MisterNick

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.

I think you have something with copyrighted music and wanting to put your best foot forward at all times. I remember back during LD Bell's heyday, people would look for drill mess-ups as proof that they didn't deserve their powerhouse reputation. I doubt much has changed in the years since, especially when it comes to directors trying to build a program.

I'm really hoping that Lindale will make it to the 3A state competition. They've had many strong showings in the early 2000s, and have won state Honor Band (they couldn't go to state marching the following year because their school was bumped up to 4A).

I think you might be thinking of Honor Band competition. It falls under that "a band cannot succeed itself as an honor band" rule. Lindale won 3A honor band one year, and the next, the school got bumped up to 4A, they still played the 3A honor band concert, but I don't think they could compete for 4A honor band. As far as Marching, anything goes. Coppell won the 4A state contest, and the next year, they moved up to 5A and made it to preliminaries. I may be getting my facts mixed up, though.

I was mistaken earlier. The Kingwood show I was thinking of were actually two shows: 2002 and 2003. Either way, when you're surrounded by military bands, hearing a band do Richard Rogers marches and "Rule Britania" is kind of a refreshing change of pace... especially when they're played well.

No, I have seen Kingwood's fall '98 show, and that was pretty dang good. The show I was talking about was later on after that, I think it's 2001, because it was the year they separated their freshmen as their own marching band, and the varsity band was 10-12th grade.

LD Bell 2000 - This was the first time I went to a 5A state marching band competition, and I was reasonably impressed by all the bands there, but this was the only band that straight-up FLOORED me that night. Never before have I seen drill so cleanly executed before. Yes, I know there was a major spill right at the end (I didn't even notice it until I bought the video at TMEA a few months later), but still, it showed me the kind of potential a marching band could have. Kingwood 2000(?): I come from East Texas, home of many many military bands, and I've kind of resigned myself to the idea that, for the most part, you see one military band, you see them all, but there are one or two that simply stick out above the rest. This is one of them. For one, they used marches that weren't considered "the standards," like the "Victory at Sea" march by Rogers, and the opening fanfare, "Light Cavalry Overture" played and marched so precicely... that was one of those times where the bar was raised. Lindale 2007: This is another example of a military band thinking outside the block. Rarely do you hear "Melody Shop" played with such a tightness at a high school level (well, maybe some school's wind ensembles). Canton 2000: Vesuvius was one of my favorite pieces, but I didn't think that it could be put on the field. They proved me wrong, though, and this let me know that high quality is high quality, no matter how many A's are in your school. This isn't ranked in any particular order, these are just marching bands that come to mind.

Actually, that was the first time I saw a DCI performance, and I thought it was really cool, but my favorite from that year was Blue Devils' "My Spanish Heart" show. Hearing "Nightstreets" played like that, man! The thought of those runs just sends shivers down my spine! Other Favorites Cadets 01: Juxtaperformance. Showmanship. 'Nuff Said. Blue Devils 02: I don't think I've ever looked at "I got Rhythm" the same way since. Phantom '94: "Claire de Lune" and "North by Northwest"

Actually, I would like to explore eventually how music works in other states. Sometimes in Texas, we're so used to doing things our way, that sometimes we forget that there's a whole world out there.

I've seen that done a few times before, and I remember thinking, "whoa, can they do that? Is that Legal." Also, I love this thread too. Something that concerns me is that some directors will see these trends and take the wrong lessons from them. Some will see bands that try something new and is successful, and try to emulate that, and more often than not it's just a pale imitation. I remember a while back, someone writing a small diatribe in the TMEA newsletter, talking about how pageantry might be hurting marching competition overall. "Are we spending too much on sound systems on the field instead of buying an oboe or bassoon for the concert band?" (I'm paraphrasing here.) I think that bands that can afford things like sound systems don't really have to worry about having quality instruments in their program. I remember one Westfield show that featured a bassoon octet! Seriously, when some college programs are hard-pressed to find 3 for their department. Also, while it's true that you can't have football without marching band, the reverse isn't necessarily true. Look at UT-Arlington for the best example of that. I also know of a 3A school that has a marching band, but no football program, so they perform at halftimes for smaller schools that don't have a marching band. It's still growing and building at the moment though. I don't see BOA or UIL absorbing into each other by any means. There are several bands in TX that still march military style (Lufkin, Longview, and Kingwood just to name a few) and, honestly, it just wouldn't work in a BOA setting. I do, however, see an evolution of UIL rules, seeing as it happens all the time. Back in the day, they used to have a 12 minute rule for marching performances, but then they adjusted it over time, and I can see them adjusting it again as needed. There was a point here...I'm sure of it.

Yeah, the Jazz director at my old school got his masters/doctorate at UNT, and the highest he made was the 2 o'clock lab band, very fierce competition... from what I've been told, it's better for graduate studies than undergrad. As for SFA, if you want to be a band director, it's a really good place for it... it's considered one of the best music ed programs in the state, and they're consistently raising the performance standards as well. I was a student there for a while, but I had to take a couple of years off to work and save some money so I can go back and finish.

After much much consideration, I feel that I owe everyone an apology. I'll admit, I came from a 5A school (which is now 4A and my own band has gone downhill, but that's another rant), and one of our directors was kind of a stickler for trying to crank out all-state students (personally, the farthest I ever got in my high school career was all-region, but again, a rant for another time), and he wasn't shy about expressing his hatred for the ATSSB bands, saying it "contributed to lower standards" and was "nothing but a glorified region band," and "the best of the best belong in the TMEA all-state band, PERIOD!" (These are all direct quotes, by the way). I, myself, went back-and-forth between the whole TMEA/ATSSB thing, and I saw a live ATSSB concert, and I thought they weren't that bad, and the conductor of the symphonic band (Bobby Francis, I believe) threw a few numbers at me: when he was a student, there were about 5-8,000 students auditioning and now the number has increased to about 40-50,000. Add that to the fact that, sometimes I listen a bit too often to the "you suck" comments I got on YouTube. When you've been at the top, I find it can be a bit too easy to "spit" on those who are still struggling. After all, they made it, why can't you? And I have to remind myself that ATSSB isn't a lower standard, it's a different standard. Also, region and state aren't supposed to be about winning and awards, but trying to offer rewarding experiences. I keep forgetting that band (in particular) and music (in general) needs to be a collaborative art, rather than a competitive sport. More to life than just winning and all that... So, once again, to those of you to whom I've insulted, I apologize; for those of you who choose not to accept, I understand, too.

You misunderstand me; I wasn

Sorry if it comes off that way, but I heard performances of a lot of the groups, and while the ATSSB bands sound good, the TMEA groups are pretty much to the level of professional musicians. Believe me, I'm being kind compared to what others have said.

I sometimes think about the idea that the ATSSB and 4A state bands should be abolished, but I still can't quite get a full justification, other than they don't quite sound just as good.