Marching Percussion Tuning Techniques

What Is Your Desired Sound? Some General Concepts:

• Cutting/articulate/staccato?
- Tune higher.
- Use larger amounts of muffling (this will decrease volume but shorten the length of note, resulting in a more staccato sound).
• Very resonant? To create a booming sound?
- Use less muffling.
- Tune in the low to mid-range.
• A blend of resonance with articulation? A percussion sonority that bends with the band?
- Obviously this is the middle-ground of the above two extremes.
- Tune in all ranges depending on the instrument, with a focus on the mid-range.
- Tune snares a medium to high pitch, basses a medium to low pitch, and tenors bridging the gap (6” is tuned high while 14” is tuned low with substantial tone).

Dynamic Marching – “Translating Marching Fundamentals Exercises to Your Show Performances”

It is October. The end of the season is near. The entire field show is on the field. You have had three or four competitions and some football game performances under your belt. You have a general idea how you stack up musically and visually against your competitors. But nothing is set in stone and each new performance brings with it the opportunity to show a new set of judges and fans just how close you can come to your potential.

Brass Advantage with Wayne Downey

Welcome back to the land of “All Things Brass.” This installment of Brass Advantage is titled “Making a Good Sound on the Trumpet” or for that matter, any brass instrument.

If your trumpet players are having trouble playing in tune the problem may be related to tone. A shrill or nasal tone is easily confused with playing sharp and a dull tone can be confused with playing flat. A resonant tone is important for developing the concept of intonation (playing in tune) and for the student’s aesthetic satisfaction. A poor tone must be remedied so the student can play in tune and progress satisfactorily with all aspects of playing the trumpet (or any brass instrument.) To develop a good tone, students need a good embouchure, sufficient breath support and familiarity with a high-quality model tone.

Techniques Latihan untuk Front Ensembles(Pit)

Pemanasan telah selesai, dan semua bagaian dari pelatihan pit sudah dilengkapi. Saatnya berlatih dengan semua seksi musik. Kamu sebagai pelatih pit harus mengambil kesempatan ini untuk dimanfaatkan sebaik-baiknya! Ada beberapa posisi strategis yang memudahkan anda dalam mengevaluasi musiknya secara efektif: di depan pit, dibelakang pit (tapi menghadap ke depan) dan dari ‘press box’ (berhubung di gpmb tidak ada press box, idealnya di posisi tempat duduk VVIP kalau di istora). Yang paling ideal adalah kita letakkan staff pelatih pit di masing2 posisi tadi. Jika tidak punya staff yang mencukupi kita harus membagi waktu untuk mendengar dari beberapa posisi tadi.

Musikalitas dan Leadership

Suatu pandangan teoritik terhadap Marching Percussion Indonesia

“The common problems of this two bands are leadership” (Jonathan Fox; ketika membuka komentar di saat masa komentar babak final drumbattle DMC 2009 antara The Beaters Vs BC)

Setiap acara besar marching band seperti GPMB dan DMC, pasti tersisa makna positif yang bisa dipetik. Belum lama GPMB 2008 dan DMC 2009 berakhir, tetapi menurut pandangan saya begitu banyak ilmu yang bisa diserap dari kegiatan ini. Dalam hal ini saya lebih membahas ke masalah ilmu marching band. Semua pembahasan dalam artikel kali ini berangkat dari kutipan komentar Jon Fox.