Re: Forget the Jocks....Got any Band Geeks in here?
Played percussion from 6th grade to 12th grade. In high school I was on a drum line that had about 20 members in a 220 member band. All of our music was written especially for us. We played some difficult stuff (for a HS band) such as Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (by Buddy Rich) and Caravan (by Duke Ellington). I would not trade the experiences I had in that band for anything. The director taught us so much about life and the world (we did not understand that was what he was doing at the time) that it made me a better person.
As I look back on it I can understand how a band in a small town (My graduating class was 200 and there was only one HS in the county) could afford $5000 in marching snares, $7000 in marching bass drums, a set of $10000 timpani used on the sidelines, $20000+ in marimbas, xylophones, bells, etc used on the sidelines, etc, etc. The community stood behind the program because of the conviction of the director and his morals. He is one of the very few men that I consider a role model to this day (and I am 31) I defy you to name another south GA town that had a HS band that had a budget equal to or greater than the football team. We practiced in a $4M music building. The HS weight room was built in the 1970's.............