“Box Six” is a collection of original indoor percussion and marching band shows from 2005 to the present. The site was officially launched in August of 2008. The main difference between this site and the many other sites available is that every single piece of music found on Box 6 is composed and arranged by the same two people. We (John Mapes and Ian Grom) met at Cal State University Long Beach in the music department in the Fall of 1998 and started actively working together from 2004 to the present. With the past fifteen years of experience between us, a current output of 7 shows a year, and a history of success at every level of the activity, we are confident in our signature sound and approach to the world of pageantry and are excited about offering these productions to the general public.
Our fresh approach to Marching Band composition comes from a unique blend of elements: The painstaking development of pacing and effects taken from our experience in indoor percussion, the wide variety of musical influences we both bring to the table from our years as professional musicians/arrangers/composers, the seamless blend between winds and percussion that is present from the very conception of the production, the time-tested wisdom of what works and what doesn't in real life, and the drive to constantly push the creative envelope with every production we put our name on.
The recordings you hear throughout the site were all created with the most cutting edge technology available and we believe them to be unrivaled in today's market. Innumerable hours are spent to achieve as accurate and thorough of a playback as possible to give you the best source for how to fine tune your Box 6 show in the live situation. Powered by 3 custom audio PC's, a separate Pro Tools rig for live tracking, and a massive 500+ GB sample library, the Box 6 production studio is one of the most advanced workstations around solely dedicated to the marching arts. However, there are no sounds or effects heard on the recordings that cannot be replicated in a live environment. We pride ourselves on being able to accurately reproduce the production quality of our recordings in a live performance situation.
We have experienced every single note of every show on this site up close and personal. We have experienced the flicker of an idea turn into a rough sketch which turned into World Championship success. This body of work is not just a business for us, it is a large part of who we are. We hope you and your students can enjoy it as much as we have.
You can email Box Six at: contact@box-six.comCheck out John and Ian's Interview with Vic Firth!
About John Mapes:
John Mapes is a full-time percussion designer and educator involved in teaching over 20 high school and independent percussion programs in Southern California since 1997. His marching experience includes Velvet Knights and Pacific Crest Drum Corps organizations. He received his Bachelor of Arts in percussion from California State University, Long Beach, in the spring of 2000.
He has built and taught WGI PSO 2005 silver medalist and 2006-2009 champion Pacifica H.S. since 2000, designing battery, front ensemble and visual. In the fall of 2005 he started teaching Chino Hills H.S., WGI World Class 6th place 2008 and WGI World class Bronze medalist in 2009. He started working at Los Alamitos H.S. in the fall of 2005 becoming the WGI A Class Bronze medalist in 2007 and WGI A class gold medalist in 2009. He worked at Fountain Valley H.S. from the fall of 2006 until the winter of 2009, where they won the 4A WBA championships & Percussion sweepstakes for 2007 and the WGI PSO bronze medal for 2008. He built and taught Cerritos H.S. from 2000-2006, taking multiple high percussion titles in 4A WBA Championships and being Open class finalists both trips out to WGI finals (2004 & 2006).
He was the battery arranger for the Pulse Percussion independent world ensemble in the winter of 2008 and is currently the battery arranger, visual designer, show coordinator. In 2009 Pulse took 4th overall in Independent World Class at WGI, the groups highest placement to date. His most recent corps relationship, starting in the summer of 2007, is the Blue Devil B Corps front ensemble and battery percussion arranger. He was the Battery Arranger/ Percussion Caption Head for the Esperanza Drum and Bugle Corps from San Diego, CA from 2002-2006, taking the corps to nationals for the first time, winning the Div II title and moving up to Div I in 2004. He was also the battery arranger and program coordinator for the Esperanza WGI Independent World class 2004 finalist percussion ensemble, its first and only year.
Along with fellow designer and instructor Ian Grom, John co-founded box-six.com in August of 2008, which is the exclusive seller of their original indoor and marching band shows.
John is a member of the Vic Firth Educational team, a WGI Percussion Advisory Board member and is a volunteer for the Southern California Percussion Alliance circuit. He is also a principle percussion arranger for JKS music and a proud endorser of Vic Firth, Yamaha, Remo and Zildjian products.
You can email John Mapes at: mapes@box-six.comAbout Ian Grom:
Ian Grom is a performer, composer and educator based out of Southern California. He received his Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance from California State University, Long Beach, where he specialized in drum set, marimba and composition.
Some of his recent performance highlights include numerous prime-time live appearances on the hit CBS show Survivor, opening for Aerosmith with Canadian artist Christa Borden, and playing on the soundtrack to the box office smash The Grudge.
As a front ensemble specialist and caption head, Ian maintains an extremely intensive teaching schedule at Pacifica, Los Alamitos, and Chino Hills high schools. All of his indoor percussion ensembles have had great success both locally and nationally. Ian started at Pacifica in 2005 taking their first Open class medal, as they went on to be the four time back to back WGI PSO Champion from 2006-2009. In the fall of 2005 he started building the Los Alamitos percussion program becoming the 2007 WGI PSA Bronze medalist and the 2009 WGI PSA Gold medalist. He has been the front ensemble specialist/arranger for Chino hills high school since the winter of 2007 taking the group to 6th place in their first trip to championships in World class in 2008 and then becoming the WGI World class Bronze medalist in 2009. He worked at Fountain Valley H.S. from the fall of 2006 until the winter of 2009, where they won the 4A WBA championships & Percussion sweepstakes for 2007, the WGI PSO bronze medal for 2008 and finishing up with the fourth place spot in WGI open class finals in 2009.
He was also the front ensemble arranger/composer for the Pulse Percussion PIW ensemble in the winter of 2008 and then became more involved as a teacher in 2009 taking 4th overall in Independent world class at WGI, the group’s highest placement to date. In the summer of 2009 Ian was brought on as the electronic consultant/arranger with the world famous Cadets drum and Bugle corps.
After being encouraged to venture into writing for winds, he now designs and composes the fall productions for multiple high schools in the Southern California area. Ian's use of 100% original music, cutting edge technology, and innovative show concepts have made him one of the most sought-after composers in the Southern California marching scene.
Along with fellow designer and instructor John Mapes, he co-founded box-six.com in August of 2008, which is the exclusive seller of their original indoor and marching band shows.
Ian is a member of the Vic Firth Educational team, a WGI Percussion Advisory Board member and is a volunteer for the Southern California Percussion Alliance circuit. He is a proud endorser of Vic Firth, Yamaha, Remo and Zildjian products.
You can email Ian Grom at: grom@box-six.com