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  • Questions about SDSU's Marching Band

    This post is mainly to the board members who are, or were, members of the Pride. Also, to anyone with good knowledge of the program. I'm a music ed graduate(instrm) and a former drum major of the NDSU Marching Band, so detailed answers are welcome(I'm no band noob).

    The situation: NDSU's administration is finally putting heat on the music department to shape up the Gold Star Marching Band(GSMB). A new position has been created(Director of Athletic Bands), and the hire is about to be announced(I'm not privy to who it is). The strong rumor is that he will have a mandate to increase the size of the band from its current ~85 members to 200 within five years. To help with that, the coffers have been opened in the form of new uniforms, new drums*(maybe), new scholarships and/or stipends, and possibly some new instruments.

    The negatives are the same as they've always been: North Dakota has a nonexistent HS marching band system(one field show band in the state), the GSMB has a horrendous retention rate, that retention rate has led to a poor overall skill level, and the GSMB is a low priority in the music department at the very least, if not outright resented.

    So, my questions include these: What are some of the elements that have led to the Pride's success and what can we expect to see from the GSMB as it (hopefully)improves over the next few years? For example: Is there some form of stipend given to all members of the Pride? About how many of the Pride are on some form of scholarship due to their participation in the band and how much money are we talking about? What kind of retention rate does the Pride have?(how many freshmen, how many seniors?) How many paid staff, how many unpaid? Is there any kind of special section leader training? If so, what kind and how much? Etc. Etc. Etc.

    Make no mistake, the GSMB has a long way to go. We marched about 160 back in the mid-90's when I was a member, and, as a former leader, it's sad to see the current band so small. Putting pressure on the music dept(and don't get me wrong, I like NDSU's music department, just not this particular aspect of it) is just another little item to add to the huge list of things we're thankful to president Chapman for.


    *The current drums are a sore spot among many Bison fans. They are only three years old(and the high-end Yamaha line), but the about-to-be-former director decided that red was the best color to buy. Yeah, great idea there. Now, the band either needs to resurface them, sell the nearly-new set and buy another, eat the $15k cost of the drums and buy another set, or continue to march red drums with green and yellow uniforms. Like I said, it's a bit of a sore spot.


    Thanks for any replies.

  • #2
    Re: Questions about SDSU's Marching Band

    I'm an outsider so cannot respond with any authority...but, this being a message board and me having had two beers and armed with a computer keyboard...well, I can respond!

    I went to SDSU 1972-1976 and the Pride was a big deal back then. I think SDSU is a little unique in that marching band is emphasized as a big deal whereas most universities stress concert or symphonic bands and the marching band is almost an afterthought.

    I, too, wonder whether the Pride members get paid anything.

    SDSU has a great marching band and we're very proud of it.

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    • #3
      Re: Questions about SDSU's Marching Band

      I was never a member either, but Irish Cream is as effective for me as beer is for JackJD so, having a keyboard, I will also respond. I have been a fan of the Pride since the first time I saw them. That was on TV back when TV aired the halftime shows and the Pride was performing at a Vikings game. They used to march in the shapes of recognizable pictures on the field. I think that televised show from some decades ago included the band marching in the shape of a covered wagon. It was probably a tribute to the early pioneers. I remember one show when I was in college where they played music from space themed science fiction. They were marching in the shape of a rocket and when the first stage separated from the second stage they used fire extinguishers to make it look like rocket engines were really firing, but I digress . . .

      The best answer I have to Hammersmith's question about how the quality of the band is maintained is one simple word, TRADITION!
      Finding is never about seeking. It is about opening yourself to what is already there. - Henry Meloux

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      • #4
        Re: Questions about SDSU's Marching Band

        No beers for me. Have to lose some weight since I'm losing the remaining cartilage in my left knee shortly and I don't want to wear out the thing too quickly (knee replacement doesn't sound very fun...) Plus, it's 9:20 a.m.

        Anyway

        I would add leadership to the list of requirements. Say what you will about Jim McKinney's ill-fated decision not to play the November games, but he has certainly been a great leader for that organization.
        Holy nutmeg!

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        • #5
          Re: Questions about SDSU's Marching Band

          As a member of the tuba line from '00-'03 I'll try my best. Well in terms of scholarships, I think if someone has one from the music department for band they also have to be in the pride, (now I didn't have one of these so I don't know all the details.) Starting in '02 they started giving seniors a scholarship depending on how long they were members. If you were a member just your senior year then you got $100. If you were in it 2 years $200, 3 years $300, and if you were in it all four years you got $500. In terms of retention rate I'm not sure, I know of freshmen that didn't come back and I know of sophomores that joined from pier pressure from friends that were in the band.
          There are 4 profs that work with the pride, and one grad-student director. There are section leaders but no real special training for them. Here is the newsletter from last fall, it has some info in it.
          They also try to take a big trip so every class can go at least once. I only got to go to the Rose Parade. The class before me got to go to Washington D.C. and the Rose Parade. Trips really helps membership, the year before the Rose Parade we were at about 275ish and then the next year we were at like 360ish.
          Go State! Go State!

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          • #6
            Re: Questions about SDSU's Marching Band

            Hammer:

            SDSU probably can trace its current marching band to a long time tradition that included Carl Christiansen who was a musical prof for 50 years at SDSU. He retired about 1953 and the first Hobo Day parade that I saw was in 1950 was under the direction of Christy as he was called. Even then the marching band was very smart and made its presence known.

            Here is link that tells you a little about him.

            http://www3.sdstate.edu/Academics/Co...ience/History/

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            • #7
              Re: Questions about SDSU's Marching Band

              Never a member of the program at SDSU but offered a scholarship to join as a freshman. I was a good trumpet player and my high school band teacher made some phone calls. They contacted me but I said no thanks. If I remember correctly $500 was the offer. I'm not saying that isn't much money, it was back in the day, but I just didn't want to make the commitment. I thought I could play baseball at SDSU (boy was I wrong) and no way would I have time for band.

              What am I trying to say? I don't think scholarship money is going to be the answer. I think it is about tradition and pride in the university. Kids throughout the upper midwest know about The Pride and if they want to keep playing at the university level, SDSU gets their attention. Maybe I'm wrong but thats how I see it.
              We are here to add what we can to life, not get what we can from life. -Sir William Osler

              We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.

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              • #8
                Re: Questions about SDSU's Marching Band

                As you can guess I was on the tuba line from 1999 to 2003. SDSU Tuba and I went to the Parade together. I didn't come from a marching band in Iowa, I came from just a band. To me it was more about what we did in the stands than what was happening on the field. Have fun doing everything outside of the field shows it what the Pride is about. Trips and scholarships will get some people in but having fun keeps them. Not sure what the current NDSU band director is like but if he is a drive master in a state that doesn't have field competitions like SD does that wouldn't seem to work. If I was to start expanding a band I would focus more on having fun in the stands and what not and keeping the show simple to keep the youngsters in. As the retention rate increases the show can increase but making a hard-core show would be a deterent to me. I wasn't a music major so I didn't get anything but the final year-scholarship and don't have much insite to what else was going on. Hope the GSMB can expand. Having them at the football games was a lot of fun. Wish one of our trips would have been to an away game.
                Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power.
                -Ben Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack 1738

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