com 22Jody Jazz www.JodyJazz.com 37Jupiter Band Instruments, Inc. www.jupitermusic.com 5Jupiter Band Instruments, Inc. www.jupitermusic.com 23Jupiter Band Instruments, Inc. www.jupitermusic.com 25Kaman Music Corp. www.kamanmusic.com 16Kaman Music Corp. www.kamanmusic.com 18Krispy Kreme Donut Corp. www.krispykreme.com 41LP Music Group www.lpmusic.com 45McCormick’s Ent. Inc. www.mccormicksnet.com 47Fred J. Miller Inc. www.fjminc.com 53MonteVerde Music www.monteverdemusic.com 13Pearl Corp. www.pearldrum.com 3Peterson Strobe Tuners www.petersontuners.com 36Premier Perc. [email protected] 30Pro Mark www.promark.com 56Pygraphics-Pyware www.pyware.comm 39Row-Loff Productions www.rowloff.com 59Dan Ryder Field Drills www.danryderfi elddrills.com 24SKB Corp. www.skbcases.com 14Sonare´ Winds www.sonarewinds.com 8Stageright Corp. www.stageright-corp.com 32Stanbury Uniforms www.stanbury.com 49Style Plus www.styleplusband.com 54Super Sensitive String Co. www.cavanaughcompany.com 42Up-Front Footwear Inc. www.dinkles.com 52Vic Firth, Inc. www.VicFirth.com 57Walking Bird Repair Forms www.walkingbirdmusic.com 61Wenger Corp. www.wengercorp.com 15Yamaha Corporation of America www.yamaha.com 11
64 School Band and Orchestra, May 2009
SBO_64 64 5/6/09 10:21:22 AM
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