I see in a lot of these threads the comparison of student writers and directors? Is this fair? If the director writes all of you music then what does that say about your music program as opposed to having the students compose the music. 

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  • The band is a direct reflect of the director that runs it.

    That's all there is to it...
  • It doesn't say anything about your music program. Some directors just want to make sure only high quality arrangements are being played. Why have a staff of 3 or 4 directors if none of them are going to arrange any songs for the band. I can see having music majors to write some songs and only let the best of the best leave the band room, but to exclusively just use student arrangements doesn't make sense if you have multiple directors on staff.

    At my school, you got your shine time with section fanfares and second semester with the pep band. The marching band was pretty much all director arrangements. Now of course we have had our fair share of students to get their arrangements played (Eric Baskin, Roy Johnson, Nathan Haymer, etc.), but that is out of the norm when you have directors that have great skills. We were always welcome to bring our arrangements to a director and let them critique and give us some advice. We have a ton of area high schools and a lab school on campus, not to mention just getting some of your friends to read through the arrangement . Just because a school doesn't play student arrangments exclusively doesn't mean those students aren't getting any experience.
  • I agree with u to a degree.....I think it should be a joint effort...I kno when I was at NSU Adams believed college was the perfect platform to exercise your arranging ability and he would fix what you might not know.....I think it gives u a different kind of experience....I dont think the band director should have to arrange rap tunes......I think thats perfect oppurtunity for the students....


    number1 said:
    It doesn't say anything about your music program. Some directors just want to make sure only high quality arrangements are being played. Why have a staff of 3 or 4 directors if none of them are going to arrange any songs for the band. I can see having music majors to write some songs and only let the best of the best leave the band room, but to exclusively just use student arrangements doesn't make sense if you have multiple directors on staff.

    At my school, you got your shine time with section fanfares and second semester with the pep band. The marching band was pretty much all director arrangements. Now of course we have had our fair share of students to get their arrangements played (Eric Baskin, Roy Johnson, Nathan Haymer, etc.), but that is out of the norm when you have directors that have great skills. We were always welcome to bring our arrangements to a director and let them critique and give us some advice. We have a ton of area high schools and a lab school on campus, not to mention just getting some of your friends to read through the arrangement . Just because a school doesn't play student arrangments exclusively doesn't mean those students aren't getting any experience.
    Is a college marching band supposed to show off the talent of the students or the director?
    I see in a lot of these threads the comparison of student writers and directors? Is this fair? If the director writes all of you music then what does…
  • If the director writes all of the music, then that means he simply micromanages the way he wants his band to sound and what he wants it to play.

    There is nothing wrong with students arranging music for the band if they know what they are doing. It's a good learning experience for the kids, and it's kinda cool to hear your work being played by a real band. But it is at the director's discretion as to what songs leave the bandroom.

    When it comes to music, that's all it is...MUSIC, and all is fair.
  • We seem to see this topic every couple of months.

    It's the band director's prerogative. SU, BCU, and FAMU rarely use student arrangements, but their graduates tend to do well. PV, TxSU, and NSU allow their students to use the band as a testing lab (with guidance and supervision, of course) for their writing and conducting classes. Neither way is wrong.

    To answer the original question: The band's talent is shown by playing. The music department's talent is shown by the writers, arrangers, teachers, and performers it develops.
    MONTHS.IT
  • if someone is hired to arrange music his job is simple... arrange music.
    even if a student does arrange something it gives that said arrangement no excuse to sound or be played a certain way.
    and as far as my knowledge. all of Southern's current and previous directors were student arrangers at 1 point in time.
    just like number1 said the students arrange fanfares
  • It says your music program wants professionals with experience to arrange the music.(nothing more....nothing less)
  • Exactly!

    When its time to lace up the boots on saturday afternoon, you want to put your best foot forward. Student arrangements are not the best that the university has to offer if you have arrangers with experience writing for the band.

    SU/B-Tone98_MPhiB said:
    It says your music program wants professionals with experience to arrange the music.(nothing more....nothing less)
    Is a college marching band supposed to show off the talent of the students or the director?
    I see in a lot of these threads the comparison of student writers and directors? Is this fair? If the director writes all of you music then what does…
  • True. students are there to BE LEAD effectively until they learn enough to become effective LEADERS.
    The original question is not very thoughtout. Its not about who gets to showboat. Its about adding good pieces to complete the whole puzzle.





    PVSax99 said:
    The band is a direct reflect of the director that runs it.

    That's all there is to it...
    Is a college marching band supposed to show off the talent of the students or the director?
    I see in a lot of these threads the comparison of student writers and directors? Is this fair? If the director writes all of you music then what does…
  • Just because your director writes most or all of your music does not implicate incompetence of that particular music program. I am a graduate of Prairie View A&M University’s music department and we played mostly the songs that were written by Prof. Edwards, Prof. Gordon or alumnus who were proficient music writers. This was due to the fact that there is a certain sound that Prof. Edwards was trying to achieve.

    Prairie View, at the time I was in the band) utilized many different musical aspects to produce a rich sound. To get the maximum potential out of each arrangements, voicing, phrasing, various articulations, dynamic levels, and a wide array of chords were used (Aug+6, secondary dominants/leading tones, Neopolitans, suspensions, incomplete chords, etc....) Most arrangers, especially student arrangers, are not experienced enough to create arrangements of this magnitude without making a mistake or two in the process (voice leading principles, orchestration, voicing, enharmonics, etc....)

    With that being said, Prof. Edwards allowed us to write selections but he would ask us questions concerning the theory of the piece, and if we had one chord spelled enharmonically wrong, did not know what kind of chord we had used, etc... then we were not allowed to pass out or play the piece. There were some of us that were able to pass out some arrangements but that was far and in between.

    That is the reason that PV did not have many student arrangers and I would say that those are the same reasons why most programs do not have many student arrangers. To me, those reasons so how competent or proficient your music program is, if the directors care enough about the students not to let persons pass out any kind of music. I have seen some persons WRITE AND PASS out music written with no key signature and all the sharps and flats written in. So what does that say about your director if he lets someone pass out music that is not theoretically correct? That spells incompetence on his part!!!
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