It's just a flesh wound!

This weekend Purdue happened to be playing an away game. Instead of being consumed by band, my Saturday was completely free. However, being the responsible college student that I am, I spent my time on YouTube watching a plethora of videos. Here's one dealing with the not-so-glamorous side to being part of the pep team for sporting events.

Tip of the week: In order to avoid agonizing pain know your surroundings, don't become a cheerleader, and never stand within 20 feet of a high school football team.

Enjoy!

The Oldest College Band in Existence

A green field stretches as far as the eye can see. The dignified Irish Guard marches past, fully adorned in plaid kilts and carrying bagpipes. Each six foot, two inch member performs an impressive salute and...a leprechaun and a marching band take the field?! You're not in Ireland anymore. It's none other than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish band (minus the bagpipes which were discontinued in 1954). Hailing from Indiana, this band takes special pride in their Irish heritage. The Irish Guard wears a specialized "Notre Dame plaid" according to the band's website. In 1966, the director of bands decided to incorporate meaning into the mainly blue color scheme. Green was to represent the fighting Irish, while the Church corresponded with red. Of course, blue and gold were incorporated as they are the colors of the university. Below is a video of the guard leading the marching band.



Interestingly enough, while researching the history of the band, I discovered a few of the sections' personal websites. First, the saxophones: One thing this section doesn't lack is pride. They have perhaps reached the ego level of the average trumpet player. Click here to listen to a wonderful rendition of The Victory March featuring saxes proclaiming their love for themselves.
After amusing myself with mp3's from the saxophone site, I came across this slogan on the tuba site. "We are known for our enthusiastic apathy, cold-heartedness, large appetites, and our famous renditions of the Victory March and America the Beautiful." No matter what band you may be a part of, this slogan would be declared by any self-respecting tuba player. As I have stated previously, what can you expect from tubas?

Field Study: Bandus Geekus

[Note: Names have been altered to protect the integrity of the identities of those involved.]

Ramming into me yet again, he lets out an unearthly sound. It's a mix between a soprano opera singer from The Barber of Seville and a dying cow (one that's been tortured). He's old and decrepit. Like the crisp remains of yesterday's toast, he has an unbelievably dark tan. We continue to march drill set #2, then take it back to set #1 to add in the music. This time he rams himself into Danielle. "Move faster!" he orders with his freakishly strange voice, as he barbarically smacks her in the arm with his drill charts and snaps a shot with the camera in his other hand. He's the dinosaur in his seventh year of college. Yes, you guessed it, it's Frank.

[Note: By a stroke of luck I was able to uncover traces of Clipper (see "subject E" below) communicating with Frank through a visual message.]

Frank (subject A) is a prime example of the just one of the many people you come to know and love in marching band. Diversity is widespread, even exclusively looking at my own section. Observe subjects B and C, or Danielle and Genine, who put on their spiffy, marching band uniforms and poof! They magically (and proudly) transform into men (Dan and Gerald). For those new to marching band, most uniforms unify the band by making all members look like men. I, myself, turn into Melvin.

[Fun Fact: Half of the piccolos in the following picture are female.]


We now move onto subjects D and E, two actual males, Buttons and Clipper. Have no fear, their parents didn't place a bet on whose child would get made fun of more in grade school; those names are surnames. Clipper has been in the piccolo section for three years and is a role model of the ages. His music is always memorized and his low and high chair styles are impeccable. Buttons, on the other hand, is marching piccolo for the first time after marching sousaphone all past years. Clipper is an outstanding player and marcher, while Buttons tends to slack a bit but comes through the very last second. Then again, what can you expect from a tuba?

[Note: In my extensive field study, I stumbled across this intriguing find. Perhaps Buttons should take a shot at marching one of these: a pocket piccolo tuba.]


There are many more fascinating subjects in the piccolo section, but we must press onto the final subjects: the section leaders. In their natural habitat of the drill field, we study the behavior of Emmeline and Jerry: two of the most lovable people I know. As heads of the piccolo hierarchy, they have taught marching and music style, scolded those who failed to perform said style, and protected the section from any predators. Commonly seen dancing wildly to the show music, they seem to keep us all in line somehow (yes, even Frank). And the beautiful thing about this all is that the section can trust them 100%. There's a multitude of phyla in the band (and then there's Frank), but one sure conclusion that I've reached is that you'll never be bored when you're part of a marching band.

Michigan Marching Band

This week's band is none other than the big blue "Transcontinental Marching Band" housed in Ann Arbor. I recently had a short chat with one of my friends who's a new student this year at the University of Michigan. Her large, unblinking eyes, the ones that could only belong to a freshman in a college town, were able to give me a fresh view of the band. The dialog read as follows:

MIFreshman (7:29:04 PM): the Michigan Marching Band is AMAAAAZING
MIFreshman (7:29:14 PM): they get the crowd so pumped, b/c when they run out, they're super intense
MIFreshman (7:29:18 PM): and they run in place
MIFreshman (7:29:30 PM): and they do really cool choreography from music videos
MIFreshman (7:29:42 PM): and the drum major is really animated and cool
MIFreshman (7:29:48 PM): like when he does the back bend
MIFreshman (7:29:51 PM): and his strut

From what I can understand, the band is so super awesome that one must use capital letters and pretend that one is taking in a breath after every message to demonstrate excitement. However, all of the hubbub is for good reason.
Now for the actual history of the band. This musical ensemble has been around since 1896. (Note: that's ten years after the "All-Amercian" Marching Band was conceived....) Despite the late start, Michigan holds onto the bragging rights of being to the first Big 10 Band to perform in the ever-coveted Rose Bowl in 1948. Possibly the greatest honor in the collegiate marching band kingdom was bestowed upon the band in 1983: the Louis Sudler National Intercollegiate Marching Band Trophy. The trophy is given to a band with "exceptional merit" each year. Not only did the band receive the trophy, it was also the first to do it due to its "AMAAAAZING" performances. The band continues the tradition of excellence by following the game day culture of marching to the stadium, performing the "M Fanfare" with the culminating point of the drum major touching his head to the ground in a backbend, and, of course, playing one of the best-known fight songs, "Hail to the Victors." For more information on the Michigan Marching Band, click here.
Note: Today is the Boilermaker Special's 50^th birthday.

"Band Day"

As mentioned earlier, I'm a member of Purdue's "All-American" Marching Band and spend my time rehearsing two hours per day in order to get the coming halftime show up to snuff. In order to understand what we practice, most people need a little background or refresher on their marching knowledge. Purdue's regiment kicks off rehearsal with sectionals. This means that sections of instruments gather and warm-up by breathing, playing, and stretching. (In the case of the piccolos, this time is also used for much needed music memorization cramming, but more on that later....) Full band convenes after 20 minutes into a music or marching rehearsal. This week, we've cleaned up pregame and spent most of our time learning drill for halftime.

This week's theme is "Band Day," a very self-explainable title really. Twenty-eight surrounding high school bands will join us on the field for this event. Since twenty-eight bands equals an insanely large amount of people, Purdue is only marching drill for the first song, "Get On Your Feet." To get the crowd into a dancing mood, the band will play a selection from Hairspray entitled, "You Can't Stop the Beat." Seeing as it's "Band Day," all of the high schools will then join Purdue in a giant block for the performances of "Aztec Fire," "Greased Lightnin'," and "You're a Grand Old Flag/America the Beautiful." Naturally, the show ends with a march off the field to the ever-popular "Hail Purdue." The band is looking forward to rehearsing and performing with all of the high school students and directors!

Note: There will be no "Purdue Preview" next week (away game at Notre Dame). Click here to view last week's "Americana" halftime show.

Marching Band 101

Definition:

an ensemble of musicians that march in time to the music for entertainment at events and in parades, often with brass, wind, and percussion instruments, drum majors and/or majorettes, and color guard
[Courtesy of www.dictionary.com]

Yes, marching band does consist of musicians that march in time in such events as parades and football games, and yes, most bands consist of brass, wind, and percussion instruments. However, this definition only scratches the surface of what marching band truly is. While musicianship and coordination are both important aspects, the ultimate definition has to do with people. As a former member of a competitive band, I might be able to tell you what my dot¹ number was my freshman year and be able to play the tag² to the fight song, but what I remember most vividly is marching thirteen hour days the week before school started at band camp and the ensuing pain of having to walk up a flight of stairs after getting home. I recall creating a pact with a bass clarinet³ not to use porta-potty during those days and needing to rush home after every practice. My fondest memories are of the bus rides to competitions⁴, when we attempted to solely speak Spanish, sang songs from Disney's Mulan, and completely dominated games of Egyptian Ratscrew⁵ against our drill instructors atop unstable mellophone⁶ cases.

Marching band is fundamentally a group of people with one major link, the ability to play music. In the end, all strive to reach the goal of an astounding performance. Whether the final product be for a competition or a halftime show, all bands want to execute the drill to its highest quality. In order to achieve this, the band is split into smaller sections of woodwinds, brass, percussion, and color guard. Within each of these divisions, the band is divided even more into specific instruments (trumpets, clarinets, trombones, etc.). Each section usually contains a section leader (usually an older student who has auditioned for the position). Through these divisions, the band is able to do detail work on music and drill in order to create a cleaner show once full band reconvenes. Overall, marching band is a team sport where the band is only as strong as its weakest member.

1. Dot: used to specify band member placement on drill field
ex. every member corresponds to a circle

2. Tag: short musical sequence used to end a fight song

3. Bass Clarinet: Musicians will commonly refer to other musicians not by name, but by instrument

4. Competitions: Many high school bands compete with bands in surrounding areas (this will be discussed in a future blog)

5. Egyptian Ratscrew: a card game requiring a high level of hand-eye coordination that most band kids play in their spare time

6. Mellophone: an instrument used equivalent to a french horn

I'm with the band.

Hello all! This is a blog for band nerds, music lovers, and those who scratch their heads and wonder why people enjoy walking in step with each other while hyperventilating. I'm here to explain the world of the average bando to the rest of mankind. I chose this undertaking because music has been a part of my life since I was five years old. I started out tickling the ivories in kindergarten and progressed to violin in the fourth grade. After a year, I made one of the most monumental decisions of my life: going from "Orch Dork" to "Band Geek." In fifth grade I picked up the flute and haven't put it down since. My marching career began in high school when I voluntarily became a "Marching Mustang" for Downers Grove South. I marched flute all four years, becoming section leader in my senior year. It's an exaggeration to say that I undoubtedly, thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, but I can honestly admit to loving being able to interact with the distinguished breed of people one finds in a marching band. For this reason, this site will provide you with information on music, drill, tradition, and a few stories that have the potential to start with, "This one time at band camp...." More specifically, I hope to use this blog as an opportunity to expand my own knowledge of the history of Purdue's marching band and other bands in the Big 10. In any case, the ever-mysterious world of marching band will be revealed to those who wonder just what the reason might be that people willingly follow those who wildly flail their arms to conduct music. Currently, I am a proud member of Purdue University's 2008 "All-American" Marching Band (although I play piccolo here as Purdue has a thing against marching flutes, with good reason). Hope you enjoy!