I think that this year's pit has so far been successful. Last year we didn't have a whole lot of a pit, and this year we have enough people to bring all our mallet instruments onto the field.The beginning (percussion camps back in April) was really a hard start. We barely had any pit players and during band camp we still didn't have much of a pit.

Now we have a pretty decent-sized section and a few okay mallet players. We play pretty well and ever since we took it into our own hands to set up at performances without band parents (they really hindered us) we have been getting compliments about how we set up like pros. I really do we feel like we are getting better at it. During band camp moving the pit onto the field was a hot, tiring, sweaty, effort, and now we do it like it's nothing.

My main concern of the post is possibly staying another year in pit to make it even better. I think that if we work hard to become better players and maintain most of the people that we have now we could player more fun/cool/challenging stuff and get more instruments and whatnot.

My one problem is that there are maybe a couple of problem people in t he section, but I feel that if I let my section know how serious I am we could become really awesome.

I like your dedication to your ensemble. That shows alot a lot of leadership. Try a couple of things to improve the quality of your ensemble. I am starting my auditions the first week of febuary. The line will be set 2 weeks later. Dont worry so much about size. Most drum corps use 9-11 members in the front ensemble.

A solid warm-up book is vital. Have 3 to 4 exercises that work every area of playing(legato strokes, scales, non-step wise movement, and four mallets).

The sooner you start the kids with four mallets, the better. You may think they are not ready, but the grip is not as difficult as many people make it out to be. Once the kids learn four mallets, their dedication and work ethic should improve as they are being challenged and having more fun.

Hope this helps
Mike Case

When auditions and whatnot start, what should I do to start off the season?

A few problems I encountered and would like to know how to avoid/solve are people who cannot play and get placed in pit and still don't learn how to play. These are people w ho wanted to make battery and came too late or something. I wanna get everybody started on the right track for having a fun season. Early on I want to instill in them values of discipline so that they can become respectable members of the band program.

Just how should i start it off?

Soq3 - What do you mean by "non-step wise"? Can you give a few examples of exercises that you consider to fall into this category?

Stepwise motion is movement by half steps or whole steps. Not everything written for the ensemble will be stepwise so it is important to have an exercises that moves in differant intervals. I have a few exercises I am using for the 2005 Legacy Percussion indoor season. If you would like to see them send me a private message and i will e-mail you the pdf's. Since the season has not started yet, i dont want to just throw out all the exercises to the public.