[Major Event] UIL State Contest

[CPFrntEns]

Facinating little fun fact here: Did you know that Cedar Park, with it's 237 members, was the second smallest band at State Finals? I think we're pretty big for a high school marching band, and yet 80% of the bands were bigger than us. Huh. Big schools, I guess. Don't know who was the biggest, all I know is we were the second smallest.

Edited November 7, 2008 by CPFrntEns

[SeaMoosi]

i wasnt asking if our difficulty was being bashed or anything, i just thought it was an interesting comment.

and to the parent from haltom, that must be tough being in the same area as them, and i wish i could've seen yalls show. it was nice seeing you guys at comps and stuff this year.

 

and on the difficulty thing, yes, i believe harder drill should be rewarded, but only to a certain extent. if a band marches difficult drill that they just cant do, then its not right for them to be given points just cuz they aimed higher. however, if they march it *well* but not *as well* as a band with easier drill, thats even footing in my opinion.

 

wow. state really does bring out all the opinions in us. haha.

[treblemaker]

  CPFrntEns said:

Facinating little fun fact here: Did you know that Cedar Park, with it's 237 members, was the second smallest band at State Finals? I think we're pretty big for a high school marching band, and yet 80% of the bands were bigger than us. Huh. Big schools, I guess. Don't know who was the biggest, all I know is we were the second smallest.

 

I guess size really does matter...

 

Too easy.. Sorry.

Edited November 7, 2008 by treblemaker

[Clarinet_Lover41]

  CPFrntEns said:

Facinating little fun fact here: Did you know that Cedar Park, with it's 237 members, was the second smallest band at State Finals? I think we're pretty big for a high school marching band, and yet 80% of the bands were bigger than us. Huh. Big schools, I guess. Don't know who was the biggest, all I know is we were the second smallest.

 

I am assuming we are the band that was smaller than you in state finals....

[melissa94583]

  titancoaster said:

CP kids, believe me, no one is going to question the difficulty of your drill, it was very demanding and you pulled it off well. Most people are commenting on bands such as Coppell who had easy drill, so of course they were squeaky clean, and is it fair to rewared lower demand?

(I say a little dirtier but higher demand should trump super clean easy easy drill)

 

Can you define 'easy' drill for me. I spoke to someone at the Arlington competition that said he was an assistant director to a world class DCI team and he seems to think Coppell drill was about a 5 on difficulty, seem to be in the middle by his standards. What makes a drill 'difficult'? I'm not a band member or anything so I have no point of reference. I'm just a band parent trying to get a better understanding.

[andysoccer]

My band director told us a few years ago that its not about what you have but its about how you do it. I also used to believe that harder drill should be rewarded but thats just not how it is or it how it will ever be, in UIL atleast. Coppell will always have less demanding drill but they will also always sound amazing, which is what UIL is mostly about right? If you look at Duncaville and Marcus, they usually follow that same trend and it is obvious in both of their sounds.

 

Also, I was at state alllll day. It seriously is like amazing how talented our state is. It was just like great band..after great band...after great band. And finals was insane. I agreed with the Marcus placing even though I thought Bell's show was "cooler". I think it'd be really hard to deny Marcus of a championship with a sound like that, it's almost ridiculous how well they blend and balance. I can't imagine being a judge, it would seriously be so hard.

 

 

One quick question though, why do Bell's tubas sit down at the beginning? Like I've never really asked but I've always wondered, sorry if this question has been asked before..

[eatmyshorts5]

  frhsband said:

Duncanville and Cedar Parks bands were loud and impressive but what about the bands that actually did some hard marching. Should they just now focus on not marching and be loud and forget the hard things. I saw many bands that didnt do hard marching (not saying it wasnt hard in that way) they did practice and do hard things but what about the ones with not as much sound that did the "technical hard" marching.

 

I am still disturbed by the straight jacket people that was strange! They did it well but it was disturbing.

 

But most definately in all the UIL contests I think the state judges were allll over the place with their scores!

 

I think Marcus had the better show and it reflected in their being number one as it was a great show. I do see how it is harder for the schools that have smallers bands and budgets to compete with the others though.

 

 

Oh please Ducanville and Cedar Park had probably some of the hardest drill of the night. Don't give me that crap that "they didn't do any marching."

[Mad.Hatter]

I've been eavesdroppig on this thread this week and have found it interesting in a deja vu sort of way. I follow 4A bands and following last year's state tournament this same discussion was had on this forum - specifically, questioning judging, large movement in standings from prelims to finals, easy shows vs more difficult ones, BOA vs UIL, etc. It's almost like I'm watching a rerun. I will say for us then it was cathartic to have a place where you could let your emotions run their course (vent) so you could move on. I think emotions is a very big part of these events and it isn't possible to put them aside easily, so I understand the frustrations and the elations. Fortunately we have a place that provides this outlet to relive the highs and unburden the lows. Thank you TxBands for providing such a great site and for your work tracking this year's marching season; I feel like I actually attended all the competitions.

 

It's a good discussion, though (maybe a new thread can continue the UIL/BOA point as long as points are not made at another band's expense). Everybody has been working hard since this summer towards this same goal so I have a great deal of respect for all of you who've put your heart and sweat and energy into creating something you can be proud of. And for those who were fortunate enough to be selected for State, congratulations. I hope that, like you, our band can again move on to next year's 4A State tournament; even if there's a chance I'll be back on this board venting a year from now!

[iceeblue2]

  andysoccer said:

Also, I was at state alllll day. It seriously is like amazing how talented our state is. It was just like great band..after great band...after great band.

 

 

 

And just think of all the other amazing bands with great shows out there that missed state by one or two places just because their area was crazy stacked with talent...

[piccologirl]

  eatmyshorts5 said:

Oh please Ducanville and Cedar Park had probably some of the hardest drill of the night. Don't give me that crap that "they didn't do any marching."

 

While I am not saying that I do not think that other bands had hard drill, I do know that this was some of the hardest drill I personally have ever done in my four years marching. Our starting tempo was 174 and our final (last part of the 3rd part) was at 186. We do feel that we did very well on this drill, but we cannot change the judges' scores.

 

Good job to everyone there. I enjoyed the shows that I saw.

[kdnblue142]

  andysoccer said:

My band director told us a few years ago that its not about what you have but its about how you do it. I also used to believe that harder drill should be rewarded but thats just not how it is or it how it will ever be, in UIL atleast. Coppell will always have less demanding drill but they will also always sound amazing, which is what UIL is mostly about right? If you look at Duncaville and Marcus, they usually follow that same trend and it is obvious in both of their sounds.

 

Also, I was at state alllll day. It seriously is like amazing how talented our state is. It was just like great band..after great band...after great band. And finals was insane. I agreed with the Marcus placing even though I thought Bell's show was "cooler". I think it'd be really hard to deny Marcus of a championship with a sound like that, it's almost ridiculous how well they blend and balance. I can't imagine being a judge, it would seriously be so hard.

 

 

One quick question though, why do Bell's tubas sit down at the beginning? Like I've never really asked but I've always wondered, sorry if this question has been asked before..

 

Just another band parent with no music background....who has learned tons of stuff this past marching season and still learning...

I was at all the UIL competitions and both days at BOA volunteering and I agree very much so how very talented this state is. We just moved here over 3 yrs ago from California and I am still amazed by all of the talent and all the hard work.

 

Recently I was going through videos of the marching bands in So Cal (went to high school there, many, many years ago). There is pretty much no comparison to the marching here in Texas. Yes, they work hard too and would never deny them that, but it's not the same level, with a few exceptions. If you see how many march at the Los Angeles BOA is 16 bands and not all are from Cali. They have tons of marching festivals though. My old college does march at BOA (Riverside City College-go Marching Tigers!!!) but it seems to be a big exception.

 

By the way, from the UIL booklet they give out at State, I think it said Duncanville has 350 participants. I will be corrected if I am wrong lol. And I did notice too that the tubas at Bell sit at the beginning of their program.

[Steeldrum]

What qualifies as a hard drill? Does difficult drill require abstract forms with really fast tempos, plum shaking, crawling, leap frogging, or running from one set to another while another section plays music? Or is it more difficult to keep defined formations, large rotations and straight lines while constantly playing music? Perhaps Coppell, Duncanville and others made their drill look easy because they executed it so cleanly.

 

As most of you participating band members didn't get the chance to see all of the other bands are you really qualified to say who had easy drill and who didn't? Wait and watch the high view tapes, then you can comment about drill diificulty.

[treblemaker]

  eatmyshorts5 said:

Oh please Ducanville and Cedar Park had probably some of the hardest drill of the night. Don't give me that crap that "they didn't do any marching."

 

It's not always about just playing and marching it's also about WHAT you play and march..

[Xenon]

  treblemaker said:

It's not always about just playing and marching it's also about WHAT you play and march..

 

Absolutely. Playing while marching 10-to-5 at 140 isn't the same as playing while marching 6-to-5 at 176.

[treblemaker]

  Xenon said:

Absolutely. Playing while marching 10-to-5 at 140 isn't the same as playing while marching 6-to-5 at 176.

 

Not only that but are you just blasting a power chord while jazz running backwards or are you busting out some technical notes while doing the same thing. IMO any band can stand in reverse concert archs and blast and sound loud. The REALLY good ones can do that with drill. But again that's just my opinion. Mine just mine.

[pj68]

  kdnblue142 said:

Just another band parent with no music background....who has learned tons of stuff this past marching season and still learning...

I was at all the UIL competitions and both days at BOA volunteering and I agree very much so how very talented this state is. We just moved here over 3 yrs ago from California and I am still amazed by all of the talent and all the hard work.

 

Recently I was going through videos of the marching bands in So Cal (went to high school there, many, many years ago). There is pretty much no comparison to the marching here in Texas. Yes, they work hard too and would never deny them that, but it's not the same level, with a few exceptions. If you see how many march at the Los Angeles BOA is 16 bands and not all are from Cali. They have tons of marching festivals though. My old college does march at BOA (Riverside City College-go Marching Tigers!!!) but it seems to be a big exception.

 

By the way, from the UIL booklet they give out at State, I think it said Duncanville has 350 participants. I will be corrected if I am wrong lol. And I did notice too that the tubas at Bell sit at the beginning of their program.

 

 

 

I watched the video from BOA SA and they were playing concert tubas. They do not march those.

[Clarinet_Lover41]

Our drill is really hard... and I was really glad to see more bands with harder drill this year than before.

[kdnblue142]

  pj68 said:

I watched the video from BOA SA and they were playing concert tubas. They do not march those.

Thanks....told you I have no music background (but am learning....)

[takigan]

  kdnblue142 said:

My old college does march at BOA (Riverside City College-go Marching Tigers!!!) but it seems to be a big exception.

 

You are my hero. I'm an alumni of Blinn College, and we're said by many to be the running example of Community College Band programs in Texas (not saying much, but still ), but we don't hold to candle to RCC.....they're one of the few examples of non-DCI marching arts that exists for marching arts enthusiasts who are too old for drum corps (and pretty much the only example of BOA-style marching band) in the nation.

[kdnblue142]

  takigan said:

You are my hero. I'm an alumni of Blinn College, and we're said by many to be the running example of Community College Band programs in Texas (not saying much, but still ), but we don't hold to candle to RCC.....they're one of the few examples of non-DCI marching arts that exists for marching arts enthusiasts who are too old for drum corps (and pretty much the only example of BOA-style marching band) in the nation.

thanks!!

My sister lives just a few blocks from RCC and says if they hear the band or drumline playing, they go over to watch and listen. (I used to live in a old house converted into apartments and the field was practically in our back yard!!!). I love to go on youtube and watch them play. They used to hold the Lester Oaks Marching Festival there (it's Nov 15th). Not anymore though.

[BigBari]

  titancoaster said:

CP kids, believe me, no one is going to question the difficulty of your drill, it was very demanding and you pulled it off well. Most people are commenting on bands such as Coppell who had easy drill, so of course they were squeaky clean, and is it fair to rewared lower demand?

(I say a little dirtier but higher demand should trump super clean easy easy drill)

 

 

  CPSnare91 said:

amen brother, although I'm obviously biased. I do think the attempt of harder drill should me rewarded, but not if it is so much dirtier that it takes away from the show. A little dirtier, harder, is worthy of a higher score IMO

 

I totally disagree. When our band director (from Coppell) talks to us about how judges critique other bands he says, "They look to see if you do what you are doing clean, very rarely do UIL judges discredit a band for props or no props. As long as you do what you do clean the judges will love you." I understand our drill was easy but we played and marched the entire time. Now grant it we stopped for dramatic affect on the power notes but we marched and played the rest of the time. If a band can play running 16th notes at 180+ with 10to5 steps and clean yes, they should be HIGHLY HIGHLY rewarded. But if its really dirty at 180+ then i think they shouldnt be as highly rewarded as marching clean at 140+.

[SaxPrincess2011]

  frhsband said:

Duncanville and Cedar Parks bands were loud and impressive but what about the bands that actually did some hard marching. Should they just now focus on not marching and be loud and forget the hard things. I saw many bands that didnt do hard marching (not saying it wasnt hard in that way) they did practice and do hard things but what about the ones with not as much sound that did the "technical hard" marching.

 

I am still disturbed by the straight jacket people that was strange! They did it well but it was disturbing.

 

But most definately in all the UIL contests I think the state judges were allll over the place with their scores!

 

I think Marcus had the better show and it reflected in their being number one as it was a great show. I do see how it is harder for the schools that have smallers bands and budgets to compete with the others though.

 

Okay, so Duncanville is loud and impressive. But think about it. Just like when directors give simple-looking music that is in reality extremely difficult, you can apply the same thing to a marching show. The number of sets you have doesn't make your show more or less complex than any other band. Duncanville has a purely great sound and is widely known for giving a phenomenal show every marching season. So yes, we can say "what about the bands that did some 'hard' marching?", but you have to keep in mind the difficulty of the drill AND music of other bands such as Duncanville.

 

I didn't get to see the straight jacket show. lol

 

and I agree about the judges' scoring.

Edited November 8, 2008 by SaxPrincess2011

[DVILLEc-netpimp]

  kdnblue142 said:

Just another band parent with no music background....who has learned tons of stuff this past marching season and still learning...

I was at all the UIL competitions and both days at BOA volunteering and I agree very much so how very talented this state is. We just moved here over 3 yrs ago from California and I am still amazed by all of the talent and all the hard work.

 

Recently I was going through videos of the marching bands in So Cal (went to high school there, many, many years ago). There is pretty much no comparison to the marching here in Texas. Yes, they work hard too and would never deny them that, but it's not the same level, with a few exceptions. If you see how many march at the Los Angeles BOA is 16 bands and not all are from Cali. They have tons of marching festivals though. My old college does march at BOA (Riverside City College-go Marching Tigers!!!) but it seems to be a big exception.

 

By the way, from the UIL booklet they give out at State, I think it said Duncanville has 350 participants. I will be corrected if I am wrong lol. And I did notice too that the tubas at Bell sit at the beginning of their program.

actually the little booklett (me and my sax friend passed them out) said that we have 300 participants and that was coppel who had 350

[Xenon]

  DVILLEc-netpimp said:

actually the little booklett (me and my sax friend passed them out) said that we have 300 participants and that was coppel who had 350

 

Actually, the programs from State have Coppell listed at 315 and Duncanville at 350.

 

 

And for historical purposes, here is the whole list from the State program (performance order):

 

Harlingen - 175

Akins - 153

Richland - 210

PSJA North - 149

Westfield - 150

Vista Ridge - 148

Marcus - 290

Keller - 300

Clements - 225

Berkner - 240

O'Connor - 225

The Woodlands - 260

Churchill - 240

Hebron - 250

Langham Creek - 192

Duncanville - 350

Fossil Ridge - 150

Harlingen South - 143

LD Bell - 300

Spring - 200

Bowie (Austin) - 250

Donna - 150

Hanks - 155

Cypress Falls - 176

Coppell - 315

Lopez - 135

Brazoswood - 286

Cedar Park - 238

Haltom - 178

Hanna - 210

Westlake - 227

[drummerjake]

  BigBari said:

I totally disagree. When our band director (from Coppell) talks to us about how judges critique other bands he says, "They look to see if you do what you are doing clean, very rarely do UIL judges discredit a band for props or no props. As long as you do what you do clean the judges will love you." I understand our drill was easy but we played and marched the entire time. Now grant it we stopped for dramatic affect on the power notes but we marched and played the rest of the time. If a band can play running 16th notes at 180+ with 10to5 steps and clean yes, they should be HIGHLY HIGHLY rewarded. But if its really dirty at 180+ then i think they shouldnt be as highly rewarded as marching clean at 140+.

whatever.

our show was better anyways.

roflcptr.