I was fortunate enough to teach my past two years in a 1:1 iPad District. Until I do learn more on the subject, please take a glimpse at the experts in The Ohio State Marching Band. More to come on this app as I learn more. For now I am going to leave this with 4/5 stars until I get the chance to see it in action. As I explore more about this app I'm sure I will come across more tricks to make it well worth it's $2.99 price tag (although this is not very much for what I know now). I did not use this one with my marching band to see it live in action, but would definitely like to try it out in the future as it seems like a good visualization for students. 5 stars for this all purpose app for sure!ĭrillbook is priced at $2.99 on the iTunes store. Like I listed earlier this is a wonderful app for reading, highlighting, marking notes in your reading, and opening just about any dropbox item you have saved. Goodreader is priced at $4.99 in the iTunes store but is a well worth it app not just for music. OSU's iPad Drill to their actual performance! Work to figure out any glitches to this 21st century approach to However, with the Ohio State Marching Band paving the way, I have a feeling many of these concerns will be addressed live as they I think these two apps are a must have for marching bands! The only drawback I see in this option is ensuring the safety of the iPads from weather damage (rain/snow) and being able to set them down when it is time to march and play. You can watch the video below to get a better look in to how this app works. This visualization is a great way to help build mental repetitions without actually marching back and forth on the field. Only tells you your coordinates using text, but visually plots your spot on the screen above showing your previous set, current set, and future set. Using the Goodreader app to find your coordinates iPad users can then flip over to Drillbook to plot their coordinates for each page of drill using numbers to note how many steps inside/outside a yardline you are and how many steps in front/behind the hash you are. Once the drill is loaded to Goodreader users have the ability to make notes, highlight their "dot," and (what I find most beneficial) to zoom in to see your coordinates better among the gridlines.
However, the software (Pyware 3D) used to write marching band drill, is compatible (and recommends) using the Goodreader app to get the most out of viewing your drill on the iPad.
Primarily Goodreader would be used to open PDF reading documents or other documents from dropbox to read, highlight, make notes on, and bookmark. Goodreader is not an app designed specifically for music. With the combination of Drill Book and Good Reader students and teachers can save time, money, and enhance their performance with these two apps used jointly. It continues to be one of my favorite aspects of band, but the problems listed above are frequent time wasting problems that I'm confident every band director deals with. I absolutely love marching band and all the energy in brings to the crowd, team, community, and band students. No more messing with wet, crinkled, or lost paper drill charts!! Those little miniscule squares serving as your coordinates? No more! Counting up to find your spot from the hash or yard lines each time you forget? Not any longer! Hours and money spent at the copy machine making 3 big packets for each 200+ band members every year? No thanks! These combined app was another great enhancement tool to have in the 1:1 iPad band classroom.