General Effect is about the complete concept of the show, have everything related!
As an example: in Indonesia many corps have problems to do “transitions”. A transition is a moment between two songs, or a moment to chance equipment for the colour guard.
It is many times seen that a song stops with a climax, everything stops and everyone is asking themselves: “What happens?”

When you visit a good musical and there was a nice climax the show goes on with something that attracts the attention of the audience. In corps this can be done by a single colour guard dancing or a special intro from the pit or something else but DON’T STOP after a climax! You will loose the attention of the audience and judges and it will take quite some while to attract this attention again!

Same goes for equipment changes for the guard, many times this happens when the corps does not move, The guard is running to the side to pick up new equipment so everybody is looking to that running guard, does not make any sense because the guard is only running! You should have another focus point in the show so people don’t see that the guard is picking up new flags because they’re looking to something else! Imagine the surprise when the all of a sudden the guard has other equipment without anybody noticing!

What to think about all those drills where the corps moves all the time as three different units? In Indonesia the drumline is often not an integrated part of the display! They are hanging in the back or on the side, during a percussion feature in front but seldom they are an integrated part of the display!
For the integration of the guard things became better over the last years but many corps still have a problem with integrating the guard in the complete show design!

Some corps play sweet songs and their display consists of blocks or triangles, does not fit! Sweet songs come with arcs and smooth lines, blocks and triangles go together with aggressive music!
Flag colours and shapes are also part of GE, using triangle formed flags with hard colours does not fit sweet songs!

Please evaluate your shows and see if these comments fit your scores on GE, I will be back on more special issues about judging on www.trendmarching.or.id
These comments are meant to be neutral and of use for all instructors of corps and marching bands in Indonesia. It does not make sense to criticise judges or systems, it only makes sense to build a better show concept!

Wil Bijl
Certified judge for DCE (Drum Corps Europe)
Writer for Drum Corps World

• Ulasan GPMB 2009 Indonesia
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• Drum Corps World

I think it’s great when a band or a band program has a style or look that is its own.  Many marching bands perform a certain type of music well, usually driven by the interests of the director.  This sense of a particular “identity” can be a strong plus for a program.

However, I want to encourage all directors to take some chances and “mix it up!”  Even if you have a certain genre or style of music that your band performs well or traditionally is known for, I suggest that you stretch those boundaries and try some new things.

In the genre of classical music we have everything from Haydn to Stravinsky and beyond.  Jazz can be Dixieland or Pat Metheny, and Broadway shows range from “Mame” to “In the Heights.”

Allow your band, your staff, and yourself to grow.  Try challenging yourself to take a different route, or at least stretch into something a little out of your comfort zone.  Your audience, fans, and students will benefit and appreciate something different.

Winter color guard has a big fan in the world of entertainment. Heather Henson, daughter of Muppets founder Jim Henson, is prominently featuring flags and props inspired by winter guard in her elaborate stage show titled Panther & Crane.

“It’s a puppet show embedded in a collage of dance and animation,” Henson says. “I love using all the senses to create emotion and mood. I also love spectacle with meaning, so there’s a story line about the environment. It’s all done in service to give people a sense of harmony and a sense of beauty of nature.”

The hour-long Panther & Crane has been performed several times for festivals and special events. Henson continues to refine the show and hopes to make it available to a broader audience.

“It’s still in development and every time we do it, it’s a work in progress,” Henson says. “We’re trying to get it down to a small enough cast that can be economical to tour.”

The show’s combination of color guard and puppetry is not unusual for Henson, who continually experiments with new ways of expressing movement.

“I’ve always been intrigued with manipulating objects and finding things that will move beautifully,” she says. “I studied animation, where you break things down and study the way they move. But because I’m also from the world of puppetry, there’s a lot of movement that I love to work with that can only be done live.”

Henson has experimented with many types of movement. In theatre she worked with making confetti move in different ways. She even experimented with liquids on overhead projectors.

“Some experiments failed, like the time I got a snowmaker and used blacklight snow material. I was trying to do a dance where we would manipulate the snow with big fans. It didn’t work at all! But it was interesting and I kept trying to do new things.”

Discovering winter guard
Henson first heard about winter guard when a percussionist friend told her she might be interested in the guard activity. She went online and was thrilled to discover the art form.

“I looked at all those amazing videos. I had no idea! I was completely impressed with that world,” Henson says.

Henson eventually bought some flags to put into her show, but she had not yet been trained on guard techniques.

“I gave the flags to my performers and said ‘OK, wave them around, do something.’ It wasn’t going very well!”

Fortunately, she was reconnected with choreographer Genevieve Bernard of Voci Dance in Orlando. The two had met years earlier but at that time Heather didn’t realize Genevieve had a background in color guard. Genevieve’s credentials include instructing Field of View Winter Guard and performing with The Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps.

“Genevieve was amazing. She had great information,” Henson says. “We brought Genevieve in to choreograph the flag section in our first show. She made it look a lot better.”

As Panther & Crane evolved, the collaboration became even stronger. Genevieve trained the dancers and put flag movement throughout the show. Heather added other objects for the dancers to work with.

“We use bird wing flags that are dyed to look like feathers, and we have cloud flags that are hand-dyed. We also have angel wing flags that are like swing flags on a J-pole,” Henson says.

Large tarp flags are used to provide visual and audible enhancement during a storm sequence.

“We like the sound of the tarp flags. They’re hard to handle because they’re heavy. The performers have to use a ton of muscle when they’re swinging the tarps back and forth. I love the look of the body when it’s working against an object, the push and pull.”

Patterns and nature
The environmental theme for Panther & Crane grew from Heather’s love of nature. She explained this passion while paging through a journal of sketches she had made in preparation for this interview. The sketches were skilled interpretations of water flowing and grasses moving in the wind.

“The basis for a lot of my artwork has been nature. I love seeing form and function. I love seeing patterns in nature such as flow patterns in water, growth patterns in shells, growth in leaves. I think I’ve always been looking for patterns.”

“I was always intrigued with unison movements of parades,” Henson adds, recalling her exposure to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from a young age.

“With almost anything, once it’s repeated and done multiple times it becomes beautiful. I think that’s what happens a lot in winter guard. You do one thing, but you do it in multiples and you do it in sync, and it’s gorgeous.”

Beyond Panther & Crane
Heather is involved in multiple projects through her company, Ibex Puppetry. She produces a film series called Handmade Puppet Dreams as an effort to bring broader exposure for cutting-edge puppetry on film.

“There are lots of interesting puppet films that get lost in the cracks. They don’t make it into animation festivals because they’re live action. They don’t make it into live action festivals because they’re quirky and they look a bit too much like animation,” Henson explains. “I put them all together and we have our own little festival.”

“This process has made me appreciate my father’s work even more. I think my father was a master of puppetry on film. He really did hone it. He made puppets that were specifically made to be seen close up on television or film. Their faces have so much articulation, so much emotion. I think Sesame Street and The Muppet Show are some of the best examples of puppetry on TV or film. But with Handmade Puppet Dreams, I’m trying to show that there are other things out there besides the Muppet style, so I tend to show other styles that don’t have as much exposure.”

Ibex also produces the annual Orlando Puppet Festival and strives to present monthly programs for the Orlando community, ranging from children’s shows to edgier puppet “slams.”

Henson is open to deeper collaboration with the winter guard activity. She talks excitedly about the winter guard videos she has purchased or viewed online, and she is pleased with the beauty even simple flag movement has added to Panther & Crane. In the future she has dreams of raising the level of flag technique in her show.

“I’m completely enamored of the skill in winter guard,” Henson says. “People practice all day long for days and days. The dedication is extraordinary and the level of creativity is wild.”

For more information about Heather Henson’s work and for news about future performances of Panther & Crane, visit IbexPuppetry.com.

Photos by Marching.com. Logo image courtesy of Ibex Puppetry.

Copyright 2008 Marching.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published or redistributed without permission.

Rifle spins require split-second timing and precision. Executing spins requires an understanding of the fundamentals and years of practice. Once you get the hang of it, rifle spins can add a new level of excitement to any color guard routine. Read on to learn how to spin a rifle as a color guard.

Instructions

When sewing your flag, a good place to start is to take out the instructions (if there are any.  These are good instructions so if you got a sewing kit with no instructions, then you have come to the right place to get them!)

There should be a way for you to figure out which pieces need to be sewn together.  Take out the pieces and lay them out the way that they fit together in the instructions or picture that you may have been provided.  If you don’t have a picture to reference from, try your best to lay out the pieces.  It may become a puzzle for you,  but try the best you can.

The image below is an example of how the pieces should come numbered, color coded, or organized a different way.

Next, take a look at the pattern picture that you’ve been given, and over lap two of the pieces that need to be sewn together about a 1/4 of and inch.  Pin the two pieces to each other using strait pins that should be about 2-3 inches away from each other.

Below, is an image that shows you how you should pin the flag pieces together.

Once the silk pieces have been pinned together, you can start to sew the pieces together.  A good stitch to use is a zig-zag stitch.  This will ensure that the fabric does not unravel.  You can also use a Serger but it is not recommended for sewing together Lame.  (Tip:  if you have to sew Lame, either use a sealer seam or make a seam along all edges before you sew the pieces together.  Since the Lame is woven, the Serger seam will just rip out the weave.  Sew a hem first.)

As you sew, pull out the pins and set them aside in a safe place.  If you are worried about fabric unraveling, you can reinforce the fabric in any way you know how (i.e. making a hem or sewing over the fabric again.)

Once you are done sewing the flag together and have hemmed all of the outside edges, it is time to sew the loop on.  The loop is the piece of fabric that allows the flag to attach to the flag pole.  ( Note:  Most aluminum flag poles are about 1 inch in diameter, so make sure that the loop is big enough for the pole to fit through.)

Basic Steps From start to Finish:

1.  Design your Flag

2.  Make a Pattern and cut out Pieces

3.  Sew it all together

]]> http://library.marchingband.web.id/2009/02/03/color-guard-flag-sewing-tutorial/feed/ 0 http://library.marchingband.web.id/2009/01/29/color-guard-flag-construction-tutorial/ http://library.marchingband.web.id/2009/01/29/color-guard-flag-construction-tutorial/#comments Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:37 +0000 admin http://library.marchingband.web.id/?p=108 colorguardcentral.com

When constructing your flag, a good place to start is to transfer your design onto a posterboard.  Before you do this, make sure that you know the final desired dimensions of your flag.  Most posterboard is 36 inches by 28 inches.  If your flag is larger than this, you might have to cutout and tape together a few pieces of posterboard to get the desired size of your flag.  Use a large ruler, or yardstick to measure the posterboard and create the cutting lines.

In the image below, we had to cut out about 4 pieces of posterboard to get a 3 foot by 4 foot flag.  The pieces were taped together using masking tape.

After you have a properly sized piece of posterboard, you next have to transfer your design onto the posterboard.  To do this, it is best to use pencil for the initial drafting lines.  Then, once you have the design looking the way you want, use a Sharpie marker to trace over the pencil.

In the image below, we’ve finalized our design on the posterboard.  We also labeled the colors that correspond to each piece.

Now, it’s time to cut out the pieces you’ve just drawn.  I’ve found that scissors work best, but an Exacto knife will work also.  Before or after you’ve cut out the pieces, you should assign each piece a number.  This is to ensure that you don’t get confused when you start cutting out the fabric because a lot of the pieces could look very similar.

The images below show the pieces after being cut out, and then being numbered.

The next step is to use the posterboard pieces to cut the flag pieces out of fabric.  I’ve found the best way to cut poly china silk is to use a solding iron, or wood burner.  Exacto Knives work ok, but they create snagging in the fabric, and it take a little longer.

When using the soldering iron to cut out the fabric, you need to make sure that you have a good base, so you won’t burn any tables.  Plywood, or particle board are good bases …we use drywall because it’s smooth and doesn’t burn easily.

The image below shows us cutting out a piece of fabric using a soldering iron. (It’s a good idea to lay your pieces out before your cut them to insure you don’t waste fabric.)

This image shows the two tools we recommend for cutting fabric, the soldering iron and Exacto Knife.

Once all the pieces are cut out for a certain number, it is important to label the piece by pinning a piece of paper or post-it with the corresponding piece number.  This prevents you from mixing up the fabric pieces.  This also helps the sewer put the pieces together without getting confused.

Below shows an example of the pieces being labeled with numbers.

Once all of the pieces from your posterboard pattern have been cut out and labeled, use gallon sized freezer bags to put sewing kits together.  Put one of each number in the bag and include a printout of the pattern and instructions on how to sew the flag together.  (It may be a good idea to use the paint image that you use when designing your flag, just add numbers.)

Below you can see the fabric pieces in the bags, and then the finished sewing kit with the instructions included.

Now, after you’ve finished all your sewing kits, it’s time to sew them together.

]]> http://library.marchingband.web.id/2009/01/29/color-guard-flag-construction-tutorial/feed/ 0 http://library.marchingband.web.id/2009/01/26/flag-design-tutorial-using-microsoft-paint/ http://library.marchingband.web.id/2009/01/26/flag-design-tutorial-using-microsoft-paint/#comments Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:27:56 +0000 admin http://library.marchingband.web.id/?p=107 colorguardcentral.com

When designing your own flag, a good place to start is looking at other already designed flags in Band Catalogs.  I recommend Band Shoppe or McCormick’s catalog.  They both have websites you can look at for flag designs.

Flag Design Shapes:  There are many variations of flag shapes that you can use when designing a flag, but remember that your show is in your creative control.  So, if you don’t find a flag shape you like, you can come up with your own shape.

What to use to Design your Flag:  A great way to visualize your flag and it’s colors is to use Microsoft Paint.  Microsoft Paint comes standard on any PC running Windows.  To access Paint, go to Start>Programs>Accessories>Paint.  Open the Program and use either the line tool, the box tool, or the pencil tool to draw the shape of your flag.  Next, use the same tools to draw the design in the interior of the flag.

In the image below, we use the box tool to draw the rectangle shape of the flag, then we used the line tool to draw the straight lines within the flag.

After you’ve drawn the outline of your flag design, now you can start to color it.  Use the Paint Bucket tool to fill the different sections of your flag with the colors you want to use.  (Tip:  You can double click on the colors in the color palette below to create a custom color)

Now, you can play with the colors until you come up with the perfect color combination for your flag.  (For more information on what colors mean, Click Here).  Below, we copied our flag and pasted four different version, using the paint bucket to change the flag colors.  To copy your flag use the selection tool (above the paint bucket) and select your flag.  Next copy it (ctrl + C).  Now paste the image (ctrl + V). Then, move the pasted selection away from your original flag.

After you’ve come up with the perfect design, Print it out and show it to your band director.  After it’s been approved find the colors that you want in a Catalog.  Most catalogs will send you swatches of all the fabric colors that they have for free.  Most of the catalogs also provide the service of creating the flags for you in the colors that you want…as long as it’s their design.  This can be quite expensive, ranging from $15-$70 per flag!

(Finished product of a flag designed in Paint)

Salah satu tujuan saya memberikan pemaparan pada episode sebelumnya adalah untuk menstimulasi rekan-rekan yang juga duduk ke pendidikan tinggi untuk juga berkontribusi terhadap kemajuan marching band di Indonesia. Dari unit yang mengikuti beberapa kejuaraan bergengsi di Indonesia seperti GPMB, beberapa berasal dari unit universitas. Dalam satu unit saja terdiri dari 80 sampai 100 anggota, berasal dari berbagai fakultas dan disiplin ilmu. Mari kita simulasikan ide sederhana ini:

1 unit marching band universitas = 80 calon sarjana/diploma = 80 topik skripsi/TKA

1 kejuaraan marching band biasanya terdapat 4 unit universitas x 80 personil = 320 calon sarjana/diploma.

320 calon sarjana/diploma = 320 skripsi/TKA = 320 ide/topik = 320 topik marching band

Lebih hebatnya lagi, di Indonesia, terdapat lebih dari 20 universitas yang memiliki kegiatan marching band, yang mana kalau semua berkontribusi dengan topik berbau marching band, maka akan terdapat 1600 TOPIK / IDE MARCHING BAND !! Dan ini baru satu angkatan saja. Sangatlah indah jika semua ini terjadi demi kemajuan marching band di Indonesia.

Ide-idenya pun barangkali tidak terlalu sulit dan bisa di relasikan dengan berbagai disiplin ilmu dan jurusan studi. Tidak harus mereka yang berasal dari jurusan musik dapat membuat skripsi tentang marching band, ilmu-ilmu eksakta seperti fisika, teknik elektro, mesin dan ilmu kehutanan pun bisa.

Salah satu ide yang saya kemukakan diatas barangkali bisa diperluas menjadi topik skripsi yang menarik, seperti:
1. Psikologi perkembangan anak dan drum band anak (psikologi),
2. Metode efektif dalam mengajar musik di marching band (pendidikan)
3. Sosio-komunikasi antar pemain marching band (ilmu komunikasi),
4. Leadership dalam sebuah marching band (managemen),
5. Standar akuntansi dalam marching band (akuntansi),
6. Unsur kebudayaan x dalam mempengaruhi kerja sama dalam latihan marching band (ilmu budaya/kesusasteraan)
7. Hal-hal yang mempengaruhi proses pengaratan alat tiup logam (kimia/farmasi)
8. Pengelolaan kayu x sebagai bahan dasar pembuatan snare drum / marimba (kehutanan/pertanian)
9. Proses pembuatan vibraphone menggunakan logam x (teknik mesin/eletro)
10. Proses penentuan frekwensi suara yang ideal pada bar marimba (instrumentasi/fisika)
11. dan lain-lain

Mengenai literatur dan referensi berkaitan dengan marching band, jangan takut. Internet adalah salah satu sumber luar biasa banyak untuk mengunduh semua sumber-sumber itu. Website seperti www.jstor.org dan proquest berisi ribuan bahkan jutaan artikel yang berasal dari jurnal-jurnal internasional, yang dapat kita unduh untuk melengkapi penelitian kita.

Masih banyak ide yang bisa muncul dari aktifitas yang kita gandrungi selama kuliah, pagi siang malam bersama latihan yang melelahkan dan menghabiskan waktu. Alangkah baiknya kesemuanya itu dirangkum dalam sebuah karya tulis yang akan diakui institusi tempat kita menimba ilmu. Sehingga secara tidak langsung para petinggi universitas, baik dosen, dekan dan rektor akan menghargai kegiatan marching band di Indonesia.

Ini adalah sebuah ide sederhana. Seperti kata pepatah, “kalau bukan kita, siapa lagi”, sangatlah tepat untuk memacu kita berkreasi di bidang pendidikan marching band. Selamat berkarya !!
Marbo

Ps: barangkali dengan mempelajari semua aspek dalam marching band, rekan-rekan bisa mendirikan perusahaan kecil untuk reparasi alat marching band, seperti di website ini: http://www.doctorvalve.com/ selamat mencoba… ]]> http://library.marchingband.web.id/2008/09/06/mari-mencerdaskan-per-marching-band-an-episode-2-habis/feed/ 3 http://library.marchingband.web.id/2008/09/06/mari-mencerdaskan-per-marching-band-an-episode-1/ http://library.marchingband.web.id/2008/09/06/mari-mencerdaskan-per-marching-band-an-episode-1/#comments Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:08:36 +0000 admin http://library.marchingband.web.id/?p=97
Oleh: Marko S Hermawan
Jupiter Indonesia EndorserMemang sudah menjadi naluri sebagai dosen, maka apapun itu, semuanya harus ada proses belajar mengajar. Dan ini termasuk dunia marching band yang telah menjadi bagian dari “darah” dalam pembuluh saya. Ide ini sebetulnya muncul ketika saya masih belajar di sekolah keguruan musik Institut Musik Dr. Pono Banoe. Namun baru sekarang bisa ditumpahkan dalam tulisan sederhana ini. Konsepnya cukup mudah, dan mungkin sudah diterapkan oleh beberapa rekan pemerhati marching band di Indonesia.

Berawal dari kegiatan belajar mengajar di kampus saya, yang mana semua materi dan buku teks telah disiapkan sedemikian rupa untuk kegiatan perkuliahan, mengapa tidak dilakukan di dunia Marching Band. Sepertinya kita melupakan sesuatu dimana marching band juga merupakan kegiatan membutuhkan pendidikan, arahan dan konsep yang jelas.

Dalam karya tulis saya yang berjudul “Marching Band: analisa sebuah organisasi menggunakan ilmu multi-disiplin” dijelaskan bahwa aktifitas marching band dapat dihubungkan oleh berbagai disiplin ilmu, seperti ilmu manajemen, psikologi dan ilmu musik. Semua displin tersebut sangat berkaitan erat dengan semua kegiatan yang dilakukan oleh sebuah marching band.

Dari sisi ilmu manajemen, banyak faktor yang mempengaruhi keberadaan sebuah marching band dari sisi profesionalitas manajamennya. Kutipan dari karya tulis saya adalah “Selayaknya sebuah manajemen perusahaan, maka organisasi marching band memerlukan komitmen dan kerja keras dari para komponen internal. Dengan mengadopsi teori manajemen, organisasi marching band harus mempunyai proses PODC, yaitu Perencanaan (Planning), Pengorganisasian (Organizing), Pengaturan (Directing), dan Pengontrolan (Controlling) (Griffin, 1996).”

Tulisan saya berlanjut kepada hubungan marching band dengan ilmu psikologi. Ternyata didapati banyak sekali kaitannya dengan sistem latihan dalam marching band. Salah satu teori motivasi yang aplikatif digunakan dalam karya tulis saya adalah penerapan teori “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”. Teori ini apabila dikaitkan dengan sistem latihan dalam marching band akan menjadi:

Ditinjau dari segi ilmu musik, sudah barang tentu banyak sekali kaitannya dengan marching band. Ada banyak ilmu musik berkenaan dengan ansambel yang seharusnya sudah diberikan sejak bangku sekolah. Salah satunya pemikiran praktis berasal dari Prof. Gary Corcoran, dimana ia membuat metode “Linear Balance” (Keseimbangan Linier). Terminologi keseimbangan musik dalam ansambel terkadang menjadi rancu bagi pemimpin lagu dan pemain, dimana masing-masing mempunyai interpretasi dan konsep yang berbeda-beda (Whaley, 2005). Secara harafiah, Balance berarti bercampur dan membuat satu suara secara harmonis. Pemain yang memainkan akord dalam lagu itu ditekankan untuk bermain secara seimbang untuk mengahasilkan efek musik yang harmonis.

Penelitian saya diakhiri dengan kesimpulan bahwa dalam membuat sebuah marching band, sebuah badan hukum, universitas atau sekolah hendaknya mengetahui apa tujuan dasar dari pembentukan organisasi ini. Sebuah organisasi marching band yang solid adalah organisasi yang memperhatikan struktur dan hirarki secara konsisten, pendelegasian tugas dengan tepat, pengarahan anggota dengan tegas, dan pengontrolan kinerja yang sistematis. Ada baiknya organisasi marching band meniru gaya manajemen perusahaan, sehingga dapat dilakukan secara professional.
Marbo

Referensi:
Griffin, Ricky W & Ronald J. Ebert., Business, Prentice Hall International, 4th ed, USA, 1996
Whaley, Garwood., The Music Director’s Cookbook: Creative Recipes for a Successful Program, Meredith Music Publication, 1st ed, USA, 2005 ]]> http://library.marchingband.web.id/2008/09/06/mari-mencerdaskan-per-marching-band-an-episode-1/feed/ 0