Klarinet Archive - Posting 000254.txt from 2002/10

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Marching band --- not what I expected
Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 22:00:30 -0400

At 09:00 PM 10/6/2002 +0000, Jonathan wrote:
>...I see a few problems with marching bands. I think the biggest one,
>though, does not only apply to marching bands. Music should be kept
>music. Any visual effects or 'showy' visuals are frivolous and takes
>attention away from music as an aesthetic art. People tend to spend too
>much time worrying about what sort of visual presentation a marching band
>or even a symphonic orchestra is going to make. Marching bands have
>uniforms and steps while orchestras have tuxedoes. It's all about a
>visual impression. But music isn't visual. Why worry about visual when
>performing music? Worry about the music itself. Keep the music about
music.

As someone already said, the point is synergy. People who would go to hear
your concerts in a hall are not necessarily the same ones who attend the
football games. In order to get them to listen, you have to add a little
more color to the performance via movement and other visual effects. The
movement and effects alone would bore that audience without the music just
as much as the music alone would without the visuals.

Marching band will never equal a concert band in terms of the MUSICAL
development of school students. But so many other things CAN be learned in
marching band (if it is done right), including dedication, coordination,
teamwork, etc. that its value as a general learning experience can actually
be much greater than its musical value alone. Been there, done that, and
you cannot take all that I learned away from me.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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