Sound Spread Really Matters!

I’ve seen it so many times, great show design, amazing guard moment, cool idea, amazing playing band…but when the uniforms are on and the hornline is under the lights on the field the impact is completely lost!  All that thought that went into making this such a unique moment for the show concept, interesting way to stage the field, and guard costumes/work/silks goes out the window!

Why? Because

The Wind Section Has to Sound Good

This key rule is often overlooked.  You’d be surprised.  There is something neat about pushing the winds into a block on the side of the field..but for your opening musical impact, where all your hard working kids are playing FFF and the writing is meant to be well, you first main big huge G.E. impact…those kids need to be staged in a place where they will sound good!  Marching band designers often want to put effective staging for musical performance lower on the totem pole than say concept or guard moment or props, etc.  This is one way in which DrillForBand will never let you down.  It probably has something to do with the fact that I have spent years as a professional trumpet player doing touring broadway shows, live jazz bands, small gigs, etc.  I’ll tell ya what, even in those pits under the stage for the National tour of you name it musical the spread of instruments makes a huge difference in how well the ensemble can play together and how effective our sounds convey – REGARDLESS of the mic situation!

Marching Bands Have to Sound Good

You work hard all year long, well, let’s face it…your whole life long since you’ve been a band director trying to find ways to inspire, encourage, coerce even your kids to sound great, to practice hard and to keep improving.  That’s the name of the game for a band director.  Your kids love your program and want to sound great, they practice, they take lessons, they have sectionals, they get nerdy about this years marching band show.  You have got to get a drill designer who respects all this.  I will do everything I can to help your ensemble sound amazing, from grouping like instruments together to keeping a strong balanced stereo spread across the field to placing the percussion section in just the right spot to help the instruments who will benefit the most from it.

Woodwinds and Brasswinds Are Not Created Equal

A great drill writer will ensure that there is an even spread across the field of instruments with like volume out puts.  Yes, a good short cut is just to keep all the WW’s on side 1 and all the Brasses on side 2…but during your big impact moments this will not present well!  You’ll get an uneven stereo sound.  At times feature the sections when musically they are featured, of course, staging matters there however a great drill writer knows how to write an impact from a musical standpoint.

It is marching band.  Band.  You guys go in the Winter and Spring to get judged in contest as a concert band – that same mentality is where most judges for marching season will be coming from and luckily for you it is the same place I will be constructing your drill design from.

Your ears are in good hands.