Uniforms

Music Technology Labs

Computer music labs have always appealed to me especially when I see how enthusiastically they interact with software and hardware applications. I wanted to find out how my experiences were shared by other music educators, so I designed a questionnaire that addressed six categories: 1) how the lab was established, 2) budgeting, 3) inventory of hardware and software, 4) curriculum, 5) set up, maintenance and enrollment ideas, and 6) future developments for their labs. Thirteen music educators responded representing elementary, middle and high schools. I am happy to report that the information they provided was insightful and will encourage your interest in a computer lab.

For the sake of definition, I defined a computer music lab as a minimum of two workstations that are dedicated to computer music technology instruction. To my surprise, the average computer music lab in this survey was 22 workstations with MIDI keyboards. Some of these music labs began as early as 1987 with the latest starting up within the last two years. Some labs used only keyboard workstations. There was one with a Palm PDA lab of 30 workstations, but most had traditional computers with MIDI keyboards. The most prevalent applications were sequencing and notation. Classes varied from one music technology class a day to several daily classes. The following music educators participated in this survey, representing 12 states: Dennis Mauricio of Hilltop High School in Chula Vista, Calif.; Bryan Bogue of the Libby Center in Spokane, Wash.; Scott Lard of the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham, N.C.; Richard Smith from North Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City, Okla.; Sarah Bush Randolph from Kelvin-Milne Grove School (elementary/middle schools) in Lockport Dist. #91, Ill.; Joe Chase from the Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas; David Osnowitz from the West New York School District in West New York, N.J.; Mike Matthews from the Vista Middle School in Las Cruces, N.M.; Sebastian Zubieta from the Ross School in East Hampton, N.Y.; Wayne Splettstoeszer from Torrington High School in Torrington, Conn.; Ken Simpson from Brookwood High School in Snellville, Ga.; Brandon Pedigo of Plano East High School in Plano, Texas; Tom Rudolph, from Haverford Middle School in Havertown, Penn.

REPORT: BAND AND ORCHESTRA ON A BUDGET

Based on responses gathered in SBO's fall Budgeting Survey, two points are abundantly clear: annual budgets for school bands and orchestras are typically miniscule - somewhere in the $1,000 to $5,000 range - and, in many cases, non-existent. Also, with limited funds available to music directors, the key to fulfilling their programs' needs is careful planning. A little creativity and resourcefulness can also help directors stretch their funds during a budget crunch.

Prioritizing

Sheet music, instrument replacement, instrument repair, music technology software, equipment and uniforms top the list of budget needs for music programs across the country. Prioritizing these needs is the first step toward a successful budget plan.

Making Room for Music

In many school music departments, storage can be a stealth problem. Unless you had input in the initial design of the music area, chances are the storage areas are inadequate. There never seems to be enough space to store the furnishings and equipment you use on a daily basis, or items used only seasonally. While you focus on day-to-day teaching activities, it’s easy for storage issues to escape detection – until one day, when the stealth problem suddenly demands your attention.

It might be the instrument cases cluttering the floor of the storage room, making navigation dangerous. Or it could be the file cabinets in your music library that are overflowing with sheet music. Maybe the choir robes and band uniforms are hanging unprotected in the open common area or shoved into overstuffed closets. Or, the worst could happen – an instrument is stolen.

If not addressed, storage problems like these can become time-wasting distractions that disrupt the teaching and learning process. In addition, improperly stored equipment is more susceptible to damage or theft. This article will offer trouble-shooting advice for common storage problems related to three of the most expensive types of equipment found in school music departments: instruments, sheet music and uniforms. For each type of equipment, solutions should strive to minimize the space required while maximizing the amount of protection.

SURVEY: MUSIC BUDGETS

This month's nationwide Survey on music budgets indicates that there is oftentimes a fine line between budgeting and fundraising. In many cases, middle and high school band and orchestra programs rely as heavily on fundraising support as they do on school budget allocations - if not more so. In some cases, according to survey results, music programs could not survive without the aid of student and booster fundraising efforts.

At schools in many parts of the country, the budget picture is grim. Twenty-five percent of directors surveyed report that their programs have suffered severe cuts or frozen budgets in recent years. With the assistance of booster groups and fundraising campaigns, many directors are able to make ends meet, while others are barely able to scrape by - and some just do without.

J.J. Pipitone

Photos by Jaime Carrero, Carrero Photography, Lewisville, Texas.

The students in the Lewisville (Texas) High School marching band arrive at the band hall at 6:30 a.m. each day for a before-school rehearsal. The percussionists, led by Percussion Director J.J. Pipitone, begin the process of moving all of their equipment to the football stadium for rehearsal, which is held from 6:45 to 7:45 a.m. every day before school.

Rehearsals are held on Saturdays, too. In the fall, three hours of Pipitone's Saturday mornings are spent in drum line and marching band rehearsals. When marching season is over, all-day Saturday rehearsals begin for the springtime percussion ensemble.

"That's a lot of Saturdays for me, all year long," notes Pipitone, who has been teaching percussion at Lewisville for seven years.

Jo Ann Hood

Photos by Jim McGuire, McGuire Photography, Nashville, Tenn.

Jo Ann Hood has taught music education for 30 years – every single one of them in her native Tennessee, and most of them in the Metro-Nashville School District, where she presently teaches.

For the last 23 years, Hood has led the John Overton High School Band to distinction in the face of insufficient arts funding and stiff competition for her students’ talents from area magnet schools. For the upcoming school year, each marching band student will be asked to raise $900 to participate in the activity. On the years that the band travels, the price tag goes up, depending on the destination. When the band performed in Hawaii last year, the week-long trip cost students $1,300 each.

“We get no funding from our school system at all, except for a small budget for the repair of school instruments,” Hood notes. “We have to raise money to support the band, which is not right, but that’s the way it is around here.”

Another challenge Hood faces each year is trying to draw her next crop of musicians from only one feeder middle school in her cluster. She anticipates that a re-zoning of the cluster, planned in the next few years, should help alleviate this struggle.

Bave Bellis

Photos by David Huber, David Huber Photography, Worland, Wyo.

When the Wyoming High School All State Marching Band passes through town, it’s difficult to miss. The entourage consists of 13 motor coaches carrying 500 band members and a colorful, Pepsi-sponsored semi trailer loaded with the musicians’ instruments and equipment.

Throughout the summer, this massive band comprised of Wyoming high school students from 47 high schools makes stops along its statewide tour to perform in various towns – many of which do not even have a local marching band. At night, the sleeping figures of band members and chaperones on air mattresses and sleeping bags cover every square foot of the gym floors of area high schools and colleges.

The All State Marching Band comes together every couple of years to represent the state of Wyoming in a national performance, such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York or the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland. Most recently, the 500-piece band marched in the millennium Tournament of Roses Parade in California. For that occasion, band members boarded 19 different flights out of four airports in four states in a single day and arrived in Los Angeles every few hours, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The students and chaperones filled up an entire Embassy Suites hotel during their stay.

And that’s just a small portion of the enormous undertaking that Dave Bellis and his wife, Dawn, orchestrate. Dave Bellis is the band director and his wife is a guidance counselor at Worland High School (Worland, Wyo.). Together, they serve as the executive directors of the Wyoming All State Marching Band and share the assorted responsibilities that go along with the job. Dave’s emphasis is on travel planning, while Dawn takes charge of chaperone recruitment, among other duties.

The first All State Marching Band was formed in 1991 for the state of Wyoming’s centennial anniversary.

“To be honest with you, I stole the i

Eric Weirather

Photos by Becky Gemmell, Gemmell Photography, Vista, Calif.

In the Warner Bros. video “Here Comes a Marching Band,” actor Dave Hood invites viewers to join him on the campus of Rancho Buena Vista (Calif.) High School, which he calls “the home of one of the best marching bands in the country.” Hood, who adds some physical comedy to the serious business of learning about the marching band, literally “crashes” band practice by knocking over a cymbal stand and landing on the band room floor. The 130 students in the ensemble turn around to see what caused the ruckus.

Then the camera lens focuses on band director Eric Weirather, who offers to explain to Hood the intricacies of being involved in the marching band. He shows him drill charts and reveals how students learn their marching moves. When Weirather invites Hood to join the band, the actor is both overjoyed and overwhelmed by the honor. Hood’s first order of business is to determine what role he will play in the band. He visits each section of the band – percussion, woodwinds, brass, color guard, drum major. The students demonstrate their instruments for him and answer his questions about their roles in the band.

An Honorable Orchestra

The students in the W.T. Clements High School orchestra program are at the top of their class. Orchestra directorPenny Meitz, who has taught music in the public schools for 24 years, has never seen such academically-focused students. On a recent trip, a group of orchestra students met every night to study for the AP Chemistry exam. Last year, 32 students from Clements High School were recognized as National Merit Scholars. Many of the students are so intent on boosting their grade point averages that they have to be persuaded to stay in orchestra, which is not an honors-level class.

Those students who have remained in the program have helped the orchestra earn two distinct honors in the three years that Meitz has been director. Last year, the ensemble was invited to perform at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, and this year the Texas Music Educators Association has selected the Clements Symphony Orchestra as this year’s Honor Symphony Orchestra for the state of Texas. As part of this honor, the orchestra will perform at the TMEA convention in February.

The school’s Sugar Land, Texas, neighborhood has a substantial Asian population, and about 90 percent of the Clements Orchestra is Asian, Meitz estimates. The cultural emphasis on excellence extends from academics into the music realm, she notes. Many of the Asian students in

REPORT: HOW TO WRITE A GRANT PROPOSAL

HOW TO WRITE A GRANT PROPOSAL
In addition to teaching, music educators often find themselves saddled with a variety of other responsibilities that are time-consuming, but very important to the prosperity of their programs. One of those tasks is grant-writing. When extra funding is needed to pursue a special project outside the day-to-day operation of the music program (above and beyond fundraising efforts), many directors turn to grant-makers for financial support. But the process is complicated, and every grant opportunity has a sea of applicants vying for attention.

Getting Started
When writing a grant proposal, it is important to have a clear definition of the project in need of funding. Otherwise, determining prospective sources of funding will be very difficult. The Congressional Research Service recommends envisioning the project from the perspective of the potential grant-maker to determine its viability. The Service also suggests contacting recipients of the grants in question for insight into the recipients’ experiences with the grant-making organization.

Marching Band Show Designer Software

These are exciting times to be a marching band director. Show-design software is more versatile and powerful than ever before. No longer are creative performances relegated to football half-time shows. With ease and speed, directors can design shows for basketball pep band, color guard, parades, pom-poms, and much more. There is no limit to the size or venue in which your students can now perform.

Show-design software has also opened up the business possibilities for directors. Basically, there are four routes to take. First, the most common and popular practice is to hire a professional to create a custom show for your band. The cost for this will range from $1,500 to $10,000. Another choice is to purchase and perform pre-designed shows from publishers such as Warner Bros., Arranger's Publication or Creative Consultation Services. This cost can be $200 to $1,000. A third option would be to purchase show design software and fully edit a pre-designed show. Your increased confidence with this technology can reap impressive rewards for your program. Lastly, band directors can successfully design their own shows with the new, more powerful show-design software products.

It is important to note that directors do not necessarily save intellectual time with the computer but tedious mechanical time is saved. Show designing with a computer still requires understanding of the music. The computer allows you to explore ideas and quickly find out if your creative thinking is on target. The computer can help create good precision drills, pictures/formations or transitions between formations. You'll still need to take the time to conceptualize the best design before you instruct the computer and its software what to do.