Making the mashup: Central York Panther Marching Band show

The Central York High School Panther Marching Band debuted its 2018 show, “Monster Mashup,” in August. The show includes ten monster-themed songs: “Godzilla,” “Ghostbusters,” “This is Halloween,” “Beetlejuice,” “Thriller,” “Frankenstein,” “Jaws,” “Day-O,” “If I Didn’t Have You” and “Time Warp.”

Band director, James Martini, is given ten months to orchestrate the entirety of the show.

After spending about two months brainstorming, a theme is chosen. The arranger is then given until May to write the music for each instrument part.

“[The arranger] usually has input and ideas that changes things from our initial plan based on how the music fits together,” Martini said.

The visual design process begins once the music is written and the number of participants is finalized.

“It usually takes me six to seven weeks to totally write the drill. It takes us a few days to print everything out for everyone,” Martini said.

Martini said his inspiration for the visual design comes from the music.

“There will be impact points in the show music where we want a big effect visually to compliment the music,” he said.

The show’s visual effects include forms to match the theme, such as a shark during the “Jaws” theme. Others may include a company front or a dance, like the dances in “Thriller” and “Time Warp.”

Sharing the field with the band is the color guard. Color guard adds another visual effect on the show with flags, rifles and dance.

Color guard starts practice in April to begin putting together routines. According to the instructors, the show is preferred to be put together by band camp in early August, but depending on the complexity of the routines, it may take longer.

“We are okay with this because our girls thrive on challenging flag work,” said Andrea Shaffer, who instructs color guard, alongside her sister, Joy.

The routines are found online and are pieced together and simplified to fit into the fast tempos. In some cases routines are reused from previous years. In addition, there are routines learned by the captain of the guard at West Chester University’s summer color guard camp.

Unlike previous years, the guard is in full costume including hair, makeup, uniforms and masks. This consists of smeared black eyeshadow and lipstick, curled hair and white, blood-stained masks.

The marching band show will continue every Friday until October 26.

“It’s exciting to see [the show] come together. It’s a fun show and the crowd will love it,” said Martini.

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