MB Drills

Marching Drill Writer

For marching bands, drum corps, color guards, & indoor percussion ensembles

Yes! Believe it or not I am so much into marching band and drum corps that not only can I teach a band basic marching technique and arrange music for them, but I also have written marching drills for a few marching bands in Indianapolis.

When writing a drill for a marching unit my goal is always to try to make sure that the movement matches the musical intent with the ability of the marchers. I write all of my drills on paper and then I take them to the computer to plot the points and to round off the curves. I hardly use the computer for movement alone. I believe that the drill should be something that the musicians can grow into as the season goes on along with trying to capture the musical aspect of the music.

Another large goal that goes into my writing is staging. Staging is probably one of the most underrated details that is missed in writing a drill. I really try to bring the main features to a place on the field that the musically make since. If the music is discombobulated, expect to see some discombobulating in the drill.

The last thing that is considered is level of difficulty. Like I said, I do take the level of the musicians into account when I am writing. I try to make things that visually look really hard to be taught real simple. Some of the hard maneuvers that are done today look real complicated, but with a step by step instruction, a lot of those maneuvers are pretty simple.

Overall I see writing drill almost like writing or arranging music.

Here is a composition that I did for Channel One Suite. If you are familiar with the song, I took the first few phrases that lead to the second big hit of the first movement.