The Mid-America Competing Band Directors Association (MACBDA) was a governing body and summer

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marching band A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...

competition circuit based in the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...

. The circuit's competitive season traditionally began in June, and previously included field, parade, and concert band competitions hosted throughout the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. Beginning in 2008, almost all competitive events were hosted in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, and were limited to field band competitions with occasional parade band presentations. The most recent circuit championship was at

Perkins Stadium Perkins Stadium is a stadium in Whitewater, Wisconsin. Primarily used for American football, it is the home field of the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater "Warhawks". Opened in 1970 as Warhawks Stadium, the facility originally held 11,000 peo ...

, in

Whitewater, Wisconsin Whitewater is a city located in Walworth and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located near the southern portion of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, Whitewater is the home of the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. As of the ...

on July 14, 2019. The association had twenty-five member bands in 2008, but only five remained active . Competitions were not held in 2020–21 due to the Covid pandemic. As of the 2022 season, the association has not scheduled any competitions.

About

MACBDA was founded in 1972 by a group of high school band directors who wished to develop a summer competition circuit, similar to competitive junior drum corps. A summer season was preferable, as average autumn temperatures in the Midwest are often considered too cold for marching bands to perform successfully. The circuit hosted member bands from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota. Prior to 1991, bands competed in three activities; concert band, parade, and field band. , only five field bands remained active members of the circuit.

Governance

The circuit was governed by a two executive officers, a President and Vice President. It is unclear how the circuit was organized, whether it be as a

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nonprofit corporation or as an unincorporated entity, or in which state the circuit was registered. MACBDA was not an IRS

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tax exempt organization.

Archive and past scores

No official archive of MACBDA's proceedings exists and very few caption recaps or scores have been preserved from past competitions. The official website only listed score summaries for the current year’s competitions, and no recaps. Some score summaries can be recovered via the

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, or via

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s such as .

Membership

Competing bands were often attached to high school band programs, and supported by band booster clubs. Other bands were supported by

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and accepted performers from multiple schools or communities. All band members were required to be enrolled in high school, and were eligible to compete the summer following graduation. However, bands that pre-dated the founding of the circuit could accept members up to age 21.

Members as of 2021

Former members

Competitive season

Classification

Bands were split between A and Open classes, based on the number of performing members. A third class, AA, was previously available according to results archived on Marching.com. AAA Class was removed and replaced with Open Class between 2006 and 2007.

Field band adjudication

MACBDA utilized a single-tier adjudication handbook for field band competitions. There were no adjustments or recommendations for scoring large and small bands. The annual

Youth in Music Band Championships The Youth in Music Band Championships is an annual high school marching band competition in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is one of the largest marching band events in the Upper Midwest, attracting two dozen competitors and thousands of spectators ev ...

utilized the MACBDA scoring format.

Captions and rubric

Scoring was based on two broad categories: Performance, and Effect. The categories were further divided into four reference criteria or captions, with each given a maximum value of 200 points, or up to 20 points when factored. Percussion and Auxiliary, or

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, captions were also available, each given a maximum value of 100 points, or ten points when factored. The final score was tabulated by adding all captions, less any penalties. One adjudicator was assigned to each caption, and one each to percussion and auxiliary. An additional adjudicator was responsible for timing and penalties. In addition to a tabulator, each competition required eight personnel. MACBDA did not have captions for drum majors, twirling teams and majorettes, or dance teams. Performance excellence by a drum major was recognized by the Effect or Performance adjudicators where appropriate. Twirlers and dance teams would fall under the responsibility of the Auxiliary adjudicator. Almost all participating bands performed with a color guard team.

Placements and awards

Placements and total scores were announced for each class following the last band's performance. Caption awards were also announced for "High Music Execution", "High Visual Execution", "High Music General Effect", "High Visual General Effect", "High Percussion" and "High Auxiliary'. The awards recognized the highest placing band in each caption, regardless of class. A Drum Major excellence award was also announced, but did not affect the overall score for any of the competing bands.

Parade band adjudication

Parade band adjudication fell under three captions: Marching, Effect, and Music. The two captions with the largest impact on a band's final score are Effect and Music, valued at up to 40 points each. Effect emphasizes overall ensemble performance, while music execution favors quality of tone and musical intonation. Parade competitions could have up to nine judges, three per caption. Scores are averaged within captions, and then summed.

Past champions

It is unclear when MACBDA championships were first hosted or which event was sanctioned as a championship prior to 1979. The following is an incomplete and unverified list of championship results:

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mid-America Competing Band Directors Association Marching band competitions High school marching bands from the United States Non-profit organizations based in the United States Arts organizations established in 1972