THOUSAND OAKS : School Band Is Tuning Up for Competitions

Robb McCallum spun a long white and silver staff in front of him like an airplane propeller, his eyes distant in concentration. Nearby, about 150 students armed with instruments milled around the Thousand Oaks High School parking lot, gurgling air through their trumpets, clarinets and tubas.

Moments later, the gurgling stopped. Director Bill Hoehne barked a few clipped orders, and the Thousand Oaks High School Lancer Band and Color Guard began to march in place, their legs keeping time with an amplified metronome that sounded like a rhythmic car alarm.

As the school year gears up, so too does the marching band season. But while band members had just finished their first day of classes, their practice under Wednesday’s heat was not their first. They started training for the upcoming parades, field shows and competitions in mid-August, Hoehne said.

Wednesday’s practice would focus on parade marching. The first competition, at Simi Valley Days, is barely a week away, and Hoehne wanted his band to be ready.

“We hit the ground running here,” he said.

Well, walking, at least. But the band members worked up a sweat marching around the parking lot, the strains of the “Washington Grays March” echoing off a neighborhood sound wall a half-beat behind.

“It’s really hard work,” said Jeff Park, 15, as he took a break from lugging his tuba. “You’ve got like 50 pounds on your shoulder, and it presses your feet into the ground, and the ground is all hot.”

Sophomore Melissa Stevens said she was relieved they didn’t have to practice in their uniforms, which, in venerable marching band tradition, are wool.

The band is an enormous time commitment, with rehearsals 90 minutes each day. Melissa turned 15 Wednesday. She still didn’t miss practice.

“You don’t have much time other than band,” she said, letting her cymbals rest on the cement.

Despite the demand on her time, Melissa said the band was worth it. “You’re really proud of yourself in the end,” she said. “You can say to people, ‘I got through this. I accomplished this.’ ”

Jeff said the rehearsals were never much fun. He had even thought of quitting. But the thrill of performing kept him going, he said. “The feeling of walking out there . . . 2,000 people watching you, you can’t explain it,” he said.