Forget about folded drill charts, bulky binders and easy-to-lose dot charts; now there’s an app for that. The DrillBook application, released for iPhone and iPod touch this past August, offers a 21st century method to drill setting.
DrillBook allows users to enter dot-placement instructions to an unlimited number of songs. The screen outlines set numbers, counts, corresponding measure numbers and field placement. Users can rename their sidelines, sides and hashes. Otherwise, as seen on the iTunes store example, instructions read, “1.50 inside S2 45 yard line and 6.50 behind front hash.”
“DrillBook keeps you prepared and efficient in rehearsal, making you a better marcher,” according to the iTunes website.
Feedback is generally positive; the product is rated 4+ out of 5 from iTunes store customers. But there are also suggestions for improvement. Some users want the application to show corresponding sheet music. Others have suggested a way to see how the dot fits into the overall form.
“There have been a lot of suggestions that are great ideas and are on the list for future improvements,” says Scott Rundell, developer of the program.
Rundell has been teaching marching band for more than 15 years and continues to teach. He says he was inspired to create this program to improve bands through technology. “With all the iPhones and iPods around, I thought marchers could use them to speed up entering and looking up sets,” he says.
DrillBook is available on the iTunes store for $2.99.