Gold Star Marching Band

[mtoutfitter]

I talked to some people about wearing the thundar outfit. No shit.

Probably woulda been the greatest Thundar ever!!

[totoinfl]

I talked to some people about wearing the thundar outfit. No shit.

Thundar and barn meth...a match made in heaven...or a small town in ND.

[MankatoBison]

Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities actually have quite a few field show bands. They also have several large parade bands. U of M doesn't have to train their members to march. NDSU does.

Just a point of fact, there are not many field show bands in MN. I am friendly with the owner/operators of Tri State Judging, who are paid to judge marching competitions in the Mid-West, and they do most of their work in MN on parade shows, and indoor drumline/color guard and very little with field bands in MN.

And the largest parade marching band in the state is less than 150 members. Back in 2000 there were MANY parade bands with 200+ members, some pushed 300, but today a school is lucky to get 75 people in a GOOD parade marching band. BUT The indoor music scene is growing rapidly though! indoor drumlines and colorguards and wind ensembles are popping up everywhere, especially around the cities and is creating a ton of talented musicians in places who may not have any marching bands at all. Very cool stuff

GSMB will never be U of M band good, obviously, but I was just making a point that not everyone in Gopher band was recruited for band or something. Basically, if you are an above average musician, you are in, unless you're in drumline, where there is pretty aggressive try out process, because there is a finite amount of drums.

Let me repeat, I love the GSMB, and I hope they can get even better than they already are!

[Minimum8Pete]

U of M marching band training camp is 12 days, 12 hours a day. Most of the membership marched in high school. They're a substantial step above the GSMB as is to be expected for the resources they've poured into it.

Can confirm. I had a buddy march there who said its a cult lolz. i bet most b1G schools have a full time staff member for every section on the field, not NDSU. maybe someday

[Trumpster]

U of M marching band training camp is 12 days, 12 hours a day. Most of the membership marched in high school. They're a substantial step above the GSMB as is to be expected for the resources they've poured into it.

Also rehearsal 5 days a week instead of 3.

The mentality is different at U of MN than GSMB, they have (or had idk now) more people than pre-game spots for instance, therefore some people didn't get to march it every game, they'd need to audition for it.

[WeAreThePride]

Also rehearsal 5 days a week instead of 3.

The mentality is different at U of MN than GSMB, they have (or had idk now) more people than pre-game spots for instance, therefore some people didn't get to march it every game, they'd need to audition for it.

Yep, they have something like 280 spots in the pregame show, and something like 330 members. The numbers may have changed since my information was current, but you basically had to work your ass off to keep your spot, otherwise you were relegated to carrying out the giant American Flag on the field. It wasn't quite as cutthroat as the Ohio State band, where any individual could challenge any other for their spot on the field and it went to sudden death, but the consequences were similar. You brought everything you had to every practice, or you were second tier. Deservingly so.

In the GSMB, if you can usually hit the notes and show up to most rehearsals, you're fine. There was practically no top down leadership pressure to strive for excellence. Uniform and grooming standards were lax, compared to U of M where they had inspections, and if a man had 2 days' stubble he was expected to shave or lose his spot. All uniforms were to be ironed or steamed prior to shows. No jewelry other than religious items or completely unobtrusive piercing studs in the case of fresh piercings. Show up late on game day? Good luck getting your spot back that season.

It would take a massive shift in leadership to bring the GSMB up to Big 10 standards. Far from impossible, but the will to do it doesn't seem to exist at NDSU.

[Trumpster]

Show up late on game day? Good luck getting your spot back that season.

I know of a situation where 2 people were more than a little drunk at step-off for pre-game. They told not to march by their section leaders -Sigurd was across the field iirc- then marched anyway. There were no repercussions from Sigurd for it.

[CaBisonFan]

Just a point of fact, there are not many field show bands in MN. I am friendly with the owner/operators of Tri State Judging, who are paid to judge marching competitions in the Mid-West, and they do most of their work in MN on parade shows, and indoor drumline/color guard and very little with field bands in MN.

And the largest parade marching band in the state is less than 150 members. Back in 2000 there were MANY parade bands with 200+ members, some pushed 300, but today a school is lucky to get 75 people in a GOOD parade marching band. BUT The indoor music scene is growing rapidly though! indoor drumlines and colorguards and wind ensembles are popping up everywhere, especially around the cities and is creating a ton of talented musicians in places who may not have any marching bands at all. Very cool stuff

GSMB will never be U of M band good, obviously, but I was just making a point that not everyone in Gopher band was recruited for band or something. Basically, if you are an above average musician, you are in, unless you're in drumline, where there is pretty aggressive try out process, because there is a finite amount of drums.

Let me repeat, I love the GSMB, and I hope they can get even better than they already are!

Minnesota screwed up their tremendous parade programs by allowing miniature field shows on the street. It now requires much more time to create these street field shows, thusly contributing to the drop in numbers. Your friends at Tri State Judging can take partial credit for destroying parade marching in MN, by allowing bands to stop for several minutes to perform.

There are several Southern Minnesota field show bands. They compete mostly in South Dakota and surrounding states. I directed band and remember it well.

[CAS4127]

Minnesota screwed up their tremendous parade programs by allowing miniature field shows on the street. It now requires much more time to create these street field shows, thusly contributing to the drop in numbers. Your friends at Tri State Judging can take partial credit for destroying parade marching in MN, by allowing bands to stop for several minutes to perform.

There are several Southern Minnesota field show bands. They compete mostly in South Dakota and surrounding states. I directed band and remember it well.

Maybe they should allow these miniature field shows to be done from roof tops.

[CaBisonFan]

Maybe they should allow these miniature field shows to be done from roof tops.

lol... not a bad idea... and keep them there. Let the Tri State judges work up there.