1. Bassoons- at a given high school, there are probably at most two or three good bassoon players. And if there is more than one band, chances are those two or three good bassoon players aren’t in the same one. So, more often than not, in a regular high school band, you’ll have one bassoon player that you can barely hear at any given point in time, regardless of how good they are. In an IMEA or summer camp band, there are more bassoon players in one place, making it easier to hear the bassoon part, and it makes a novel experience of seeing more than two bassoons at any given moment.
2. Concerts- it’s nice to play for a large audience. It’s also nice to hear a good orchestra. Choir, not so much.
3. Oboes- there seem to be a lot of them; except that the good ones are hard to come by (I’m lucky enough to get to play with some!). In a large, competition band, there are a good number of oboes, depending how large the ensemble is and the best part is that they’re good! Good oboes are, in my opinion, some of the best sounding instruments around. Hearing them is a treat, but playing with them is way better.
4. Trumpets- some schools seem to have lots of good trumpets, and others are lacking. A good trumpet can be like a good oboe in the sense that it sounds very nice, but it’s way louder and packs quite a punch. Plus, composers seem to give trumpets all the loud and sublime solos (Horkstow Grange etc.). In a large band, there are dozens of trumpets, so all the nice, fun, loud trumpet stuff gets magnified, and ALL the trumpet parts are heard, not just the principal.
5. Volume- big bands are loud. Seems fairly self explanatory. There’s something fantastic about having large amounts of brass blaring around you, and being able to hear the clarinets and flutes as well. In concerts like IMEA concerts, it’s always nice to play louder than the orchestra and the choir, and it’s nice to get chills during all the best parts of the songs.
6. Conductors- summer camp bands and IMEA bands are run by some pretty cool conductors; often the conductors or university professors or really hard-core high school band directors. Whatever the case, I’ve had great luck with my conductors for these kinds of ensembles; Dr. Robert Rumbelow for ISYM, Robert Sheldon for IMEA, and many others. They’re always inspiring and say the cool stuff that your band director probably heard at one point or another and just forgot to tell you.
7. Repertoire- these kinds of bands always play all the cool music; Grainger, Holst, Vaughn Williams, R. R. Bennet, Saint-Saëns, and many others. Grainger is one of my personal favorites, as is Holst, and I was recently lucky enough to play both Grainger and Holst in the same concert.
8. French Horns- I love French Horns. Probably because I never get to hear them outside of an IMEA or camp environment. Nothing in a band, in my opinion, is better than a good first horn player playing an awesome solo. And there are few things better than a full horn section playing a horn soli in a Grainger piece. And these kinds of bands often have both.
9. Dedication- the people in these bands are there for a reason; they want to be there. Whether it is a summer camp of a competition band, the people involved worked very hard to get there and want the music to sound good. As opposed to the general apathy of high school bands, chances are, the people in the band actually enjoy band music and aren’t there for their college resumes or the fine arts credit they need to graduate.
10. People- not only are they dedicated, the people in these ensembles are cool, fun, and interesting. It’s nice to meet people from other schools who actually care about their ensembles, and it’s nice to play in a group where everyone is at roughly the same level. In these bands, new friendships can be made, and great music can happen.
I agree with number 5! When playing Host Suit No. 1 in Eb, movement one, towards the end, the Tuba section comprised of 10 of us really blasted out the chorale-like melody along with every one else playing loudly, it really felt awesome, I've listened to the piece numerous times, but finally getting to play it in such a large ensemble of dedicated musicians was really an experience like no other. I could really tell that the conductor was having a blast hearing/conducting us. I've never played in a band with as much power and ability as the IMEA band had. After the concert, while talking with a parent of a choir kid, he told me that he really felt that the band stole the show based on our ability to immediately fill that large field house/ gymnasium with so much sound, something he said the choir and orchestra simply did not do. (Not to say that they were not good, but he said, when you have the number of people we had playing wind instruments, it made sense, and was an awesome effect!) But you're totally right about really hearing each and every section. In the IMEA setting solos are played by people who can really fill the room with sound without the need to be amplified digitally, and sections filled with 10-12 french horns instead 2-3, 25 or so clarinets instead of 5, 9 or so euphoniums instead of 1, 10 Tubas instead of 1, etc, etc, etc, really lets you hear each and every section to their fullest capacity!
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