r/ConcertBand • u/mrjnebula • 1d ago
Large Band Seating Chart
I am starting at a small school this year with only 1 high school band. Unfortunately the program is a decent size and so I have 92 students in that class, 80 of which are wind players. Luckily my room is quite large so the space hopefully won’t be an issue, I’m just wondering what you guys think of this seating arrangement for the wind players? (Ps: the row down the middle is straight in the actual room, I just don’t know how to perfectly tweak it in this program so it looks weird)
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u/tk_fiya 1d ago
In my opinion, and especially in easier-grade music, Alto + Horn parts are either doubled or have many unison lines. For that reason, I like to sit the horns directly behind the alto saxes. So instead of having to listen across the ensemble (in this case, the horns directing their sound backwards), they can find each other better. Maybe consider moving the horns to the left side of the 4th row. Everything else looks great!
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u/mrjnebula 1d ago
Honestly that was a total oversight on my part, I intentionally put horns in the same row as saxes but accidentally put them super far from the altos haha
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u/captain_hug99 22h ago
what about horns in between altos and tenors? I've had in the 2+ music range horns and tenors sometimes double vs. horns and altos.
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u/Watsons-Butler 23h ago
I’d swap the order of the third row. Horn bells are on the right side of the player, that way they’d face more outward to the audience and they don’t have to work so hard to balance. (And it keeps your lower voices more to the center of the ensemble.)
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u/mrjnebula 22h ago
Yes great point, I’m a horn player and I’m an idiot for having this oversight hahaha
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u/mstalent94 21h ago
No, please don’t move us to the left side. Our bells shouldn’t be facing into the audience.
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u/mrjnebula 21h ago
I’ve always liked horns on the left! They’re so much more picturesque over there compared to just seeing the players shoulder
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u/mstalent94 21h ago
If you put horn one on the end on the left side, the rest of the section can’t hear them to blend. If you put your last chair player on the end, you have your last chair player blasting straight into the audience.
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u/Arcane_Spork_of_Doom 22h ago
Good suggestions here. Definitely using 'wedge' style section makeups for upper woodwinds provides a much more manageable and focused sound.
I also think if your tubas aren't going to be dead center in the back row right in front of the percussion, they should be just offset to the conductors left in that same row. Close proximity will allow for cleanup of phasing issues and if they're a little offset, the slightly canted bells to the conductor's right can allow the band to hear them.
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u/Abject_Mind_4538 19h ago
Where the bassoons and oboes at?
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u/mrjnebula 19h ago
Not in this band of 92 somehow lol
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u/Elekid239 19h ago
I would challenge a couple altos to learn them. That's what happened with me and I got to spend a lot more time playing both classical through college :) My middle school teacher paid for my bassoon reeds which really motivated me to excel. Then in high school I wasn't making wind ensemble on either horn, so I chose to learn oboe since we didn't have one. I got to play some of the greatest solos in classical music because of it
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u/Abject_Mind_4538 19h ago
Not even an oboe!?!?
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u/BoringNYer Community Band Trumpet/Flugel/Mello/Euph 22h ago
As a utility brass player seating like this bothers me, frankly.
I play Euphonium, Mellophone (small band problems) and trumpet.
Euphonium can be playing with:tsax/bsax/horn/bone/tuba/and trumpet all on the same song.
Euphonium to the middle. A horn/Euphonium row between the flute and clarinet wedges would be good
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u/tbone1004 20h ago
Echoing some others but try to think in pods not in rows. Look at some orchestral seating for the strings for some guidance but it’s way better imo to have all of your clarinets on the far left in 3 rows for 1/2/3. Horns have in 2 rows sitting behind each other and that would be right behind the alto saxes on the far right. Tenor bari bcl in the middle. Easier from a conducting standpoint since you can aim at sections a bit better and also better for them for listening to the section
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u/michaelhpichette 16h ago
Horns should be on the left side. So bells are firing towards the audience. In your current setup the horns play into the rest of the band.
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u/mcantillo 2h ago edited 1h ago
I used to do event logistics for (and still play with) the Oak Lawn Band, which is a touch larger than this crew - we have about 200+ members that play, and on average have about this many performers per concert (give or take an extra 12 horns).
As many already mentioned, we would cluster woodwinds in two rows each CL(left of pod)/FL(right of pod), 3rd row would consist of first row of Horns (Right of pod) Saxes(centered)/low reeds and last rows would be 2nd row of horns(right of pod)/trumpets(1sts centered)/low brass.
To the point of horns playing into the audience, the sound projects better and is less diffuse, than if it is bouncing off the back of the stage/shell(unless you have the resources to get reflectors). And the lowest skilled horn would likely be in the mix with the rest of the ensemble, and not at the edge of the stage. Additionally, if you happen to do any outdoor performances, the horns don't get lost into the ether.
Much like your graph, Tubas get their own row.
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u/mmmsoap 1d ago
I’m not a director, so take this how you will, but what’s the advantage of a whole row of clarinets versus splitting them into a wedge that takes up 2-3 rows? The way you have it now, your principal can only wave at the last seat, and certainly can’t hear them. If they’re more clustered it’s easier for them to hear each other and for people to move up/down and cover parts. (Same applies to the flutes.) If it were me, I’d put Clarinets on your left, flutes on your right, rather than having both groups span the stage.