It had to happen…Bluetooth meets Marching Band!  Over the summer, I went a little gadget crazy and purchased a Motorola DC800 stereo bluetooth gateway and a NaviPlay stereo bluetooth adapter.  When you clicked on the links, you probably said “Why on earth did you spend $300 on those contraptions to beat up on the marching field?” Here’s the thing- I spent a grand total of $60 for BOTH!

I have been keeping my eye on them ever since they made their debut in Radio Shack last year (at full price).  Being a technology realist (no, really…) I knew that the world of bluetooth was still at least a generation away from making it to the mainstream.  After all, look around and all you see are those little bluetooth earpieces- hardly scratching the surface of it’s potential.  With the advent of the A2DP stereo bluetooth profile, there are a whole host of great handsfree stereo options on the way.

Now for the application:

I use the setup to “run” my marching band rehearsal (actually, we have a drum and bugle corps…but that’s a long story…).  When we have learned a section of drill, I take out my ipod and click the song we are working on- either the “pro” demo recording or a recording of my group playing and voila!  We are marching to the beat of a different drummer!  Since the unit works up to a 30 foot radius (actually it’s more- I haven’t found the limit yet) I can be up on my tower broadcasting to the portable PA on the 50 yard line.

Some of you may be saying “I can do the same thing with a really long patch cord for a fraction of the price!” yes, but then I wouldn’t be the Digital Music Educator!  Besides, who wants to have a student trip over your wire?

                -Owen Bradley

Visit Owen Bradley’s music & technology site:
digitalmusiceducator.wordpress.com

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[tags]bluetooth, marching band, music rehearsal, owen bradley, mustech.net, a2dp ,stereo bluetooth adapter [/tags]

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