Love the band! Justice would dictate that you guys play instead of a PA system after a first down or touchdown. I'd rather hear our fight song after 6 points than a siren wailing for 90 seconds
Golden Hurricane Chant
- Thread starter jesterondirt
- Start date
Love the band! Justice would dictate that you guys play instead of a PA system after a first down or touchdown. I'd rather hear our fight song after 6 points than a siren wailing for 90 seconds
I really appreciate the job you are doing with the band. I almost hate to bring this up, as I know it has been hashed out many times over the years, but I don't understand why they have the band at the far north end of the stands. I sit on the west side, about the south 35 yard line, and can hardly hear the band. By contrast, if there is even a small visiting band, from where they sit on the south end the sound is much more powerful to us on the west side. I suspect it is because the south end zone stands keeps the sound in the stadium. Incidentally, I was drum major of the marching band in the late 70's/early 80's and we always sat where the visiting band does now. Not sure why they were moved.
Going back to the Golden...Hurricane chant, I think that the crowd needs to be trained to start the chant at certain times. For instance, when we are kicking off after a touchdown, or whenever....pick the time. Point is, we need to develop and maintain traditions. Like waving the wheat or calling the hogs, fans know when to do certain traditions. It is what makes college football what it is. So someone needs to figure out the chant, do it the same way every time (with half the stadium chanting ....Golden, the other half ....Hurricane--not stupid little subsets of folks in the stands.) Do it the same way, every game. Same thing in basketball. Half the arena. Same pace, don't speed it up. This isn't rocket science.
Someone suggested a "spirit consultant" to be brought in. I think that is a great idea. Someone to look at the whole game day experience from tailgating to mascots to crowd cheers to PA music to gametime promotions to PA announcer to concessions and on and on.
Going back to the Golden...Hurricane chant, I think that the crowd needs to be trained to start the chant at certain times. For instance, when we are kicking off after a touchdown, or whenever....pick the time. Point is, we need to develop and maintain traditions. Like waving the wheat or calling the hogs, fans know when to do certain traditions. It is what makes college football what it is. So someone needs to figure out the chant, do it the same way every time (with half the stadium chanting ....Golden, the other half ....Hurricane--not stupid little subsets of folks in the stands.) Do it the same way, every game. Same thing in basketball. Half the arena. Same pace, don't speed it up. This isn't rocket science.
Someone suggested a "spirit consultant" to be brought in. I think that is a great idea. Someone to look at the whole game day experience from tailgating to mascots to crowd cheers to PA music to gametime promotions to PA announcer to concessions and on and on.
I agree with this. The sound needs to come down a bit, but the rap and up tempo music is always better than when they play Red Hot Chilli Peppers and put everyone to sleep.
That's been mentioned (you guys mentioned a "spirit coordinator"; someone has actually kind of taken up that mantle this year and has been meeting with student groups), but was ultimately not acted upon because it would've split up the band and student section. The view isn't great either way for us, so I just went with the flow.
Interesting point about the south end zone; I think that's worth exploring - again, we'd have to convince the higher-ups to move the student section and visiting sections as well. Change happens so slowly here.
Incidentally, we're having a band alumni cookout today around 3:30-5:30 outside the band annex (across from the Pike house) if you'd like to come by!
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I did march in the band under Prof in '96. I think I was a little too hard core marching for TU's style (I marched DCI before that). While I grew tired of the same old Malaguena/Malaga/whatever else Madison and Blue Devils did rotation for 20 years, I still liked the actual marching music versus trying to put pop music into a marching band arrangement which frequently comes across as hokey. I think as far as being the pep in the pep band part of the experience, the timeliness, the selection, and impact are what's lacking. You always see bands that play the 8-12 bars of the Imperial March either immediately after or just before a big defensive play (or one is needed). Trust me, I respect the time, effort, and precision needed to put out a quality marching product onto the field...there are just tweaks needed to increase the impact on the game day experience, IMO.
I did march in the band under Prof in '96. I think I was a little too hard core marching for TU's style (I marched DCI before that). While I grew tired of the same old Malaguena/Malaga/whatever else Madison and Blue Devils did rotation for 20 years, I still liked the actual marching music versus trying to put pop music into a marching band arrangement which frequently comes across as hokey. I think as far as being the pep in the pep band part of the experience, the timeliness, the selection, and impact are what's lacking. You always see bands that play the 8-12 bars of the Imperial March either immediately after or just before a big defensive play (or one is needed). Trust me, I respect the time, effort, and precision needed to put out a quality marching product onto the field...there are just tweaks needed to increase the impact on the game day experience, IMO.
Are you guys not getting royally soaked up there?? Dallas has been deluged since yesterday afternoon.
Yeah I agree that the impact in the stands could be improved, which we are trying to adjust. It doesn't seem to have been a point of emphasis to the students I've encountered so far, it seemed like they were just used to doing their own thing, divorced of any coordination with any other element of the game experience.
I do try to get away from what one "always sees" from university marching bands. If you always hear the Imperial March, then that makes me less apt to try it as a stand short. (It also works better for 300+ people than it does with 90.) Some of what I took out in the stands was copied from HS groups, which is perfectly valid for HS groups but not what I want to do at the university level.
I think pop/rock tunes can come across as "hokey" sometimes as well, but I think the reason for that has more to do with the style of playing than the actual music. If the students play the way I ask, I'm pretty confident it'll sound cool.
I remember there was a stink with the student section being right behind the visitor's bench...somebody help me out....who was the whinebag coach that couldn't take the abuse? UTEP and Mike Price? Anyway, before that the band basically sat at about the south 20 yard line. You could definitely hear better. Yes I know change happens slowly. The whole gameday operation is run like a Nazi work camp. It's pretty frustrating.
They wouldn't do it. It would make the East side look even emptier than it already does.
Mike Price had the C-USA make a rule because of us that you couldn't have a student section behind the benches. They had to be on the opposite side of the 35 yard line. We got in the head of Price so bad it was great.
I and other members of my family sat in south end zone near the scoreboard for years. Love the view, but we moved our seats to the west side this year because of the volume and crappy music. We could barely hear the band from there. Not too many people want to plug their ears because of the scoreboard instead of because of cheers.
Price may have complained but C-USA and I believe the AAC had specific rules that did not allow the student section to be between the 30's or essential the area defined as the bench.
The band was great last night. Also, the National Anthem was one of the best I have ever heard.
Band director, keep marching them up and down 8th street w/ a good cadence and once in a while blast out the fight song. That is adding significantly to the pregame atmosphere. Keep up the good work!
Band director, keep marching them up and down 8th street w/ a good cadence and once in a while blast out the fight song. That is adding significantly to the pregame atmosphere. Keep up the good work!
