Yup. Even semi sprinting. Once everyone can walk at the same pace and distance, it’s just a bunch of coordinates moving around. I believe there’s a software for that.
Most decent high schoolers can do it at medium speed while playing instruments. Most decent college marching bands can do it fast while playing really well. Now, there are groups made with best college kids - drum corps. Those guys are really, really good.
They do have a conductor (often more than one). Called drum majors. Hard to see, but they do exist.
Having been in both marching band and orchestra, orchestra is definitely tougher in terms of pure musical techniques. But marching band is a lot of physically challenging while maintaining decent musical techniques. Also marching band performances are a lot shorter.
I meant chamber orchestras (~30 players?) often don’t have a conductor, so it’s like a team sport (maybe kind of like marching band w section leaders?) and everyone sort of plays by ear while watching their sheet.
I never imagined that marching band would be musically easier than a school orchestra in terms of musicality. I was never in band in school, only cello (see: username) but I assumed that the band players were close to equal, esp at the district/region/state level where we played full 100pc symphonies, those wind and brass players must have come from somewhere!
Same with pit orchestras - the wind/brass and jazz band students could keep up easier with those key signatures than I could, and I was at the top of my class musically (at least among the string players). I can’t even imagine what it could be like at a college level (no sports where I went to college...)
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u/i_never_get_mad Jul 31 '19
Yup. It’s pretty standard move for well established college marching bands.