So I'm un university now, and earlier this month I had a minor incident with the band director of symphonic band, who also directs the short stint pep band is.
Before I go on, this man verbally admitted to me that he knows zilch about marching band. He's 70 something years old, and has a degree in education and music. His main is clarinet.
Someone in pep band asked what happens if it rains, and I, naturally, told them to hide, with woodwinds getting priority.
He told me that "I believe it's my job", then turned around and said "I've been told to keep playing if it rains".
Mind you, this is pep band. Nobody's getting run over if we just stop for a minute and tuck our instruments underneath our jackets or shirts.
My first thought was "I'm pretty sure I know more about this than you, old man". It was out of anger at first, and then I realized.
I'm pretty sure I do know more about this than he does. Not just marching band, but also performing outside.
More recently, I've been having this persistent thought that the music community, despite being 3 times smaller than my 300-strong high school band, isn't that well knit, and that they're well.
And then, I had another realization. They are soft- this is East Coast Canada, there's no marching bands over here that I'm aware of. They don't have the bonds that marching bands generally forge- there's no actual trust between them, trust that no matter what, the person next to them won't screw up. On the field, that trust is necessary- you can't be looking back when you backwards march, you have to trust the person behind you won't crash into you. There's no easy camaraderie that comes with a week or 2 of straight band camp, no little inside jokes that come from band camp or band bus mishaps. People have friends, sure, but other than that they're about as far removed as possible from each other, mentally and physically. They've never had to spend 8+ hours outside, never had to awkwardly look away while a freshman has a genuine breakdown right on the field in frustration.
I've been genuinely thinking about confronting the band director over this.
Because I do know more than him. I know that instruments outside, unless there's a parade or show happening, is never a good idea, and even then you tuck them into your jacket, hunched over them as you run underneath the stands or hold out to the rest of the parade.
What's the longest he's ever stayed outside without going back in? He's never done Hell Week, but I have. The longest I've stayed outside is almost ten hours, with 8 of them being spent in the burning hot sun. I've got the terrible farmer's tan on my arms to prove it.
Has he ever performed outside? And if he has, what's the worst weather he's performed outside in? I have two contenders- it hailed once, during a parade, and we had to finish the set before shoving our instruments against our chests, shielding them from the ice rocks from the sky. And in my first year, we were just about to march on the field for a show before it started raining so badly that in a couple of minutes the rain looked like like individual droplets and more like fog. We had to book it underneath the stands, hiding instruments in our jackets and grabbing our hats like they were lifelines. We were freezing, shivering, dripping wet.
If he has performed in bad weather, then how many times has he performed outside? Because my number is over 100- enough that I've actually lost count. Beyond the ones mentioned above, my most notable days were:
2023. We were doing a standstill of our parade songs straight into show music. Halfway into Mvmt One, it started to rain- not enough to justify panicking and hiding, but enough that when our instruments were at carry most people had them tucked into their bodies. (Notable because it was the only show standstill that year where it rained- fitting considering our theme was 'Dark Seas')
2023, again. We at a parade when it started raining. Drumline did the cadence for way too long while we hid our instruments against our bodies, or even gave them to the staff and chaperones to be protected with their bodies or underneath a tarp covering the water wagon.
2022. Another parade. It was snowing a little, but freezing cold otherwise. A flutist tried to empty her spit at one point and ended up with an icicle instead.
2024, that same exact parade. Not as cold, but light flurries started up. There was melted slush all over the road- we were almost praying to literally every deity that had ever existed that nobody stepped on it wrong and slipped and fell. There was also black ice at some parts; we had to break up the parade block just to avoid them.
My point here is that I know more than him, and being dismissed on something so important to the WWs when he's a WW himself just hurt. Just because I'm a first year doesn't mean you magically know about marching band then I do.
"I believe it's my job" Yes well I believe that I know more than you. But if you want to be the reason why we have moldy pads, then go ahead I guess.
I miss marching band. At least our staff weren't as stuck-up as he is.
