[jacketree]

Thanks Farm93, responses like that help me better understand the group's dynamic.

I grew up playing trumpet and marched through high school.  We had a large, competitive band where musicianship trumped everything.  I missed half of my sophomore (first) year because I was on crutches in the fall (lumberjack accident!) and even when I started to walk again, the director thought the limp really messed up my sound.  I marched my first quarter at Tech, which was an essentially student-run band with adult moderation.  Just about everything at Tech is graded, and a decent grade in even a one-unit course mattered, so I stuck it out through to the bitter end (annihilation at the hands of UGA on national TV) despite the complete lack of practice (my chops went to crap), and what I felt was a cliquish in-crowd that ran everything and stuck the out-crowd with the boring 3rd parts. And we couldn't drink during games.  Screw that. Fun trip to Knoxville and everything, but I can understand how a band without real musicians doesn't sound great. I should really lighten up on that criticism.

So here's a question:  are there enough musicians at Stanford (amateur or pro) to improve the sound?  Would better musicians play if the band wasn't always in such hot water?

I honestly don't know which pots really need stirring at a football halftime.  Kinda worked in that "That's alright, that's OK; you'll be working for us someday" vein when wins weren't so frequent.  Adding affluenza halftime shows to the mix as Stanford turns into a Death Star program isn't all that cute.  In an entirely free marketplace, where they would be met with bloody noses instead of boos, maybe the outcome is a little different.

If I am a band supporter I wouldn't be that worried about adult supervision taking over at this point.  I once thought the LSJUMB might go the way of UVA's band after they insulted the State of West Virginia one too many times, but clearly if LSJUMB can get away with their on-field complaint history (free speech baby!) and more to the point, the off-field rap sheet (shouldn't there have been jail time for some of that?) it's never going to happen. There must be some big time donors behind them; or at least enough to keep big time donors that dislike the band at bay.

I really don't think the only choices are Triumph the Insult Comic Dog or Goosestepping Nazi Band.  (Actually no band goosesteps - not possible to play at the same time.)

[jacketree]

Thanks Farm93, responses like that help me better understand the group's dynamic.

I grew up playing trumpet and marched through high school.  We had a large, competitive band where musicianship trumped everything.  I missed half of my sophomore (first) year because I was on crutches in the fall (lumberjack accident!) and even when I started to walk again, the director thought the limp really messed up my sound.  I marched my first quarter at Tech, which was an essentially student-run band with adult moderation.  Just about everything at Tech is graded, and a decent grade in even a one-unit course mattered, so I stuck it out through to the bitter end (annihilation at the hands of UGA on national TV) despite the complete lack of practice (my chops went to crap), and what I felt was a cliquish in-crowd that ran everything and stuck the out-crowd with the boring 3rd parts. And we couldn't drink during games.  Screw that. Fun trip to Knoxville and everything, but I can understand how a band without real musicians doesn't sound great. I should really lighten up on that criticism.

So here's a question:  are there enough musicians at Stanford (amateur or pro) to improve the sound?  Would better musicians play if the band wasn't always in such hot water?

I honestly don't know which pots really need stirring at a football halftime.  Kinda worked in that "That's alright, that's OK; you'll be working for us someday" vein when wins weren't so frequent.  Adding affluenza halftime shows to the mix as Stanford turns into a Death Star program isn't all that cute.  In an entirely free marketplace, where they would be met with bloody noses instead of boos, maybe the outcome is a little different.

If I am a band supporter I wouldn't be that worried about adult supervision taking over at this point.  I once thought the LSJUMB might go the way of UVA's band after they insulted the State of West Virginia one too many times, but clearly if LSJUMB can get away with their on-field complaint history (free speech baby!) and more to the point, the off-field rap sheet (shouldn't there have been jail time for some of that?) it's never going to happen. There must be some big time donors behind them; or at least enough to keep big time donors that dislike the band at bay.

I really don't think the only choices are Triumph the Insult Comic Dog or Goosestepping Nazi Band.  (Actually no band goosesteps - not possible to play at the same time.)