Mini-Band Rant - Ignore-at-will

[Hammersmith]

Sorry, must vent.


First, I agree with what some of you posted on McFeely's blog: Elton John? WTF?!? Dear God, what's going on?

Second, I counted 80-90 on the field. We were at 160 in the mid-nineties. Only ten years ago! Something drastic needs to be done to improve new membership and retention. Moving to DI was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Why couldn't the band have hitched a ride on the football team's coattails? Used the Teammakers expansion to get a few extra bucks? It worked for UND when they resurrected their band a few years back. Why wasn't the GSMB a bigger priority for the music dept.?

Last, a schedule that is hell on the football team is incredibly easy on the band. There is no excuse for them not to put on four different halftime shows this year. The only one that should be duplicated is tonight's<shudder> for the Northeastern game. Every other game should have new music and fieldwork.

It sounds like the band is traveling to the Minnesota game(almost certainly not for pregame or halftime). This year will go down as the band's cushiest year in (not-so)recent memory. I'm expecting something bloody-well better than Elton John. Gah.

/rant off

[Bisonguy]

Band numbers seem to be dwindling each year.

Last year or the year before was around 100-110.

Red drums don't cut it, either. Red drum, red drum...

[sambini]

What has happened to the lower numbers?

[insane_ponderer]

I can't speak for the band numbers, but the music dept. apparently is the red headed step child of NDSU.

My sister is a vocal performace major and against a lot of their own students protest, the directors decided to have their one major performance "pirates of penzance" the same weekend as the gopher game.

And of course they are going to wonder, and then complain about why there was such a small crowd.

My sister was livid, i could get the details from her and get exact quotes from the faculty, but it boiled down to them feeling sorry for themselves that they aren't as popular as the athletic dept, and then throwing a fit about it.

[sambini]

THANKS FOR THE INSIGHT GCITY.

[Hammersmith]

What has happened to the lower numbers?

Back when I was in the band under Wayne Dorothy, he told me that he had tracked over ten years of growth trends and there was one consistency. Every year after the Bison made the playoffs, the band grew in size. Every year after the Bison missed the playoffs, the band shrank. I don't think the band ever fully recovered from the "Year-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named." (You know, 2001 + 1)

Things should have improved as the DI hype increased, but for some reason they haven't. Something drastic and "outside-the-box" needs to be done, but I don't have any friends on the inside anymore so I don't have any solid suggestions; only guesses. One thing is for certain, if the band does not have the full support of the music faculty and administration, it's going to wither completely and soon.

[Hammersmith]

I can't speak for the band numbers, but the music dept. apparently is the red headed step child of NDSU.

This was true in the 90's. In a conversation with my adviser at the time (a music prof), I was told that new doctorates at NDSU were the lowest paid in the NDUS and the music doctorates were the lowest paid at NDSU. To say this caused some resentment was to put it mildly. I hope things have changed, but it wouldn't suprise me if they haven't. Still, we had good support from University Presidents, for the most part. One of Ozbun's last acts was to get the $65,000 we needed for new uniforms from an anonymous donor. Still don't know who. Fischer was also good(if only for a year), since he worked closely with band directors because the ND Governor's School (which he ran) paid for summer band. Plough? Did he do anything while he was here? Chapman helped add 3 masters progams and 2 doctorates.

My sister was livid, i could get the details from her and get exact quotes from the faculty, but it boiled down to them feeling sorry for themselves that they aren't as popular as the athletic dept, and then throwing a fit about it

I am so sick of music professors/educators acting like victims and drama queens. Yes, Concert Band & Choir and Jazz Ensemble are more important than marching band for the academic/artistic health of the program, but MB will pay the bills if you let it. It's a tool, for cripes sake. Use it! *<deep breath> <whew> Okay I'm better now. *





p.s. Oh, and I completely agree with Bisonguy about the red drums. WTF?!? Green, Yellow, Black, White, Silver. Any of those would have worked and they chose Red?? I think that was when I gave up hoping for good things and began to expect the worst.

[BisonBacker]

[quote author=sambini link=1157082665/0#2 date=1157083433]What has happened to the lower numbers?

Back when I was in the band under Wayne Dorothy, he told me that he had tracked over ten years of growth trends and there was one consistency. Every year after the Bison made the playoffs, the band grew in size. Every year after the Bison missed the playoffs, the band shrank. I don't think the band ever fully recovered from the "Year-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named." (You know, 2001 + 1)

Things should have improved as the DI hype increased, but for some reason they haven't. Something drastic and "outside-the-box" needs to be done, but I don't have any friends on the inside anymore so I don't have any solid suggestions; only guesses. One thing is for certain, if the band does not have the full support of the music faculty and administration, it's going to wither completely and soon.[/quote]

First let me say I know nothing about the music department firsthand and can only repeat what I have heard others say. But I have heard many positive things about Wayne Dorothy over the years since he has left, what would the possiblity of luring him back to NDSU? Could he help drum (pun intended ;D) up support for the band?

[Hammersmith]

First let me say I know nothing about the music department firsthand and can only repeat what I have heard others say. *But I have heard many positive things about Wayne Dorothy over the years since he has left, what would the possiblity of luring him back to NDSU? *Could he help drum (pun intended ;D) up support for the band?

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Oh, that just made my night!!

I realize you don't know what happened back in 1999, and I'm not making fun of you, but if you knew the story(which I will only lightly touch), you would understand why there is a better chance of magical pixies flying out of my ass while singing "God Save the Queen" and doing tequila shots than what you just suggested.

Wayne did not leave because he chose to, and all of the cast-of-characters that caused his leaving are still in place. The effective firing happened during Fischer's interm presidency and he felt he could not interfere in a departmental/tenure matter. That incident also may have caused us to lose two other music professors as well. That's debatable and there were other factors, but pissed is far too light a term for the feelings in the department that summer. Besides, Warren Olfert recieved tenure a year or two ago, so even if you wanted to change directors...

That was a very ugly time for the music department(and that was before the lawyers got involved), and it's probably best that it was handled rather quietly instead of in the press or worse. While many, maybe all, of the replacement hires are good or very good, I personally feel that deep scars remain and a feeling of momentum was lost in 1999. I can only imagine sadly what might have been with the pre-1999 music department plus Dr. Chapman.

In the interests of fairness to those who are not here to defend themselves, I must point out some of Wayne's negatives. He was gruff, abrasive, intimidatng, tactless, something of a procrastinator, and he couldn't organise/administrate his way out of a paper bag. He was also better at his job than anyone I have ever seen, and I admire and respect few people more than him.

I feel like I just wrote a eulogy. :'(


Yes, that was lightly touching the story. :P

[insane_ponderer]

[quote author=G-city Bison Fan link=1157082665/0#3 date=1157084044]I can't speak for the band numbers, but the music dept. apparently is the red headed step child of NDSU.

This was true in the 90's. In a conversation with my adviser at the time (a music prof), I was told that new doctorates at NDSU were the lowest paid in the NDUS and the music doctorates were the lowest paid at NDSU. To say this caused some resentment was to put it mildly. I hope things have changed, but it wouldn't suprise me if they haven't. Still, we had good support from University Presidents, for the most part. One of Ozbun's last acts was to get the $65,000 we needed for new uniforms from an anonymous donor. Still don't know who. Fischer was also good(if only for a year), since he worked closely with band directors because the ND Governor's School (which he ran) paid for summer band. Plough? Did he do anything while he was here? Chapman helped add 3 masters progams and 2 doctorates.

My sister was livid, i could get the details from her and get exact quotes from the faculty, but it boiled down to them feeling sorry for themselves that they aren't as popular as the athletic dept, and then throwing a fit about it

I am so sick of music professors/educators acting like victims and drama queens. Yes, Concert Band & Choir and Jazz Ensemble are more important than marching band for the academic/artistic health of the program, but MB will pay the bills if you let it. It's a tool, for cripes sake. Use it! *<deep breath> <whew> Okay I'm better now. *


p.s. Oh, and I completely agree with Bisonguy about the red drums. WTF?!? Green, Yellow, Black, White, Silver. Any of those would have worked and they chose Red?? I think that was when I gave up hoping for good things and began to expect the worst.[/quote]

I agree, the fact that they act that way is pathetic. *I understand that musicals and operas take a lot of work to put on, but at the same time professors (especially at the undergradlevel) have to realize that people are going to be involved in other activities. *One of the current music professors threw a fit (like yelling that the student doesn't know what committment is and then walking out) when she tried to explain to him that she was going to have to miss a half hour (of the scheduled 8 per week) of rehersal on sundays for student government (which she is going into her third year of being involved in)

I hate to be the one to say it, but can't we all just get along? *Everyone is on the same side, working for the same university people, i mean a little cooperation, and what do you expect when you take a job at NDSU, you're gonna make the concert choir more popular than the football team? *It shouldn't even be a competition, apples and oranges folks.

Personally I think its a pretty poor mentality.