While a public-address system is not necessarily required to hold a marching band practice or rehearsal, it certainly makes it a lot easier on both the band director and the ensemble.
All band directors know the voice vs. instrument struggle — it’s time for band practice, you’re out on the field, and you must dictate instructions to your ensemble, but they can’t hear you over the sound of practice — no matter how loud you yell.
Marching bands practice on football fields, most often leaving both instructors and students struggling with voice amplification and hearing the instruction over the beat of the metronome and the instruments themselves. Spending long days and nights on the field practicing songs repeatedly and running back and forth from one side to another to instruct different groups of the band is not a desired task by anyone. The human voice can’t compete with a tuba. With any live show, it is necessary to display precision and skill during every performance. The struggle of using a handme-down hunk of junk PA system from the P.E. department can make band practice much more difficult when it should be fun and productive.
Tuscarora High School, a public high school in Leesburg, Virginia, found itself in need of voice amplification when on the football field during marching band practice. They sought the support of their fundraising team and set their sights on bringing Anchor Audio’s portable PA system, the MegaVox Pro. Soon Tuscarora High School band members could effortlessly hear direction and critique from their band director, allowing the students the opportunity to evolve and become better and better throughout each one of their practices.
“Without the MegaVox, there is a chance our band director would have lost her voice more than once trying to yell from one side of the field to the other. We are extremely satisfied with the Anchor Audio MegaVox. It has been a great addition to the band, worked extremely well for our program, and has helped us improve greatly over the past couple years. The MegaVox system is doing everything we want and need and more!” says Annika Pracher, head of fundraising at Tuscarora High School Band.
The MegaVox Pro is Anchor Audio’s battery-powered PA system. The MegaVox Pro delivers 119dB of sound and carries that sound up to 300 feet (100 yards) away. With built-in Bluetooth and a signal alert button, the MegaVox is a good tool for use by band directors in need of a battery- powered portable address system.
More information can be found on anchoraudio.com
