A New Record

We have a new record for shortest length of time between completing the drill for a marching band show and the first re-write.  Dave finished writing drill around 10:00 am Saturday, and decided to celebrate by going to HyVee to get a Frappachino for himself and a cafe mocha for me. He was gone about 30 minutes.  When he got home, he sat down with his Frappachino and started reviewing his work, and immediately discovered that he had written an impossible feat for the band.  He had written a segment that should take 12 measures to complete, and he had only given them eight measures.  There was no way they could cover that much ground in so short a time. Therefore, he had to either re-write an enormous amount of drill or add four measures of music.  Fortunately, the drill was during the drum feature, a place where the winds were not playing. So he just added four measures of drum solo.  I say "just" . . . .because now 24 hours later, he is still wrestling with that first re-write.  The good news is that the band doesn't even know about this.  They won't even begin to learn this drill until tomorrow, and they'll never know how close they came to being asked to do the impossible. But I would say they've got their work cut out for them.  Dave told me, "This is the hardest drill I have ever written in my life."  Those of you who have ever marched one of Dave's shows might have a clue what this portends for the band.  If the weather holds out and they get this show learned, it will be really fun to watch.  Dave said they are marching about 140 students on the field.

Now I'm wondering if I will eventually be able to put a little video clip of the show on this blog.  I promise I'll wait until the performance is "dazzling."

Jeannette