Marching mayhem......could be the title for my final composition. or not.

Comments from last class on my marching cliche piece:
-Go listen to Stravinsky's "A soldier's Tale" since it has some similarities to my piece and will provide some ideas to inconspicuously steal or incorporate in my piece
-Expand the opening theme
-Expand the brass instrument role reversal snare drum theme
-depart/ go crazier before the "crash"
-the departure at the beginning of the piece may be a little hasty
I love hearing the piece played in class since it reaffirms my mental images that are destroyed by midi instruments on finale and because it is enourmously entertaining to watch Phil, Jon and Andrew read and play the parts. They exceeded my expectations this week especially, nailing some of the more tricky rhythmical sections.
Unfortunately, the class has dispelled my hopes for describing the crash in a paragraph on the score. I'm still not exactly certain what shape it will take and how specific I'll be with notation. i am currently relying on my players to help me notate things i've enjoyed that they've improvised, like Jon's pedal note that holds out the longest into the silence. I also think a whistle would be funny, but that may be a little ambitious for the already uber multi-tasking percussionist.
Nobody has commented on my middle eastern section, which was a relief since i was afraid it may stick out, but it seems to work well. I think I should expand that as well.
The ending is very elusive currently, but since i still have at least another minute of the piece to go I'm leaving it up to fate and timely inspiration.
overshadowing all of this is the fact that, ultimately I will either have to steal someone's version of finale/sibelius or once again write the score out by hand. There are certainly advantages and disadvantages to both. It is so much easier to compose organically, I find, when writing by hand since i naturally add in all dynamics and articulations as I go. With this composition, using finale notepad was essential because i was incapable of synthesizing the parts in my head or playing them concurrently on the piano, however the program has many limitations and i get lazy since i don't want to take the time to figure out how to add everything in while trying to get notes down.
For this week I'm focusing on completeing the piece as far as i can. Next week I'll have to tackle the sheet music.