Clutchtow Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Wow I live in the wrong part of the country. Where in the USA, or in the world, do high schools have 12 - 20K to spend on a marching band show design? We are still trying to replace old, broken instruments in my district. I want to work in a school with a budget like that! Woo hoo! Texas. I know my high school paid over 10k for the drill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2kidsindrumcorpsnomoney4me Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I was a member of our booster organization for several years, and we raised about $170,000 every year to support the music program. The only thing the district provided was space and directors (2 directors and a half time director) salaries. During marching season, we paid about $8k to design the drill plus an hourly rate for the drill writer to attend week day evening and Saturday rehearsals, $12k to colorguard drill designer for marching band and winter guard. She/He was not in attendance at all rehearsals. We then paid hourly rates to percussion techs, at least three visual techs, two guard techs, and individual instrument instructors. Parent volunteers did everything else.The salary portion of our budget alone took up half of what we raised every year. I do know that our drill designer and color guard designer were working with at least three other high schools in our area on top of other jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lincoln Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Texas. I know my high school paid over 10k for the drill Some of those Texas bands have more members than some countries around the world. I don't assume it's easy to write for that many people on the field. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luv4corps Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Yeah Texas also has private lessons as part of their curriculum, or so I've heard. This all makes me kind of sad. We are fighting for our music program lives here in Oregon, and I know other states have the same problems we do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Some of those Texas bands have more members than some countries around the world. I don't assume it's easy to write for that many people on the field. My high school band grew quite a bit over my 4 years there. Freshman year it was about 150. By the time I graduated and was in my first year of college, it was at around 275. Just looking at videos, there was a drastic difference in the drill writing. The band was much more spread out and blocky on the field. A lot more follow the leader stuff too. So i can attest to the fact that it's probably difficult to write for a larger band. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Other Mike Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I understand that the decomposers pay is dirt poor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geluf Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 If you're looking to get into arranging, OP, then the advice from earlier about networking is absolutely crucial. No one cares about anything but what you can produce. School? Yeah, that's nice, what can you write?That's the attitude. You've got to know people and be willing to put yourself out there to literally everyone. Going to the conventions, self-promotion and marketing, etc. It took me 5 years of working as a consultant after college to get a single program to give me a shot as a wind book arranger down here in Texas (and I went to UNT!). That first one is vital. Once you have that, it gets easier (*easier*, but still hard). I lucked out in that it was a good 5A program and having it on my resume helped me grab more each year. But I'm *still* promoting and still getting my name to anyone and everyone because the job is never done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snarekid33 Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 yes and others do also on the opposite coast....often these big programs do not get any extra help money wise from the board of ed so they need to raise their own money.....and do....i know this 1st hand I never said other schools don't. I just said I know of schools that gross this amount. The kids pay "fees" which are illegal in California. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeke Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Thanks for the reply. Without mentioning any names for privacy respect, I have heard of drill writers making $900,000 a year. But I am particularly curious about DCI/WGI percussion composers/arrangers. To be specific, does anyone have an an idea how much a top group would pay a single person to compose the front ensemble only, battery only, or both? I know every group is different, but just curious. And Pigs fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snarekid33 Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 (edited) And Pigs fly. I heard the source from someone who worked with the guy. I didn't believe it myself. All I said is that the school paid the guy around $12k, and was informed he made $900k. IF that is true of his overall salary, maybe just a portion of that is from the marching activity, since on his website it states he works for other theatrical companies that are non marching groups. I have doubts about it, too. However, I did learn that the work he did for this school was probably done by a shadow worker. Edited July 31, 2014 by snarekid33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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