(02-09-2017 08:00 PM)gerhard911 Wrote:  

(02-09-2017 07:00 PM)JackieTreehorn Wrote:  Funny that I'm credited with starting this thread. I don't really care about the band that much. I'd probably be more entertained by monkeys dressed like cowboys and riding a dog.

That was actually a half time show at a Bengals game in 2015! Pretty F'in cool

I remember that… it was awesome!
Also love the Zooperstars.

Knowing a lot of inside information about the band over the years, you'd be surprised at some of the issues the band at UC has to deal with.. that new band room, was only approved because a private donor came forward with over $1 million specifically for that. As with the small scholarships each kid receives(500-1500$ last I heard based on # of years, and positions in the band).. there simply has been no money at UC for the band.. to put it kindly, high school bands in the area like Mason, operate on budgets that are more than 5 times the UC band..

I remember about 10 years ago Dr. Frenz threatened to not field a marching band for the first few games of the year as the university told the band that they wouldn't pay for their band camp experience(about 25k for the week at Higher Ground last I heard). The university has over the last 15 or 20 years, hesitated to help band members move in before school, like they do for athletes, and threatened to cut budgets even more than the goodwill scraps they have gotten.

I also know for a fact that the university budget was so tight, Dr. Frenz not only uses many band members to maintain the uniforms as Bruce mentioned, but also uses his engineering students to build uniform storage boxes even paying for shop times on their own to use welding equipment etc, other students to repair instruments in house, while others dedicate their weekends to raising funds. I also happen to know, the service organizations and band council have(over the years) raised money through mulch sales, working dozens of nights a year at ballpark, USBA, Oktoberfest etc to raise more money than Dr. Frenz gets from the University to pay for improvements/instrument care. When I last knew the actual money that all the supporting organizations had raised for the year, the orgs raised more than 10k MORE than the university had budgeted for band upkeep. I specifically remember seeing other universities hearing the raised funds and dropping their jaws, because they thought $1500 a year was considered successful.

Simply put, whether you liked Dr. Frenz or not, I am amazed that band still exists. I have known people in college bands around the country(as I said, I was well enough connected to bands to know these things), while every band isn't funded like USC or OSU, I do not know another major program who has the budgets that UC has kept running on.

I am glad to see a show tunes Marching band on the field, not Beethovens 5th, but I will not ever be able to express my appreciation for the fact that Dr Frenz kept that band alive over the last few AD's. You want new music, and new stand tunes, donate to the band.. Many schools whether they have an arranger in house, or they pay a 3rd party for rights to music, have more in their budget JUST FOR THE MUSIC than this band was operating on every year.

(02-08-2017 08:39 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Yes I'm joking (but those guys rocked). I'm a fan of stand a blow people out of their seats (no pun intended). UCs band likes to perform pretty symphonic melodies while drifting about. Nobody can hear it so nobody pays attention. Our big tear the house down number for a couple seasons was The Piano Man. Holy shinkes...

More brass and drums, less clarinet and glockenspiel, please.

It is that kind of playing that makes CCM profs cringe. Very bad for the chops.

(02-10-2017 02:41 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  Knowing a lot of inside information about the band over the years, you'd be surprised at some of the issues the band at UC has to deal with.. that new band room, was only approved because a private donor came forward with over $1 million specifically for that. As with the small scholarships each kid receives(500-1500$ last I heard based on # of years, and positions in the band).. there simply has been no money at UC for the band.. to put it kindly, high school bands in the area like Mason, operate on budgets that are more than 5 times the UC band..

I remember about 10 years ago Dr. Frenz threatened to not field a marching band for the first few games of the year as the university told the band that they wouldn't pay for their band camp experience(about 25k for the week at Higher Ground last I heard). The university has over the last 15 or 20 years, hesitated to help band members move in before school, like they do for athletes, and threatened to cut budgets even more than the goodwill scraps they have gotten.

I also know for a fact that the university budget was so tight, Dr. Frenz not only uses many band members to maintain the uniforms as Bruce mentioned, but also uses his engineering students to build uniform storage boxes even paying for shop times on their own to use welding equipment etc, other students to repair instruments in house, while others dedicate their weekends to raising funds. I also happen to know, the service organizations and band council have(over the years) raised money through mulch sales, working dozens of nights a year at ballpark, USBA, Oktoberfest etc to raise more money than Dr. Frenz gets from the University to pay for improvements/instrument care. When I last knew the actual money that all the supporting organizations had raised for the year, the orgs raised more than 10k MORE than the university had budgeted for band upkeep. I specifically remember seeing other universities hearing the raised funds and dropping their jaws, because they thought $1500 a year was considered successful.

Simply put, whether you liked Dr. Frenz or not, I am amazed that band still exists. I have known people in college bands around the country(as I said, I was well enough connected to bands to know these things), while every band isn't funded like USC or OSU, I do not know another major program who has the budgets that UC has kept running on.

I am glad to see a show tunes Marching band on the field, not Beethovens 5th, but I will not ever be able to express my appreciation for the fact that Dr Frenz kept that band alive over the last few AD's. You want new music, and new stand tunes, donate to the band.. Many schools whether they have an arranger in house, or they pay a 3rd party for rights to music, have more in their budget JUST FOR THE MUSIC than this band was operating on every year.

Very, very well said.

One thing about the scholarships though: annual band scholarships now are below $100, which are just enough to cover annual band dues which students pay out of pocket.

(02-09-2017 10:21 AM)ucbandguy Wrote:  One of the secrets to a better band is budget. Many universities have a band staff three times UC's size, including a music arranger. Some schools have a lot of partial scholarships to subsidize players. Here, the director has to scramble and beg for the money to keep the band in uniforms and repair instruments.

Back in the 1960's and early 1970's, the band was well funded by university student activity funds. Much of that was changed to funding through the athletic department. Do you remember just how starved the band looked in the late 1980's and early 1990's?

The athletic department and university have stepped up a little bit. Several years ago they finally got a decent band room. But compared to many of our peers, they are cash poor.

I have donated money to the band, including their scholarship fund, but my pockets are not deep enough to go far.

The band has not been what I would like it to be. (I could go on for a while about what I would like to "improve.") But if you are going to *****, step up with some $$.

For the record, I donate more bucks to CCM than I do to the athletic program since I used to take private lessons from Marie Speziale. She is a proud graduate of CCM and now is a Professor Emeritus at Rice University.

(02-10-2017 02:41 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  Knowing a lot of inside information about the band over the years, you'd be surprised at some of the issues the band at UC has to deal with.. that new band room, was only approved because a private donor came forward with over $1 million specifically for that. As with the small scholarships each kid receives(500-1500$ last I heard based on # of years, and positions in the band).. there simply has been no money at UC for the band.. to put it kindly, high school bands in the area like Mason, operate on budgets that are more than 5 times the UC band..

I remember about 10 years ago Dr. Frenz threatened to not field a marching band for the first few games of the year as the university told the band that they wouldn't pay for their band camp experience(about 25k for the week at Higher Ground last I heard). The university has over the last 15 or 20 years, hesitated to help band members move in before school, like they do for athletes, and threatened to cut budgets even more than the goodwill scraps they have gotten.

I also know for a fact that the university budget was so tight, Dr. Frenz not only uses many band members to maintain the uniforms as Bruce mentioned, but also uses his engineering students to build uniform storage boxes even paying for shop times on their own to use welding equipment etc, other students to repair instruments in house, while others dedicate their weekends to raising funds. I also happen to know, the service organizations and band council have(over the years) raised money through mulch sales, working dozens of nights a year at ballpark, USBA, Oktoberfest etc to raise more money than Dr. Frenz gets from the University to pay for improvements/instrument care. When I last knew the actual money that all the supporting organizations had raised for the year, the orgs raised more than 10k MORE than the university had budgeted for band upkeep. I specifically remember seeing other universities hearing the raised funds and dropping their jaws, because they thought $1500 a year was considered successful.

Simply put, whether you liked Dr. Frenz or not, I am amazed that band still exists. I have known people in college bands around the country(as I said, I was well enough connected to bands to know these things), while every band isn't funded like USC or OSU, I do not know another major program who has the budgets that UC has kept running on.

I am glad to see a show tunes Marching band on the field, not Beethovens 5th, but I will not ever be able to express my appreciation for the fact that Dr Frenz kept that band alive over the last few AD's. You want new music, and new stand tunes, donate to the band.. Many schools whether they have an arranger in house, or they pay a 3rd party for rights to music, have more in their budget JUST FOR THE MUSIC than this band was operating on every year.

Do they need more money? Yup!

Does it take more money for the players in the band to practice more when they are not in school? Nope.

Can one take a full load of courses, work a part-time job and still be a competent musician? Yup! I did. Every quarter at UC, I took exactly 18 or 21 credit hours. I also hard a part-time job on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I also played full-time -- as a musician -- during that time in clubs. Usually it was five nights a week from 9:00 - 2:00. I still had time to do homework and keep my chops up to the point where they should have been.

So, the bottom line is that, yes, they do need more money. It is also the bottom line that money has little effect on the on-field quality of performance whether you like the pieces played or not.

(02-10-2017 03:13 PM)TubaCat Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 02:41 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  Knowing a lot of inside information about the band over the years, you'd be surprised at some of the issues the band at UC has to deal with.. that new band room, was only approved because a private donor came forward with over $1 million specifically for that. As with the small scholarships each kid receives(500-1500$ last I heard based on # of years, and positions in the band).. there simply has been no money at UC for the band.. to put it kindly, high school bands in the area like Mason, operate on budgets that are more than 5 times the UC band..

I remember about 10 years ago Dr. Frenz threatened to not field a marching band for the first few games of the year as the university told the band that they wouldn't pay for their band camp experience(about 25k for the week at Higher Ground last I heard). The university has over the last 15 or 20 years, hesitated to help band members move in before school, like they do for athletes, and threatened to cut budgets even more than the goodwill scraps they have gotten.

I also know for a fact that the university budget was so tight, Dr. Frenz not only uses many band members to maintain the uniforms as Bruce mentioned, but also uses his engineering students to build uniform storage boxes even paying for shop times on their own to use welding equipment etc, other students to repair instruments in house, while others dedicate their weekends to raising funds. I also happen to know, the service organizations and band council have(over the years) raised money through mulch sales, working dozens of nights a year at ballpark, USBA, Oktoberfest etc to raise more money than Dr. Frenz gets from the University to pay for improvements/instrument care. When I last knew the actual money that all the supporting organizations had raised for the year, the orgs raised more than 10k MORE than the university had budgeted for band upkeep. I specifically remember seeing other universities hearing the raised funds and dropping their jaws, because they thought $1500 a year was considered successful.

Simply put, whether you liked Dr. Frenz or not, I am amazed that band still exists. I have known people in college bands around the country(as I said, I was well enough connected to bands to know these things), while every band isn't funded like USC or OSU, I do not know another major program who has the budgets that UC has kept running on.

I am glad to see a show tunes Marching band on the field, not Beethovens 5th, but I will not ever be able to express my appreciation for the fact that Dr Frenz kept that band alive over the last few AD's. You want new music, and new stand tunes, donate to the band.. Many schools whether they have an arranger in house, or they pay a 3rd party for rights to music, have more in their budget JUST FOR THE MUSIC than this band was operating on every year.

Very, very well said.

One thing about the scholarships though: annual band scholarships now are below $100, which are just enough to cover annual band dues which students pay out of pocket.

$100?? you get more than that in per diem on bowl trips.. if they happen..

(02-10-2017 03:23 PM)QSECOFR Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 02:41 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  Knowing a lot of inside information about the band over the years, you'd be surprised at some of the issues the band at UC has to deal with.. that new band room, was only approved because a private donor came forward with over $1 million specifically for that. As with the small scholarships each kid receives(500-1500$ last I heard based on # of years, and positions in the band).. there simply has been no money at UC for the band.. to put it kindly, high school bands in the area like Mason, operate on budgets that are more than 5 times the UC band..

I remember about 10 years ago Dr. Frenz threatened to not field a marching band for the first few games of the year as the university told the band that they wouldn't pay for their band camp experience(about 25k for the week at Higher Ground last I heard). The university has over the last 15 or 20 years, hesitated to help band members move in before school, like they do for athletes, and threatened to cut budgets even more than the goodwill scraps they have gotten.

I also know for a fact that the university budget was so tight, Dr. Frenz not only uses many band members to maintain the uniforms as Bruce mentioned, but also uses his engineering students to build uniform storage boxes even paying for shop times on their own to use welding equipment etc, other students to repair instruments in house, while others dedicate their weekends to raising funds. I also happen to know, the service organizations and band council have(over the years) raised money through mulch sales, working dozens of nights a year at ballpark, USBA, Oktoberfest etc to raise more money than Dr. Frenz gets from the University to pay for improvements/instrument care. When I last knew the actual money that all the supporting organizations had raised for the year, the orgs raised more than 10k MORE than the university had budgeted for band upkeep. I specifically remember seeing other universities hearing the raised funds and dropping their jaws, because they thought $1500 a year was considered successful.

Simply put, whether you liked Dr. Frenz or not, I am amazed that band still exists. I have known people in college bands around the country(as I said, I was well enough connected to bands to know these things), while every band isn't funded like USC or OSU, I do not know another major program who has the budgets that UC has kept running on.

I am glad to see a show tunes Marching band on the field, not Beethovens 5th, but I will not ever be able to express my appreciation for the fact that Dr Frenz kept that band alive over the last few AD's. You want new music, and new stand tunes, donate to the band.. Many schools whether they have an arranger in house, or they pay a 3rd party for rights to music, have more in their budget JUST FOR THE MUSIC than this band was operating on every year.

Do they need more money? Yup!

Does it take more money for the players in the band to practice more when they are not in school? Nope.

Can one take a full load of courses, work a part-time job and still be a competent musician? Yup! I did. Every quarter at UC, I took exactly 18 or 21 credit hours. I also hard a part-time job on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I also played full-time -- as a musician -- during that time in clubs. Usually it was five nights a week from 9:00 - 2:00. I still had time to do homework and keep my chops up to the point where they should have been.

So, the bottom line is that, yes, they do need more money. It is also the bottom line that money has little effect on the on-field quality of performance whether you like the pieces played or not.

Surely you aren't putting any blame on band members... that would be ridiculous. Do you blame our football team's horrible performance last season on the players? I doubt it.

(02-10-2017 03:37 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 03:13 PM)TubaCat Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 02:41 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  Knowing a lot of inside information about the band over the years, you'd be surprised at some of the issues the band at UC has to deal with.. that new band room, was only approved because a private donor came forward with over $1 million specifically for that. As with the small scholarships each kid receives(500-1500$ last I heard based on # of years, and positions in the band).. there simply has been no money at UC for the band.. to put it kindly, high school bands in the area like Mason, operate on budgets that are more than 5 times the UC band..

I remember about 10 years ago Dr. Frenz threatened to not field a marching band for the first few games of the year as the university told the band that they wouldn't pay for their band camp experience(about 25k for the week at Higher Ground last I heard). The university has over the last 15 or 20 years, hesitated to help band members move in before school, like they do for athletes, and threatened to cut budgets even more than the goodwill scraps they have gotten.

I also know for a fact that the university budget was so tight, Dr. Frenz not only uses many band members to maintain the uniforms as Bruce mentioned, but also uses his engineering students to build uniform storage boxes even paying for shop times on their own to use welding equipment etc, other students to repair instruments in house, while others dedicate their weekends to raising funds. I also happen to know, the service organizations and band council have(over the years) raised money through mulch sales, working dozens of nights a year at ballpark, USBA, Oktoberfest etc to raise more money than Dr. Frenz gets from the University to pay for improvements/instrument care. When I last knew the actual money that all the supporting organizations had raised for the year, the orgs raised more than 10k MORE than the university had budgeted for band upkeep. I specifically remember seeing other universities hearing the raised funds and dropping their jaws, because they thought $1500 a year was considered successful.

Simply put, whether you liked Dr. Frenz or not, I am amazed that band still exists. I have known people in college bands around the country(as I said, I was well enough connected to bands to know these things), while every band isn't funded like USC or OSU, I do not know another major program who has the budgets that UC has kept running on.

I am glad to see a show tunes Marching band on the field, not Beethovens 5th, but I will not ever be able to express my appreciation for the fact that Dr Frenz kept that band alive over the last few AD's. You want new music, and new stand tunes, donate to the band.. Many schools whether they have an arranger in house, or they pay a 3rd party for rights to music, have more in their budget JUST FOR THE MUSIC than this band was operating on every year.

Very, very well said.

One thing about the scholarships though: annual band scholarships now are below $100, which are just enough to cover annual band dues which students pay out of pocket.

$100?? you get more than that in per diem on bowl trips.. if they happen..

Per diem is now about $60 per bowl trip, depending on how long the trip is and where it's going.

(02-10-2017 03:23 PM)QSECOFR Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 02:41 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  Knowing a lot of inside information about the band over the years, you'd be surprised at some of the issues the band at UC has to deal with.. that new band room, was only approved because a private donor came forward with over $1 million specifically for that. As with the small scholarships each kid receives(500-1500$ last I heard based on # of years, and positions in the band).. there simply has been no money at UC for the band.. to put it kindly, high school bands in the area like Mason, operate on budgets that are more than 5 times the UC band..

I remember about 10 years ago Dr. Frenz threatened to not field a marching band for the first few games of the year as the university told the band that they wouldn't pay for their band camp experience(about 25k for the week at Higher Ground last I heard). The university has over the last 15 or 20 years, hesitated to help band members move in before school, like they do for athletes, and threatened to cut budgets even more than the goodwill scraps they have gotten.

I also know for a fact that the university budget was so tight, Dr. Frenz not only uses many band members to maintain the uniforms as Bruce mentioned, but also uses his engineering students to build uniform storage boxes even paying for shop times on their own to use welding equipment etc, other students to repair instruments in house, while others dedicate their weekends to raising funds. I also happen to know, the service organizations and band council have(over the years) raised money through mulch sales, working dozens of nights a year at ballpark, USBA, Oktoberfest etc to raise more money than Dr. Frenz gets from the University to pay for improvements/instrument care. When I last knew the actual money that all the supporting organizations had raised for the year, the orgs raised more than 10k MORE than the university had budgeted for band upkeep. I specifically remember seeing other universities hearing the raised funds and dropping their jaws, because they thought $1500 a year was considered successful.

Simply put, whether you liked Dr. Frenz or not, I am amazed that band still exists. I have known people in college bands around the country(as I said, I was well enough connected to bands to know these things), while every band isn't funded like USC or OSU, I do not know another major program who has the budgets that UC has kept running on.

I am glad to see a show tunes Marching band on the field, not Beethovens 5th, but I will not ever be able to express my appreciation for the fact that Dr Frenz kept that band alive over the last few AD's. You want new music, and new stand tunes, donate to the band.. Many schools whether they have an arranger in house, or they pay a 3rd party for rights to music, have more in their budget JUST FOR THE MUSIC than this band was operating on every year.

Do they need more money? Yup!

Does it take more money for the players in the band to practice more when they are not in school? Nope.

Can one take a full load of courses, work a part-time job and still be a competent musician? Yup! I did. Every quarter at UC, I took exactly 18 or 21 credit hours. I also hard a part-time job on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I also played full-time -- as a musician -- during that time in clubs. Usually it was five nights a week from 9:00 - 2:00. I still had time to do homework and keep my chops up to the point where they should have been.

So, the bottom line is that, yes, they do need more money. It is also the bottom line that money has little effect on the on-field quality of performance whether you like the pieces played or not.

Don't have to tell me.. sounds like we had similar schedules, and I actually paid EXTRA because I was over full time in a few quarters.. but I agree, and that is one reason some of the best musicians leave the UC band rather early in their career. But I'd also say many people form their own small ensembles to push themselves supplementary to a group that had some people who were still learning scales and what a chord even was.

(02-10-2017 03:39 PM)TubaCat Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 03:37 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 03:13 PM)TubaCat Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 02:41 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  Knowing a lot of inside information about the band over the years, you'd be surprised at some of the issues the band at UC has to deal with.. that new band room, was only approved because a private donor came forward with over $1 million specifically for that. As with the small scholarships each kid receives(500-1500$ last I heard based on # of years, and positions in the band).. there simply has been no money at UC for the band.. to put it kindly, high school bands in the area like Mason, operate on budgets that are more than 5 times the UC band..

I remember about 10 years ago Dr. Frenz threatened to not field a marching band for the first few games of the year as the university told the band that they wouldn't pay for their band camp experience(about 25k for the week at Higher Ground last I heard). The university has over the last 15 or 20 years, hesitated to help band members move in before school, like they do for athletes, and threatened to cut budgets even more than the goodwill scraps they have gotten.

I also know for a fact that the university budget was so tight, Dr. Frenz not only uses many band members to maintain the uniforms as Bruce mentioned, but also uses his engineering students to build uniform storage boxes even paying for shop times on their own to use welding equipment etc, other students to repair instruments in house, while others dedicate their weekends to raising funds. I also happen to know, the service organizations and band council have(over the years) raised money through mulch sales, working dozens of nights a year at ballpark, USBA, Oktoberfest etc to raise more money than Dr. Frenz gets from the University to pay for improvements/instrument care. When I last knew the actual money that all the supporting organizations had raised for the year, the orgs raised more than 10k MORE than the university had budgeted for band upkeep. I specifically remember seeing other universities hearing the raised funds and dropping their jaws, because they thought $1500 a year was considered successful.

Simply put, whether you liked Dr. Frenz or not, I am amazed that band still exists. I have known people in college bands around the country(as I said, I was well enough connected to bands to know these things), while every band isn't funded like USC or OSU, I do not know another major program who has the budgets that UC has kept running on.

I am glad to see a show tunes Marching band on the field, not Beethovens 5th, but I will not ever be able to express my appreciation for the fact that Dr Frenz kept that band alive over the last few AD's. You want new music, and new stand tunes, donate to the band.. Many schools whether they have an arranger in house, or they pay a 3rd party for rights to music, have more in their budget JUST FOR THE MUSIC than this band was operating on every year.

Very, very well said.

One thing about the scholarships though: annual band scholarships now are below $100, which are just enough to cover annual band dues which students pay out of pocket.

$100?? you get more than that in per diem on bowl trips.. if they happen..

Per diem is now about $60 per bowl trip, depending on how long the trip is and where it's going.

everyone who traveled with the university got 30/35$ per day when I was at the university.. right on par with many jobs... Most students in band etc used it for beer and eat mcdonalds

(02-10-2017 03:37 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 03:13 PM)TubaCat Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 02:41 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  Knowing a lot of inside information about the band over the years, you'd be surprised at some of the issues the band at UC has to deal with.. that new band room, was only approved because a private donor came forward with over $1 million specifically for that. As with the small scholarships each kid receives(500-1500$ last I heard based on # of years, and positions in the band).. there simply has been no money at UC for the band.. to put it kindly, high school bands in the area like Mason, operate on budgets that are more than 5 times the UC band..

I remember about 10 years ago Dr. Frenz threatened to not field a marching band for the first few games of the year as the university told the band that they wouldn't pay for their band camp experience(about 25k for the week at Higher Ground last I heard). The university has over the last 15 or 20 years, hesitated to help band members move in before school, like they do for athletes, and threatened to cut budgets even more than the goodwill scraps they have gotten.

I also know for a fact that the university budget was so tight, Dr. Frenz not only uses many band members to maintain the uniforms as Bruce mentioned, but also uses his engineering students to build uniform storage boxes even paying for shop times on their own to use welding equipment etc, other students to repair instruments in house, while others dedicate their weekends to raising funds. I also happen to know, the service organizations and band council have(over the years) raised money through mulch sales, working dozens of nights a year at ballpark, USBA, Oktoberfest etc to raise more money than Dr. Frenz gets from the University to pay for improvements/instrument care. When I last knew the actual money that all the supporting organizations had raised for the year, the orgs raised more than 10k MORE than the university had budgeted for band upkeep. I specifically remember seeing other universities hearing the raised funds and dropping their jaws, because they thought $1500 a year was considered successful.

Simply put, whether you liked Dr. Frenz or not, I am amazed that band still exists. I have known people in college bands around the country(as I said, I was well enough connected to bands to know these things), while every band isn't funded like USC or OSU, I do not know another major program who has the budgets that UC has kept running on.

I am glad to see a show tunes Marching band on the field, not Beethovens 5th, but I will not ever be able to express my appreciation for the fact that Dr Frenz kept that band alive over the last few AD's. You want new music, and new stand tunes, donate to the band.. Many schools whether they have an arranger in house, or they pay a 3rd party for rights to music, have more in their budget JUST FOR THE MUSIC than this band was operating on every year.

Very, very well said.

One thing about the scholarships though: annual band scholarships now are below $100, which are just enough to cover annual band dues which students pay out of pocket.

$100?? you get more than that in per diem on bowl trips.. if they happen..

It's roughly $25-$30 a day. For me, it was more then enough, outside of going to Memphis where i bought myself a $25 set of ribs (They were good). Can't go to anything fancy, but you can get a decent meal at most restaurants for $10-$15

(02-10-2017 03:37 PM)TubaCat Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 03:23 PM)QSECOFR Wrote:  

(02-10-2017 02:41 PM)Ahhhorsepoo Wrote:  Knowing a lot of inside information about the band over the years, you'd be surprised at some of the issues the band at UC has to deal with.. that new band room, was only approved because a private donor came forward with over $1 million specifically for that. As with the small scholarships each kid receives(500-1500$ last I heard based on # of years, and positions in the band).. there simply has been no money at UC for the band.. to put it kindly, high school bands in the area like Mason, operate on budgets that are more than 5 times the UC band..

I remember about 10 years ago Dr. Frenz threatened to not field a marching band for the first few games of the year as the university told the band that they wouldn't pay for their band camp experience(about 25k for the week at Higher Ground last I heard). The university has over the last 15 or 20 years, hesitated to help band members move in before school, like they do for athletes, and threatened to cut budgets even more than the goodwill scraps they have gotten.

I also know for a fact that the university budget was so tight, Dr. Frenz not only uses many band members to maintain the uniforms as Bruce mentioned, but also uses his engineering students to build uniform storage boxes even paying for shop times on their own to use welding equipment etc, other students to repair instruments in house, while others dedicate their weekends to raising funds. I also happen to know, the service organizations and band council have(over the years) raised money through mulch sales, working dozens of nights a year at ballpark, USBA, Oktoberfest etc to raise more money than Dr. Frenz gets from the University to pay for improvements/instrument care. When I last knew the actual money that all the supporting organizations had raised for the year, the orgs raised more than 10k MORE than the university had budgeted for band upkeep. I specifically remember seeing other universities hearing the raised funds and dropping their jaws, because they thought $1500 a year was considered successful.

Simply put, whether you liked Dr. Frenz or not, I am amazed that band still exists. I have known people in college bands around the country(as I said, I was well enough connected to bands to know these things), while every band isn't funded like USC or OSU, I do not know another major program who has the budgets that UC has kept running on.

I am glad to see a show tunes Marching band on the field, not Beethovens 5th, but I will not ever be able to express my appreciation for the fact that Dr Frenz kept that band alive over the last few AD's. You want new music, and new stand tunes, donate to the band.. Many schools whether they have an arranger in house, or they pay a 3rd party for rights to music, have more in their budget JUST FOR THE MUSIC than this band was operating on every year.

Do they need more money? Yup!

Does it take more money for the players in the band to practice more when they are not in school? Nope.

Can one take a full load of courses, work a part-time job and still be a competent musician? Yup! I did. Every quarter at UC, I took exactly 18 or 21 credit hours. I also hard a part-time job on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I also played full-time -- as a musician -- during that time in clubs. Usually it was five nights a week from 9:00 - 2:00. I still had time to do homework and keep my chops up to the point where they should have been.

So, the bottom line is that, yes, they do need more money. It is also the bottom line that money has little effect on the on-field quality of performance whether you like the pieces played or not.

Surely you aren't putting any blame on band members... that would be ridiculous. Do you blame our football team's horrible performance last season on the players? I doubt it.

How much time does the average member of the band put in for individual practice? From the sound of the band, it ain't much. Football players put in enormous amounts of time - on their own time - regardless of who the coach is.

For a while, I got to study with Joe Gaudio. Most have never heard of him. He was the studio sax player for many of James Brown's hits when he recorded at King Records in Cincinnati. I remember him telling me that if you take one day off from practice, you will hear it in your own playing. If you take two days off from practice, the other people in the band will hear it. If you take three days off from practice, the audience will hear it.

Individual effort is most assuredly part of each band members duties. It makes a tremendous difference in what the audience hears.

I'd guess most people in that band these days play 4 days a week.. 3 practices and 1 performance day..

I agree.. that's why many people with self initiative to improve walk away, or find other avenues to get their fix, be it small ensembles, or other groups all together.