Spring Hill High School Band - 2014 UIL 4A State Marching Contest

[@donniepitchford5269]

I am a 1976 graduate of Spring Hill High School, back when we were a 1A school. I cannot express how impressed I am with this performance! I am proud beyond words! Congratulations!

[@AcePuppy]

Donnie Pitchford We are about to go to area next week

[@kamipassmore867]

I was a senior in this performance. Thank you. This means so much!

[@brokenBNpieces]

Was 100%the most aesthically pleasing and mesmerizing show of the day! I loved it and apparently so did everybody else since it got the first standing ovation of the day!!

[@thecbrndude6208]

There was once a time in which I thought only Japanese 2 year olds could master the complexity of this march! Bravo.

[@logansmith2771]

I might have taken you seriously but then I checked out your channel :P

[@brokenBNpieces]

This was by far my favorite in 2015! Amazing how beautiful the transitions looked and how well their steps were always so uniform. Truly a showstopper!!

[@johntatum1951]

Wow, so amazing...this was the best marching band I have ever seen...great job! The quality of the playing never lagged...which is so hard to do when the marching is so perfect!

[@AcePuppy]

John Tatum thanks for liking my band

[@Bullzeye1000yds]

Well thought out and coordinated program. My congratulations to the band director and band.

[@michaelwright131]

division 1.... woodwinds knocked the runs out of the park on the Carrollton march trip..... facts ... division 1

[@miketisone728]

great job woodwinds on those complex runs in Carrollton March......

[@void8422]

Super cool I’ve never seen a show like this or knew it existed I grew up marching in the late 10’s so alott different sucks that judging can’t be really fair for this side of marching

[@kamipassmore867]

It’s been almost 10 years but man we cried that day. Just flat out not fair. But the fact we got to show up was cool

[@johnelway76]

By the way, Mr Kiser came to Whitehouse this year, and we're playing Vienna, Queen City, and Crosley March. He is doing a lot of similar drills that this band this year did. Yall guys did pretty good and hopefully we do good@@kamipassmore867

[@johnelway76]

We got 7/11 in the state military prelims, kind of sucks, but it was just individual errors@@kamipassmore867

[@fnLV426]

Perfection! So awesome!

[@peculiar.handle]

Ah nah our 2024 percussion ain’t ever coming close to this ☠️

[@HuskyBoomer]

Military bands never seem to get a fair shake at State. This performance is one of the best looking and sounding I've ever seen. 17th out of 22? Ridiculous.

[@danpasel9020]

I heard most of the judges had never seen a military band preform that year, but in 2016 Spring Hill actually got 5th!

[@huntryan97]

This was my senior year and yes most of the judges had never seen or heard a military band before.

[@junruroland8250]

As a former military marching band student in the late 80's this drill was amazing...Im a little disappointed in how hard the judges rated them. However there was a missed turn at 2:37. At the state level, your drill has to be practically flawless to receive high rating. Excellent performance!

[@BruceRichardsonMusic]

It's not so simple as "fair shake." The issue wasn't the judging or judges. It was a particularly strong year in 4a. And in this particular performance, the parts of Spring Hill's show that had the highest degree of difficulty (unison to-the-rears, flanks, etc.) suffered. That's likely the reason the scoring came down as it did. Also, Spring Hill's marching fundamentals are significantly improved now. I would say they are probably the best in the current Region IV. They seem also to be doing something that has been necessary for years...expanding the toolkit beyond the same drill elements that Pete Kunkel did 500% better in the 1970s. There are programs that go so far as to emulate his formula almost exactly--but they forget (or never knew) what made Pete's band legendary. First of all, they were the product of feeder schools led by excellent musicians. The level of musicianship in Pete's band was scary. Second, they were LOUD AS HELL. Just blisteringly, shockingly loud, but impeccably precise and balanced in a way that could support taking it to that edge. Every half note was a perfectly spaced slab of sound, razor tight. Your hair stood on end when they entered the field. And the third element: They were brutally precise on their feet, often charging the sideline with a grandioso and replacing the stinger with a unison to-the-rear that was so snappy (in dead silence) that you could barely register the maneuver. You just heard a perfectly together "swish" and the whole band was suddenly going the opposite direction with no recovery time. Point being, if someone is doing that type of "precision parade maneuver" show, every individual has to be brutally precise with every element of the marching book in order for it to get that "wow" factor that wins contests like this. Not to harp on it too much, but it's important to understand just how much influence Pete Kunkel still has on Region IV marching, all of these years later...and how that is a dual-edged sword. He would put a block countermarch maneuver on the front sidelines (which would be disastrously boring drill design with any other band), and people would marvel at how every single member snapped the flanks so hard that you heard it. Sousaphones like the rest...literally amazing. Think about that a moment, a level of precision so athletic that a basic parade maneuver was, itself, a design element that got ovations. Now, that is not the only path to good field presentation in a military band setting. BUT, if a band is going to emulate Pete Kunkel in the twenty-first century, and fail to bring that level of athleticism to each element, what happens is that the general effect of those drill elements is lost. And that makes is hard to compete with another program that might be fielding Overture to Candide at 150bpm with complex drill and nailing it.

[@blakeeeee10]

I can not express my thoughts on how much I agree with this comment! I'm a sophomore at China Spring High School and last year (2016) at The 4A State championships we got 6th place with Spring Hill getting 5th place. For the 2018 show, my director is putting a little story into my military marching drill because the scoring sheet is so bias towards core bands. With this new idea in mind, we hope (knock on wood) to go to state next year.

[@jayapril110]

What's the name of the very first thing they played?? (At 1:02)

[@rocketfan86]

Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare by Strauss

[@joebeardfw]

very well done. How did they do for the year in 2014?

[@logansmith2771]

+Carson Horn oh Hey Carson

[@logansmith2771]

Stalker

[@logansmith2771]

let me guess you have league of legends you have a tuba thing liked. I believe you are Cole :P

[@jayk8631]

Can you upload Spring Hill's 2016 state finals drill?

[@rocketfan86]

I did not attend state this year. I had to work and couldn't afford to travel to San Antonio.

[@Halfhounded]

When your front ensemble quits

[@zarvico629]

Yo Mama