2011 Marching Band Season post--already....

[mickeymo]

Most BOA bands just march too . Some of the smaller ones use props to "contain" their show so they look bigger, etc.

Golfgal, I wish I could help explain what Gina is trying to say about the differences between the bands who focus on a BOA style show and those who primarily compete on our state (UIL) level After three years, I'm just barely beginning to recognize the difference.

You asked about Birdville and what was the difference this year - they are a 4A (Texas UIL rating not BOA - based on entire school size) band in UIL which means this is their year to compete for a spot at the State contest. That may explain their scoring/placement at BOA this year...

 

[mickeymo]

Based on my unexpert observation - UIL judges tend to favor classical pieces over original music... Shostakovich seems to be the music of choice this year for bands who primarily compete at UIL.

 

[mickeymo]

What an interesting weekend!! Enlightening, if nothing else. I'll be glad when it's a UIL State year for us again!!

This was the first competition I can think of for us that used BOA scoring, and we are soooooo not a BOA band. We don't have props or gimmicks, we just march. What I don't get is why the director even enters our band into contests like this, when that style is so not our focus. It shakes the kids' confidence when they do amazingly well at one contest and then not so well at the next (scoring-wise.) I really don't get what the band director is thinking.

Anyways, thank heavens we have a UIL contest tomorrow!! But the the one at Sam Houston State University this weekend. I looked up the info on their page, and they don't claim to use any specific scoring system. It just says they score 35 points max for music, 35 for marching, and 30 for overall effect. That seems awfully BOA-ish to me... And it seems the weirder the show, the better they score on "overall effect."

The bands' shows I really liked (like Mickeymo's band from Clear Brook!) had an awesome mix of beautiful visuals with just a few simple props, and a great musical score. I'm glad they made it to the finals -- they deserved it. The bands that ended up in the top 5 were the more bizarre of the finalists. The bottom 5 were the stronger in music and marching to me. But hey, what do I know??

If anyone knows more about the Sam Houston State U. contest, please let me know!

-gina-

Thanks Gina, I shared your text with the kids on my bus - they were excited to hear your reaction - I was busy texting the results to a few non-attending parents and I really wasn't paying attention but I realized later I didn't hear Pearland's name and had to double check my list to see if I heard correctly. I was shocked! I really wanted the chance to see your band since we'll miss the football game.... You got the "award" for the biggest band 297 in attendance - wow!

Can't help explain Sam Houston - we haven't marched there during these years I've been involved.

 

[marcyinPA]

In addition to my daughter in color guard I have a son who will be joining marching band in one or two years. He is in grade school band right now and plays the trumpet. He started in 5th grade and is now in 7th. He has been using a student trumpet that my husband got in 5th grade and was also used by two other cousins. He told me the other night that he would like a new trumpet for Christmas. His trumpet actually sounds fine but it looks a mess.

I don't want to spend a lot of money because we have a very nice trumpet that he can use when he marches in high school so I really need something that will last for a year and a half and as a backup trumpet.

Any opinions on this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002472BYK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=ACPGV300K93D

My DS16 is a trumpet player. We rented him a trumpet when he was in 4th grade through the end of 5th grade. At that point, every dollar of our rental went towards a new trumpet. We chose a silver Besson, a little higher than a student model. It was about $500 at the time. He is still using it in HS.

I would not purchase an unknown brand. I would also not buy anything that inexpensive, unless you buy a used brand name. He will notice a quality difference in his tone. To put it bluntly, you get what you pay for.

I would check with your band director, or the HS band director, or your local music store or a lesson teacher for recommendations. I would also ask if they know of anyone who is selling a used trumpet in good condition that your son can use in the interim.

If you already have a decent trumpet for him to use, why not let him use it now? You said "because he is 12", but this is the time that he will start to perfect his playing. Imagine how much better he will sound on a good instrument. I would expect him to take care of it, clean it, etc. so that it stays in good condition, but there is no reason why a 12 year old shouldn't have a good instrument, imho!

 

[Gina]

Thanks Gina, I shared your text with the kids on my bus - they were excited to hear your reaction - I was busy texting the results to a few non-attending parents and I really wasn't paying attention but I realized later I didn't hear Pearland's name and had to double check my list to see if I heard correctly. I was shocked! I really wanted the chance to see your band since we'll miss the football game.... You got the "award" for the biggest band 297 in attendance - wow!

It is a big band! LOL. And I am so proud of them -- they really marched and sounded so good. Just really good, and I mean that as unbiased as possible. We all really thought they'd make finals, just based on our usual raw music & marching scores so far this year, and they seemed even more on their game this time. I just had *no* idea the vast difference between scoring systems. Thanks for trying to explain it here! Hopefully we'll make finals at the UIL contest tomorrow!

I found a video of y'alls "Rainforest" show so my DS could see, and he loved it just as much as I did. I really liked the flags that looked leaves, and he liked the tribal drummer. I also loved how the bolder marimba gave it an extra "tropical" sound. Just a really cool show, with no elements that left me scratching my head wondering, "WTH was that??"

 

[golfgal]

Golfgal, I wish I could help explain what Gina is trying to say about the differences between the bands who focus on a BOA style show and those who primarily compete on our state (UIL) level After three years, I'm just barely beginning to recognize the difference.

You asked about Birdville and what was the difference this year - they are a 4A (Texas UIL rating not BOA - based on entire school size) band in UIL which means this is their year to compete for a spot at the State contest. That may explain their scoring/placement at BOA this year...

They must not march well then looking at their overall scores. Like I said, they took the caption award in class AAA for musical performance, same class we are in, but took 15th overall (top 14 bands make finals). I know what our musical score is and how hard our music is-we placed right behind them in music by not much. We took the other two captions.

 

[momof1princess]

That is how OMEA scores and I am so glad we don't participate in their comps anymore. The classes are determined by the number of students in your school. My daughter marches for an all boys school. Right now they have girls from three all girls high schools. We would have to add up enrollment for all four schools grades 10-12 to determine our class. Even though we only march 50 some musicians (70 some total) we would be placed with schools that have over 2500 students.

i WISH our classes were determined this way! ours is determined by BAND size, and even though our school is classified as a 3A school in athletics, which goes by school enrollment, our band is a 2A school, and we end up competing with bands from tiny, rural schools with about 15-20 members, and we've got 57 members (which is still tiny, i know, but larger than many other bands around here). it looks REALLY lopsided, and none of those tiny bands have a chance of getting best in class against larger bands like ours, who SHOULD be 3A.

in the case of a rural area like ours, such a classification system would make everything more equitable, but i can see how it would definitely skew things in a larger city, especially for schools who draw members from multiple schools.

 

[Katy Belle]

All this talk of scoring got me very curious... so I got out my program from the Renegade Review Contest, held at Union in Tulsa a few weeks ago.

They have a page that explains the scoring... and after reading it...its as clear as mud This part, in particular, is pretty confusing,
"The weight of the numbers in the Bands of America scoring system places 60% of the value on the music and 40% on the visual, and at the same time, 60% of the score is within the area of general effect and 40% within the performance area." Then it goes on to give the points... nad it adds up to 140 points! I thought it was out of 100 points

I'm not sure I will ever figure it out. I can handle... "we made 11th out of 18 teams" and that is about it!

 

[golfgal]

All this talk of scoring got me very curious... so I got out my program from the Renegade Review Contest, held at Union in Tulsa a few weeks ago.

They have a page that explains the scoring... and after reading it...its as clear as mud This part, in particular, is pretty confusing,
"The weight of the numbers in the Bands of America scoring system places 60% of the value on the music and 40% on the visual, and at the same time, 60% of the score is within the area of general effect and 40% within the performance area." Then it goes on to give the points... nad it adds up to 140 points! I thought it was out of 100 points

I'm not sure I will ever figure it out. I can handle... "we made 11th out of 18 teams" and that is about it!

I don't get it either...there is some averaging that goes on in there too and I don't know what else. There are two judges for both, one on the field, one in the press box, they average those scores, throw in an eye of newt and come up with the finals scores....

 

[916chipndale]

our daughter had a comptetion on saturday night at metlife stadium (the new meadowlands) they got an 83 which was first in their group (2 open ussba) and almost first in 3 open. the awards didnt end till 1230 sunday morning

 

[Gina]

Hopefully we'll make finals at the UIL contest tomorrow!

I know it's so uncouth to reply to your own post... lol... But it just dawned on me that the UIL contest tomorrow has no finals. I was getting mixed up with the SHSU contest this Saturday. I know no one else cares, but I like to correct my mistakes when I'm wrong.

Okay, a different topic (kinda): Once marching season ends, UIL solo & ensemble season begins, which is also a big deal. The whole band participates, but on an individual-ish level. Just like with regular UIL marching contests, the kids get more UIL points the higher they score and can get their letter jackets that much sooner. Do y'alls bands transition to a solo/ensemble focus after marching season is over?

 

[golfgal]

I know it's so uncouth to reply to your own post... lol... But it just dawned on me that the UIL contest tomorrow has no finals. I was getting mixed up with the SHSU contest this Saturday. I know no one else cares, but I like to correct my mistakes when I'm wrong.

Okay, a different topic (kinda): Once marching season ends, UIL solo & ensemble season begins, which is also a big deal. The whole band participates, but on an individual-ish level. Just like with regular UIL marching contests, the kids get more UIL points the higher they score and can get their letter jackets that much sooner. Do y'alls bands transition to a solo/ensemble focus after marching season is over?

Here the solo/ensemble contests are run at the state level-unlike Marching Band which is outside of the state high school league but has a state championship (next weekend). That is more spring for us (Aprilish). We move on to Jazz Band for the winter months. There is also Winterguard for the colorguard kids.

 

[mickeymo]

They must not march well then looking at their overall scores. Like I said, they took the caption award in class AAA for musical performance, same class we are in, but took 15th overall (top 14 bands make finals). I know what our musical score is and how hard our music is-we placed right behind them in music by not much. We took the other two captions.

This has been a good discussion for me, I had to do some research and I think I understand UIL judging a bit more. Since this is a state contest year for Birdville, it may explain why their placement surprised you this year.

The easiest explanation that UIL is a scholastic contest. Music performance is emphasized more than the marching with 3 music judges and 2 marching execution judges. (Emphasis is on marching execution not design or difficulty) Many schools in Texas march military style or do not compete in independent contests; this scoring system allows everyone to be judged equally.

Another factor determining Birdville's BOA placement is the UIL contest schedule. They conceivably have 2-3 weeks left in their season to clean their show or make changes; State for UIL - 2A & 4A is November 6&7.

The long answer includes how the judges score & may only interest Gina...

Music judges score the woodwinds, brass, percussion sections separately & then the entire ensemble, & a seperate category of musicianship -each category is given equal weight.

Marching judges look at individual carriage and stride as well as the execution of fundamentals. Then as a whole they look at the lines, diagonals, arcs, etc.
The integration & the use of the "general effect" of the theme, guard/dance line, & show design/difficulty is only 20% of a marching judges score.

Bands at the region level given a rating (1-5) all bands receiving a rating of "1" will advance to area regardless of number of bands. At the area and state level the bands are ranked. There isn't a set number of bands who advance, it's based on numbers who qualified and if over 15 bands qualified, it's a (1 band for every 5) formula.

If you managed to read all of that, are you confused yet? Welcome to the world of high school marching band in Texas.... :roll eyes:

 

[mrsklamc]

If anyone is interested in the specifics of BOA's scoring it can be found starting on page 29 of this pdf:

http://cdn.musicforall.org/images/stories/Resources/2011__FINAL_BOA_Rulebook2.pdf

 

[KiminChicago]

I debated for a long time whether or not to post this. Our band doesn't compete, and I'm sure we're pretty basic compared to so many here, but this was part of our half-time show. DS is the blond clarinetist (DH hasn't quite gotten to the point where the focus isn't all on DS, but we've got three more years to get there, lol)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8kr_E68WFQ

I'm pretty sure everyone will recognize the music .

 

[mickeymo]

I debated for a long time whether or not to post this. Our band doesn't compete, and I'm sure we're pretty basic compared to so many here, but this was part of our half-time show. DS is the blond clarinetist (DH hasn't quite gotten to the point where the focus isn't all on DS, but we've got three more years to get there, lol)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8kr_E68WFQ

I'm pretty sure everyone will recognize the music .

They look and sound great - and definitely a crowd pleaser! I hope the kids have fun with performing it. I haven't seen a baton twirler since my high school days (in the Chicago area, in fact...) & that brings back memories!

I'm glad you made the decision to share!

 

[Gina]

I debated for a long time whether or not to post this. Our band doesn't compete, and I'm sure we're pretty basic compared to so many here, but this was part of our half-time show. DS is the blond clarinetist (DH hasn't quite gotten to the point where the focus isn't all on DS, but we've got three more years to get there, lol)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8kr_E68WFQ

I'm pretty sure everyone will recognize the music .

That was pure awesome. I absolutely loved it, and I'm so glad you shared it! To me, *that* is a marching band -- playing a catchy tune with the kids obviously having fun... Not some interpretive dance with whale song in the background or something. I love it.



Monica ~ That was the best explanation of UIL scoring that I've read yet. Thank you!! Can't wait to see y'alls show again tomorrow night! And hey, since we're last, I hope you'll get to see ours too!


-gina-

 

[momof1princess]

I debated for a long time whether or not to post this. Our band doesn't compete, and I'm sure we're pretty basic compared to so many here, but this was part of our half-time show. DS is the blond clarinetist (DH hasn't quite gotten to the point where the focus isn't all on DS, but we've got three more years to get there, lol)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8kr_E68WFQ

I'm pretty sure everyone will recognize the music .

that was great! thank you for sharing it!

 

[KiminChicago]

Thank you! Yep, a real crowd pleaser, the crowd went wild every time they played it.

We have an orchestra concert tomorrow night and the mom of one of DS's friends called me at 9pm tonight to see if her son could get a lift with us. Then she asks if DS brought home a tuxedo jacket. DS pipes up "Oh yeah, I forgot, we're supposed to buy me a black tuxedo jacket." Fine time to tell me, DS! He found out about it on Friday so I would have had all weekend. I have an email in to the orchestra director to find out if there's one at the school that DS can borrow, or what I'm supposed to buy (tails or no, shawl collar or notched?). Ugh! DS is still growing and he's supposed to have this jacket for four years....

 

[momof1princess]

Thank you! Yep, a real crowd pleaser, the crowd went wild every time they played it.

We have an orchestra concert tomorrow night and the mom of one of DS's friends called me at 9pm tonight to see if her son could get a lift with us. Then she asks if DS brought home a tuxedo jacket. DS pipes up "Oh yeah, I forgot, we're supposed to buy me a black tuxedo jacket." Fine time to tell me, DS! He found out about it on Friday so I would have had all weekend. I have an email in to the orchestra director to find out if there's one at the school that DS can borrow, or what I'm supposed to buy (tails or no, shawl collar or notched?). Ugh! DS is still growing and he's supposed to have this jacket for four years....

HAHAHAHA! that sounds JUST like DD14! this is her first year in the HS marching band (she's in 8th grade-still in middle school), and i get these last minute ambushes all the time! "oh, mommy, by the way, my clarinet mouthpiece is broken, i need you to drive to town monday morning and buy me another one, then drop my clarinet off at school." was the latest...UGH. 4 more years!

(just to clarify, the mouthpiece broke because DD, instead of putting her clarinet back in its case when she got to the band room after the football game, laid it on a chair, so another girl walked by and accidentally sideswiped it with her saxophone, knocking it to the floor and chipping a hunk out of DD's mouthpiece. i see this as my daughter's fault for not putting up her clarinet, my grandmother and mother see this as the other girl's fault for knocking it off! OMG! how about a little personal responsibility?!? heaven forbid my daughter EVER do anything wrong! )