Band Question

[Nokomis]

243 4 Life!

We should have a Section 243 GH party.

 

[Gopherdrummer]

The presence of flutes does not mean there are fewer trumpets. If you take away the flutes and clarinets and such their spots won't be magically filled by brass because the band doesn't have instrument quotas or limits that are filled, all are welcome.

Actually all sections of the band are now auditioned due to space as well as number of uniforms. That being said, I agree with your statement that removing woodwinds will not magically create brass. If everyone in any band plays at the same time, and plays clean, they sound will be extremely loud and project.

Not to mention, you can actually hear the woodwinds on the field along with all of the brass instruments.

 

[station19]

Have you never been to Orchestra Hall, or even a high school band concert? This is what they were talking about.

This is inside Ted Mann. Not sure the effect this would have in a big stadium, maybe if they put something on the ground in front of the band to bounce the sound up into the crowd.

I understand what you are saying, but those type of sound panels are not meant for outdoor use, especially in a football stadium.

Also many of those panels are to direct the sound back at the band/orchestra so they can hear themselves.

The ones shown would block the view a tad more than the tubas.

I've never heard of sound panels that would be used to redirect sound from a band in a football stadium.........I could be wrong.

Edit: Some of those would help in a dome. As of now there are no sky hooks at tcf. I believe the new metrodome roof has some sound panels.

 

[Nokomis]

I understand what you are saying, but those type of sound panels are not meant for outdoor use, especially in a football stadium.

Also many of those panels are to direct the sound back at the band/orchestra so they can hear themselves.

The ones shown would block the view a tad more than the tubas.

I've never heard of sound panels that would be used to redirect sound from a band in a football stadium.........I could be wrong.

Put some 20' panels behind the band, pushes the students higher, the student section might actually look full.
Obviously these specific panels wouldn't work, just pointing out the difference between these and what you'd find in a recording studio (which is what it seemed some people were envisioning).
These panels are designed to direct sound towards the audience, which would be the equivalent of the field at the stadium. According to Jerry Kill, it's already hella-loud on the field, so these panels wouldn't add much. The field probably deadens the sound more than anything. They need to find a way to bounce the sound back up into the crowd. Maybe the next generation in AstroTurf?

 

[station19]

Put some 20' panels behind the band, pushes the students higher, the student section might actually look full.
Obviously these specific panels wouldn't work, just pointing out the difference between these and what you'd find in a recording studio (which is what it seemed some people were envisioning).
These panels are designed to direct sound towards the audience, which would be the equivalent of the field at the stadium. According to Jerry Kill, it's already hella-loud on the field, so these panels wouldn't add much. The field probably deadens the sound more than anything. They need to find a way to bounce the sound back up into the crowd. Maybe the next generation in AstroTurf?

It's a problem that will never be totally resolved.

 

[Nokomis]

about the difference in sound. They moved there 4 seats from over by 145 to 135 with the exact purpose
of being able to hear the band better at least that is what his father in-law wanted. You know what he said at halftime
of the first game when I asked him if you can hear the band any better over there then in 145. He said when there on
the field you can hear them really well and they are really loud. When there in the band pit behind the goal post you
hear them about as well as you did in 145 it is about the same sound level. What does that say about the band pit when
there on exact opposite ends of the stadium. The concrete walls that surround the band clearly suck away all of the sound for the rest of the stadium. It would take money to put acoustic sound panels in the pit, not a lot but you can bet nobody want's to pay for that, not the school of music, not the athletic department, nobody. I doubt the band director cares about the perception of sound or the rest of the stadium not hearing the band real well because he is near the pit and probably has his hearing blown out by the noise. Instrumentation is not the problem our band is plenty loud, they are in a bad spot in the stadium.

I sat in 235 row 4 once last year for the Nebraska game, away from my season tickets in 144 and you could not hear the band in the second deck as well as you could in 144. How weird is that as 235 is much closer in distance yet the sound carry's better to the open end of the stadium. The poster that mentions Michigan and Ohio State, I have been to both the Big house and the Shoe, the band at Michigan is on the sidelines in the stands and there steep stadium pushes the sound up and over the fans, that is why you can hear them so well. Ohio State is a different deal there group sits in the corner near the endzone really low near the home side, but there band is composed mostly of brass instrumentation. The steep slop of there stadium and the fact that they have a nearly all brass band contributes to why you hear them so well.

The band pit and the concrete wall that surrounds them really does contribute to "Metrodome like" sound for our stadium. This is what makes a 300 piece band sound the same as when it was in the echo chamber of the Metrodome. Put the band in the stands in the corner and the students in the pit and you really would hear the difference in game day sound. For one the rouser would ring out like hail to the Victors does if it were in the stand in the corner of the stadium say taking up section 135. This will never happen though so I don't know why I mentioned it. If they did a little sound testing they would clearly see that the "PIT" surrounded by concrete is a problem, everyone's experience on gameday would be a little better even the students if they improved the PIT. People that complain about enterainment or what the band sounds like on TV would not have that complaint or perception if the pit were addressed.

When I was in the band, they did a study on how loud the band was and the effects on hearing loss, particularily for the directors. Standing in the director's spot has the decibel level equivalent to that of a jumbo jet. So yeah, our band is plenty loud.

 

[gopherdudepart2]

Question for you band guy's, current members or alumni?

Why did they do away with the traveling small groups that used to go around to the different parts of the stadium with the dance team and cheerleaders, even the other decks and concourses. That was one thing they used to do in the Metrodome that I and a lot of fans in our section used to enjoy when we used to sit on the visitors sideline during the games.

I know they do tailgate lots, and have a lot of time commitiments but I asked a band member once from the small groups and they said it was kind of an honor to be in one of the small traveling groups, you had to audition and a lot of them were upperclassmen. Is it a time commitment, practice issue, or just that they prefer to keep the group together.

What happened to the Safety dance, we had a safety on saturday and no song? Why did they get rid of the band doing "Tonto" with the students, that was pretty cool until they copied and stole it on the scoreboard. That wasn't copied and it was fun to see.
That Norwood Teague thing with "Do the Goldy" was beyond lame. Less Teague more students and band doing Zombie nation and Tonto.

My appologies for thinking the band director didn't care about the pit sound issue.
The band get's a lot of complaints about song selection (Where are the Rock songs) and game day atmosphere stuff, but if you travel around the Big 10 conference you will actually see that our group sounds better and has more sound than many of the groups that have "great reputations" especially the skunks to the East.

We definately have one of the the top 2 Pre-game shows in the conference and the band is an asset to our college game day atmosphere.

 

[Schnauzer]

I'd add that it is a shame that more people don't get in their seats in time for the pregame. I try to never miss it. I've been known to head to the concourse during half time but not during pregame. I wonder how many years it will take to break the "metrodome culture" of landing in your seat right at kick off and bolting for the exit a couple plays into the fourth quarter regardless of how close the game is?

A perfect example from this past weekend: I was there with my family and my bro-in-law came separately with his kid. He called me to ask where I was (thinking about sharing a ride) and I was already half way done with my first bloody mary at BWW. He then arrives after the kickoff, meaning his little kid totally missed the parachute team jumping in (would have loved that). By 1/3 the way through the fourth quarter he left with his son. He had parked in the Oak Street Ramp, just like me. Meanwhile, we watched every play, and then looked on as the band played 'hail Minnesota' with the team. We finally left after that and were not surprised to see we were FOUR CARS ahead of my bro in law exiting the ramp. We were there early enough that we got a prime parking spot with an easy exit. He was there late so he got to spend his time waiting in line for the ramp to clear.

There is so much to see, do, drink, and eat if you don't treat the game like a Saturday check-off-the-list activity. The band is a big part of that. I've gone to enough away games to appreciate the 'U' band as offering one of the best pregames around. I get a kick out of that rotating 'M' every time.

 

[Nokomis]

Why did they do away with the traveling small groups that used to go around to the different parts of the stadium with the dance team and cheerleaders, even the other decks and concourses. That was one thing they used to do in the Metrodome that I and a lot of fans in our section used to enjoy when we used to sit on the visitors sideline during the games.

I know they do tailgate lots, and have a lot of time commitiments but I asked a band member once from the small groups and they said it was kind of an honor to be in one of the small traveling groups, you had to audition and a lot of them were upperclassmen. Is it a time commitment, practice issue, or just that they prefer to keep the group together.

What happened to the Safety dance, we had a safety on saturday and no song? Why did they get rid of the band doing "Tonto" with the students, that was pretty cool until they copied and stole it on the scoreboard. That wasn't copied and it was fun to see.
That Norwood Teague thing with "Do the Goldy" was beyond lame. Less Teague more students and band doing Zombie nation and Tonto.

My appologies for thinking the band director didn't care about the pit sound issue.
The band get's a lot of complaints about song selection (Where are the Rock songs) and game day atmosphere stuff, but if you travel around the Big 10 conference you will actually see that our group sounds better and has more sound than many of the groups that have "great reputations" especially the skunks to the East.

We definately have one of the the top 2 Pre-game shows in the conference and the band is an asset to our college game day atmosphere.

Not sure why they stopped it. Maybe a space issue -- more sideline room in the Metrodome. I think I remember a group in the concourse the early years at TCF, but haven't seen them recently. The group that went to the four corners of the Metrodome were mostly section leaders with a few extras thrown in so that every part had one player. I always hated it because I'd rather watch the game, plus third quarter is when you got to eat. They called it Fanfare Band; we called it Unfair Band.