Duke Football Band

[OldPhiKap]

Well, and someone upthread referenced "Rocky Top." Having been to at least two NCAA Tournament games in Greensboro featuring Tennessee, I can attest to the fact that their playing Rock Top 17 times is annoying.

I said it, and for the very reason you state. Heyzus Christo on a skateboard, it will drive you absolutely bonkers hearing that crap every damn first down.

[DU82]

I said it, and for the very reason you state. Heyzus Christo on a skateboard, it will drive you absolutely bonkers hearing that crap every damn first down.

Go see a game at the cheaters’ place sometime. Counted 43 times they played their song (you know, the one with the lyrics “I’m a bastard born and I’m a bastard bred...”)

[richmclean]

Just a periodic drum beat at least. Grew up with college games on ABC and the USC games always had a continual drum beat. Part of the college game experience.

No don’t need the whole Rocky Top 17 times just energy with a creative Duke flavor that’s just not there now.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Just a periodic drum beat at least. Grew up with college games on ABC and the USC games always had a continual drum beat. Part of the college game experience.

No don’t need the whole Rocky Top 17 times just energy with a creative Duke flavor that’s just not there now.

Yep...there's a reason drum lines are so popular these days...and thousands of interesting cadences that add to the flavor of a football game...there is no way NOT to get into a good drum cadence and start moving to it.

[Sixthman]

I posted in thread on the game, and wanted to restate here: The Duke Band was better than Central at halftime today, playing with more power, more musicality and marching with more precision. Central is an historically excellent college marching band, and was better than Duke in some ways today, but on the whole, DUMB had the edge. This was amazing!

[ramdevil]

I posted in thread on the game, and wanted to restate here: The Duke Band was better than Central at halftime today, playing with more power, more musicality and marching with more precision. Central is an historically excellent college marching band, and was better than Duke in some ways today, but on the whole, DUMB had the edge. This was amazing!

I agree for slightly different reasons. D.U.M.B. was more balanced than NCCU's band - they had TEN TUBAS. Mostly that's what I heard when they played, TEN TUBAS.

Major respect and props to both bands who played, marched, and cheered in full uniform while sitting in the sun on a typically hot Durham afternoon in September.

-ramdevil

[BandAlum83]

From listening during the game, the band stops playing with about ten seconds left in the play clock. I believe that’s because there’s a (likely conference) rule that states that. This way, artificial noise makers (instruments) disrupt the opponent’s offensive calls. (That said, nothing can or should stop fans from yelling.)

A similar rule occurred in basketball in the ‘80s. Drums were allowed during play back then (but not other instruments) but no longer.

So, to answer one of your comments, no, DUMB doesn’t play constantly because they can’t. Aside from that rule, they don’t play when the PA system has a certain routine, such as the third down noise (don’t blame DUMB for a dumb Athletic Department decision, which is very similar to many other schools.)

But they show up every week, rain or shine (they were outside in WW the last time we played Army) and shouldn’t get blamed for something they can’t do.

(One reason other bands are more “brassy” is that many large state schools require all music majors to play in the marching band, and they hand brass instruments to string and woodwind players and tell them to learn how to play. That, and of course they’re drawing from a larger pool of students. Even if they’re not handed trumpets and French horns, they have more brass instruments players in their band than DUMB has plYers, period.)

Thanks for responding, DU. I didn't have the heart to. This thread makes me mad and sad.

[BandAlum83]

The conversations I had about this was awhile ago; one was with a State student band leader who was on a band scholarship as a grad student (engineering major.). I probably misspoke when I said all music majors, it was likely all instrumental majors (possibly including strings but definitely including woodwinds other than I think saxes.). I agree it was unlikely to ask the key soloist in the chorus to play trombone in the marching band. Sorry for typing faster than I was thinking.

I’m an example of this though, as I (a clarinet player) was asked to play the cymbals in high school (I think we had 56 members in the band performing for a team that would have loved to have Carl Franks’s record, but the best concert band in the state) and the bass drum one year in DUMB. Admittedly, I wasn’t “forced”.

Nothing I said would prevent others from the general student population to join as a “walk on.”

DUMB does now offer some stipends for key instruments, especially tubas.

I was "recruited" by DU82 as a "walk on" beginning my sophomore year. I had never played in a marching band before. My high school didn't even have a football team. I did, however, play drums. I will be forever to DU82 for encouraging me to join DUMB. It became a huge part of my college experience. And as a snare drummer, I was in the basketball pep band during those days when we could lead cheers and play during play on the court.

We were also in the front row under the basket during what many may term the golden era of ACC basketball.

Please don't dis DUMB.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Duke has iconic songs that have made our brand with Duke basketball - Devil with the Blue Dress primarily - that needs to be out there. Cameron’s not transferring to Wallace Wade which is a lost opportunity for Duke football.

I remember Devil with the Blue Dress at football games back to the 70s I believe...anyway, a long time ago. I was small. I didn't know what the song was for the longest time, but it was that song where the brass section went through a routine of raising their instruments above their heads up and down at one part in the piece. It was really cool. It was something done one time a game I think, maybe twice, and everyone looked forward to it. I finally figured out what song it was.

This was long before K's basketball program helped make the song iconic with the BB pep band. I also remember before the 91 National Title game that CBS aired a battle of the bands - Duke v UNLV- and the featured Duke number was Blue Dress. Of course, competing with UNLV in music is kind of like competing with Southern Cal in music...but the Duke band was great.

As for Cameron not translating to Wade? Well that ship sailed when the university made the decision to renovate Wade to make it look pretty, instead of making it a home field advantage. Cameron seating 16,000 wouldn't be so great...shoulda downsized Wade, or right sized it, to say 30,000 and intimate (which may have not been possible physically given what they had to work with). The best thing to happen to Cameron was UNC moving to a dome...instead of also having a little bandbox arena that was always packed. At the time, they both listed sell outs as 8,800, IIR. Wrigley, Fenway, Camden Yards - smaller is often better.

For example, every crowd shot at ODU showed a full stadium. Doesn't matter on TV that it was 20,000 and not 80,000 - it was full. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt - two schools who could reasonably recruit some of the same players ODU does, were both showing a whole lot of empty bleachers. Size matters, and not always in the same way, as you know...

[devildeac]

I agree for slightly different reasons. D.U.M.B. was more balanced than NCCU's band - they had TEN TUBAS. Mostly that's what I heard when they played, TEN TUBAS.

Major respect and props to both bands who played, marched, and cheered in full uniform while sitting in the sun on a typically hot Durham afternoon in September.

-ramdevil

My wife and I noted that pre-game. That was brutal and I probably sweated an extra litre of fluid simply watching and listening to them. A former DUMB member explained the how/why to me but it still made no sense. Why not let them attend and play in a t-shirt or polo and lightweight pants or even shorts for any game during which the forecast high is ~80 degrees or greater?

[ancienteagle]

My wife and I noted that pre-game. That was brutal and I probably sweated an extra litre of fluid simply watching and listening to them. A former DUMB member explained the how/why to me but it still made no sense. Why not let them attend and play in a t-shirt or polo and lightweight pants or even shorts for any game during which the forecast high is ~80 degrees or greater?

I give them props this year! My friend captured a video, and I thought it was quite clever. Her son is a Sousaphone player, and dearly loves the DUMB. As a member of the Stanford Band back in the mid-70s, I'm not really used to this marching thing (the LSJUMB even back then was a scatter band), but I think they do a great job.

[Highlander]

I was impressed with the performance of the band. I did notice the stadium piped in a lot of outside music between plays which limited when the Band could play. But they were strong at halftime and sounded great.

One question - where were the students Saturday? 3:30 kickoff on a clear Saturday afternoon for Homecoming, and there were less than 300 people in the student section. Looked like maybe 8 rows were filled. Granted it was a warm day, but c'mon.

Also, the away sideline was almost completely empty. Apparently NCCU fans couldn't be bothered to show up either. Aside from their band, there looked to be less than 500 people on that side of the stadium.

[uh_no]

I was impressed with the performance of the band. I did notice the stadium piped in a lot of outside music between plays which limited when the Band could play. But they were strong at halftime and sounded great.

One question - where were the students Saturday? 3:30 kickoff on a clear Saturday afternoon for Homecoming, and there were less than 300 people in the student section. Looked like maybe 8 rows were filled. Granted it was a warm day, but c'mon.

Also, the away sideline was almost completely empty. Apparently NCCU fans couldn't be bothered to show up either. Aside from their band, there looked to be less than 500 people on that side of the stadium.

Understatement of the century. It was nearly unbearably uncomfortable in blue devil alley at kick, and far worse in the bowl (especially on the north and east sides). There were staff people passing out from standing out there.