bandzip

It's a really hard problem to fix, but I understand. The downfield stuff during pregame is designed so both sides can hear, and it works. The Hey UA cheer where we flip the UA logo and playing Win for Akron to the back side before heading downfield I think are both great steps in the right direction. We did turn around for most of the last song during halftime, hence the grad student on the ladder on the back sideline. If we did continually flip back and forth people would complain they could only hear parts of the song. I know the average fan sits in GA, but most of the people who pay a lot of money to be there and are there for almost every game are on the pressbox side. If we played to the East Stands the whole time you would see ten times more complaints.I have season tickets in GA. I WILL be there for every game. Yep, those richy old-timers UA alumni get all the perks. Maybe have the band split and have a 2-sided formation playing to both sides simultaneously! Just a suggestion. I don't know how feasible that is, but High School Band day is this Saturday, so for the last couple tunes there will be approx. 900 musicians on the field. Will that work for now?

It's a really hard problem to fix, but I understand. The downfield stuff during pregame is designed so both sides can hear, and it works. The Hey UA cheer where we flip the UA logo and playing Win for Akron to the back side before heading downfield I think are both great steps in the right direction. We did turn around for most of the last song during halftime, hence the grad student on the ladder on the back sideline. If we did continually flip back and forth people would complain they could only hear parts of the song. I know the average fan sits in GA, but most of the people who pay a lot of money to be there and are there for almost every game are on the pressbox side. If we played to the East Stands the whole time you would see ten times more complaints.

Where on campus is it going though?Between the Lincoln Building and North Deck in what used to be a parking lot.

I don't think it's really so much to do with posture as most of the people who said they had trouble hearing were in the GA area, up top behind the band, and even they commented that they could hear us on the "Hey UA" cheer when we turned to play towards them. I did notice a handful of people with poor horn angles, but most of them are put as alternates until they build up the endurance. It wasn't really enough to make that big of a difference. I think more of the problem may have been confidence. We only had two rehearsals in the stadium, unlike the Rubber Rowl where we spent most of band camp the last two years, so that was probably a contributing factor. Having the first audience be a sell out crowd may have been a little more than some of the freshmen expected as well. I'm sure it will only get better for the rest of the season.Does anyone have any details on this Rowdy meeting taking place Friday? I was just wondering if we might be able to set something up to teach new students the cheers and the sequence to pregame so they know what's coming next.

Michigan State comes to mind immediately. (Saxes don't count)Just because they are few doesn't mean they aren't better. Go to a DCI show and tell me you wouldn't rather have one of those bands marching at half time.1. But saxes are a woodwind... 2. Mr. Karriker has never asked the brass to play softer. He's always looking for a bigger sound.3. I just don't understand how a 100 piece all brass band would be better than a 180 piece brass and woodwind band. It not like we can just hand the woodwinds a trumpet and they'll be able to play next weekend. Bigger band = Louder. Limiting who can be in it = much smaller band = not louder = not as cool looking.

It appears the idea to spread out and fill the section is out of our hands for now. Athletics doesn't think we need the space and wants to keep that area open for students, even though no students will sit there because they can't see past the Sousaphones, and there's a nice soft hill to sit on a few feet away .

Wow, not only have you missed most of the points here, you show a sincere lack of understanding of bands. Did you even check any of the links I provided? Read any of the information I posted?Re: Brass bands. Yes they are louder. Have you never heard your band director tell the brass to play softer so not to over power the woodwinds? You have to have A LOT of woodwinds to match the production of brass. It's not rocket science here. Addition by subtraction. Sorry you can't understand it.I also understand why the University uses woodwinds. I was just posting my personal taste and suggestion. I have no delusions about seeing a brass band here, because the directors want a marching symphonic band and want to put more emphasis on the educational value of the marching band rather than the entertainment value of the marching band. They are also going to have to accept that by going down that road, less people are going to be interested in the band's performance.Name five popular all brass college bands besides OSU. Heck, I'll let you get away with three if you can think of them off the top of your head.

I'm all for constructive criticism, but when someone is continually posting, "well at my High School we marched in bare feet up hill and splated as loud as we could and my mom told me we were the best band in the world so you should do the same or else you're dumb" it gets a little old. To sum up everything we've learned so far:1. We've established that pregame is good, though run-on could use some tweeking. 2. We also established that it lacks energy everywhere except the student section because they're yelling the cheers and singing the fight song. 3. We've established that we should kick half of the band out because they don't play brass and that by taking people off the field we will get louder. 4. Even though we didn't use sheet music Saturday we need to get rid of the music because it's distracting. 5. Halftime for most is boring. 5a. Those people should stop complaining and go get their hot dogs at this time. 5b. This Saturday is High School Band Day and the show is based around the anniversary of the "Day the Music Died" so if nothing else you have that to look forward to for halftime. 6. Traveling Bands = Awesome. 7. March to the stadium is good though a different route should be considered. 8. Pre and post game concerts are a good idea and enjoyed by many. Did I miss anything? Anything else for the good of the order or does that pretty much cover it for now?

As someone who's been in marching band for the past 8 years, with three at the college level, let me tell you, it's not the same thing. You have way less time to prepare, you're playing for 30,000 people every week, you do run on and every single person has to play to even be heard. No 3rd quarter breaks to hang out with your friends and eat pizza either. Friday night games are at least a little cooler than Saturday afternoon with the sun beating down on you all day while wearing a dark blue wool uniform for 6 hours. I also seriously doubt you had rehearsal at 7 am on a Saturday for a 2:00 game where you played pre and post game concerts with a pep rally in between. I'm sure your high school band had nothing on Ohio's Pride. Not trying to be a jerk or anything, just realistic. Please think before you post. Maybe it is just a little harder then you think.

I voted option one. Money game at Michigan, win towards bowl eligibility vs. Norfolk, get another bottom Big Ten team and potential win at home in Minnesota, and go to Louisville just to see what happens. Maybe replace Louisville with a military academy?

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I don't see how cutting woodwinds out of the band will make the band louder. Call me crazy, but taking people off the field sounds like a good way to make the band half the size and much quieter. Ohio State is one of the only bands around that cuts people and that's for tradition sake, I wouldn't count on woodwinds ever being stricken from the band as it just makes no sense. You want us to dance and splat like OU and double our size but cut people from the band and have the instrumentation of a drum corp?Also, any band members posting for the first time, which I see several of you are, don't poke the other posters with sticks. If you want to see what happens when you do then take a look at any number of previous band forums using the search feature. This has acutally been one of the most civil and helpful topics posted in regards to the band. Take what helpful advice they have to give, which is actually far more than usual this time around, and ignore ignorant posts and suggestions. The views by two or three posters on this forum repeatedly posting the same thing do not necessarily represent the views of the audience as a whole, and name calling is not a way to get them to see things your way.A majority of people were estatic about pregame and stands performances, and quite a few have duely noted complaints about halftime which we know is a matter of taste and style. You know what we can and can't control, and what we need to do better so please leave it at that and do not start an "everyone hate on the band" scenario.

We could definately fill it. At the Rubber Bowl we used over twice as many seats as we did Saturday but we were way too spread out. Athletics asked us to pack in there so students could sit at the back of the band, the obvious problem is that you can't see past the tubas! I'll ask around and see what's up. Good suggestion!

Bardo needs to learn how to score more than 2 points a game. I understand he's more in there for his defense but with his size he needs to do more than wave his hands around all game. I know a lot of students love Swiech, but anytime he played he would commit stupid foul after stupid foul in a matter of seconds and his emotions would get the best of him even though he was usually playing in junk time. He just didn't look like he was ready for this level of competition. I don't know any of them personally or what they've been working on in the offseason but I'm sure KD will make the right decision come basketball season.

I wouldn't count on it. When you pick up a recruit like that you usually don't make them sit a year and contemplate going to another school. Plus his size is something no one else on the team can compete with.

And here's where the topic starts it's quick downward spiral. Any hope I had of getting suggestions or ideas is all but gone. Dude, I don't know who you are, if you're in the band or what, but this post is a bad, bad, idea...

thats precisely what pregame was missing. If the entire stadium knew what was going on, 1) the announcer wouldnt have to talk so much, and 2) it would carry more energy.So what's the solution? Have the announcer stop talking so people can hear, or just give it time for everyone to catch on to the sequence? If the student section could tell it was the Let's Go Zips cheer from the opposite end of the field then it makes me think that people just weren't paying attention/participating.

So I hear a huge uproar from the student section on the video when the drum major comes sprinting out, and another loud cheer when we play the last chord of the fanfare, and yet another when we nail the block A, and they're yelling all the chants and singing the words to the fight song. Call me crazy, but could it actually be because they like pregame or is that just me overthinking it? Maybe the solution to the "lack of energy" is the whole stadium should learn the words to the fight song and join in on the cheers instead of just sitting there taking in the sights, not have the band completely change a pregame that people obviously like.

The only stops were for the alma mater/national anthem so people can stand, and a for literally 3 seconds between the Hey Song and win for akron to set the new tempo.

One thing I just thought of. As some of you probably saw we will now be doing a mini concert at Guzzetta two hours before kickoff and a postgame concert on the west side 50 yard line immediately following every game where we'll perform most of halftime and some cheers. Make sure you check it out if you get the chance.

Were you on the East or West side? My dad took video from the GA seating and you can barely tell what song we're playing, but there are several videos on facebook from the pressbox side and the new fanfare just feels huge. It's a little simpler than in the past but by the time we hit that last chord the sound is unbelievable. I'm not taking offense to anything, and when I post responses it's simply to explain why we do what we do and ask for suggestions. We aren't entirely satisfied with pregame but because of the location of the tunnel we're stumped as to what to do. Everyone has to come out at once because between the students and the fact that we're in a concrete tunnel we won't be able to hear the drums. We've experimented with this several times. I personally thought there was too much announcing during pregame and halftime, it was a little distracting. I think once we play the national anthem instead of having the extended singing version the whole thing will flow a lot better.

Thanks for the feedback. I think the biggest problem with numbers this year is the fact that Mr. Karriker wasn't here and we had a director who knew it was a one year deal and didn't bother with recruiting. I know when I came for orientation Mr. Karriker saw "Band" on the back of my letterman jacket and came running over with an interest form while I was eating lunch in the Union. For the first time in at least the last three years there are over 100 returning members and a much smaller number of freshmen. For comparison sake, my freshman year we had 120 new members as opposed to about 60-70 returning. I know Zips fans are tired of hearing this, but wait til next year. I have a feeling you're going to see a huge group on the field.I know Mr. Karriker has, and continues to put a lot of thought into pregame, and he isn't %100 percent happy with run on. I agree that the entrance is a little awkward, but I think the rest of it is absolutely fantastic. Again it's a logistical problem with the new field and hopefully we can figure out a better system eventually. If anyone has ideas definately post them and we'll take a look at them.

Dear UAZIP0510,1) You obviously weren't there for pregame, as ALL of pregame is chair step. If you can't find a video I'll post a clip for you. It's already been explained on here several times by countless posters that glide step is what a majority of college marching bands do now for halftime. I understand that some people find it "boring" or "uninteresting" but that's the way it is here at Akron. We did do chairstep for the fight song off the field.2) Trust me, we were playing with energy. That stadium is loud and there were a lot of people. I know every single one of us out there was playing with everything we had. With the pregame drill there were about 140-150 of us out there for pregame so the fact that you can hear us from the back stands with 30,000 people yelling means we were playing "loud" since I'm assuming that's what you mean by energy.3) We didn't use sheet music for pregame or halftime...Just out of curiosity, where were you sitting?I was in general admission for this one, but usually sit much closer...and if you didn't use sheet music, I stand corrected. I can tell you that this isn't an opinion formed in one Saturday - I've thought this for a long time...just never posted about it. Energy to me is marching with your knees up, horn hits, etc. And music that is a) Not boring, Not just our fight song. Again, not trying to knock you guys...you do a great job with what the band director has you do. I'm just saying - and being honest when I do - is that the performances during pregame and halftime were not exciting, didn't have energy, and actually quieted the crowd, instead of pumping them up even more for the game. And just because "most other colleges" roll with the glidestep doesn't mean UA's band has to. Watching the video of the 1990 UA band that was posted in this thread made me sick...what I would do to have that kind of pregame/halftime now.I see you're realitively new but for the record we've had this discussion on here several times in the past few years. Search the forums and I'm sure you'll find at least 20 topics on it.For the first game at least, music was gone. The memorization thing is new for this year at the request of many in the band and the return of Mr. Karriker. Music will not be used for pregame all season, but halftime will really depend on how each week goes. For example, we start a new show for the Indiana game Tuesday, as of now we haven't even had a chance to go over the music in rehearsal, and we haven't received drill yet. Unlike highschool where you have band everyday of the week and shows with only a couple moves, we have three, 1.5 hour rehearsals this week and the game on Saturday. If you see music anytime this season, don't panic, we're doing the best we can.I have seen video from both sides of the field for Saturday and I can understand how it seemed unenergetic from the General Admission seats. Those are a long way up there and it is very hard to hear the band. Most of the quieting in the GA section was probably due to people trying to hear the band, from the other side it wasn't a problem at all. I think if you were sitting on the pressbox side of the stadium you would have a very different opinion of at least pregame. You probably noticed that the entire band isn't on the field for pregame, it's designed so if someone is sick or has a family emergency an alternate takes their spot for the game. It also keeps some people who are having problems with the highstep or music from being a distraction on the field, though everyone will march pregame before the end of the season.

Dear UAZIP0510,1) You obviously weren't there for pregame, as ALL of pregame is chair step. If you can't find a video I'll post a clip for you. It's already been explained on here several times by countless posters that glide step is what a majority of college marching bands do now for halftime. I understand that some people find it "boring" or "uninteresting" but that's the way it is here at Akron. We did do chairstep for the fight song off the field.2) Trust me, we were playing with energy. That stadium is loud and there were a lot of people. I know every single one of us out there was playing with everything we had. With the pregame drill there were about 140-150 of us out there for pregame so the fact that you can hear us from the back stands with 30,000 people yelling means we were playing "loud" since I'm assuming that's what you mean by energy.3) We didn't use sheet music for pregame or halftime...Just out of curiosity, where were you sitting?

Thanks for following us down there! We did look at some alternate routes but the one we took is the only one that logistically makes sense. Avoiding stairs as much as possible is necessary, I'd hate to see one of those shiny new horns take a spill on some concrete steps. We used to march to the fieldhouse for practice through the middle of campus and turn at the JAR, but with all of the tents, stations, and people set up for Roo Fest that path was all but blocked. I'm sure that by the end of the season there will be some changes, and I'll ask Mr. Karriker about sending out some small groups to the tailgating lots. We did have the two traveling bands during the third quarter along with the main band which I thought was a pretty cool idea and a lot of people seemed to enjoy it, so why not do it before the game too? Thanks for the suggestions!