Klarinet Archive - Posting 000620.txt from 1996/12

From: David Blumberg <reedman@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: military bands
Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 15:00:49 -0500

I agree that there are some military bands worth playing in, but the player
should make sure to hear them first, before enlisting if at all possible.
Langley does have a very fine program. I went to school with Peter Foreman,
one of the Clarinet Quartet members of Langley's base. I have heard many good
things about the military program. I have also heard many bad things. It does
however beat unemployment. I wish I had a recording of the Rite of spring Band
ver. But I understand that they don't make those public.
David C. Blumberg
Reedman@-----.com

----------
From: Klarinet - Clarinettist's Network on behalf of Nathaniel F Johnson
Sent: Monday, December 23, 1996 12:50 PM
Subject: Re: military bands

On Sat, 21 Dec 1996 19:49:36 -0800 Scott Bogner <sbogner@-----.NET>
writes:
>>Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 19:37:17 -0800
>>To: klarinet@-----.bitnet
>>From: Scott Bogner <sbogner@-----.net>
>>Subject: Re: military bands
>>
>>Do not let anyone fool you!!! There are very few Military bands
>worth
>getting involved with!!! I spent two years at Indiana University
>studying
>the clarinet.
>>The summer before my Junior year I lost my student loans. So I
>decided to
>join the navy band to save for college. They will lure you in by
>promising
>you a rewarding career for doing something you love. They made it
>seem like
>they were doing me a favor by letting me audition for them when I
>did'nt
>have a bachelors degree. When I arrived at the Armed forces School of
>Music
>in Norfolk, VA, I was horrified to find out than most of the players
>there
>were right out of high school. Then they informed me that I would be
>required to play the saxophone as well. At least at the school there
>were a
>number of good clarinet instructors. However, once I got to my
>permanent
>duty station in San Diego, California I found out the truth about what
>I
>would be playing. I have spent the last four years playing "Anchors
>Aweigh", every Sousa march known to man and cheesy tunes like "the
>Lion
>King". And once your enlisted there is no getting out of it. No self
>respecting Clarinetist should EVER join a military fleet band!!! If
>you are
>truly interested in military bands the only ones that are any where
>near
>professional are the Anapolis Academy Band and the Washington D.C.
>navy
>band. Do not see a recruiter!!! To get into these bands you need to
>audition at the site!!! You dont need to talk to a recruiter!! Dont
>sign
>anything until you read it THOUROUGHLY!!! I'm sorry if I sound
>bitter. But
>I have wasted the last four years of my life playing with a bunch of
>high
>school kids. (Not very good ones at that)-----Samantha
>>

Yes, it's unfortunately true that many military bands out there
play almost nothing but marches and ceremonial music, and in their
occasional venture into the concert band idiom they play cheesey medleys
of movie / Christmas / patriotic tunes. HOWEVER please don't believe
that this is the rule, as it is not. There are a lot of military bands
that play very good music and play it very well. For an example, try to
lay your hands on a recording of the Air Force band at Langley playing
their own wind ensemble arrangement of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring."
Or if you're into jazz, tryi to find an album called "The Higher We Fly"
by the Air Force Academy Falconaires (the AFA band has since been
redesignated the Air Force Band of the Rockies). Everything on this
album is great, but of particular interest are their version of "Caravan"
and a jazz band arrangement of the "Firebird Suite." The members of
these upper-level groups (which can, I believe, be found in all of the
services (I just mention the A.F. bands because I am more familiar with
their recordings)) are generally NOT "right out of high school". In
fact, as I understand it, the majority of the members of these
upper-level groups have degrees in music, and graduate degrees are fairly
common, as well.
As for part-time bands (National Guard): It is not reasonable to
expect a group that rehearses for two days per month to play like the
Eastman or North Texas Wind Ensemble. However, there are a lot of them
out there that perform at a surprisingly high level. The one of which I
have been a member for eight years is a good example. We have a number
of members with degrees in music. There are several Graduate music
students in the group (myself included), as wll as two Doctoral music
students. We have just released our first compact disc, a disc that I
consider truly remarkable for amount of time that we have together.
The moral of the story is that you must know what you are signing
up for. It would be to your advantage to find a group that you like and
sign up for that particular group. This is allowed in the National
Guard, as well as the higher level full-time bands. You of course must
audition for a military band,so that the band leadership will know that
you are the right person for the band, but it is also important that the
band audition for you to find out if it's the right group for you. Get a
recording or watch a rehearsal.
There are many, many military bands in the US and many are well
worth finding out about. And don't forget about all of the educational
benefits that are available.

Nathaniel Johnson
Conductor / Clarinettist /
All-Around Good Guy
University of Northern Colorado