An interactive computer graphics approach to the design of marching band routines

The availability of inexpensive minicomputers and low cost digital/analog conversion equipment enables one to use interactive graphics in situations where such techniques were previously infeasible. The University of Tulsa is presently developing an interactive graphics package entitled BANDMARCH to assist the choreography of marching band drills. The graphics hardward consist of a 32K Interdata Model 70 minicomputer, a 5MB Diablo Disc system, a Tektronix 603 monitor with 256 × 256 point display provided by a pair of Detel 8 bit D/A converters. The program enables a band director who is most likely not computer oriented to prepare a routine in an existing language (About Face, Left Flank) and view the result of his ‘design’ in real time. The obvious interactive features of editing, cataloguing and accessing standard functions must be provided in a way that can be easily understood.

T.U.'s BANDMARCH (not an acromym) provides such features. Common data structures in a relatively novel environment are a demonstration of the soundness of these techniques to an interactive graphics situation.