I think
that custom drill is the best way to put a band on the field.
Most stock drill has inherent problems having to do with staging and
ensemble balance, because the numbers aren't the same in any
band. So I didn't sell used drill for a long time. Then
things changed.
Aew years ago some friends convinced me that offering
the stock shows was in the best interest of their bands. That
worked very nicely, so I'm offering them on bandtek. A more
indepth
explanation of my viewpoint is given below. It helps Google find
this page.
To the right is a
list of
shows. I'm processing the files bit by bit, so if you don't find
what you need, come back in a few
weeks, or months or next year. This project is going to take me a
while to complete. Here's a cool thing
- since it's stock drill, you can lift the
counts from the easy shows, and they'll work with most easy stock
marching band music
arrangements. It's a fringe benefit of the 4 measure phrase.
If you'd like to see
a set of charts, click the link and a PDF file of
the entire show will download your computer. (You'll need a PDF
viewer, like Adobe, to view the
files.) The files are locked, so
you can't print them very easily.
If you'd like to
purchase one of the shows, send me an email and I'll mail the file with
an invoice. The listed prices are for the PDF version. Pyware
files cost $25 more per show.
If you need coordinate sheets, I can print those as pdf for no
additional charge.
You'll need to purchase the music separately from someone else. I like Pepper best, but there are a lot of
great custom arrangers out there too.
Here's how it
happened - in 2005 a couple of things happened. First, a
friend persuaded me to let him use a show I had written for a band in
another state. I was very skeptical, but he convinced me that it
was a better alternative for him and his students than the other stock
shows available. I gave him the drill files, and he changed
the instrumentation and spacing, using his own copy of PyJava. I
charged him a
little less than half the going rate for stock
marching band drill and it ended up working very nicely. It
still looked and sounded good. He saved A LOT of money,
and the kids had a very positive experience. The band also won
and
placed in a few shows. Second, a very able
band director who student taught with me a few
years back called and asked for help fixing a stock show he had
purchased. Between ordering the drill and teaching it, he
had recruited a half dozen more kids, (good thing) but the drill wasn't
available as
data he could edit (bad bad bad). He was also right in the middle
of drum and
flag camp and didn't have time to rechart the show.
The company
he had
chosen wouldn't refund or exchange his drill (even worse). They had the
money
and he was stuck. When I fixed the problem (for free, cause he's my
buddy), I got to look at the stock
drill. It
was even more disapointing than bad service he had received. It
seems to me that when drill is paid for by parents cooking
bratwurst or kids selling candy, the drill writer should do
his best to serve the needs of the band. So, I looked at the
files on my hard drive and decided to make them
available. They're going to cost about half the going rate of
other stock marching band shows, because that's what I think
stock drill design is worth. The understanding is that the school
who buys the drill designs has to rework the inherent staging problems.
That school will also have exclusive rights in their area. You'll never
get a show that was originally performed in your area.
I'm putting them out there as PDF files because it's easier for the
band directors. Am I worried about someone ripping off my
ideas? Not much. I have two main reasons.
First, totally original drill is pretty hard to find. Some moves
I use I've learned studying battles between the Romans and
Carthegenians. I
once wrote a civil war show where the opening move was based on the
battle plans drawn up by the town's own civil war general. I've
watched the old films of Ohio and Michigan from the 40's and have grown
up on a
steady diet of drum corps. I learned creativity first hand from
John Brazale and Michael Cesario. Discipline, cleaning and
organization I learned from Steve Suslik and Richard Clary (yes he once
had very good marching bands.)
Philosophy
I
gleaned
from
Tim
Salzman
and Don Peterson. I'm
always "ripping off" my best teachers.
Second, my shows help bands win A LOT. They also grow grow.
One reason they do is that my drill is designed to provides
opportunities for
musical experience. That happens because I don't just write nifty
moves. I write nifty moves that do cool things like create
antiphonal brass moments and highlight important musical ideas.
Sometimes I even write visual motifs that reflect the motivic
development of the musical composition. I ripped off that idea
from Garfield '88 by Zingale. He was amazing.
Every band
director out there learned four part chorale writing, but none of us
write like Bach, and very few of us write like Ann McGinty.
Sharing drill ideas won't hurt the activity and I think it will
probably be better for everyone in the long run.
I respectfully
request that you don't hack and print the files. I design
marching
band shows so I can afford to be a band director. The honor system will
apply. Am I naive? Maybe a little, but I also have a lot of
trust in
band directors as role models. Most of us didn't get into this
line of work because we like the sound of 24 alto saxes. (Not that
that's ALWAYS a bad thing.) We band directors teach kids some of
the best things they'll learn in their whole lives.
Welcome
to
the
Bandtek
library
of
stock marching band shows.
Custom marching band shows are great,
but they're not right for every band. If you need to buy a stock
show, there a few good reasons to buy it here. The prices make
sense. The shows
work. The marching design is centered on music education.
That makes the shows fun to march, easy to teach, and likely to earn
high scores in competition.
There's no sheet music here, just drill. JWPepper is my favorite
music store. Prices are listed by
show. Click the show title to download a print disabled PDF
file. You can purchase an unlocked copy for the
listed price. Pyware drill files are available for most of the
shows and only cost $25 extra per show. Coordinate sheets are
free with purchase and available on request.
The drill is priced by size of band and number of pages. Here's a
breakdown. The rows represent size of band. The collums
measure difficulty by number of pages.