Band / crowd Question

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Torres9

Torres9

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We have a great band and a carve out for them in the student section. Yet we seem to pipe in a lot of music (AC/DC and other garbage like the Nba or mlb - on top of a monster truck announcer)

Why not just use the band?

I’m watching penn st and (beyond the fact that they have way more fans than we do) it’s such a better atmosphere
 

Torres9 said:
We have a great band and a carve out for them in the student section. Yet we seem to pipe in a lot of music (AC/DC and other garbage like the Nba or mlb - on top of a monster truck announcer)

Why not just use the band?

I’m watching penn st and (beyond the fact that they have way more fans than we do) it’s such a better atmosphere
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Keep in mind ABC probably has the band mic'd up (or miced up if Slab is reading). So who knows how it sounds farther away from the PSU band.
Problem at our stadium is if you're in section 208 you can barely hear the band.
 

Word said:
Keep in mind ABC probably has the band mic'd up (or miced up if Slab is reading). So who knows how it sounds farther away from the PSU band.
Problem at our stadium is if you're in section 208 you can barely hear the band.
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They used to be crammed into that tiny little section but it seems like the band has slightly more room than before at least

I wonder if they reconfigured things and gave the band an entire section, maybe in one of of lower bowl corners, the sound would be amplified better?
 


PSU playing The Lion King tracks to fire up the crowd. Psshhttt
 



Torres9 said:
We have a great band and a carve out for them in the student section. Yet we seem to pipe in a lot of music (AC/DC and other garbage like the Nba or mlb - on top of a monster truck announcer)

Why not just use the band?
Click to expand...

Yes!!! Why the hell don't we!
 


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I think the band plays a lot...
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Yeah, this was posted referencing the PSU game, and from that point on, all I could hear was the piped in music by PSU.

I DO NOT want the level of band involvement like playing boomer sooner after virtually every play. I do love the band though. It’s a huge part of the college game day experience.
 



It's very hard to hear the band if you don't happen to be in a seat facing a majority of the band. I think they could probably do a little bit less music/etc. Let the game breathe a bit, then ramp it up for big situations.
 

AO54 said:
It's very hard to hear the band if you don't happen to be in a seat facing a majority of the band. I think they could probably do a little bit less music/etc. Let the game breathe a bit, then ramp it up for big situations.
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Yeah, but the right music, at the right time can help create the “big situation”.
 

Torres9 said:
We have a great band and a carve out for them in the student section. Yet we seem to pipe in a lot of music (AC/DC and other garbage like the Nba or mlb - on top of a monster truck announcer)

Why not just use the band?

I’m watching penn st and (beyond the fact that they have way more fans than we do) it’s such a better atmosphere
Click to expand...
As a former band member I am pretty disappointed in this year’s version, especially the drum major. Against OSU we watched her toss the batton over the goal post and not even come close to catching it. Last week during halftime of Band Day I counted 8 batton drops in 5 minutes. I can’t imagine the drum major auditions that they couldn’t have found someone better. Not trying to be mean, just not Big 10 Drum Major material.
 

pharmacygopher said:
They used to be crammed into that tiny little section but it seems like the band has slightly more room than before at least

I wonder if they reconfigured things and gave the band an entire section, maybe in one of of lower bowl corners, the sound would be amplified better?
Click to expand...
This, you saw how the Penn State Band was up in the corner and the stands. You would definitely hear the band more, and they would be more of an advantage if they were not in that sunken concrete pit. With that many people you would have no choice but to hear them. When they play pre game they are really loud. Wish they would give them the band to have small groups move around stadium like they did at the dome. Always appreciated when they let those groups move around and engage the fans more.
 
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go4rob said:
As a former band member I am pretty disappointed in this year’s version, especially the drum major. Against OSU we watched her toss the batton over the goal post and not even come close to catching it. Last week during halftime of Band Day I counted 8 batton drops in 5 minutes. I can’t imagine the drum major auditions that they couldn’t have found someone better. Not trying to be mean, just not Big 10 Drum Major material.
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This i don't disagree with, have a little pride and catch the damn baton. I'm sure it takes practice, but you would think in the Big 10 you would find someone that has showmanship part down.. You don't have to be a showboat, just do the little stuff correctly. The band has a good pre game, just wish they would use them a little better. Believe it or not the travel groups in the dome added to the college atmosphere. Especially playing the rouser. I don't mind some of the canned music at all just wish it were a little more coordinated like pre game is.
 

go4rob said:
As a former band member I am pretty disappointed in this year’s version, especially the drum major. Against OSU we watched her toss the batton over the goal post and not even come close to catching it. Last week during halftime of Band Day I counted 8 batton drops in 5 minutes. I can’t imagine the drum major auditions that they couldn’t have found someone better. Not trying to be mean, just not Big 10 Drum Major material.
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Better her having drops than our wide receivers.
 

go4rob said:
As a former band member I am pretty disappointed in this year’s version, especially the drum major. Against OSU we watched her toss the batton over the goal post and not even come close to catching it. Last week during halftime of Band Day I counted 8 batton drops in 5 minutes. I can’t imagine the drum major auditions that they couldn’t have found someone better. Not trying to be mean, just not Big 10 Drum Major material.
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You realize that the mace twirling is like the least important thing the drum major does nowadays right? And that a comittee of 5 or 6 former drum majors pick the finalists, which are then voted on by the band. Who are you to say they aren't B1G Drum Major material?
 

Rather than“That’s another Golden Gopher …. first down!!!”

I wish the band would play something whenever we got a first down or forced the other team to punt.
A lot of these other teams bands play the same couple of notes at key points of the game and I think it adds to the flavor of the game.

Better than some piped in announcer telling us it’s a first down.
 

Word said:
Keep in mind ABC probably has the band mic'd up (or miced up if Slab is reading). So who knows how it sounds farther away from the PSU band.
Problem at our stadium is if you're in section 208 you can barely hear the band.
Click to expand...
Yep, this.

The band sound is very directional. If they aren't aimed at you, mostly you don't hear jack squat. Seems like a no-brainer that they'd mic the band up when they play, so the whole stadium can enjoy it. Must be harder/more expensive to do than as simple as I'm making it seem. 🤷‍♂️
 

Replacement Gopher said:
Rather than“That’s another Golden Gopher …. first down!!!”

I wish the band would play something whenever we got a first down or forced the other team to punt.
A lot of these other teams bands play the same couple of notes at key points of the game and I think it adds to the flavor of the game.

Better than some piped in announcer telling us it’s a first down.
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The band does play a quick melody after the a first down. They time it with the announcer finishing his announcement, so it might be hard to hear.
 

MplsGopher said:
Yep, this.

The band sound is very directional. If they aren't aimed at you, mostly you don't hear jack squat. Seems like a no-brainer that they'd mic the band up when they play, so the whole stadium can enjoy it. Must be harder/more expensive to do than as simple as I'm making it seem. 🤷‍♂️
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When I was in the band, the problem I remember hearing about being mic'd was that the stadiums audio system had enough of a delay that it would cause issues with any of the longer pieces. Don't know how much of a problem it actually is, but I remember that being the reasoning against having mics
 

Is the lack of volume from our band due to our band, the layout of the stadium, where they are in the stadium, or all of the above?
 

Word said:
Is the lack of volume from our band due to our band, the layout of the stadium, where they are in the stadium, or all of the above?
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Our band is one of the larger ones in the Big Ten, so I doubt it's the band not putting out enough sound, I think it's layout/positioning that is causing most of it.
 

swelna said:
Our band is one of the larger ones in the Big Ten, so I doubt it's the band not putting out enough sound, I think it's layout/positioning that is causing most of it.
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One thing to consider is the breakdown of types of instruments. A larger contingent of brass instruments would make a much louder sound. For example, Ohio State is ONLY brass and percussion! No woodwinds at all!
 

GoldGoldGold said:
One thing to consider is the breakdown of types of instruments. A larger contingent of brass instruments would make a much louder sound. For example, Ohio State is ONLY brass and percussion! No woodwinds at all!
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Not to be offensive/dick ... but how much do woods actually add to college fight songs/spirit songs/football stadium music?

Feel free band people to smack me around for this comment.
 



MplsGopher said:
Not to be offensive/dick ... but how much do woods actually add to college fight songs/spirit songs/football stadium music?

Feel free band people to smack me around for this comment.
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A lot of people would agree with you.... John Phillips Sousa did write a lot of really great songs with terrific brass and woodwind combos!
 

MplsGopher said:
Not to be offensive/dick ... but how much do woods actually add to college fight songs/spirit songs/football stadium music?

Feel free band people to smack me around for this comment.
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I play woodwind, so could be bias, but I always thought traditional marching band music mostly used woodwinds for adding flourish to the melodies. Does that translate super well to most of what a modern marching band does? Debatable, but it's all about tradition and for a lot of bands, woodwinds are as traditional as the other instruments.

If you look at/listen to the music Sousa wrote, it illustrates what I mean.
 

AO54 said:
They also have 100 fewer members so the number of brass instruments is roughly equal.
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I don't know the breakdown of the band of brass vs woodwind, but if its 50/50, that would make the MN brass contingent much smaller than Ohio States brass. (MN 320 members, 30 of which are percussion, 290 divided by 2 equals 145 brass.... vs Ohio State 220 members minus percussion is around 190 brass)
 

Could be worse - I was watching a HS FB game on the internet. the home team was "The Mustangs." Every time they got a 1st down, the PA guy played a sound effect of a horse whinny. After about 3 1st downs, I had to mute the sound. BTW, the Mustangs lost 44-18. I was not upset.....
 

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