I owe a lot to The Hymn of Acxiom, it introduced me into a whole new genre of music and was a big inspiration for me in high school. Truly a great ballad, and Bloo absolutely nailed it.

This hit me in the feels, I miss band competitions so much!!

Legend says resonance for this still lives in that auditorium

I made an arrangment of this for 8th grade concert band and now we are going to play it this spring for our concert.

Bloo 2014 is the show that truly introduced me to drum corps I’ll never forget hearing hymn for the first time on my phone and having chills

i can't believe they got BOTH euphs and baritones for this, absolutely amazing

I heard Blue Coats plays this a few years back. Absolutely beautiful . I also do choir. My band played this, and my choir also sang this song.

This piece shows the player the truest aspects of music; patience, intonation, timing, and balance. You cannot have a good piece, group, or teaching without these. This can also be applied to other real world applications.

hymn of acxiom is legitimately one of the most beautiful things i've ever heard

I've never heard of this before in my life and I am 66 years old

Man, this dynamic range exhibit A!! The fortissimo section was distorting either in the recording or the audio I’m listening on. Would been great to have heard it live. Terrific ensemble in this band, with a really passive conductor-basically a visual metronome. Very impressive!

That's a LOT of brass! I love it!

Finest recitation of such a beautiful piece of music I’ve ever heard … well done and thank you.

Definitely my favorite Bluecoats ballad. It just hasn’t been topped. Not even by 2019’s, and that’s my favorite Bloo show!

Cannot agree more with the title! Go Bloo!

I just finished writing a Trombone Ensemble arrangement of this piece, Such a beautiful piece of music!

This 2014 show along with their 2015 show were Bloo's best ever!

Our senior choir is singing this for an upcoming concert, it is so beautiful!

We get to play this in my marching show this year, super excited!!

The bluecoats always amazes me

Gorgeous!

I’m not crying, you are😭

As gorgeous as this is as an instrumental piece, and I'm going to perform it next month in a brass choir, the lyrics are so powerful that I think they at least need to be projected during the performance. I love the original artist's version with a vocal harmonizer. It's such a powerful warning about the dangers of A.I.

Love this one

Tears. Every time.

im not crying, you are

The whole Aims album by Vienna Tent should be adapted for a marching show. I wrote an arrangement of the opening track "Level Up" for percussion ensemble, but I've never had a group that could actually pull it off.

Grow Til Tall and Hymn of Axciom. Nothing better.

It was more than delightful. I'm sorry the composition doesn't appeal to me more, but this Bluecoat group is out of the ballpark awesome! I know that all of you will cherish the memories of playing in such a great ensemble!

BRAVO!

Interesting to have the score showing

I would love to see this arranged for a full wind ensemble and have the beginning be played primarily by woodwinds, the middle section by brass, and then the full ensemble at the end. Given that he has provided the full brass transcription, I may entertain scoring this out myself since I do still remember how to write music after nearly 30 years away from being a music major :)

I was in the Pitt Varsity Marching Band, 1964-8. One of, maybe my most memorable and helpful college experiences. I don't think we played this, tho this number sure brings back those good memories. Thank you for posting. :-)

2016, 2011, 2015...? it really is so hard to say which one of theirs is the best.

I'll tell you what, that is the best marching band I ever heard. I will admit though, that I think the marching band I was in in high school has sounded just as good. Well done guys. I could've cried very easily to this if I had this on repeat long enough 😂 and also this kind of sounds like it would perfectly fit in a war movie or video game 👍

This was our third piece for marching band

I don’t know who wrote this or what the title would be but it would make a gorgeous full band arrangement.

there's something very exciting and powerful about the brass section of a band that gives music the fuel to give brass players the power to express themselves and expand their horizons!!!!!!!!! becoming one not only with just the conductor. but with your fellow classmates and instruments as well!!!!!!!! never give up never give in and always always ALWAYS believe in yourselves and the music!!!!!!! and always give one hundred percent!!!!!!!!!

Tilt was a Great show. Best show within the past 30 years.

This was my freshman year shows second movement!

Quite, quite excellent. From an old guy

New it was Hymn of Acxium three notes in! I did not expect it either!

Whoooooaaaaaa

Wow this is amazing. Bloooo!

In what way did it change Marching Band? I feel like that claim requires a lot more context.

This isn't marching band, it's the horn line of a drum corps.

Never heard this song before.

I bet I could do a really nice organ transcription of this, especially using the trumpet en chamade stop.

This sounds like a tribute to America.

Ours was Hymnsong on Phillip Bliss

Agreed.

Wow this is fantastic. This is neither a marching band nor a drum corps. So how did it change the real marching band forever?

I'd love to hear this band play Lofsöngur.

Any chance I could get the score for this? I would love to use it for some marching band arrangements!

Can you share the PDF or Musescore file of the transcription??

I wonder if they played at half volume. That's a very small performance hall, haha.

You can’t always get what you want! In 3/4 . The Rolling Stones

so a couple of things about the title to this video. I am probably missing the back story to this, but that was not a band, it was a drum and bugle corp minus the drums. Also, they were not marching. New title of the video - The song that changed standing still drum and bugle corp minus the drums forever.

the chords at 1:59 make my heart weak. it’s too good

One day…my son will earn his spot with Bloo. And then I can die.

I've never heard that.

I can almost still hear the marimbas at 2:50

Title of the video is a little over the top. It's good, but I doubt that it changed marching band forever.

Love this - what year/show is this from?

damn that hits hard (in a good way😅)

Turn the page quicker!

Trumpets got a little edge at the top there but i imagine its the room not them

There’s nothing better than an in sync in tune brass band! Conversely, nothing worse! It’s like accapella voices!

Song pretty hard to march to.

The title that redefined clickbait

I cant help noticing similarities with Rolling Stones song

ah yes vandegrift

Funfakt: it didn't... greatings from germany ✌🏽😊

Title needs fixing, this isn't a marching band, it's a Drum and Bugle Corp. Big difference. This is exactly the scenario that brought me to the world of drum corps. I attended a practice to observe "just to see what it's all about". The horn section was in a large room, the first time they hit a major chord and held it, I about fell over. I'd never heard anything like it. I was hooked.

What did this change exactly?

Really? Never heard of it. But, hey, you got me to listen to it. Personally, I don't feel "changed forever."

The only single song that changed marching band forever was Medea. Star 93 fundamentally changed the way that people approached arranging and thought about tension and release in the context of marching band. While it was a lot of fun, Bloo 2014 wasn't super influential, you didn't see people en masse gravitate towards simpler concepts with more esoteric and modern music choices in the years after. If there's any Bluecoats show that changed the activity forever it was 2016 with the emphasis on body movement, ditching the headgear an military inspired uniforms once and for all, using props as essentially part of the drill to allow for feature staging and unique physical movements, and the innovative use of electronics and unique front ensemble arranging. That said, this is probably the most hyped ballad from the last decade, which is an achievement in and of itself since a lot of people usually view ballads as fairly forgettable moments in most shows.

I was a Band Dir. a long time and I really dont understand your reasoning. ?

The abbreviated grammar of the title makes for confusion. It's certainly not a march. So what does it mean?

Marching band?

This is beautiful and that tubas arc covering the entire back of the stage looks incredible. I saw this show live on the field. Forgive a question from this dumb drummer. This is a wonderful ballad but how did HoA change marching band forever?

The rhythm is not correct at the beginning but thanks for the sheet music

If no one is singing IT'S NOT A SONG.

Very nicely done but it is not worthy of being considered "The song that changed marching band forever"!!

Turn the music-right-side up!

Thank God percussion wasn’t there. The only thing you would hear at that cut off what’s the tacky DUT DUT DUT DUT. I swear… the snare drum always wants that solo

I marched for Bluecoats. No, Hymn of Acxiom did not change marching band forever. Yes, it is a cool chart, but that's all it is.

What High School is this?

Good song, great arrangement. Although, the song that changed marching band forever...eh 🤷🏾‍♂️

Call me old-fashioned, but I expect marching band music to have the same number of beats in each bar (preferably 2 or 4) and keep strict tempo until the last chord. That way you can march to it!

Not even close.

Never heard of it. And no, I don't want to.

HOW IN THE HELL DID THIS CHANGE MARCHING BANDS FOREVER????????

This sounds like a nice piece of music, but it doesn't sound like good marching music. Marching music sounds the way it does because the heavy, regular beat syncs up with the footsteps of the band (and historically, the troops marching behind the band), and helps to keep everyone in step. Long drawn out notes provide time for steps to falter by a tiny bit, and especially for following troops marching at close-interval, just a little falter is enough to start stepping on people's heels. (The instruments, themselves, do force band members far enough apart to not hit each other, although missteps might result in playing a note at the wrong time, too). I was expecting a "song that changed Marching Band forever" to be one of Sousa's early pieces.

How did this song change marching bands? I see no band marching or explanation what this really is. All I got from this was a group of loud noises. Please explain yourself as it gets tiresome when people post incomplete information that no one knows anything about.

This is beautiful brass ensemble music, not something a marching band could march to.

Why are you making it so difficult to understand what this tune has to do with marching bands?

Nice and smooth - but sure doesnt make me feel like marching. Give ne Sousa!!!!

Grow till tall in 2017 imo was better

Click bait