...And while we could make our single priority to simply play the loudest we possibly could, I don't think any of us would really want that.
There are plenty of groups out there that completely sacrifice the quality of their music for volume. I'm surprised by the sense I'm getting that many want our band to simply fall into the ranks of that very large and homogeneous group.
Volume and musical precision are not mutually exclusive, but trying to have both does certainly make things harder. Last I checked, however, nobody at Michigan wants to submit to mediocrity. It might be true that in the pursuit of both volume and musical precision we lose a little bit of both, but there should be no doubt that the outcome is a band everyone on campus should be proud of. At no point in time does a band member think, nor does our director say "If you fear losing the quality of your musicality, then lower your volume." No no no... that would be pathetic and not in the tradition of the band or the university. We constantly demand both of ourselves, as does our director.
Of course, any of the naysayers out there would know that if they came to a rehearsal. Approximately every third comment is "more volume!!!/Give it up!!!/Fill the Big House!!!"
All I'm saying is that you could have what you want... a band that makes volume it's only priority... a band that already exists at the vast majority of schools across the country.
What you have, however, is a band that shoots for both. It's such a shame that you're ashamed of not being mediocre. It's a bummer you're bummed out that the band demands more of itself than you do.
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