As we embark on the journey towards the annual Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) Marching Band State Finals, we'd like to share some very useful information with you on the events you may be attending, or have already attended this season. We hope this guide serves useful to you when you have questions regarding how exactly our system in Indiana works. 

 
Scoring
 
At all ISSMA-sanctioned events, each band is scored on a 100 point scale, consisting of 40% General Effect (2 judges), 40% Music (2 judges), and 20% Visual (2 judges).

There are six total adjudicators at all ISSMA events, comprised of both independent and nationally recognized individuals from associations including, but not limited to, Bands of America (BOA), Drum Corps International (DCI), and Winter Guard International (WGI). These judges are typically from all reaches of the country.

The individual judging breaks down into the following areas:

Music 1* – Individual Music (20 points)
Music 2 – Ensemble Music (20 points)
General Effect 1 – GE Music (20 points)
General Effect 2 – GE Visual (20 points)
Visual 1* – Individual Visual (10 points)
Visual 2 – Ensemble Visual (10 points)

* On-field judges

There are no color guard or percussion judges as you might be used to seeing at regular invitational events. There is also no portion of the sheet containing these captions.

It is also important to note, ISSMA policy prohibits scores from being released publicly, including in newspapers, broadcast media, online, or otherwise. Scores are to be used for evaluation purposes only and are provided only to unit directors at the conclusion of all events.

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Timing and Penalties
 
There is at least one Timing and Penalties (T&P) official at every ISSMA event.

Timing rules are strictly enforced at all contests. This is highlighted by a minimum of 6:00 and a maximum of 10:00 for a band's performance duration. Any band failing to fall within these timing guidelines is issued a penalty.

There are also many other rules enforced (timing-related and otherwise), but there is simply not enough time or space to detail all of them within this article. We strongly encourage you to contact your local band director with a copy of the official ISSMA rulebook, or post in our Community portions of the site with any specific questions or concerns you may have.

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Districts
 
The District level of competition is the first step in a series of events held to qualify for the Indiana Marching Band State Finals in Lucas Oil Stadium during each fall marching band season.

There are seven sites of District competition held around the state, mostly centered around clusters of groups in and around a given populated region. These sites have varied over the years, but the general vicinities remain particularly constant, such as Fort Wayne, Indianapolis (usually two sites), Columbus, South Bend/Elkhart, Jasper, and a Northwest/Central area (regularly Lewis-Cass). For more information on these sites as they stand today and for a list of their participating bands, feel free to take a look at the current season's District list.

At every District contest, there are a variety of ratings, captions, and scores earned by the participating bands. The District level is the only contest where captions are awarded. These captions include Outstanding Music, Outstanding Visual, and Outstanding General Effect.

In regards to ratings, in class D, to achieve a “Gold” rating, a band needs to score at least a 52 on the 100 point scale outlined earlier in this article. A “Silver” rating is awarded to those groups scoring above 42, a “Bronze” rating is awarded for scoring above 32, and finally, a “Participation” is awarded for any group below this cutoff.

For class C, a score of 54 must be achieved for a Gold rating, 44 for Silver, 34 for Bronze, and a Participation below that. Similar to Class D, all bands receiving a Gold rating move on to Regionals.

For classes B and A, a score of 60 must be achieved for a Gold rating, 50 for Silver, 40 for Bronze, and a Participation below that. Similar to C and D, all bands receiving a Gold rating also move on to Regionals.

There is no limit on the number of groups that may advance on to Regionals.

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Regionals
 
The Regional level of competition is the second step in a series of events held to qualify for the Indiana Marching Band State Finals. Typically two weekends after the qualifying District events, there are four Regional sites spread throughout the state, two in the Northern half of the state, and two in the Southern half of the state.

Most recently, Regional sites have been in Chesterton (North site, near the northwest corner), Lafayette (North site, north-central Indiana), Center Grove (South site, central Indiana), and Evansville (South site, southern Indiana).

Each Regional site generally consists of either A & C bands, and class B & D bands, respectively. Also, traditionally, the two sister sites in each portion of the state (north and south) will rotate every year, where one site hosts A & C, and then the following year B & D, and so on and so forth.

However, since 2009, the Evansville site has not rotated with its sister site, as class A bands in the south are confined mainly to the Columbus/Terre Haute areas and northward towards Indianapolis (with the lone exception being Castle). Furthermore, a great number of Class D bands are also located closer to Evansville than Indianapolis. Therefore, keeping the Class B & D rotation strictly in Evansville has recently been the rule of thumb for this site.

There will be amendments made to this non-rotational exception beginning in 2012, where Class C & D will both be in Evansville, while A & B will be at Center Grove (or another Regional site if this were to change).

Regarding score requirements for ratings at Regional events, an upward shift of 10 points is applied in all classes (compared to Districts). For example, to achieve a Gold rating in Class A, a band would need a minimum score of 70, and in Class C, a band would need a minimum score of 64.

Unlike District contests, however, a particular rating does not determine your eligibility to advance on to the next level (in this case, Semi-State). Rather, the top 10 groups will qualify from each Regional site, regardless of score or rating (i.e. Silver ratings are eligible to advance). The Regional level is also the final event in which ratings are given.

With each class having two sites, one in the north Region, and one in the south Region, this will result in 20 total bands in each class, or 80 total groups, advancing on to Semi-State the following weekend. In the event of a tie for 10th place, the groups achieving the same score will both qualify to advance. This allows more than 20 groups to appear at Semi-State. This happened most recently in 2010 in Class B with an 11th place tie.

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Semi-State
 
The Semi-State level of competition is the third step (and most recent addition) in a series of events held to qualify for the Indiana Marching Band State Finals. This is the event in which participants for State Finals are chosen.

This level was created in 2008 to determine a more accurate qualifying lineup of State Finalists by allowing all groups to compete at a common site rather than a split Regional with different adjudication panels. Another reason for the addition of Semi-State was to eliminate the imbalance of depth in certain classes in specific regions. This was arguably one of the most (and still is) hotly debated items regarding the process of qualifying groups for State Finals.

Semi-State typically takes place the weekend after Regionals and the week prior to State Finals. However, in 2012, an exception will be made to this due to scheduling issues with Lucas Oil Stadium and the State Finals event. This will result in an additional week being placed in between Semi-State and State Finals, and will also result in the Bands of America Indianapolis Regional shifting to a weekend during the regular marching band season.

At all Semi-State events, there are 20 bands competing at each site. They represent Class A, B, C, and D, for a total of 80 groups vying for a coveted spot at State Finals. The four Semi-State sites are generally located close to the central part of the state, in and around the Indianapolis area. Recently, sites have been located at Ben Davis, Pike, Decatur Central, and Franklin Community High School.

State Finalists are determined based on the top 10 highest scoring groups at Semi-State.

No placements, ratings, or captions are awarded.

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State Finals
 
For the greater majority of marching bands in Indiana, ISSMA Marching Band State Finals is the final stop in a long road of events that embody the regular fall marching band season. Only those bands choosing to compete in the BOA Indianapolis Regional, BOA Grand Nationals events, or Mid-States Championship events (Ohio), will typically continue their seasons after this point.

The Marching Band State Finals in Indiana represents 40 of the best marching bands not only in the state of Indiana, but of the entire country. Fortunately, we are lucky enough to have some of the strongest groups in the nation represented in Indiana, and it is truly a spectacle you simply have to see for yourself in order to appreciate.

Throughout the day, all four classes will compete in blocks of 10 Finalists. Typically, the State Finals day has consisted of Class B competing first at 10:00 AM, continuing with Class C in the early afternoon, Class D in the late afternoon, and Class A during the evening. However, beginning with the 2011 season, the first 3 classes will rotate on an annual basis.

Here is the 2011 format: D, B, C, A

The Indiana Marching Band State Finals is the sole event in the series of contests held by ISSMA which releases placings publicly. These placings are announced at the conclusion of each class, from 10th through 1st place, in order. Despite this, all scores are still withheld from the public.

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We hope this guide will prove useful to you while you are attending your local ISSMA events, and we ask that you direct any questions or comments regarding this article to our Community portions of the site where our fellows friends, fans, directors, and staff will all be happy to respond. 
 
Thank you for reading!

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