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WF Marching Band

DemonDeacon92 said:
Am I the only one who thought the MB in MBDeac08 meant Myrtle Beach?
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Haha, maybe. I signed up while in school and marching band was the first thing I thought of for a name. Now I'm stuck with it.
 
Interesting to me to see that a good number of old band members from over the years are Board contributors now. I feel that we individuals that spent time in the band going to football and basketball games, staying until the end each time, and playing the Alma Mater, are some of our teams most loyal supporters. A point of pride too. Go Deacs.
 
raldeac said:
Interesting to me to see that a good number of old band members from over the years are Board contributors now. I feel that we individuals that spent time in the band going to football and basketball games, staying until the end each time, and playing the Alma Mater, are some of our teams most loyal supporters. A point of pride too. Go Deacs.
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I resemble that remark.
 
Shorty said:
I wonder how many kids at a place like Wake forest played an instrument in high school. I’d bet it’s a lot.
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Story was that for every kid in band there was another one who had played and could be in band. So more than 200 kids, or about 8% of the student body.
 
RJKarl said:
Something to think about is the school was 40+% smaller in undergrads in the early/mid-70s than today.
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Other things to think about:

Many of the students currently enrolled went to a private school that had no band program, so they have no experience and are not really viable band candidates. You can't put a student out there who can't play an instrument, any more than you could put a 6' 6", 280 lb. kid who has never played football out there to play offensive line. Yes, they could learn to play an instrument, but if they haven't done it by now, they probably won't.

Also, a significant portion of the increase in enrollment has come from international students, who have no idea what a marching band is, so they won't be contributors either.

In a good year, there are around 150 experienced band prospects in an incoming first year class. If 20% sign up for SOTOGAB, it is a GREAT turnout. The bigger issue is getting them to stay after the first year. Why don't they stay? It takes too much time, not enough "reward" for their efforts, they have other interests they would like to pursue, not feeling VALUED by the rest of the WF community, band doesn't fit in my schedule any more....

There have NEVER been "multiple dozens" of instrumental music majors at Wake Forest during any decade. The music education major was eliminated in the mid 90's because there were no students pursuing the degree. Yes, there are a few band directors out there with degrees from WF, but not many. I know a grand total of FOUR.
 
banddeac said:
Other things to think about:

Many of the students currently enrolled went to a private school that had no band program, so they have no experience and are not really viable band candidates. You can't put a student out there who can't play an instrument, any more than you could put a 6' 6", 280 lb. kid who has never played football out there to play offensive line. Yes, they could learn to play an instrument, but if they haven't done it by now, they probably won't.

Also, a significant portion of the increase in enrollment has come from international students, who have no idea what a marching band is, so they won't be contributors either.

In a good year, there are around 150 experienced band prospects in an incoming first year class. If 20% sign up for SOTOGAB, it is a GREAT turnout. The bigger issue is getting them to stay after the first year. Why don't they stay? It takes too much time, not enough "reward" for their efforts, they have other interests they would like to pursue, not feeling VALUED by the rest of the WF community, band doesn't fit in my schedule any more....

There have NEVER been "multiple dozens" of instrumental music majors at Wake Forest during any decade. The music education major was eliminated in the mid 90's because there were no students pursuing the degree. Yes, there are a few band directors out there with degrees from WF, but not many. I know a grand total of FOUR.
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The changing demographics of the Wake student body is a very valid point for the decline in band size. During the senior ceremonies at the last game it seemed, that fully 75% of the band seniors were from NC, and none were from the affluent states in the Northeast, and I don't recall any from a foreign country. The percentage of NC students at Wake has declined over the years, and this may have some influence as well.
 
WFU1977 said:
The changing demographics of the Wake student body is a very valid point for the decline in band size. During the senior ceremonies at the last game it seemed, that fully 75% of the band seniors were from NC, and none were from the affluent states in the Northeast, and I don't recall any from a foreign country. The percentage of NC students at Wake has declined over the years, and this may have some influence as well.
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I expect this has a lot to do with it. At one time Wake admitted a quarter of every incoming class from NC. Could be wrong, but I believe that percentage was long ago deliberately reduced to single digits, which brings us more in line with Duke, where only about three or four percent of each class is from NC.
 
inspectah said:
I expect this has a lot to do with it. At one time Wake admitted a quarter of every incoming class from NC. Could be wrong, but I believe that percentage was long ago deliberately reduced to single digits, which brings us more in line with Duke, where only about three or four percent of each class is from NC.
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As of Fall 2018, there were 1,036 undergraduates from North Carolina. Total undergraduate enrollment is 5,287. That is just under 20%, which is well north of single digits and a far cry from 3 or 4%. Speaking of which, Duke's own website claims that 15% of their undergraduate students are from North Carolina.
 
I received a rather extensive survey today from the ACC and Wake Forest. I think it really is a Wake Forest survey.

Anyhow, I found it interesting that there were/are a number of questions related to overall satisfaction, or lack thereof, with the band. It's called out more than once to be ranked in this survey.
Perhaps this will get the administration's attention and move the needle in the right direction.

My comments were that we desperately need to grow the size of our band. I did compliment the kids that are currently members. Not their fault.
 
I was looking a a historical photo book about Wake the other day, and one photo was at a football game where the band formation spelled out "PEAHEAD". A quick count of band members in the format came up right at 200.
 
DownEastDeac said:
I was looking a a historical photo book about Wake the other day, and one photo was at a football game where the band formation spelled out "PEAHEAD". A quick count of band members in the format came up right at 200.
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Not sure we have enough current members to spell out Clawson, might have to go with DC
 
DownEastDeac said:
I was looking a a historical photo book about Wake the other day, and one photo was at a football game where the band formation spelled out "PEAHEAD". A quick count of band members in the format came up right at 200.
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In the '70s, one standard formation was the "floating DEACS." The band would mass near one end of the field and the letters D E A C S would march out of the block and toward the other endzone while playing the fight song. Today the letters are done one at a time.
 
I actually think we stopped this while I was at Wake from '08-'12. Remember doing it my freshman year and then we started a different pre-game.
 
Fun fact: Currie played the trumpet and took trumpet lessons from Barbara Trautwein, so he is probably more interested in band than a typical AD

(The rest of the article is really good, in addition to that tidbit)

He's Everywhere — and Home | Wake Forest Magazine

Founded in 1834, Wake Forest University is a private university located in Winston-Salem, N.C. We are a vibrant and diverse academic community where our students study in one or more of the 42 majors and program we offer within our six colleges and schools.
magazine.wfu.edu magazine.wfu.edu
 
I wrote Currie about the band. He gave it lip service and said he was passing it along to the director.
 
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