[Symphony Orchestra Advice]

I've learned some things I'd never thought of by having conversations with friends who've made it into professional ensembles.

1.  The concept where you spend 6 months on a marching show, 6 months on All-State etudes, 4 months on UIL music and 3-6 months learning a solo for Solo & Ensemble contest has almost ZERO resemblance to anything you will ever do as a Clarinetist in a Top 5 orchestra.  In the professional world it is very common to learn 2 hours of music in one single rehearsal, and have a concert on that music just a few days later.

2.  If you don't love the instrument enough to practice it by yourself all day long day-in and day-out (6-8 hours per day), then you're probably wasting your time, because that's the level of commitment it takes to get into that level of ensemble.  This is very similar advice for people trying to get into the NFL, NBA or MLB, as the difficulty for getting into all of the above is very similar.

3. Practicing for three separate 1 hour sessions in a 24-hour period is more efficient than one 4-hour long practice session. Yes, I said 4.

4.  Every practice session should have a specific goal in mind that you're willing to break down to almost the atomic level and rebuild it from the ground up.  If your practicing method starts and stops at just learning a bunch of new solos or cruising through an etude book, you will never reach the highest level....no matter how many thousands of hours you put into it.  

5. All 5 of the top ensembles require sight-reading when you audition.  This is because your skill as a sight-reader is more valuable to an orchestra than your skill as a soloist or even your skill as an ensemble player.  I'm a Euphonium player, and Brian Bowman; one of the greatest Euphonium players of the 20th century once said "The best way to approach sight-reading is to simply learn every single piece of music that they would ever throw at you....Even though I was required to sightread at every audition I ever took, I knew almost every piece the committee ever threw at me, so I hardly ever actually had to sightread".

[What's your favorite show?]

For me I don't think there's one single show that jumps out at me as THE show out of all the hundreds of shows I've seen over the past 20-ish years. Hebron's "Penstriped" (2021) came pretty close.  It's probably my favorite show of the past 10 years.  But that show lacks a certain stylistic depth that I feel a "favorite show ever" should have.  In a sense, Penstriped is really just a really difficult cookie cutter show (the last few years of Hebron have been probably some of the most technically challenging music ever put on a field by a HS) that's very well arranged with choice selections that compliment each other really well, that a band made up of nearly 90 All-Region kids and over 20 All-Staters played the absolute SNOT out of, and their musicianship and maturity came through in a way no other program ever has.

That said though....I really REALLY like Cavaliers 2008 (Samurai).  It's probably the one DCI show I still consistently watch today.

[2007 UIL Area Results]

I Wayback Machined the Yellow Board to find most of these (though a few were in our own current forum archives).  Still incomplete but it's a start.  Apologies for the copypaste mess:

1A Area A Finals:
1 Sundown (state)
2 Forsan (state)
3 Wink (state)
4 Sudan (state)
5 Boys Ranch
6 Whiteface
7 Irion County
8 Sunray
9 Ropes
10 Smyer
1A Area A Prelims:
1 Sundown
2 Forsan
3 Sudan
4 Irion County
5 Boys Ranch
6 Ropes
7 Wink
8 Whiteface
9 Sunray
10 Smyer
11 Iraan
12 Plains
13 Seagraves
14 Loop
15 Memphis
16 New Deal
17 Farwell
18 White Deer
19 Anton
20 Olton
21 Jayton
22 O'Donnell

2A Area A Finals: Crane, Panhandle, Reagan County, Tahoka *advanced*

4A Area A Finals:  Fossil Ridge, Azle, Boswell, Saginaw *advanced*
1. Azle 1,2,4,7,2 (16) (tie-break)
1. Saginaw 5,6,1,1,3 (16)
3. Boswell 2,5,7,2,4 (20)
4. Fossil Ridge 10,8,2,3,1 (24) (tie-break)
4. Springtown 3,4,3,9,5 (24)

1A Area B Finals: Holliday, Aubrey, City View *advanced* 4A Area B Prelims (unranked list of bands): Frisco The Colony Stephenville Seguin Lake Dallas Carter-Riverside Aledo Little Elm Eastern Hills Mckinney Boyd Brownwood Joshua Sherman McKinney North Birdville Western Hills Crowley Everman Centennial Arlington Heights 4A Area B Finals:  Advancing (in order): 1. Sherman 2. Aledo 3. The Colony 4. Centennial Alternates: 5.Joshua 6.Birdville Remaining Finalists (no rank available): Crowley, McKinney Boyd, Western Hills, McKinney North

4A Area C Prelims 1 Poteet 2 1 1 1 1-6 2 Pearce 1 2 2 4 2-11 3 Lindale 3 3 5 2 4-17 4 Heath 6 5 3 3 3-20 5 Forney 4 7 8 5 7-31 6 North Lamar 8 6 7 6 8-35 7 Midlothian 5 8 4 8 10-35 8 Waxahachie 7 11 6 7 6-37 9 Highland Park 10 4 9 10 5-38 10 Jacksonville 9 9 11 9 11-49 11 Ennis 11 13 12 11 9-56 12 Sulphur Springs 12 10 10 13 12-57 13 West Mesquite 13 12 13 12 13-63 14 Thomas Jefferson 14 14 14 14 14-70 Finals 1 Poteet 1 1 1 1 1-5 2 Pearce 2 3 2 2 4-13 3 Lindale 5 6 4 3 3-21 4 Heath 4 5 6 5 2-22 5 Midlothian 3 2 5 6 6-22 6 Forney 7 7 3 4 5-26 7 North Lamar 6 4 7 7 7-31

Area D 1 Finals: Iola, Shiner, Santo *advanced*

Area D 2A Finalists (no rankings provided):
Wall *advanced to state*
Clifton *advanced to state*
Troy *advanced to state*
Kerens *advanced to state*
Academy
Mason
Rosebud-Lott
Ballinger
Rogers
Brady

Area D 4A Finals: 1. Hendrickson (1,1,1,2,3(8)), Connally, Vista Ridge, Dripping Springs *advanced*
Alternates: 5. New Braunfels 6. Hays

Area E 1A-Advancing to State:
Falls City
Harper
Nueces Canyon
Area E 2A-Advancing to State:
Industrial
Randolph
Van Vleck
Area E 4A - Advancing to State:
1. Brenham 3 2 1 2 3 (11)
2. Foster 4 4 3 1 1 (13)
3. Seven Lakes 1 1 5 4 2 (13)
4. Waller 2 3 2 3 4 (14)
Other Finalists (6 finalists in total):
5. Waltrip: 5 5 4 6 5 (25)
6. Terry: 6 6 6 5 6 (29)

Area F 4A Prelims:
 

1. Dickinson HS

2. Friendswood HS

3. Lumberton HS

4. Little Cypress-Mauriceville HS

5. Galena Park HS

6. Huntsville HS

7. Vidor HS

8. Barbers Hill HS

9. Dayton HS

10. Santa Fe HS

11. Willis HS

12. Hargrave HS

12. Montgomery HS

14. Crosby HS

15. C.E. King HS

Area F 4A Finals:

1. Friendswood HS: 1 - 1- 1- 1- 2 *advanced*

2. Dickinson HS: 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 *advanced*

3. Little Cypress-Mauriceville HS: 4 - 3 - 5 - 3 - 6 *advanced*

-----

4. Galena Park HS (Alternate): 5 - 4 - 6 - 4 - 3

5. Vidor HS: 3 - 6 - 4 - 7- 4

6. Lumberton HS: 6 - 5 - 3 - 6 - 7

7. Huntsville HS: 7 - 7- 7- 5- 5

 

Area G 4A Finals:
: 1) roma *advanced*
: 2) king *advanced*
: 3) boerne *advanced*
: 4) alice 3, 2, 8, 9, 4 = 26 (tie)*advanced*
----
5) Floresville 8, 9, 1, 3, 5 = 26 (tie)
6) Calallen (tie)

[UIL 6A Area I 2024]

  On 1/30/2024 at 2:25 AM, 11BandMan11 said:

So definitely not going to be something like Cypress Mountain cause....well...Texas
#nomountainsjusthills 🤣

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I mean....if Kennesaw Mountain (GA) can name their HS after this "mountain", I feel like we could come up with something here in Texas...

[what is some high school ballads that hit different]

  On 10/15/2023 at 11:58 PM, MisterNick said:

I forget which band performed this, but it was from the 2012 5A State Marching Contest. It was a really beautiful arrangement of Ravel's "Pavane Pour une Infante Defunte" and I felt it really did the original justice.

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Late response, but I would guess the band you were thinking of was James Bowie

[UIL 6A Area I 2024]

Still holding out for Cypress Mountain ... ...

[ATSSB?]

Fun fact: Region 7 has 79 high schools within its boundaries.  All 79 of them are ATSSB schools (1A-4A schools....ZERO 5A or 6A high schools).  Region 6 directly west of them is slightly larger with 90 high schools.  Only five are 6A and four are 5A (nine in total).  Eight of these schools are located in Abilene, Odessa or Midland with one located in Wichita Falls.  That one HS is called Rider HS.  Rider is supposed to be in Region 7 with the other Wichita Falls ISD schools, but with them being the only TMEA school in Region 7, they elected to be in Region 6 instead with the other TMEA schools.  I believe this is the only instance in Texas where an ISD is split between 2 different regions (though correct me if I'm wrong).

Region 6 actually joint hosts their TMEA All-Region tryouts with Region 7 but none of the ATSSB schools in Region 7 elected to allow any of their kids to compete.

I've encircled the area covered by Region 6 and 7 in red.  You can even see the little gray splotch inside the blue area of Region 7. That gray splotch is Rider HS's attendance zone 😋.  As you can see it's a pretty massive chunk of the entire state.  Isn't it crazy that a geographic area this massive only contains five 6A high schools?

[Best School Comebacks/Things that you didn't expect]

The Woodlands losing most of their August rehearsals and still managing to do as well as they did.  

[Nationally Ranked Bands]

I'm not a Hornranker, but I know a lot of the guys who are.  I won't speak on behalf of their methods, but I will say a single breakout year doesn't get you instant clout. A good year will move you up the rankings, but you're going to hit a wall when comparing that breakout season against some of the really established bands at the top.  Being consistently good contest after contest, year after year is what gets you that high ranking  

Marcus beat TWHS at State, but they lost to TWHS at BOA SA which does carry more weight because it's a national event.  So putting Marcus past TWHS probably isn't going to happen, especially when taking into account the huge gap between them at SA last year (which does factor in to the ranking).

Tarpon is an anomaly due to how disconnected they are from the rank and file, which makes them harder to peg.  In my opinion that lack of competing against good bands should count more against you than it currently does.  I think some of the rankers are using Tarpon's 2018 ranking to determine their position more than they really should be only due to the fact that it's all we have to go on when stacking them up against the rest (aside from 2022). one could make a solid case for Tarpon being beneath both TWHS and Marcus (and even Mason, who they lost to at Nats last year), and I think it could very well end up that way if TWHS (and other TX groups) upends some of the more established Midwestern bands (who've also beaten Tarpon) this weekend.

Scores have way too much relativity within their own contests to be a solid measuring stick across contests.  It's a tall order to say Marcus is better than the reigning caption-sweeping GN champion Carmel because of a cross-contest score technicality.

And to say Marcus is better than Hebron due to beating them at one non-BOA contest is just asking for trouble...but I don't think I need to tell you that considering the 2 schools in contention 😉.  Not saying that's what you're saying....just going down the list of bands in question.

 

[2023 BOA Katy (Oct. 7)]

Seeing Cy-Fair, Pearland and Bridgeland sandwiched amongst TWHS, Reagan, CTJ & Bowie makes me wonder if Houston finally has some new powerhouse groups in their midst aside from just The Woodlands.  We'll see...

[WHAT IS THE MOST EFFICIENT ATTENDANCE POLICY FOR AFTER SCHOOL REHEARSALS?]

I've heard of band directors going into programs where before/after school rehearsals were "optional" going in, and had to slowly reprogram the band into making those eventually mandatory.  You can't come in and instantly demand that it all be mandatory because you'll often get massive pushback and you'll even have tons of kids quit.  You have to win their favor first and then slowly introduce standards year after year.

It's all about culture.  I remember my freshman year at my alma mater being blown away on the first week of marching band seeing kids only a couple years older than I was basically acting like teachers and establishing a a rehearsal procedure and task-oriented goals.  And the atmosphere was so positive and we had goals in mind.  Rehearsals were mandatory and I attended every single one.  I didn't want to miss out.

[What does it take to have a breakout year?]

I'm reminded of 2006 where W. Charles Akins HS made it to state for the very first time since the school opened in 2000, and even went all the way to Finals in the largest classification at the time (5A) that very first year.  They then placed 22nd in prelims the following cycle in 2008 (barely slipping in from Area) and then never made another appearance at state ever again.

They faded completely.  State Finals in '06, State Prelims in '08, Area Finals in '10, Area Prelims '12 & beyond...I admittedly don't know what happened to that program, especially considering they had the same staff in '12 as they did in '06 (at least according to the Wayback Machine), but that to me is probably the most classic example of a "breakout band". 

[Top 10 Marching Shows]

Fixed.  I was trying to remember the name of the show and remembered the compass and was like "Oh yeah! Exploration-style show, Age of Discovery".    Probably would've been a good title, but BA already took that one.

[Top 10 Marching Shows]

Best (Execution):
[Ranked]
1. Flower Mound 2016 - Leonardo's Dream
2. Carmel 2022 - Vitruvian
3. Hebron 2022 - Odyssey FM
4. Marcus 2012 - Gilded Melodies
5. Vandegrift 2019 - Aria, Queen of the Night
6. Hebron 2021 - Penstriped
7. Hebron 2015 - 360
8. Reagan 2019 - Secret World
9. Carmel 2018 - Voyage to Valhalla 
10. Carmel 2017 - Serenity

HM:
Flower Mound 2018 - Pop - Might've made the list with another week of cleaning and a Nats appearance
Hebron 2018 - Endeavor - Probably Would've made the list with cleaner visual and a Nats appearance
Marcus 2007 - Botanika - Would definitely have made the list with 11 more days of cleaning and a Nats appearance on Day 12
Avon 2010 - Iconoclash - It's almost impossible for a pre-2010 non-Tx band to make a list like this bc I frankly think the best sounding Tx bands at this point were outplaying every other state almost every single year and this list prioritizes music....This year Avon was playing just well enough to compete while also marching the SNOT out of their sets to close in on this list.


Favorite (To listen/watch):
[Not Ranked]
1.  Hebron 2021 - Penstriped
2. Claudia Taylor Johnson 2019 - The Circle of Life
3. Vista Ridge 2018 - Lost & Found
4. Hebron 2015 - 360
5. Ronald Reagan 2015 - Every(One)
6. The Woodlands 2011 - Uninvited
7.  LD Bell 2010 - Honor: We Will Remember
8. Tarpon Springs 2010 - Paranormal
9.  LD Bell 2008 - The Quest
10. Ronald Reagan 2002 - Journey of Man

[Shows That Have Deeply Moved You]

  On 5/1/2023 at 10:47 PM, whitewing09 said:

TWHS 2004 - Numbers: I saw this at Area E in Round Rock. They went on to perform at UIL State finals and BOA Grand Nationals finals. I just remember being so fascinated and thinking, “wow marching band can be so cool!” 
 

L.D. Bell 2005 - Ascension: This show is so exhilarating! Highly recommend looking it They are booking it for so much of the show. Between the part with the oboe playing guard member, the presto version of Light of Gold 🥵, and the back field ballad of Light of Gold… this show has so many layers. I would love to see someone revive this show and reinvent it a little.

L.D. Bell 2006 - The Remaining: I still remember the the Alamodome being dead silent besides the heartbeat they emulated. 

 

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I always recommend that whole era of LD Bell 2005-2010 to any newcomer to the scene willing to watch/listen.  Rankings aside, it was some of the most beautifully written and performed music to ever grace a field.

Also I think TWHS '04 might've been one of the very first BOA shows I ever watched aside from groups like Westfield, Bowie, Leander and Cedar Park whom I got to watch live in HS at games and competitions.  I'd heard of bands like Winston Churchill, Spring and my senior year was the first time I heard the name "Carmel" and becoming aware of bands out of state, but I didn't watch my first marching band online video until Summer 2006. And those finalists from the '05 and '04 lineups were some of the first I watched.

[TUBAS!!!!]

I have a tuba student recently who's become quite obsessed with contras and has been bugging his band director about switching to them, so I've been inspired to sort of build a reasonably comprehensive list of Texas schools that are using them.  I've combed the thread and verified all of the schools mentioned here against their 2022 competition shows and found the following schools check out as of the 2022 season:

El Paso Bel Air - ✔️
Burleson - ✔️
Burleson Centennial - ✔️
Byron Nelson - ✔️
Southlake Carroll - ✔️
Conroe - ✔️ 
Coppell - ✔️
Hidalgo - ✔️
Keller Central - ✔️
LD Bell - ✔️
Pflugerville - ✔️
The Woodlands - ✔️
Willis - ✔️

Smithson Valley didn't check out (couldn't find a video of them marching with contras).

I also went and checked every single school that attended the '22 6A State Marching contest.  Only TWHS, LD Bell and Coppell used Contras, all the rest use Sousas.  When I was in HS in the early 2000s I couldn't think of a single school that used them.  Then The Woodlands switched to them in '08 and other schools started following suit, particularly after they won Grand Nats in 2013.  I don't know if we'll ever see a broad switch to them unless one of the big dogs switch and start winning with them.

But until then feel free to add some more schools that haven't been thought of yet.

[Whats the origin of txbands?]

We used to have games 😄

[Why did scores inflate in 2017?]

2016-2018 also marked a direction change for BOA that involved expanding the number of Texas regionals...but more notably expanding the roster for San Antonio considerably from 60 bands to over 80.  Electronics integration has also gone through significant innovations, while show design cohesion between several of the top designers has become far more streamlined resulting in some of the most stellar show designs we've ever seen in the activity.  

I thought for many years that the greatest shows to ever grace a marching field were all in previous decades.  I no longer believe that.

[Crockett '93]

  On 11/8/2022 at 4:04 PM, bchorn said:

I can surmise this much happen.  I know that Bowie opened in 88 which was built to offset the explosive growth in South Austin.  Many of the South Austin neighborhoods that slowly started transitioning from Crockett to Bowie were wealthy affluent homes/families.  And the neighborhoods that didn't end up in Bowie's jurisdiction were the older homes that didn't have as much wealth.    So 93 would have been after that transition was fully completed.   

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It didn't have anything to do with what occurred within the band, school or community itself that year, but rather what happened in a specific performance that year.  It's really better not to talk about it.  The answer IS out there if you dig enough though.

[2022 BOA San Antonio (Nov. 4 & 5)]

  On 11/6/2022 at 6:58 AM, josephbandfan said:

Another fun statistic. The number of SA championships from each metroplex since 2003:

DFW: 12

San Antonio: 5

Houston: 2

And GN championships:

Houston: 3

DFW: 1

Austin: 1

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And considering the Houston eagles are all 10 years apart (Spring '93, Westfield '03 and The Woodlands '13) it looks like the stage is set for TWHS to take it again in '23 😉.

[UIL 6A Area I 2022]

7:30 - Cy-Fair
7:45 - Tompkins
8:00 - Seven Lakes
8:15 - Cy Woods
8:30 - Bridgeland
8:45 - BREAK
9:00 - Jersey Village
9:15 - James E. Taylor
9:30 - Jordan (Katy)
9:45 - Katy HS
10:00 - Cinco Ranch

10:30 - Results

[2022 BOA Houston (Sept. 24)]

I'd even go a step further to say The Woodlands probably won't lose much steam at all.  Their program leadership has always been very decentralized compared to most schools.  From 2009 to 2010 TWHS lost head director Brett Johnson and assistant Chris Allen in the same year, and they went from 3rd at San Antonio in '09 to 4th in '10.  To be fair Joni's promotion was an internal one and that *can* make a difference.  Usually when you ask a head director with a more top-down approach what their secret to success is, they'll start delving into their daily procedure and go into meticulous detail about creating characteristic sounds player by player or talk about their personal relationship with the students and how they get the students to respond to their teaching etc.  I've seen many a program led by that "Herman Boone" type figure (from "Remember the Titans") where they have the larger than life persona that moves students towards a purpose.  And when that teacher ultimately leaves, the program crumbles.  Both Brett Johnson and Joni Perez have gone on record as basically saying something along the lines of "picking strong lesson teachers, strong marching staff, and cultivating strong student leadership" when asked the secret of The Woodlands's success.  

[2022 BOA Houston (Sept. 24)]

  On 8/24/2022 at 3:47 PM, BaritoneBallah said:

i"m from austinl! 😲

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😲😲😲😲😲

I love this emoji 😂

[Every UIL Area Contest Results]

There's always the old Rec.Arts.Marching.Band.High-School USENET archive.  Google Groups has it stored now but you can reach it here:
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.marching.band.high-school

It's not a very well organized archive (lots of spam, tedious to search).  But it dates back to November 1994.  

Like for example I did a search for Area G and found a post from 1998 saying that Harlingen, Holmes, La Joya, J.W. Nixon, Southwest, & S.A. Taft advanced that year from G.
(Marshall was the alternate).

The DCI one actually dates even further back to December 1992.  I doubt it'll have any info useful for your project but it's still an interesting rabbit hole dive.  https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.marching.drumcorps

[Shows That Have Deeply Moved You]

  On 5/28/2022 at 7:46 PM, Rubisco said:

YES. Although I feel like if I included that one, I would probably just start regurgitating my "best ever" list, hence my focus on tears.

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A lot of these lists crossover each other.  I think LD Bell 2007 is a better show in just about every way and is higher up on my "best ever" list, but 2006 still "moves" me more than 2007.  Or I could say it had a bigger impact on me and moved me more at the time.   I also have "best ever" and "favorite shows" lists with their own overlaps.