high school marching band and fall sports?

[monsterkitty]

I agree with spit valves (just so gross anyway), but I think the more dangerous factor is the aerosolized (I don't think that's a word!) virus. But who really knows? Not me of course!!

Well, they don't want people singing because that can spread virus carrying droplets, the air being blown through a musical instrument has to be worse.

Watch the videos I posted in #51.

You would be shocked at how much time and money band directors are spending on making "masks" and "socks" for the instruments so kids can play more safely.

Most districts around here are not doing any band below high school level.

 

[disny_luvr]

I’m late to the game here as I just saw this thread.

My twins are freshmen this year and are both in marching band for the first time. Their practice started the second week of July. They have full marching band practice on Wednesday nights from 6-9 and drum line practice on Tuesday nights from 6-9. Band camp was last week, but modified. Instead of the 9-9 band camp M-F, it was 8-12 and then again from 6-9 and only M-Th. It was canceled two nights because of the threat of thunderstorms.

All fall sports are practicing right now, but we have no idea if there will be a season. With the way case numbers are rising, I’d be very surprised if there is one. Until fall sports are canceled, marching band will continue. If there is a football season, I have no idea if fans will be allowed. If fans aren’t allowed, it kind of seems silly for the marching band to be practicing as who would watch their show, but I guess until we know more, marching band will continue.

 

[okeydokey]

Not sure if College Marching Band will happen at my son's University. They are delaying the start and eliminating the week long try out that happens before classes start. There is talk of the ACC eliminating pre-game and half time shows at least for the first part of the season, and they have eliminated non conference games already. My gut feeling is that the whole thing will be canceled.

 

[mdsouth]

The way I imagine it going down for band, even though I don't think we'll have clear answers until next week, is there will be no competitions this year, regional or local. They will be lucky if they get on the field during half-time -- in fact, there will probably be no playing in the stands.

My director has indicated that the band might have to share virtual performances with the parents, community instead of live performances if the state does not allow the half-time performances. Our parent preshow at the end of band camp week has already been cancelled.

I'm just so sad for my senior. I think I mentioned in another post that he would've been section leader this year. I also mentioned about concert band which is also very important to him (and an actual class/period). How does that go on? I'm grieving not just for him, but for me! Friday nights, competition days, section parties, are part of my social life! I would also feel better if we knew what the school year is going to be like aside from band, but despite our district having a plan, until we actually start, it's hard to say how it's going to go (the spring was a nightmare).

Since band is a class for my daughter, I assume that they are going to do what they can and some of their playing time might have to be recorded at home and submitted online like they did in the spring.

I agree with you, I am going to miss everything that surrounds marching band season. My husband and I have been a part of pit crew for my daughter (this is her Senior year) all four years and we devoted four years to the crew when my son was in school. Since their years in high school did not overlap, we have been a part of the band for eight years! We are going to miss socializing with the other parents.

Here, you can only do marching and concert together. You are so NOT allowed to pick one or the other. It's a full year commitment. It's also a single class period thruout the year, though during competition seasons there are after/before school practices also.

This is the same for us. Marching band is a class in the fall. Concert Band replaces it for the spring semester. Though in the past you could choose to do one semester only if you needed to to fit something else into your schedule.

This is one of the things I'm most sad about. Band means ALOT to my kid. We are still attempting to move forward, but who knows if a season will even happen. We've already dropped out of competition and I doubt there will be football games to go to. Kid is at band camp now but sounds like our band director is more realistic.than yours. We're only doing two 3 hour blocks a day with 1/2 the kids in each, no food, no water, none of the usual band camp field trips and no music for now. That's still groups of 100 though. At least band kids are already good at the social distancing thing!

At this point I just think the band directors (and all coaches, really) just want the kids to stay engaged so they want to come back next year.

I agree with you. Band means a lot to my daughter. Right now, we are still waiting for the state to share what they plan to do with sports for the fall. Our band camp schedule sounds similar to you with a break mid-day to avoid having to feed the students. It has been scaled back from previous years regarding practice time and no food, individual water, etc.

 

[mdsouth]

Of course, my poor kid is a flutist, so none of these options will work for her; they are still working on a solution for flutes. (One test that was done to measure droplet output said that flutes were the worst wind instrument, "like a catapult" was the phrase used.) One suggestion that I have seen for concert flutes is to have each musician play inside a zippered fabric booth, using a mic. (Something similar to this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Under-the-Weather-InstaPod-Pop-Up-Tent/776789147) I'm not sure how they would manage marching; maybe a bubblehead down to the waist? )

Have you found any other solutions to help with the flute? My daughter plays the flute too and we are trying to figure something out that will work. I tried looking for ideas on youtube, but nothing helpful.

 

[sam_gordon]

Our (Kentucky) latest for fall sports...

First official practice August 24 (normally July 15, had been already postponed to August 3). First competition for XC, Soccer, VB, and FH September 7. First competition for FB is September 11. Cheer (sideline and competitive) can practice 8/24.

Seasons will be reduced. Soccer is 16 games (normally 25(?)). Football is 8 (normally 10 or 11). That doesn't count playoffs.

State Association meets again August 20 to make sure things can continue.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

My son is a senior as well and was really looking forward to the show this year. All competitions in our area have been cancelled and football is still up in the air. The band director decided to not even have the drill written for the show since they will most likely not perform anywhere. They did have a greatly reduced camp and just learned the music. He is a trooper and is making the best of it even though he is sad.

 

[BearFamily]

Have you found any other solutions to help with the flute? My daughter plays the flute too and we are trying to figure something out that will work. I tried looking for ideas on youtube, but nothing helpful.

The most recent flute data actually looks surprisingly good. Ask your band Director about the NFHS study out of UC-Boulder. Not all results are in yet, but they were very surprised by how low the aerosol spread was for flute. (Previous studies had not measured actual aerosols from a flute, they had simulated spread through various means including vaping then playing!) There are a couple of theories going on why it’s so much better than anticipated.

They will be recommending flute mitigation techniques in the next few weeks - currently they’ve only really fully addressed brass (bell covers out of 80 denier nylon and masks with a slit for playing cut trumpet aerosol down to basically the level of speech.) I’ve been to three separate webinars now on this research study.

 

[Music City Mama]

Band camp started early in July for newbies. Everyone else returned July 15. Daughter started colorguard practice back in June. They are doing modified shows this fall for parents/families. All competitions have been canceled.

The governor said football can continue. I think it’s having a modified season though, and asking for no fans in attendance . With the way cases continue to creep upwards here it’s a matter of time before things are cancelled.

In the meantime, guard gives my sophomore something to do rather than playing video games all day.

They did have a greatly reduced camp and just learned the music. He is a trooper and is making the best of it even though he is sad.

I'm jealous that you guys continued with band camp. Ours was cancelled.

My director has indicated that the band might have to share virtual performances with the parents, community instead of live performances if the state does not allow the half-time performances. Our parent preshow at the end of band camp week has already been cancelled.

I agree with you, I am going to miss everything that surrounds marching band season. My husband and I have been a part of pit crew for my daughter (this is her Senior year) all four years and we devoted four years to the crew when my son was in school. Since their years in high school did not overlap, we have been a part of the band for eight years! We are going to miss socializing with the other parents.

We're supposed to have a zoom parent meeting in a few days to find out some more details. It will probably include things like virtual performances, but I guarantee they won't be having a show. I'll bet they'll learn some fun songs and talk about how they can maybe play in the stands. I was talking to another parent and since football probably will not have spectators, an idea is to have the band occupy the visitor's side and completely spread out from each other and play in the stands. I'll take anything at this point. We are also props/pit crew parents.

Have you found any other solutions to help with the flute? My daughter plays the flute too and we are trying to figure something out that will work. I tried looking for ideas on youtube, but nothing helpful.

Have y'all seen this?

https://www.fluteairshield.com/abou...xBEtuMjGLPVAnvay_YOlv5AYW6w-AnJgGhA2fwT_HmKYI

 

[monsterkitty]

Have you found any other solutions to help with the flute? My daughter plays the flute too and we are trying to figure something out that will work. I tried looking for ideas on youtube, but nothing helpful.

Some other band directors are having their flute players put their flutes in tee-shirts and tying the it at the foot of the flute with a rubber band. They are then having the players where bandanas instead of face masks.

The most recent flute data actually looks surprisingly good. Ask your band Director about the NFHS study out of UC-Boulder. Not all results are in yet, but they were very surprised by how low the aerosol spread was for flute. (Previous studies had not measured actual aerosols from a flute, they had simulated spread through various means including vaping then playing!) There are a couple of theories going on why it’s so much better than anticipated.

They will be recommending flute mitigation techniques in the next few weeks - currently they’ve only really fully addressed brass (bell covers out of 80 denier nylon and masks with a slit for playing cut trumpet aerosol down to basically the level of speech.) I’ve been to three separate webinars now on this research study.

I've linked the study upthread. CU-Boulder and CSU Fort Collins did the study with one another.

Here is an interview with the flautist and horn player who participated in the study:

Every band director I know is anxiously waiting for the rest of the study as they want to keep the kids safe. My room was not big enough to walk through with 50 kids. If I had to space them 6-9 feet apart I could have about 6 kids. My risers were also built in an "L" shape, which is horrible enough in normal circumstances. With the advice to have the students in lines instead of circles would not be possible in my room.

 

[BearFamily]

Interesting! The NJArtsEd webinar presenter sharing the preliminary results specifically talked about how pleasantly surprised they were at the flute data! I’ll have to watch the interviews later. I have only heard from the oboist who was in the study - they said that the oboe wound up spreading twice as much aerosol as anyone else!

Our state rules are actually 12 x 12 spacing for wind instruments. I’m breaking all of my bands into four smaller groups in order to meet that criteria - very small school, medium sized room, and I’m moving out everything I can to make floor space. It will be very different, but it will keep the kids playing. I’m not trying any of the arts and crafts instrument bag/mask/cover projects yet - I’ve still got over a month so I’m holding out hope that there will be specific instructions like there are for the material for brass. Fingers crossed!

 

[Skywalker3]

Middle Tn here. Our daughter will be a junior, and she decided last week to just not do marching band in the fall, but she's still signed up (so far) for wind ensemble class, IF they have in person classes. not sure what they'll do for concert band, if we have to go remote. Now, we are doing the first 2 wks of school remotely. They'd done 2 practices for marching band in June, cancelled camp for last week, and are doing band camp this week, small groups , either in morning or afternoon. NOT the 8-5, or 8-8 schedule like last year. our daughter said most of her friends quit too, and maybe they'll only have about 30 or so. No plans for competitions, or performing yet....I hope they'll end up being able to do something. It was such an important time for the seniors in band. Hard to decide to not do it, but she wasn't looking forward to this season, and all the uncertainty.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I'm jealous that you guys continued with band camp. Ours was cancelled. https://www.fluteairshield.com/abou...xBEtuMjGLPVAnvay_YOlv5AYW6w-AnJgGhA2fwT_HmKYI

Well it went from a full 2 weeks 8-5 everyday to 1 week staggered 4 hours. They could only be in groups of 25 mostly by section and had to be outside the entire time. Except for percussion which was separated by auxiliary and battery and practiced in the cafeteria and gym (my DS plays snare). Oh and someone decided it was smart to attend while they were waiting for Covid results. Got a positive on Tuesday and everyone in their section is now in quarantine along with their families

Looks like Lee wants fall sports to start so I guess we will see if the band will perform. I’m not very comfortable with it due to spacing issues in the stands.

 

[Chiasgirl]

KSHSAA (Kansas) had an executive board meeting today and voted to keep all dates and events the same. I have a kid that runs cross country and plays in marching band. I’m not convinced this is the best choice.

 

[TJA]

We have about a 1 percent positivity rate for Covid19 in our entire State (New York) and an even lower positive percentage rate in our particular Region of NY (about 0.6) and our individual County has never had more than 3 people hospitalized for Covid19 this entire time. We live in a very low-risk/rural/country area of NY. Having said all that, our high school fall sports are "delayed" so far and many expect our entire sports seasons to all be delayed/changed/cancelled. We should be hearing next week if we are allowed to send kids to school and if kids are allowed to play sports.

 

[Skippy918]

Our district is not competing in band this year, plus BOA was cancelled. All camps and practices have been cancelled.

 

[soccerdad72]

Ohio update: all school vs school scrimmages in contact sports (football, soccer, field hockey and cross country) have been suspended. Non-contact sports can continue (golf, tennis and volleyball). Practices officially begin Aug 1st and can start on time. Still holding out hope that regular season games might be allowed eventually.

 

[Music City Mama]

Middle Tn here. Our daughter will be a junior, and she decided last week to just not do marching band in the fall, but she's still signed up (so far) for wind ensemble class, IF they have in person classes. not sure what they'll do for concert band, if we have to go remote. Now, we are doing the first 2 wks of school remotely. They'd done 2 practices for marching band in June, cancelled camp for last week, and are doing band camp this week, small groups , either in morning or afternoon. NOT the 8-5, or 8-8 schedule like last year. our daughter said most of her friends quit too, and maybe they'll only have about 30 or so. No plans for competitions, or performing yet....I hope they'll end up being able to do something. It was such an important time for the seniors in band. Hard to decide to not do it, but she wasn't looking forward to this season, and all the uncertainty.

I'm going to PM you with question...

Well it went from a full 2 weeks 8-5 everyday to 1 week staggered 4 hours. They could only be in groups of 25 mostly by section and had to be outside the entire time. Except for percussion which was separated by auxiliary and battery and practiced in the cafeteria and gym (my DS plays snare). Oh and someone decided it was smart to attend while they were waiting for Covid results. Got a positive on Tuesday and everyone in their section is now in quarantine along with their families

Looks like Lee wants fall sports to start so I guess we will see if the band will perform. I’m not very comfortable with it due to spacing issues in the stands.

I guess you're in TN too based on your last sentence. What part? Yep, I saw the news yesterday re: Lee and contact sports being able to resume and how there will be no changes to the football schedule. Can't wait to hear how they're going to handle band given this info.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I'm going to PM you with question...



I guess you're in TN too based on your last sentence. What part? Yep, I saw the news yesterday re: Lee and contact sports being able to resume and how there will be no changes to the football schedule. Can't wait to hear how they're going to handle band given this info.

We are in Sumner County.

 

[piccolopat]

I'm a flutist and direct/play in our church's Contemporary Music Group here in NY. I don't know when we will be able to provide music again but I had been looking for a solution for me playing since I can't wear a mask and play. I found something called the Win-D-Fender through a Flute List that I belong to. You can find information on line. This device was originally made for playing at things like outdoor weddings but it was shown on YouTube to significantly reduce the air escaping the headjoint. I bought this recently and while there is a slight sound difference for listeners, it seems to do what it says. It also takes a bit to get used to because the way it works ends up reflecting more sound back at me. I know that air also escapes the key holes and at the end of the footjoint but I stand with the footjoint away from anyone so this will work for me. Hope it helps some of you.