Instruments meant for Marching band show

The members of a marching band play umpteen number and variety of musical instruments. The most popular ones however are percussion instruments, brass and woodwind. Since the instruments are not that heavy these can be easily carried and played during marching band show music performances.

French horn, Cornet, Tuba and Trumpet are some of the brass instruments that are included in a marching band.

·Usually pitched in the B flat, a cornet is pretty much like the trumpet. It is technically a transposing instrument and is broadly used in all brass bands.

·Having undergone a lot of changes with the passage of time, another transposing musical instrument used marching band show music performances is the trumpet. While the trumpet was initially used for declaring danger it is now a major instrument for jazz band members.

·The largest instrument in a brass-wind family, the tuba is a deep sound producing musical instrument.

·Producing a very different musical effect with its bell point backward, the French horn is yet another very important instrument of a marching band.

Saxophone, flute, oboe and a clarinet are some other Woodwind instruments that are used in a marching band. Because of the uniqueness of its sound, a clarinet founds lot of use in band performances. The flute is a human-made instrument and the oboe is a two key instrument used mostly in orchestras and military band performances.

Music: The Soul of Life

Not every kind of music is pleasant to the ears, for music is subjective by nature. Produced by singers or musical instruments, music is an artistic form of auditory communication. The pleasantness however is solely dependent on the music band.
There are two main types of bands –

1.    Concert band – The kind of instruments involved in this type of band are bowed stringed instruments, percussion, woodwinds and brass. This kind of music can be performed at a particular area or location. One common example of concert band is an orchestra that is usually headed by a conductor.

2.    Marching Band – Mostly guided by a drum major, these bands usually perform while marching or making certain marching formations. Performing at outdoor events like parades or half time shows, there are several professional marching bands like inspire music marching band that put up great marching band shows.

While concert music band are the regular music you get to hear at every other events, it’s the marching bands that experiment a lot with compositions and music types. Music selection as they say is the key.

The inspire music marching band gives equal value to other things besides music too. For instance the drill including the color guard, the impact points, the audience response moments, the transition clarity etc. Similarly the effects like individuals, duets, ensembles, the tempo, movement, props and the 30-second rule.

When capturing the human emotions and reacting well to moments of sadness, surprise, excitement, silence, suspense etc, al of it contributes in making a good show, great. And lastly the details! From uniforms to body postures, feet, horn angles, hair jewelry and make-up, inspire music marching band knows just how to do it best.

Craze for Marching Band Show

The key to a great marching band show is the music composition selection. There are a couple of questions that you need to bear in mind when choosing a marching band composition.

1.    What’s your target audience? Community, football fans, you yourself, students?

2.    After your audience movies out, will they be singing, humming or whistling a part of the music from the show? In case of original compositions this is very likely to happen.

3.     Is your marching band composition going to make someone feel happy or excited?

4.    Will you have volunteers from the audience wanting to join you?

5.    Is the music composition versatile? Meaning does it have all elements of emotions for the audience to connect?

6.    Is the composition the most important part of your show, your band’s strength maybe? If so, then one has to make conscious effort to make the effect visible too.

7.    The instrumentation has to be balanced. Having the artistes to switch instruments to help the band ‘sound’ is integral. It is suggested that one sousaphone should be used for every two trumpets. Ideally saxophones make a great transition to sousaphone. Similarly flutes make a great transition to Melloney/French horn.

8.    Also, a balanced woodwind presence is very important. if the music also has a woodwind feature, then it is an added advantage.

9.    The bands that have their own arranger and drill writer, co-ordination with them is mandatory.
The stock arrangements from the ‘marching show concepts’ often offer different difficulty levels in both the music and the drill.

Arranging a Successful Marching Band Show

Marching bands shows has recently become very popular. The concept of marching bands is not new, from centauries many bands perform in various occasions and events. These shows are been conducted mostly by military concerns. They play inspirational music instilling passion and devotion in the audience. To make such shows successful the marching band arrangers have to work very hard. To compose inspirational music is not an easy task. There are many trials a music goes through before considering it finally for an event.

For composing and arranging inspirational music we need to consider so many things like the audience (students, parents, communities or players etc.). Then the second step is the event or occasions we will be performing at. If it’s some historic event, some recreational place  or some party or some sad occasions etc. We need to write our music according to it.

Selecting a music and notes to play is the “Key” to a successful marching band show. Our music should inspire and excite people. It should inspire students to be part of marching bands. If we are composing our music on our own then it should be a challenge for us. It should not be an easy one. It should represent a good level of difficulty to our band. Another thing that can make our shows successful is instrumentations. A well balanced instrumentation with perfect instrument switching can make it more elegant and glamorous watching. Our music should capture human emotions. Once we achieve this it means we are successful. So think many times before composing. Coordinate your team and then decide how to go about it so that when show ends up people leave humming your music.