eljayb

Hi all! I've been searching online for a while looking for a marching band forum, and this seems like a pretty cool place! First, I think an introduction is in order: My name is Louis, and I'm a freshman at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. I'm a grade 8 drummer, and at the university I play percussion in the concert band, symphony orchestra, as well as the pit orchestra for one of the theatre societies. Whilst this is great, I've been incredibly envious of the marching band scene that American high schools and universities seem to have - it looks absolutely fantastic, the level of teamwork and musicianship in some of the bands I've seen online is absolutely phenomenal. I soon hope to be running for a position on the university-wide music committee to start in September 2017, and I would love to try and set up a marching band as part of a manifesto pledge. Brass/wind standard at the university is very high, and there are a large number of percussionists that would be available. In addition to this, the music society and student guild often give out generous subsidies if there is enough support for setting up a new society. Trouble is, very few (if any) UK universities appear to have any sort of marching band/drumline, so there is very little material/expertise to turn to when trying to launch an endeavour like this. Of course there is the purchasing marching percussion - so do we buy snares, quads, and bass drums, or should be just start of with snares? Also, I imagine that leading a marching band is completely different from conducting a wind band, (having heard about things like cadences etc. on Youtube videos). If anyone has every gone through a similar process, or has any material regarding 'leading a band' then I would be extremely grateful! This is a fairly daunting task but I'm determined to try and get it going, even if it's on a small scale at first. Many thanks in advance, Louis