Can We Amplify The Band? Comment Count

Brian

spinaltap11580

So last week I launched another screed against piped-in music and included a line at the end suggesting that the best solution was to amplify the band. A commenter shot this down…

I wrote the band director last season and complained that I couldn't hear the band in Section 21. He wrote me back and was very nice but said that NCAA rules prohibit any kind of amplification of the band. I think that the completion of the new boxes will help reflect the band back to those of us sitting in the old folks sections.

…and I thought "awww" to myself. I spent a season or two in the band deadzone and feel for the people stuck there. Then I got an email from someone on the listserv of the College Band Directors National Association forwarding along a mighty interesting email from one of the marching band's assistant directors:

Recently, we were posed with a question from our Athletic Department regarding the possibility of amplifying the Michigan Marching Band and projecting it through house speakers during the game to maximize the in-game atmosphere.

Naturally, we have logistical concerns regarding amplification quality, delay, operation of the microphone, etc.  Do any of you have experience with amplifying your marching band? 

There followed a series of questions designed to get a handle on amplification, quality, delay, and whatnot; the point is that the Athletic Department is on the same wavelength, man. And unless the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing, this is a legit possibility. Upon reflection, an NCAA prohibition on amplifying the band doesn't make sense when you can blast music from the loudspeakers at any volume you choose.

So then it's just a technical issue. HOWEVA, it appears to  be a significant one. Another email:

Brian-

Regarding your comment about putting mics on the band to make sure the whole stadium can hear it: it's a bad idea. No, strike that. It's a good idea that is nearly impossible to do with good results.  I've been a sound engineer in various situations and capacities for 10 years or so, and micing an area as large as the Michigan Marching Band, outdoors, combined with a public address system would be a nightmare.  (Plus, I know the guys at UM who would be asked about this, and I'm sure they would agree with me).  It's bad enough indoors in theaters, which are relatively controlled environments.  I guarantee it would sound like hell coming out of the speakers.  Much worse than RAWK MUSIC. And that's coming from someone who is in complete agreement with you on that topic.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Jason

I followed up with this guy asking if a dedicated set of speakers covering just a portion of the stadium—the deadzone—would be more feasible. The response:

That would make it better, with less bleed from the speakers, therefore less feedback. The big problem comes from the mics themselves: to cover the band, one either needs a few mics far away, or lots of mics close up. The problems with either are fairly obvious. Fewer mics = more noise, more mics = more obtrusive. If you gave me a nice big budget and free reign to hang speakers, I might be able to do something tolerable, but that never happens, right?

Jason

No, it usually doesn't. Though if there's a money issue I'd be surprised. More likely are structural/technical ones.

In summary: it appears you can amp your band, or at least the athletic department thinks you can. They are looking into it. But they're going to find a host of technical issues that may make it infeasible.

The other option, as suggested to me by various band folk, is just to eschew musicianship and strive to blast people's hats off. Apparently the MMB has gotten quieter over the years as it's gotten more technical, and this is due to the people running the thing. They're not likely to change in the near future.*

Denizens of the deadzone are probably going to have to suck it up and deal with it. They will get some relief this year, when the sonic impact of the luxury boxes is complete, and in 2010, when they remove the pressbox and open up more space via which sound can flow to them.

Side note: judging from the volume (ha!) of email I've received on the subject and the comment count of the above-mentioned screed (currently pushing 200), this is a subject that arouses great passion around these parts. If Rodriguez wants to fire up the stadium he should threaten to pipe in a ton of music the week after Michigan loses.

*(I don't know anything about music other than "hit the strum bar when the note arrives" but I'm pretty sure I blame director of bands Michael Haithcock, who killed Yost's dancing band director tradition because he thought it was lewd or undignified or something and has overseen the MMB's dip in volume. Anyone remember that episode of Coach where Craig T. Nelson is at war with a priggish band director who doesn't see the importance of all this football surrounding his halftime show? No? Just me? Well it was just like that anyway.

It seems relevant that Haithcock's last job was a 23-year stint at Baylor. I think he caught the Baptist.)

Comments

jabberwock

August 3rd, 2009 at 12:14 PM ^

I mentioned this in the other thread. They are a MARCHING BAND, make em play while marching though the stadium . . . continuously. More seats for fans and alums, and EVERYONE gets to hear the band . . . as they pass by your section. nevermind.

Joined: 07/04/2008

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ImSoBlue

August 3rd, 2009 at 12:21 PM ^

architectural changes to the stadium change the sound experience before undergoing anything so radical. I expect the place to be a whole lot more rockin' due to better acoustic properties of the structure.

Joined: 07/10/2008

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pz

August 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 PM ^

I forgot to mention this last week, but in being exiled to Minneapolis for the past few years and going to a number of games at the Metrodome, I am 99.99999999% sure that they mic the band for Gopher football games. If this is a NCAA regulation, they have been in violation for some time. That said, it is usually half-empty in there, and the place is such a cavern that it would be tough to hear the band in most places if not amplified. HOWEVER, what I noticed a number of times in there is that the mics on the band were set up in such a way that the (yes, not very large, but existent) student section was also amplified. This measurably increased the crowd volume level in the stadium - most importantly on the field. I had the opportunity to be on the field for the 2006 UM-UM game at the dome due to a connection at ESPN, and while the noise from the crowd itself wasn't too loud, crowd noise was blasting directly down from the speakers above the field. I think they do this for Vikings games as well to get it really loud in there. Some might argue that it is dome-induced, but I am because I've seen packed crowds there in everything ranging from Twins Baseball to NCAA BBall regionals in there and this seemed like a unique-to-football phenomenon related to mics in / around the stadium amplifying crowd noise. Anyhow, the point is that I think they amplify the band, but they have more control of the acoustics with a more advanced audio system built into the dome. The side note is that if we amplified the band, could we "accidentally" amplify the generally louder student section to rev up the rest of the fans and encourage them to cheer, further increasing the volume level on the field? (Yes, I know it isn't something we should have to resort to, but a potential side effect of band amplification.)

Joined: 06/30/2008

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CPS

August 4th, 2009 at 2:34 AM ^

I forgot to mention this last week, but in being exiled to Minneapolis for the past few years and going to a number of games at the Metrodome, I am 99.99999999% sure that they mic the band for Gopher football games. You are in my prayers. May your flame shine bright in the devil's pit, and Godspeed to you and your loved ones. And it's not surprising they would flout the rules of civilized society. After all, they are nothing but... ...Fuckin' Geauxfurs.

Joined: 10/20/2008

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SyracuseWolvrine

August 3rd, 2009 at 8:51 PM ^

Yeah, and the Syracuse Band, at least during my time there (2000-2004) sucked almost as much as the Syracuse football team. I grew up in A2, listening to the MMB every Saturday (and if the wind was right, I could even hear rehearsals from my backyard), and it was a real shock to go to SU and hear the band. My first thought was "Wow, we're in a domed stadium, the band has mics in front of them, and I can still barely hear them"

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martykaye

August 3rd, 2009 at 1:00 PM ^

Brian, I am with you on every single thing you mention although my hatred of piped in music is slightly less than yours. I often sit in section 22, 21, or 20 and have experienced the deadzone dozens of times. I think the only solution is to move the band to the endzone, right behind the goalposts near the students section. Or even move them about 50 rows up behind that endzone. If I am not mistaken, Penn State has been doing this for years. I believe OSU is an an endzone. Some other schools too. I think this would help.

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maracle

August 3rd, 2009 at 1:20 PM ^

No more dancing band director? When did that change? I almost never get to see hockey games in Yost anymore...but the alumni band director dances like mad every time I see basketball games (I'm only in town during holidays, when the Alumni band fills in). Everyone seems to love it...

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Bando Calrissian

August 3rd, 2009 at 1:35 PM ^

I spent 4 years in the MMB, including my senior year under the current administration. This problem is emblematic of how far the MMB has fallen in the past several years. There was a significant difference in volume between my first 3 years and my last year. We were told not to play as loud, tempos were slowed down, and the general excitement of the whole thing went completely out the window. These changes came with significant backlash from the band members, but we were quickly (and rudely) squashed with the typical "put up or shut up" rhetoric that comes with a wholesale regime change. Also thrown out the window were many of the stands cheers and different tunes we used to play during games that brought a certain amount of excitement from both band members and fans. We were told it "wasn't a priority" to rehearse these things and play them at games. Instead, we were playing Let's Go Blue at pretty much every juncture, and several other things that were really not all that great. We tried to delicately hint that this wasn't acceptable, but again, squashed. There were major quality control issues with the product we were putting on the field, from the Drum Major on down, and the entire thing unraveled on us live on national television during the Eastern Michigan pregame show when half of the block M folded out too early. It's on YouTube, it was embarrassing, and the problems that caused it were entirely the fault of the administration. Which they delicately ducked and blamed on us. That wasn't fair, and there was a lot of resentment that carried on for the rest of that season. This has everything to do with a general trend in the MMB to move away from the loud and the brash and an accompanying "We don't take requests" swagger, and instead embrace the notion that Marching Band is an artistic expression (akin to what you see in these Drum Corps International groups, where Band is essentially turned into a competitive sport. Translation: Not MMB). A lot of us that respect the tradition of the Big 10 marching band, which is a style unto itself (of which the MMB was a significant contributor going back decades), really resent that. Formless geometric shapes, purple and green and orange flags, lowered marching standards, ambient and obscure music, etc. etc. don't match up with the tradition of the Michigan Marching Band. The fans don't get it, and more importantly, the student section doesn't get it. So when you talk about turning the Band to 11, there's going to have to be another regime change before that happens. It used to be the Victors had two musical dynamics: Loud, and Louder. The fans dictate that, and the nature of the song demands it. You can't sing along if you can't hear it. My senior year, we were asked to play Mezzo-Piano during the Victors. And we wonder why no one could hear us... Mic-ing the Band doesn't solve the problem. It's going to sound awful, and it won't address what the real problem is: the administration of the UM Bands, from Haithcock on down, has absolutely no clue how to create a dynamic athletic band. That's not what their specialties are, and honestly, I don't think that Prof. Boerma or Prof. Haithcock particularly know or care about football (or basketball, for that matter). That translates into little to no understanding of what should be played where, what music is appropriate for getting fans excited about what's happening, and thus makes a pretty poor in-game experience. I've posted this here before in the last couple of weeks as this discussion has gained some momentum, but fanfares from musicals, flourishes of classical music, and thrusting fists with "arrrhhhhhh's" are not what made the Michigan Marching Band one of the best bands in the country for a century. That stuff isn't Michigan, and it's unfortunate to see the kind of backlash thrown at the Band because the fans obviously aren't into it. What I fear is that Athletics will consider piping in music, and the Band won't stand up for itself. It happened at Penn State, and last season, it happened at Crisler Arena with the basketball band. I don't think either party really realizes the kind of immense backlash that will happen if Zombie Nation or Rock and Roll Part II find their way to the PA system at Michigan Stadium. There will be hell to pay, and blame will have to be put on both the Band and Athletics. Plainly, yes, find a way to turn it up to 11. But I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. In the meantime, however, keep those emails to Boerma and Haithcock coming. Maybe they'll finally get it.

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JLo

August 3rd, 2009 at 2:52 PM ^

That's quite an epic post there, but I want to touch on the point you made about Boerma and Haithcock not caring about football. To me, that's the single biggest difference between the way that Nix (the previous director) ran the band and the way Boerma runs it. Jamie Nix was a football fan who also happened to be a band director; Boerma is a band director whose job happens to involve football. You can see it in their attitude on the sidelines - during big plays, Nix would be jumping up and down screaming like a madman, whereas Boerma often just looks confused about what's going on. Nix wasn't perfect as a director, but he understood what your average football fan wanted to see/hear because he WAS a football fan. Boerma and Haithcock could really use a dose of that.

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MMBbones

August 3rd, 2009 at 4:12 PM ^

I hate being the stuffy old "when I was in the band" guy, but when I was in the band the director was also the quarterback on the men's MMB intra-mural football team. He knew football and was passionate about Michigan football. Why would you have a marching band conductor who doesn't know football? The MMB (and marching bands in America outside the military) was largely invented by Wm. Revelli in the 50's and 60's. He was tough to the point of being almost cruel, but he was a brilliant innovator. He created the killer high-step that the current band has all but abandoned. But he also said, "if you want to judge a marching band, close your eyes." The band had to sound close-to-perfect and it had to be loud. And of course they marched that all-but-impossible way while playing magnificently. A truly marching band. Now it's just sort of there. By my day, the band had dropped off a bit from Revelli's day. Now it's barely recognizable. Glad that's out of my system.

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MMBbones

August 3rd, 2009 at 3:57 PM ^

I am so glad you posted this, especially the part about half the block folding out early at the Eastern game. Any director who lets that happen has no idea how to conduct a major marching band. That staff needed to be let go that year. I was in the band 5 years (I was a slow student), and I never once saw anyone fold out at the wrong time. We had some true morons in the band in those days (how they got into UM I'll never know), but you don't screw up such a simple move that is the most critical moment of your entire pregame. It's not that hard. !!!??!!!!! I don't blame the students one bit. We realized we were pawns back then, too. You work hard and do the best you can. The staff that produced that Eastern debacle is inexcusably poor.

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UM Sportsgal

August 3rd, 2009 at 3:37 PM ^

John Wilkins... he is currently the director of the Alumni Band and sits in front of us at pretty much every hockey game cheering louder then most of our section at times. My husband and I look forward to the students going on holiday break just for the chance to have him direct the band during basketball and hockey games. His enthusiasm shows in his dancing but more importantly in song selection to keep the fans and band in sync. Crazy concept these days I know.... what? no "let's go blue" for the three hundredth time in the last 5 minutes? I could go on and on about how weak the MMB has become over the years but pretty much everyone has said what I wish to say. I have sent my emails and will do so tomorrow and the day after, and the day after, etc. Check John out on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCp0KQpJ16s

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Noah

August 3rd, 2009 at 3:47 PM ^

The problem here seems to be that Haithcock is a band director and conductor, not an athletics guy. Haithcock is brilliant - I played under him for two semesters in Symphony Band, and I just spent a week here at UMKC watching him teaching high school band directors how to conduct. He's a fantastic teacher, a great conductor, and it's so obvious that he loves what he does when he's on the podium. That doesn't mean he should be overseeing the marching band, though. Perhaps the MMB should be under the purview of athletics, rather than the School of Music? As for Boerma...he's not really the same class of conductor. We played a couple pieces in symphony band my senior year with him as guest conductor, but he doesn't have that same drive and fire that Haithcock does. Mainly, I wanted to say not to judge Haithcock solely on how he manages the MMB. He's a first rate band director - I'm certain he's one of the best in the country.

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NYWolverine

August 3rd, 2009 at 4:55 PM ^

And pre-record some MMB stuff to amplify through the stadium. Put a bud in the conductor's ear so he knows to time the live music with the prerecorded. Problem solved, yes?

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Wide Open

August 3rd, 2009 at 6:33 PM ^

...Or would miking up the marching band be a little strange, like when they put lights in Wrigley Field? It would probably help, but it's just not what nature intended. (Obligatory I WANT SOME MORE DAAMN SOOOOUND!!!1! goes here.)

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Chrisgocomment

August 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 PM ^

I sit across the field from the visiting band. it sucks. i'm subjected to whatever fight song they play...the MIIIIIIICH band is barley audible. in other words, yes plez to the amps.

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