Write Marching Band Routines
Writing a marching band routine is definitely challenging. However, it's also the best way to maintain artistic control over your show. Designing a show from scratch, including writing the drill, takes a considerable amount of coordination with your staff and patience on your part, but the result is worth it. Read on to learn write marching band routines.
Instructions
1. Call a staff meeting with your design team. This should include the winds arranger, percussion arranger, color guard choreographer, the band directors and the visual designer (if different from you, the drill writer).
2. Listen to a bunch of CDs for ideas for a show concept, then decide on a theme for the year's show, including what sections of the original music you want to include in your eight- to 10-minute show.
3. Brainstorm. As a team, the designers of the different sections may have unique, but equally important, ideas. So, listen to the other staff members for ideas, especially if it's outside of your area of expertise. For instance, if you have traditionally been a music person, lean on your guard choreographer for ideas for writing the marching band's drill routine. If you are more of a visual person yourself, pick the brains of the music staff to see what they are envisioning in their heads when they write or arrange the music.
4. Purchase Pyware 3D Java, or other drillwriting software, if you don't already have it. Find out from your winds and percussion arrangers what music writing software they have (usually Sibelius or Finale) and purchase that as well.
5. Get the score from your winds arranger, preferably in both digital and hard copy form. Listen to it and start to sketch some ideas for forms (nothing fancy, just draw some shapes that you think will align with the music well). You will use this sketch book to write your marching band routines in a later step.
6. Develop a count sheet. Sit down with the score, and break it up into phrases to which you write each move in the routine. Having both an electronic form (via Sibelius or Finale) to watch and listen to, as well as a hard copy to make notes on, really comes in handy at this step. Your phrases should make sense musically, and are determined heavily by how fast you want the drill to move and how many sets you want to make the kids memorize. In a typical song of 4/4 measure, sets are usually four to eight counts each for advanced groups and 16 to 32 counts (with lots of mark times and holds) for beginning groups.
7. Open your Pyware 3D Java software. Referring the count sheet and sketches you made in earlier steps, write your marching band's drill. Try to be innovative in designing the routine, but be respectful of your band's capabilities and skill level.
