In my high school marching band, us in the drum line had this really hard to reach mark for one show. We had something crazy like 30 yards on a 16 count. Just absolutely hoofing it.
None of us could do it consistently, except for the 2nd bass drummer who was really tall and had a really wide gate. Anyway, he’d hit is mark every time. And every time he did, the band director would yell at him because even though he was in the right spot, everyone else was wrong together, so we all looked correct and he looked wrong because while we were in a perfectly straight line, he was another 5 yards or more to the right of us. He looked ridiculous.
And what made it worse was that our line was supposed to connect with a curved line in the low brass section. Their curve was supposed to reach out and run right down to the point of our #1 snare drummer. And that 2nd bass drummer would be in their way every time. And in an attempt to avoid a collision, they would change from a smooth arc into a weird curvy wobble just to avoid him.
The band director was sick of it ruining the spectacle. The band was sick of getting points off in competitions. So, when the band director said “make the form work, and if someone is in your way, run them over,” no one in the formation spoke out against it.
The next run through the song, that 2nd bass drummer got walloped by a two tubas, and then got his bell rung by a trombone player. He was right. He was always right. And in being right, he looked wrong, he made life harder for everyone around him, and ultimately was hurt because of his stubborness.
The lesson was finally clear to him: when you are in Rome, you do as the Romans do. It doesn’t matter how confident someone is that they are supposed to be driving on the right side of the road, if everyone else agrees to drive on the left, then that person will get in a head on collision. And then we the attendees of their funeral can write “They were right” on their gravestone. For some things in this world are worth dying for, and some things are not, and there is a certain wisdom in distinguishing the two.
Is there a reason that the band director couldn’t modify the drill to make something actually achievable, or simply reflect the reality of how it was being performed?
My marching band days were in high school and i don’t really remember if our drill ever got changed midway through, or how.
I know the original thread was about speed limits, but i don’t usually think about marching band so this is fun.
Lol, no problemo! I’m happy to talk marching band.
Basically, he was a perfectionist with high expectations. He wrote his own arrangements and wrote his in drill sheets. He didn’t want to change it because he wanted us to be able to do it. To his credit, we punched way above our weight class. We competed as a AAA band despite being a single-A size and we regularly ranked in the top 3.
He only taught at our highschool for a few years. Then he taught at a university across the country, was there a few years, and is now the band director of a very well known university band. Not interested in doxing him or me, so pardon the vagueness.
I think he is much better suited for his current role rather than the highschool he was at while I was there. Thankful for the opportunity and stewardship, but with the hindsight of adulthood, he pushed us kids more than was appropriate. Not dangerous, just disproportionate to our age.
That’s a great story. Glad he went on to bigger and better things!
Our band director would tell us that we were “outstanding in our field” quite often during practice. Our band was all volunteer / extra curricular, and we would compete in band festivals in which we were often the only band in our (small) size category, and win by default, but we’d try to be louder than the bands where participation in band was mandatory for music students.
So your point is, I’m in my lane, driving the speed limit, and some asshat with shit for brains drives like a fucking lunatic comes up behind me, now I have to drive like a fucking lunatic too?
However i have been on roads where the posted speed limit was something like 45, but the average speed limit of the 10+ cars around me at any time was 65 / 70, due to the road’s design encouraging that speed. (This was when i was traveling in Long Island, NY).
I could go against the grain and drive 45, and that would be perfectly legal, but likely more dangerous than trying to match the slowest speed of other cars around me.
In my high school marching band, us in the drum line had this really hard to reach mark for one show. We had something crazy like 30 yards on a 16 count. Just absolutely hoofing it.
None of us could do it consistently, except for the 2nd bass drummer who was really tall and had a really wide gate. Anyway, he’d hit is mark every time. And every time he did, the band director would yell at him because even though he was in the right spot, everyone else was wrong together, so we all looked correct and he looked wrong because while we were in a perfectly straight line, he was another 5 yards or more to the right of us. He looked ridiculous.
And what made it worse was that our line was supposed to connect with a curved line in the low brass section. Their curve was supposed to reach out and run right down to the point of our #1 snare drummer. And that 2nd bass drummer would be in their way every time. And in an attempt to avoid a collision, they would change from a smooth arc into a weird curvy wobble just to avoid him.
The band director was sick of it ruining the spectacle. The band was sick of getting points off in competitions. So, when the band director said “make the form work, and if someone is in your way, run them over,” no one in the formation spoke out against it.
The next run through the song, that 2nd bass drummer got walloped by a two tubas, and then got his bell rung by a trombone player. He was right. He was always right. And in being right, he looked wrong, he made life harder for everyone around him, and ultimately was hurt because of his stubborness.
The lesson was finally clear to him: when you are in Rome, you do as the Romans do. It doesn’t matter how confident someone is that they are supposed to be driving on the right side of the road, if everyone else agrees to drive on the left, then that person will get in a head on collision. And then we the attendees of their funeral can write “They were right” on their gravestone. For some things in this world are worth dying for, and some things are not, and there is a certain wisdom in distinguishing the two.
Is there a reason that the band director couldn’t modify the drill to make something actually achievable, or simply reflect the reality of how it was being performed?
My marching band days were in high school and i don’t really remember if our drill ever got changed midway through, or how.
I know the original thread was about speed limits, but i don’t usually think about marching band so this is fun.
Lol, no problemo! I’m happy to talk marching band.
Basically, he was a perfectionist with high expectations. He wrote his own arrangements and wrote his in drill sheets. He didn’t want to change it because he wanted us to be able to do it. To his credit, we punched way above our weight class. We competed as a AAA band despite being a single-A size and we regularly ranked in the top 3.
He only taught at our highschool for a few years. Then he taught at a university across the country, was there a few years, and is now the band director of a very well known university band. Not interested in doxing him or me, so pardon the vagueness.
I think he is much better suited for his current role rather than the highschool he was at while I was there. Thankful for the opportunity and stewardship, but with the hindsight of adulthood, he pushed us kids more than was appropriate. Not dangerous, just disproportionate to our age.
That’s a great story. Glad he went on to bigger and better things!
Our band director would tell us that we were “outstanding in our field” quite often during practice. Our band was all volunteer / extra curricular, and we would compete in band festivals in which we were often the only band in our (small) size category, and win by default, but we’d try to be louder than the bands where participation in band was mandatory for music students.
So your point is, I’m in my lane, driving the speed limit, and some asshat with shit for brains drives like a fucking lunatic comes up behind me, now I have to drive like a fucking lunatic too?
No.
However i have been on roads where the posted speed limit was something like 45, but the average speed limit of the 10+ cars around me at any time was 65 / 70, due to the road’s design encouraging that speed. (This was when i was traveling in Long Island, NY).
I could go against the grain and drive 45, and that would be perfectly legal, but likely more dangerous than trying to match the slowest speed of other cars around me.
In my world, driving 45-55% faster than the speed limit is driving like a fucking lunatic, so yes, that is what you’re getting at.
It is so weird then that in the USA, there are places that driving “sane” singles you out, and is more dangerous.