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Update on that. I'm still not super clear on the rules regarding time, but our band director ended up deciding that the evidence was against us and he is not going to go through with an appeal. These things happen, and even though it's a super disappointing conclusion to this year, we are very proud of our show and had lots of fun getting to the point we did.
 
I am super excited for the kids that will do area in 2020. Allen is getting better and better every year, and I can't wait to see the new heights they reach. Top 5 in area finals would not surprise me at all.

yes, they were disqualified due to an unconfirmed report that they were colluding with the Russians marching officials to manipulate the UIL scoring process. As the show was an obvious homage to the current administration, the president stepped in and appealed to the supreme court where the newly appointed justice served as a tie-breaker to allow them to advance to Area D competition. I understand there will be a press conference tomorrow morning at Whataburger.
 
WOW - just cant make this stuff up - it just writes itself.....
 
in Truth - as noted in another post,  CTJ and many others have modified their BOA designed shows to better fit UIL - not uncommon in a state year - not just in time but in content. all 7 programs in the NEISD received 1's and will advance to the Area D event next week - I believe CTJ performs at 11:45 at Heroes Stadium in preliminary competition. if you are in the area - come check it out all the great NEISD Programs - don't believe the haters - #whataband

My name is Grayson. I'm a Lloyd V. Berkner Alumnus Class of 2016. I played Clarinet and Bass Clarinet but I now additionally play Piano, Steel Drums and Alto Saxophone

Marcus Flower Mound and Hebron were all insanely good. I think Marcus and Flower Mound are ahead Visually, but you need to hear how crazy those Hebron woodwinds are this year. Their entire show is basically sixteenth notes, and it isn't a slow tempo. I think Marcus is the furthest ahead just because of how incredibly clean they are, Hebron might have them beat musically by a little, but visually they (and flomo) are ahead of Hebron

Oops, sorry I must had missed that part xD Mckinney I would put under the same category as JJ pearce because Pearce was a state qualifer and finalist in 4a in like 2011 who moved up to 5A in 2012 but didn't make state 5A so I would put an Italic and Underline for North Mesquite and Mckinney meaning it is possible but unlikely given the presence of the other powerhouses. Also, with the italics that doesn't rule out a random chance of it happening though. xD
 
Nice, I was looking directly at the TMEA Region maps. and I noticed that naaman forest was missing so I quickly added it in xD

I don't think saying Hebron or Marcus could or will win state is controversial. I think when it comes down to it those two are the powerhouses. I think we might just have a new member in the club.
 
What impressed me so much about Flower Mound last week was pretty much all performance related. The show is awesome, absolutely, but they've had pretty fantastic shows for a few years now, what is changing is they are now able to really perform those shows at the highest of levels. I think even taking away GE they will still be able to hang because they march and play that effective show SO well. It will be a ton closer in the UIL arena for sure.
 
Marcus has a show tailored to them PERFECTLY and they will sound sublime in a few weeks. Hebron has another technical marvel that will sound amazing too. I fully expect those two to be the ones to beat, as well as Flower Mound. I think some people are mistaking lack of discussion on the other two for people not thinking they have a chance. Which is not the case.
 
I don't think anyone is saying that Flower Mound is going to walk into state, get a 5 ordinal score, and no one will touch them. But, it wasn't their show design and GE doing all the work last week, the proficiency of how they delivered that was what made it special.

Missed this but.....This.   This is actually the sole reason the Japanese bands are so incredible.  In Japan you have one band director (who may or may not be a music teacher....he/she may be a math teacher).  No assistant directors. But it doesn't matter.  The band director won't even be in rehearsal half the time anyway, because band in Japan is essentially student led sectionals.  Band is after school only. There are no fundraisers. 
 
Not sure how many people would be interested in something like this but here's a nearly 2 hour long documentary of a Japanese HS marching band.  Yes....in Japan it is not uncommon for a tv studio to do specials on local school bands. https://youtu.be/UJpPFBpru9w?t=25m56s
 
I've highlighted a 2 minute segment from 25:56 - 27:59.  The segment's entirely in Japanese, but basically what you're looking at is a summer Flute sectional from 2011 at the famous Japanese HS band called Tachibana Senior High from Kyoto.  Tachibana is a parade and dance band with an extremely complex dance element to their shows.  The incoming freshman usually don't have any knowledge of how to do this visual stuff and must be taught by the upperclassmen from 9am-6pm all summer long....the school also turns off the AC in the summer.  My Japanese isn't super great, but this freshman (Mayuko) is being taught side-by-side by her section leader (Higashimono-senpai) while the drum major is making the rounds
 
She's not up to standards.  The drum major keeps telling/asking her "Can you really do this?  We MUST do this...if you don't we'll all be failures etc. etc.".  Mayuko keeps responding "Hai! Yes I can, I can do it....don't give up on me!".  At 27:00 we learn that the drum major has assigned 350 REPS of this short segment to make sure she gets it right.  At 27:11 we see the culmination of this.....the drum major is completely pissed off that she can't do it and leaves in a huff like "Are you even trying?! Don't waste my f***ing time!".  And of course this makes her start crying. The narrator says something along the lines of "She will keep trying, her spirit is broken, but she presses on". In the final part of the segment at 27:56  the interviewer asks her "So how was practice?".   She responds "Suparuta sugimasu", which literally means "Beyond Sparta".  Yeah...no kidding.

Wish retreat had been implemented the year I went to state. Always thought it was super anti-climactic to just have the medalists announced and be done with it.

Thank you for putting this all together and for submitting suggestions in the first place! I know that most of these have been talked about before here, but I think this is the first time they've all been in one place.
 
I am super excited about having 12 bands in 6A Finals (assuming 36 bands which is likely) and Full Retreat too!
 
And having 6A Finals on Wednesday is going to help a lot with being able to have good performances with kids that are awake. Last year's 1A/5A competition on Tuesday was an absolute beast running from 7am to 1am; kids that performed around 8am in Prelims were asleep on the field when they had to perform after midnight in Finals.

If y'all were not already aware there were significant UIL Music Updates both, on the UIL Music department level and including updates to the Music Sections of the UIL Constitution. 
 
I will start with some news that I could not find any reference from the official Music Update PDFs or even the C&CR Update to the UIL Constitution.
If you were not already aware, UIL State Marching Band contest now takes place 3 days, at least for the 4A/6A Conference that is anyways. Inside the spoiler are the dates with the direct source. 
 
 
 
Next are UIL Music Updates to the Prescribed Music List and State Marching Band Championships. The 2nd and 3rd one I had actually suggested through submitting a proposal to amend the UIL Constitution, which I figured warranted this since updating the UIL C&CR would had been unnecessary. xD Even though, I had graduated already, I knew that if it did went through, I would left behind another unknown legacy which was worth the risk. :3 Inside the spoilers are the 3 Music Updates and the sources.
 
 
 
Finally, we have C&CR Updates for the 2016-17 School Year that affect UIL Music since it has already gone into effect for the year starting in August or September. 
 
 
 
That is all for now.
Here is the *PDF Link* for people that want to see the 2016-2017 UIL Constitution
Here is the *PDF Link* to the TEA-UIL Side by Side for 2016-2017 which does not change at all or if anything does change it is usually minimal or unnoticeable.
Also, if you want to see the UIL Rule Proposals you can look over here too... *Insert Link Here*
And for anyone wondering how I managed to have successfully proposed a rule change for the UIL Music State Marching Band Contest, I actually submitted a large idea proposal of various ideas via the only form for suggesting UIL Rules changes because anyone in Texas can submit a rule change. You don't even have to be in austin at their UIL meeting for the rule proposal to be brought up anyways. xD *Insert that Link here*
 
Okay, for real though, that is all for now.

Greetings all,
 
I'm new to the forum and this is my first post.  I'm thrilled to find this site and realize I'm not the only crazy marching band fanatic around!  My high school band was 4th at State in Texas 4A many moons ago when I was a Senior and I've been a marching band and DCI fanatic since.  Now I have a Freshman daughter and 7th grade son so I'll be a band dad for the next six years or so at least!
 
Our high school has only been around a handful of years, and last year was the first year that our band had Seniors. I have been really impressed with our band director and program, and they have improved every year, but naturally we are a young program so are not as well equipped or experienced as some of the other bands in our area.  Nonetheless, they have earned a 1 at Region every year and advanced to Area.
 
Obviously, I am very impressed with the top bands in Area D.  My eyes were opened to exactly how stiff the competition is.  I came into the day fairly confident that we would do well enough to advance to finals at least but wow - those Leander ISD schools are all crazy good.  I guess that district just really invests in their marching band program.  Great for them!  Those kids are lucky to have such great school and parent support.
 
That said, it can't just be about money. There must be a lot that goes into getting that quality of a show on the field.  They get the same eight hours a week that we do, but their marching is pretty advanced.  Do they have spring marching, or clinicians come in?  Or staff with those skills?
 
As I said, props to those bands - but it is frustrating to have a band that is good enough to advance in other regions that will likely not be as good as one of the top bands in this region for years to come. Basically, as a parent, I wonder how we can help our band be better?  All insite and suggestions are welcome!
 
Thanks!

State Predictions are up! I will get up Area Results up on the Score Archives for those that have placed results up on their website

Examples - Berkner 18th, Richland 21st, Keller 17th.  All of those bands were much better individually than those placements indicate.  

So I know it's still way too soon to make more accurate predictions but just seeing what everyone's opinions are.
My prediction: Someone finally takes the crown from Marcus as a first time State Champion and it'll be someone who didn't participate in GN's.
No hate on Marcus, they're obviously a great band, but just a prediction.

Regardless of the weather, This is going to be a fierce competition

We need to update the UIL Class and UIL Region/Area and TMEA Region/Area from the change in the UIL Class because of the addition of the UIL 6A Conference earlier this year! I will start and update as many as I can however, this is not a task for one puny man :c Since there is bajillion amount of bands in that directory xD

I think mansfield legacy wake land and Richland are competing for the top of the AAA class and it should be very close between these three

The Texas State Marching Contest was held in Waco, TX in the Baylor Stadium until 2003, if I remember correctly.  In 2002 it poured rain all day long damaging a number of instruments and causing quite the ruckus.  They ended up cancelling finals and it was decided after that to move finals into a dome.
 
So his analogy is apt.

OMG I LOVE BERKNER 2012!

Yep, it's definitely a challenge to keep everything up to date. We're always looking for volunteers to help create content for the site/forums. Just let me know if you're interested!

More complex shows take longer to master. Hebron's music is usually very technical, so that might explain the 4th to 2nd jump (though I think the Denton win can be explained almost entirely by weaker competition). The Woodlands always peaks late because they always have a crap ton of stuff going on in their shows. They also seem to make more modifications than their competitors.

Haha, that's awesome! My program was never told to shut up, but as a Drum Major, I was yelled at many times to stop the band from playing during an injury. Our Principal actually told us to play more during the first half instead of saving the chops for Halftime.
 
I'm pretty sure that the Silent Count quarterbacks use in loud environments was created to overcome the loudness of the High School Marching Band. Think back to the mid-20th Century:
 
Quarterback: Coach!!!!!!!! Those kettledrums are too loud! I cannot even hear my cheerleader girlfriend tell me how swell she thinks I am!!!!!!
 
Coach: Shut that fife up!!!! My players cannot hear my racist comments about the minorities on the other team!
 
Referee: I'm going to have to ask the band to tone it down. Musical expression has no place in these hallowed grounds of the gridiron. Scratches Crotch

Has your band ever been so loud at a football game that the referees tell the coaches to tell the directors to stop playing or risk a penalty?

Every time they do a live blog they need to update the score section after they are done so others can easily find previous and not let scores disappear off into space.

I tried to help send updates on the directory numerous times for a while but they haven't been changed the information is getting out of date.