Hello all! Today is a very special day for me, as it marks the 366th day I've been on this amazing site. I've met very amazing people on here, made tons of new friends, and gained nothing but warm welcomes as I have been making my way up the ranks, just like everybody else. I'm honored to be in a time period where these kinds of things are still around, and friendly competition and gameplay is still an easily accessible thing on the internet. I've been up at late hours, rehearsing the heck out of my groups, and have also spent countless hours reading through some old forum threads. Everything about this site truly amazes me, so I decided, as a commentator, to give back to this community. I am hosting my first ever parade competition! This one will be like no other, since everything will be done from a different source. Everybody will be sending in a sample of music, and a video of a 1 minute maximum length of some sort of real life group of theirs. These videos will be separate, and preferably the marching sample would be one without audio. Here is an example of an entry:

Group : Wenatchee HS
Music : https://youtu.be/-HhCUIoLxR0
Marching: https://youtu.be/QqArvP8t3rE :30-:50.

Also, the judging will be a little different from what we're used to being the norm here on FMA. The judging will be done by 3 separate parties that I know. ( will be announced later in the post.) There are three categories that each entry will be judges on. One is music, which has a 40 point weight in the overall score. This will be based off of the winds and percussion. The judge will look at musicality, dynamics, and the intonation from performer to performer. The next category will be Visual, which also has a 40 point weight on the overall score. The visual judge will be looking at the lines, the feet, color guard, and overall marching ability. Finally, GE, which will have a 20 point weight on the overall score.

MEET THE JUDGES
JAMES KOVACH- MUSIC
Mr. Kovach is my band director. He is god, and shall not be questioned on judging ability. lol.

MATT BUSH- VISUAL
Matt has been a long time friend of mine, and truly knows the ins and outs of what marching band should really look like out on those streets. He is an upcoming section leader, drum corps fanatic, and “cant wait to see these entries."

EMMA ALLEN- GE
Emma has.also been a very good friend of mine, and has a true taste in marching band. She has been playing since the 2nd grade, and wants to eventually go into a music education career.

I think that these judges are highly qualified, and I can't wait to see if this gets picked up! If true competition comes out of this, write ups will be made between now and finals day, with the scores coming out on that finals day. Thanks to all of you for a great year, and happy entering (I hope).

There are no videos of any of my real life groups other than some zoomed out drum corps shows. So not sure what I would need to submit for that... As for music I have some great ideas lol.

Zoomed out shows would work, just make sure you put a specific timeframe of what your marching style would be like on the streets

Oh see the marching technique would be the same on the streets for the DCA corps I march with lol. So just any time that demonstrates visual excellence?

Yeah that'll work

Tyler, I'd be interested in this. But no videos of who I marched with when I did. Is this more about that or video of who I think Aftershock NZ is influenced by?

Yeah, I'll change the rules. You can send in any type of video that exhibits a marching style that you would like your group to have.

Awesome! So basically the music needs to reflect the marching too or?

Well, my idea is that you separate the music from the marching, but if you can find a clip of marching to go with your music, by all means!

Cause of the lack of applications, I'll call it off. If there's some sort of demand to do some other sort of Competition, I'd be down. I guess we're back in those silent times in this community lol. I tried to get it hopping again by doing this, didn't work.
I'll be around if anyone says something in these forums, but I'm done with trying to get it active again by myself.

Yeah not much can be done right now... We just need more people to be active on the site in general before the forum pops up again lol.