Listen to these trumpets scream!!!

I vote Troy #1 as well. I have heard half of the Sunbelt bands, I'm just not sure why to rank USA. Troy has set the standard that the rest of Sunbelt needs to achieve. When Troy is in town, there are a number of folks that go to Ladd just to hear Troy's Sound of the South. Our band gets better each year. We had a band before we had football, but not a marching band. Hopefully we can keep adding more songs to our band just to mix it up more. I'm not sure how schools get rights for playing songs.

Have some good friends that were apart of the Troy band. Tight group. Its Troy then everybody else right now but ours is as good as anyone else.

How many of us have a school of music? All of us?

Troy has always been horn heavy which you want for a stadium marching band IMO. The director of the Cajuns really loved wind and that doesn't play well for a stadium band. They were very good, but could be hard to hear. Their shows have gotten better, but I'm hoping they change the ratio of horns and become a little more innovative.

This is the 50th anniversary of the Sound of the South and is one of the best available videos of the band on YouTube.





My freshman year as a trumpet player:

(07-24-2017 05:40 PM)troutbummike Wrote:  How many of us have a school of music? All of us?

I know TXST has one

http://www.music.txstate.edu/

As a former marching band member at Georgia State, I like to think we're among the better bands in the conference. We're not the biggest or the loudest, but we always prioritize quality of sound and intonation over volume anyway. Do I think we always have the best song choice and show design? Not especially, but we always put our best on the field and cheer for our team win or lose (I went 3 years without watching the team win a game in person), and our directors and staff are some of the best in the nation with a rich history of involvement in drum corps, international clinics, and countless awards. Besides, how many other marching bands can say they got invited to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade during their fourth year of existence? I don't think any of the other Sun Belt bands have been to Macy's at all, at least not based on what I've been able to google. It's definitely food for thought.

If I had to pick my top 3, it would definitely include:

-Troy - These guys are LOUD. Their Fanfare is a truly majestic and awe-inspiring thing to behold. Their entire pre-game show is really great, actually. Troy definitely has a playing style all their own that somewhat reminds me of traditional bands, with lots of punch and big block chords.

-USA - Also loud, but what really impresses me about the Jaguars is their rich, meaty sound. They have a more old-school approach to arranging and instrumentation than most other schools. Where a lot of bands will just have piccolos, clarinets, alto/tenor saxophones, trumpets, mellos/horns, trombones, baritones, and tubas, these guys add in low reeds, flugelhorns, euphoniums, bass trombones, and other instruments you don't really get to hear that often on the field. It really fills out the sound and gives you a taste of the thick big band charts you'd hear in a jazz club.

-UL - I've not seen them on the football field in person, but I've been very impressed from the videos. Their basketball band is phenomenal as well. Really really solid.

Honestly though, I don't see too much value in comparing bands in the manner of whose is better and whose is worse. At the end of the day, all bands in this conference perform with pride and do their best to represent their institutions with class. I've gotten to meet members of most other Sun Belt bands and they've all been great people.

Musicians and music greeks (KKPsi Fall 2011) understand that everyone wearing a band uniform has the same values and ideals at heart. Just because we play for different schools doesn't mean we don't aim to treat our fellow band peers with respect and welcome them with open arms when we host them at home games. GSU-GS might be an ugly rivalry on the field and between fans, but Southern Pride treated us like family when we played at Paulson Stadium in 2015, and we do our best to make them feel at home in the Georgia Dome. Here's a picture of the KKPsi and TBS chapters at GSU and GS during the 2015 game at Paulson. Really, really enjoyed getting to meet these guys. After all, at the end of the day we're trying to do the same thing, just for different teams. Isn't that worth celebrating?

I don't really like our band, it's too uptight and not exciting. Literally the only times I've stood up and cheered for them (other than the fight song, of course) was when they played Kashmir.

We always have really corny themes too: "Now look to the field as the Band of Distinction takes us on a journey through the sounds of...SIXTIES BATMAN SHOWS!"

I'm pretty sure we even had a show based on the music of the Beach Boys. No one wants to hear that ****.


Edit: I should say that I do like the pregame show, Tennessee Waltz, the Alma Mater, etc. It's the halftime shows that are usually a disappointment.

(07-24-2017 11:03 PM)jothcra Wrote:  As a former marching band member at Georgia State, I like to think we're among the better bands in the conference. We're not the biggest or the loudest, but we always prioritize quality of sound and intonation over volume anyway. Do I think we always have the best song choice and show design? Not especially, but we always put our best on the field and cheer for our team win or lose (I went 3 years without watching the team win a game in person), and our directors and staff are some of the best in the nation with a rich history of involvement in drum corps, international clinics, and countless awards. Besides, how many other marching bands can say they got invited to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade during their fourth year of existence? I don't think any of the other Sun Belt bands have been to Macy's at all, at least not based on what I've been able to google. It's definitely food for thought.

If I had to pick my top 3, it would definitely include:

-Troy - These guys are LOUD. Their Fanfare is a truly majestic and awe-inspiring thing to behold. Their entire pre-game show is really great, actually. Troy definitely has a playing style all their own that somewhat reminds me of traditional bands, with lots of punch and big block chords.

-USA - Also loud, but what really impresses me about the Jaguars is their rich, meaty sound. They have a more old-school approach to arranging and instrumentation than most other schools. Where a lot of bands will just have piccolos, clarinets, alto/tenor saxophones, trumpets, mellos/horns, trombones, baritones, and tubas, these guys add in low reeds, flugelhorns, euphoniums, bass trombones, and other instruments you don't really get to hear that often on the field. It really fills out the sound and gives you a taste of the thick big band charts you'd hear in a jazz club.

-UL - I've not seen them on the football field in person, but I've been very impressed from the videos. Their basketball band is phenomenal as well. Really really solid.

Honestly though, I don't see too much value in comparing bands in the manner of whose is better and whose is worse. At the end of the day, all bands in this conference perform with pride and do their best to represent their institutions with class. I've gotten to meet members of most other Sun Belt bands and they've all been great people.

Musicians and music greeks (KKPsi Fall 2011) understand that everyone wearing a band uniform has the same values and ideals at heart. Just because we play for different schools doesn't mean we don't aim to treat our fellow band peers with respect and welcome them with open arms when we host them at home games. GSU-GS might be an ugly rivalry on the field and between fans, but Southern Pride treated us like family when we played at Paulson Stadium in 2015, and we do our best to make them feel at home in the Georgia Dome. Here's a picture of the KKPsi and TBS chapters at GSU and GS during the 2015 game at Paulson. Really, really enjoyed getting to meet these guys. After all, at the end of the day we're trying to do the same thing, just for different teams. Isn't that worth celebrating?

Glad to see that musicianship transcends a petty rivalry

My only real knock on Southern Pride leadership is their tendency to take the hip-hop or pop out of current songs. A lot of the renditions they play of current popular songs are relatively flat. Other than that I think they are great!

Troy's Sound of The South!

I like big ol' speekurz that drop thuh base. Thows nurdz ar jus loozurs.