# Marching band positioning



## Musicologo (Feb 11, 2014)

Hi there folks,

Any concrete ideas, suggestions, advice on how to position/pan a marching band in the mix?

more exactly this formation:

voices
guitars

Picc
Fl
Clrs
A Sax
Ten Sax
Trumptets
Horns
Trombone
Baritone
Tuba
Snare
Drum + Crash Cymb


My first idea was to just spread all these guys out in different places -35 to +35 but it was done kinda randomly. I was wondering if there was any standard positioning
or if there is any setup to give a more realistic effect for a marching band actually walking down the street OR standing in a large plaza.


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## wst3 (Feb 12, 2014)

I don't think there is a standard... marching bands tend to move around a lot<G>!

When I was designing marching band drills we didn't think too much about where the musicians would be except for the POWERHOUSE number, which was usually done standing still. In that case,

the drums are in the rear, low brass in front of them, higher brass in front of them, but usually split to each side, and winds in front of all of them.


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## synthetic (Feb 12, 2014)

If they're marching down the street it's usually woodwinds, then percussion, then brass. A realistic mix would be first you hear woodwinds and distant percussion to the left, then winds pan by and now all you hear is percussion, then sneak in some distant brass on the left...  

If they're on a field then they can be mapped out anywhere. But you don't hear much stereo separation because they're far away. Just lots of echo and crowd noise.


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## The Darris (Feb 12, 2014)

I actually write for Marching band percussion. The above poster was right if they are walking down the street but in a practice, stand still perfomance, then they will sit in standard concert order. This picture is pretty close to how my band's seating assignment is

http://lrigden.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/concert-band-set-up1.jpg


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## Musicologo (Feb 13, 2014)

Oh, wow. thanks for the chart! this is very helpful.
I will also try the street approach to see how it works.

Now, since I don't have a spatialization utility to put things further back, are there any standard techniques for that, appart from dimming the volume?

For instance, I pan all instruments, and then send them all is a bus, and apply a space to that bus. Now they're all in the same space and panned horizontally. 

How do I add depth so they are not all in the front? How do a I make the snare sound it is further back than the clarinet?

I imagine that effect being done with EQ or compress or other filters. Any ideias? I shall cut which range of frequencies?...


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## The Darris (Feb 13, 2014)

If you are to do the street setup, play with early reflections but also realize that the closer the instrument is, the wider the pan, the further back, (since they are all in line) the more narrow the pan has to be on the sections. Just a little tip.


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## bbunker (Feb 13, 2014)

I think it depends a bit on the band. I have the _honor_ of being volun-told to march on a somewhat regular basis for ceremonies, playing bass drum. Our marching order is basically a brass sandwich. The front rank is the Trombones, then usually French horns or mellophones, the woodwinds follow, with percussion always right in the middle of the formation, with the cymbals on the first column, and the bass drum on the right column. Snares go in the very middle of the formation so that everyone can hear the cadence and stick taps for marching purposes. Behind the woodwinds (there's usually at least one rank of Clarinets behind percussion) are the rest of the brass, with Trumpets and Euphoniums and then Tubas in the back line.

Most turns are done in Columns left and right to keep the shape, and to keep the Trombones from ever having anyone in front of them.

That's a formation for a military band that's marching, or for performances that are a 'park and blow', which would be where you stay in one place and play. Quite often for a ceremony, you'll march into position, then park there and blow, so you wouldn't rearrange into a 'concert band' layout.

As for the arrangement I listed above, from the tattoos we've played at around Europe, I can safely say that most Military Bands in Europe and East Asia use basically that configuration.


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## JT (Feb 13, 2014)

I'm used to seeing a different setup to the one referenced above. Here's a link with several seating arrangements. Figure 10-6 is the one I see most often.
http://lrigden.wordpress.com/ensemble-set-up/concert-band/


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