Upper St. Clair

Don Pickell held only his iPhone during Upper Saint Clair’s band camp Aug. 13.

In a nearby folder, the director keeps trusty hard copies for backup, but his smart phone does the job of many other tools that he used to rely on. He holds the phone’s speaker to his headset so the band can practice to a recording before members run through the show for real.

Mr. Pickell has laid out field show formations in PDF format, too, so he can load them on his phone and email a copy to students, who can access them on their own devices. One student, Mr. Pickell said, tried to learn the formations on his iPad, but that proved a little too unwieldy.

It was Day One of a two-week band camp held in the high school parking lot from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It was a cool, breezy morning, the perfect time of day to practice on an asphalt parking lot. By late morning, it had warmed up and sweat had formed, even under the neck straps of a small but powerful group of saxophone players.

This year, the 120-member band is playing music from the 2004 Disney film “The Incredibles.”

“We have a strong brass section, and I wanted to feature that,” Mr. Pickell said.

It’s a talented section of French horns and wailing trumpets, to name a few. One member of the top brass is senior Genna Gustas — the only female in the trombone section, an instrument she has wanted to play since fourth grade.

She chose the trombone, she said between gulps of water during a quick break, because it’s a lot like her.

“It’s loud, it’s outgoing and it stands out above everyone else.”

A friend from the clarinet section jumped in to affirm that: “Her spirit is awesome.”

Late in the practice, the band broke into sections to run through parade music. Two tenor saxophone players sat away from the others and practiced in the shade on a grassy knoll near the parking lot.

I n the middle of band camp, the students had to stop and rehearse their cadence and parade music for an event at Kennywood. Changing gears is just part of the game for many bands.

With all the hours the members clock on hot parking lots, on fields and in band rooms, perfecting every pinwheel, slide and flank, it’s sometimes hard to believe they’re only in high school.

Every now and then, though, there are reminders.

Shouted Mr. Pickell to one student during band camp: “Turn around and stop talking to that girl!”