First MMB show.
You guys are going to absolutely love the first show. Your voices were heard, and the Blues Brothers will be the first show this upcoming 2010 season. Rejoice? I think so.
Songs included: Everybody needs somebody to love, Gimme some Lovin', Minnie Moocher, Peter Gunn, Think, and Shake a Tail Feather.
Thoughts?
I have no F@%king clue what you are talking about other than the Blues Brothers nods.
WTB Otis Redding in there somewhere. If 110,000+ people did that dance simultaneously it would be a thing of beauty. I'm thinking UMass game.
Have a car chase scene in there with the Illinois Nazis and you got me.
...it will be a fun show for all. It seems that cross-generational appeal is the way to go to get the whole stadium in to it.
I assume the OP is a member of the MMB. I have a question for him/her. With all of the changes in Michigan athletics, new facilites, new coaches, a paradigm shift in football, new AD and such, will we ever see an evolution of the band with more brass and a "louder" sound ?
I have asked folks in the past and the response was that the MMB wanted quality of sound not quantity. I only ask because without our band being "miked" we are often times drowned-out by visiting bands that have a composition of instruments that project more volume. This may be a function of where my seats are, but I have heard from people all around the stadium that it is difficult to hear our band.
In theory it will increase the sound , since there is now something to actually bounce the sound back to people who aren't necessarily right on the 50, 30 rows up.
Additionally, the sound will reflect back at the band, which will allow them to hear their own sound. In the previous configuration you often felt like you were the only person playing on the field, which turns volume control into more or less a guessing game. I would expect the volume to increase a little bit because of that alone. One (of the very few) thing(s) that I remember being nice about making trips to OSU and MSU were that you could hear what the rest of the band was doing much easier.
Another possible bonus: people who sit behind the band (while it is performing on field) will probably be able to hear much more than they have in the past. I'm doubtful on how much the student section will be able to hear during the game though.
All that being said, the band has been noticeably quieter under Scott Boerma when compared to the Jamie Nix era, so the actual result is anybody's guess. Here's to hoping...
Piccolos... despite appearances, they are not instruments to ever be confused with flutes. They are actually pretty darn loud instruments in comparison.
exactly, many of the top BOA (PCEP, Marion Catholic, Carmel, etc) bands are proof that you don't need full brass similar to DCI to get a full sound.
Also, we took in many more trumpets this year. I think our total is a fair bit above 60, as opposed to low-mid 50s as last year. (I'm not too sure on other sections). Boerma said the talent level of the incoming trumpets is high, so I'm hoping there will be much more sound than there was in previous years. With the new renovations to the stadium, the band should be a lot more audible. We'll see.
The issue wasn't taking them in, the issue was having enough trumpets try out. There are a variety of reasons for lower numbers, and it's not the MMB rejecting them. There's very few instances of trumpets being all-out rejected after the playing audition at summer orientation. There have been several years recently where the numbers of auditioners fluctuated. Some years it's piccolo heavy, some years it's saxes, some years it's trumpets, and there's no rhyme or reason for it. It's just the breakdown of who shows up.
In 2003, there were 53 trumpets. After the Rose Bowl appearance, in 2004 there were 72. It then went between about 60 and 65 until the last couple years when it plunged into the 50's again. From the looks of the MMB site, there's 62 this time around. That's somewhat back to what it used to be.
In reality, however, it doesn't really matter how many total trumpets there are when it comes to performances on the field. 48 for pregame and halftime will never change. I will say that having a strong-playing freshman class is great. In '04, there were 6 freshmen in the 13 or 14 people playing first part. There's been freshmen sitting 2nd chair several times in the last 10 years. Just hope they can play loudly. And march.
Maybe the flute is better than the piccolo in band camp...but Corey is definitely correct, the Piccolo packs some pretty loud sound for such a small instrument. Plus, without them, you wouldn't have the Michigan Fight song. You have to have that trill in there.
Have love will travel wasn't in the movie, but Belushi's brother and Akaroid did record it and perform it live.
It has some sweet sax pieces. Would be neat to hear in a MB format.