Any marching bands & drum & bugle band fans out there?

I don't care for marching bands much...but I loved that movie about 'em "Back Line"

I don't like

BBB
I'm not referring to parade marching bands. I mean the bands that go through maneuvers with elaborate foot work while playing their instruments and drums.

BBB

BBB
I'm not referring to parade marching bands. I mean the bands that go through maneuvers with elaborate foot work while playing their instruments and drums. They perform on fields in competition for prizes.

BBB

For the last four years, our school district where I work has hosted a professional marching band to practice for international competition held at The Lacawana County Stadium in Moosic Pa. The groups name is The Renegades, from San Francisco. They put on a show for our band, and then our band puts on a show for them. They are phenominal! Unfortunately, the competition is being moved to a new venue, so they will not be back next year. Our school band is quite good too, but they are not a traditional marching band. A few years ago, membership dropped to about 10 or 12 musicians, so the board challenged the new director to come up with a way to attract more members. His solution was Fusion, a new idea using nontraditional instruments such as guitars and keyboards, and vocalists. The home shows are performed on a two tiered stage on wheels which is pulled onto the field for pregame. the cheerleaders and flag twirlers flank the stage on both sides throughout the performance. this years theme is based on The Blues Brothers for the opening, with songs by Ike and Tina Turner, John Mayer and the closing song God Bless America, with what is probably the country's largest American flag unfurled on the field. It has become a very well received show throughout our area, drawing people from other schools just to see the performance. Interest in the band has increased greatly in the 2 seasons fusion has been in existance. The show is performed at away games minus the stage, but still receives standing ovations whereever the kids play. It is still nice to see the other bands perform their traditional programs, so at each game the people get to see both. I neglected to mention that the traditional instrumantalists perform a scaled back choreography in fron of the stage. This may be the future of music at schools with smaller bands. The band is called Hanover Area High Fusion in Hanover Township, Pa.

imnidiot
imnidiot, welcome to Able2Know, so very glad to have you join us.

Your school's innovation for it's band is exciting. Do you have any photos you can post so we can see them?

It is so sad to see cutbacks in the arts in schools, especially music. Finding a solution that works is admirable.

I found this discussion site; is this for your band?
Hanover
BBB

Town Mourns Band Bus Crash Victims
OSSEO, Wis., Oct. 17, 2005

(CBS/AP) A high school band director known for making band fun was among five people killed when a busload of students and chaperones returning from a marching band competition crashed into an overturned tractor-trailer on Sunday, authorities said.

Band director Douglas Greenhalgh, 48, his wife Therese, 51, and their 11-year-old granddaughter, Morgan Greenhalgh, were killed, along with bus driver Paul Rasmus, 78, of Chippewa Falls, and Brandon Atherton, a 24-year-old student teacher, authorities said.

Twenty-nine others were injured, some seriously, troopers said.

"He was a really good teacher. We always had fun in his classroom," said Tania Richter, 17, a clarinet player who was sleeping on the floor toward the back of the bus when it crashed. "We're going to truly miss him."

The community held a candlelight vigil at the school Sunday night, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

Classes were resuming Monday, with counselors and pastors available for students who wanted to talk to them.

"We know it is not going to be a normal day. It is not going to be a normal week and, for some students, it will no longer be a normal year," Chippewa Falls school superintendent Michael Schoch said.

Shoch was riding on the third of the four buses.

"I don't know if you can ever prepare kids or parents or anyone for this kind of a tragedy and how to respond to it," Shoch told CBS News Early Show anchor René Syler.

The superintendent said at a news conference Monday before classes began that Greenhalgh had taught at the school more than 20 years.

"He has created a program that is second to none. He made, like most teachers do, lasting connections with kids. He will be hard to replace, impossible to replace," Schoch said.

The superintendent said a search will start almost immediately to find substitute teachers for the band program and a permanent replacement for Greenhalgh.

"It is going to be really hard for somebody to come in and fill those shoes," he said.

The accident occurred at around 2 a.m. Sunday when the bus crashed into an overturned semi truck, which had rolled over and jackknifed on Interstate 94, blocking both westbound lanes about five miles northwest of Osseo, said Capt. Douglas Notbohm of the Wisconsin State Patrol.

"I don't know how much opportunity there was for braking action," Notbohm said.

"I don't believe there was much time for the bus driver to react to a total, dynamic lane closure in front of him."

Schoch defended the 78-year-old driver, Paul Rasmus.

"He was very fit. And his age wouldn't have had anything to do with it," he said on The Early Show.

All of the windows on the bus were knocked out in the crash.
Nearly everyone was sleeping and was happy that the band's routine, "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" had placed third in the competition Saturday in Class AAAA at the Wisconsin School Music Association State Marching Band Championships in Whitewater, Richter said.

Schoch said the band had stayed Friday night in Whitewater and noted it was common to return late Saturday so everyone could be home on Sunday.

"It's a terrific tragedy and loss to our school and community," Schoch said. "Our community is stunned by it."

Richter's stepfather David Bhend said there were always quality concerts and quality performances under Greenhalgh's leadership.

"He shared a great gift with a lot of people," Bhend said. "The gift of music and personal growth. He made these kids find themselves and got them to do the best that they can."

Bhend said members of the music program under Greenhalgh had taken many trips over the years, including to New York and New Orleans.

At least 400 students and parents met at the school of about 1,500 students Sunday to get information on the accident. Counselors and clergy would be available "to address their spiritual needs," Schoch said.

"Our student body has handled this fantastically, just showing maturity," he said.

The injured were taken to at least four different hospitals with injuries ranging from serious to non-life threatening, Notbohm said.

Two students, including an 11-year-old friend of the band director's granddaughter, and four adults, including assistant band director Brian Collicott, who sustained multiple broken bones and a spinal injury, remained hospitalized Monday, Schoch said.

Those hospitalized had injuries such as broken hips, arms and legs and punctured lungs, the superintendent said. Many had undergone surgery, but all are expected to recover, he said. Other students with minor injuries were treated and sent home.

"They were keeping us away from the front of the bus because it was really bad," said Richter.

Atherton was a native of Waukesha and a student at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and had been student teaching at the high school this fall after helping with marching band program the last two summers.

Schoch said the bus was one of four carrying about 200 students and 40 adult teachers and chaperones. Notbohm said the bus involved in the crash had a capacity of 53 but he did not know how many were actually on the vehicle.

The semi driver employed by Whole Foods Market Group of Munster, Ind., was en route from Indiana to the Twin Cities, Notbohm said, adding that the semi driver was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

Patrol spokesman Brent Pickard said the skies were clear and the road was dry at the time of the crash.

It was not known what caused the truck to go off the road, but the driver told investigators at the scene that he had not fallen asleep, Notbohm said.

"We haven't ruled out anything as it relates to the (semi) driver's situation."

The National Transportation Safety Board will be involved in the investigation, he said.

There are photos of the performances, so I'll see if I can get some. The site you listed is not complete, so I was unable to check it out.

Imnidiot, have you considered the idea that maybe some children aren't happy with Fusion? It is okay for a pep band, but what about those kids who put as many as four or five years into the competitive marching band program to have it taken out from under them? Most of those children who put all this work into their program to keep it going were cast aside and replaced by fusion. Some stayed, some left, but of those who were in the original Hanover marching band, nearly all miss the program dearly. The only improvement for those kids between Fusion and the marching band was that more parents are involved now to help the program.

Some of these children were even laughed at during their third quarter break by children in the other marching bands.

Mr. Ed Telekey put all his hard work into it to make the program interesting and fun, but after a couple of football games, most of those innovations were taken out and all that was left of his work was the music he wrote for it. The music he wrote for the people off the stage isn't even all that challenging for the people who can play. The music is written for first-time instrumentalists who haven't been playing for three months. I'm guessing the idea is not to scare off the newbie musicians. There are people off the stage who have been playing for at least four years and need to be challenged in order to grow as a musician. That won't happen if they are playing the same thing over and over again.

The only reason the numbers grew is because there was less work involved for the musicians, and some could be showcased on stage. As I said earlier, fusion makes a good pep band, but what about those who still want to compete in band competitions? They just can't go to another school that has a competitive marching band.

Imnidiot, another thing, you work at Hanover? Do you know any of the kids that were in the original band? Do you know their feelings on Fusion? Did you attend their competitions? Did you know that after the opening competitive performance of their last season, a judge congratulated the director on bringing back some of the quality that the Hanover Band hasn't had since 1996, the last time the band really won anything. Did you know that if we weren't delayed from competition that year for so long, we might have made invitationals for ACCs? We started off with a 71.50, the highest the band started off with since 1996?

I've only worked at the school for a little over five years. I knew a few kids in some of the more recent pre fusion bands, and I'm not quite sure when the membership dropped to just a handfull of kids,(I had heard is was down to less than 15). I did attend a few football games, and the musicianship was poor. I think part of the problem is the music program in the middle school The teacher seems to be overly obsessed with a skewed sense of discipline which causes many children to drop out of the program. This is not just my observation, but that of some teachers. The current band director is doing his best to keep kids interested in music. I have noticed several other bands in the area incorporating some of the fusion themes into their programs as well. Funding is also a major problem in the district. The sports programs, football especially, gobble up much of the budget outside of education, as well as a top heavy administration with many political and redundant positions. There is an awful lot of wasted taxpayer money. With the limited amount of musicians, I don't think the marching format will work. I would be happy to pass along your thoughts to the present director Mr Joe Baranoski

Thank you for the offer, but Mr. Baranoski already knows my position on this, I have told him countless times.

There weren't less than 15 musicians. Not including colorguard there was about 20.

I agree about the middle school teacher.........he is a bit of a narcissist........he has favorites, and discourages almost all of the other kids in the music program.........he only seems to know how to play piano..............he isn't a very good teacher in playing instruments. When he does lessons, if you don't play something perfectly, he gets mad and yells. If he doesn't like you, he WILL find something wrong with the way you play. There is no encouragement in his system. I am surprised so many kids stick with the program. Students in the high school program make jokes about him. When the seventh graders come, they are asked if they ever played before, when they say they took lessons with him, the high school students almost always say, "That's a no then."

The middle school musicians should be challenged and pushed a wee bit beyond their limits, not enough to frustrate them, mind you, but enough to make them better musicians. We must also remember to encourage them, a large chunk of those students need to be told they can do something, not all them are internally driven. If we implemented that, the music program would get better and probably grow larger.

I understand that Mr. Baranoski is trying to keep the program alive. I appreciate his efforts, but he set up fusion so that only the people on stage are important. From what I understand, there is an 'American Idol' contest held to find new talent. If you win, you have a chance to be on the stage. Well, some people that won didn't went to be on stage, or even perform in fusion.

As said earlier, it seems that if you aren't on the stage, you're not important and you have little purpose in the show. There should be more involvement of the people off stage with the audience besides the whole pointing part. They should make it look like they are having fun. How can you have fun standing in the same spot for ten minutes? If you are not on the stage, you don't have to even be there. Even if you are on the stage, they could probably do the show without you. It appears that the only real important people in fusion are the singers, the set player and the guitarists. It appears that the people off the stage and the colorguard are an afterthought, far less important and meaningful. The people had a month off from working on the show because one of the main people was on vacation, they worked on stand music, which is still only played properly by few people.


There should be more involvement of the people off stage besides the whole pointing part and seemingly random movements when they aren't playing. They should make it look like they are having fun. How can you have fun standing in the same spot for ten minutes?

If, by talking about the other schools, you mean Tunkannock (I don't quite know how to spell that, sorry.), they already did fusion-like things with their band before fusion came about.

I also agree with you about the sports. I noticed that on sports coaching alone, they spent over $120,000. That isn't counting for new uniforms promised to some sports and the equipment used in these sports, like balls and body protection, like the goalie padding for field hockey and catcher's gear for baseball and softball. This didn't even count Mr. Baranoski. This is extremely close to the amount of money spent on books for the English department (About time! Some of the teachers were using books from 1989, kids born that year are sophmores and juniors now.).

Another reason that the musicianship was poor for the original marching band (which, I truly miss, by the way) is that the music wasn't really varied in difficulty. The percussion parts were somewhat difficult, but nearly all the rest of the music was ridiculously easy. The show was only good for the middle percent of the band. More time should have been spent in writing easy music and drill for those new to the program, and more difficult drill and music for those more experienced. When I am a marching band director, that is what I aim to do.

I admire your zeal and desire for a marching band format. Keep talking to Mr Baranoski, and the board as well. Maybe now that the band is growing, some routines for the band can be added into the show. I have heard a lot of positive response from all f the other schools including Tunchannok who by the way have an outstanding band, the best I've heard all season. At the final home game, a feferee made the comment that he sees many programs and Hanover's was one of the best he's seen. Mr Teleky will be in town for the upcoming playoff game this weekend, so I'll ask about the changes made to his original program. I don't recall anything being changed this year, as I was at most of the rehearsels from the start of this season. If you're at the game, maybe you can give him your input. By the way, welcome to this forum, and I hope your desire to be a director come to fruition.

eoe
eoe, I'm a little surprised, but pleased, to find others also like marching bands, not parade bands. I really enjoy their annual competitions for top band.

So far, no one has come forward who like drum and bugle corps. Their precision is amazing.

BBB

GRRRRRRR! I just had a reply, and it was erased!

Okay, well, here is the version of what I remember:


Imnidiot, not stage changes. The people off-stage were supposed to split during blitzkreig bop and reunite for Ray Charles. They were supposed to be behind the stage for Daughters. That was taken out. If Mr. Telekey didn't want it in the show, he wouldn't have spent time on it. If people couldn't do it, they should have been taught, like was done for the move in I Will Survive.

I really liked Tunkhannock's band. They were the best I've seen this season. It is a shame that our football players had to ruin their keyboard (and didn't even apologize!!!!)



Eoe, that sounds like me, except I didn't have to suffer the football. I watched band competitions for as long as I remember. I remember watching it on PBS when I was about four or five, and there was a soprano sax solo, and one long snakey drill for one band. I also remember attending competitions my aunt was in when she was in high school. Not much, but I remember eating funnel cake and pizza with my aunt ans she was in her band uniform. She yelled at me for poking the yellow trim.



BBB, I like drum corps, I thought it was a given. Sorry for not saying so. I also intend to join a corps (not at the same time as directing a band) and playing mellophone. First step to get there, learn to play french horn.

NBCChutter
NBC, I used to watch a drum and bugle corps band practice in downtown Oakland, California when I was a teenager. They marched across the street from the Greenwood Archery Club where I practiced with my home made bows and arrows. My family were champion archers.

BBB

NBC, I didn't get to talk to Ed at the playoff game, every time I was next to him he was talking to someone else, and his wife wasn't feeling good, so right after the performance, he left. Fusion is still new, and Mr B did make the comment that he wasn't sure how long it would last, or if it would evolve further. I did take a count of the field musicians, and they numbered less then 20, although some of the stage musicians play horns etc. Maybe the numbers will grow and the format will become more intricate for the field musicians.

I hope his wife wasn't too ill. That would not have been nice. I sincerely hope she is feeling better.

That would be nice, and I would still miss the marching band, but that's what competitions are for, to watch the others perform. Worst part of them, though, I can't march in them anymore. I was highly disappointed to hear that Governor Livingston dropped the bagpipes for this year's show. I hope they are brought back for next year's show, because I just might see it.

Maybe I'll get certified to judge........................there's a thought.