On the Pac-12's Basketball Bands

From time to time I've expressed my opinions on the basketball bands of the Pac-12.  Some of you enjoy these delves into band geekdom, and have requested more.  This post is for you.

Of course, I've also received the occasional push-back on those opinions, like I did last week when I agreed with Rush The Court's Andrew Murawa that the Arizona band appearing in Los Angeles was... less than awesome.  Maybe, in that light, I should provide my qualifications to comment on the league's pep bands, so that you can better understand where I'm coming from.

The large tuba player in the picture above is me. *waves* I played with the CU marching and basketball bands from 2002-2006.  During that time, I rose to become tuba section leader, and have stayed close to the program since graduation.  To this day, you can occasionally find me strapping up as part of the Silver Buffalo Alumni Basketball Band. While not an 'expert performer,' per se, I would consider myself an expert participant in all that is life as a basketball band geek. It's this experience and passion that underscores my opinions on the subject.

(Note on the label 'band geek:' I have never found this term to be offensive, and self-identify as such.  If you, as a band member, do find offense, I apologize, but would hope you understand that I use it here with love)

Of course, the very subject - the quality, or lack there of, of various collegiate pep bands - is itself highly subjective.  There are no right or wrong answers here, and, much like beauty, what you like in the arena is a very personal concept.

For me, I key on a few areas:

1. I need to be able to hear you.  You could be the most technically brilliant set of performers around, but if you're not playing loud enough for a noisy, distractive environment, that brilliance is wasted.  Remember - you're at a basketball game; play like it.
2. Play fast, damnit.  Get in, get out. You have my attention for about 80 seconds... get moving.  In my day, the CU band used to whip out 'Minnie the Moocher' each and every night.  Great song, but it dragged ass, and killed the mood.  Give it some gas, kids.
3. You must be brass heavy.  All apologies to woodwinds, but... MOAR BRASS! Bonus points: The louder and fatter your tubas sound, the better.  
4. Play the hits. Don't play some intricate, jazzy/blues track to indulge your music majors; I better know what I'm listening to.  Also, if you've got a great song you're known for, I'd better hear you playing it.  USC - I want to hear 'Tusk.'  Stanford - light up 'All Right Now.' Oregon - Stone Cold's entrance song, if you please.  But don't play something modern and popular just to play it.  You'd better have a good arrangement.
5. ...but not just the top-40.  You should have more than a few songs that you play every game.  I used to mock Oklahoma mercilessly for having one - and only one - song in their book (you know the one).  Expand your horizons.
6. Appropriate genres. In general, I prefer the following genres - funk, blues rock, disco, soul, 80s hair metal, big band/swing, and ska (highly underutilized).  Some hip hop, R&B, metal, and modern pop tracks (but those can get you in trouble with flobby arrangements).  These aren't requirements - the odd country song can be fun - but just what I prefer.  If you have a lot of ska tunes in your folder, you will win me heart over immediately.

Ideally, you should hear the bands in person, in their home arenas.  Judging a band over television is particularly unfair. A few years back, with CU playing WSU in Spokane, I commented on twitter that the Cougar band sounded like a middle school group.  That was more than hasty on my part - for all I know, the Pac-12 Network had some random intern setting up the band mic for that broadcast.  It's also unfair to judge a group based solely on their performance in tournaments.  Boiling a group down to fewer than 30 players removes a lot of the character and life of a full-piece performance. For example, while still very impressive in tournament scenarios, the 2012 CU band was far more impressive in the CEC, with their full 90+ tucked in the corner of a roiling mass of students.  The wall of sound that group created was unlike any other, and needed to be heard live.

Unfortunately, while I've heard every band in the league play in person (via the Pac-12 Tournament), I'm still deprived of their full-force effort.  (I'll be looking to rectify that in future years, eyeing more travel during January and February.)  Still, at the very least, the tournament in Vegas provides an equal-footing setting. While not perfect, it will at least provide a standard for comparison.  And so, based on my impressions from last month in Sin City, I have compiled a ranking of the league's pep bands for 2015.

A caveat - This is a particularly brutal way to judge musical groups, and I ask that you take this with a grain of salt.  It's purely a reflection of my id's interpretation of the tournament, obscured, in no small measure, by alcohol and sleep deprivation.  Really, there are no winners and losers here. Bands are there to enhance your enjoyment of the event, and, to that measure, every band in the Pac-12 hit their marks. Basketball in the Left Coast wouldn't be the same without any of them.

Without further ado:

1) Stanford

The Cardinal are the gold standard in the Pac-12.  No one has more fun, and that bleeds into my enjoyment of their product.  The damn Tree - notably the band's mascot, not the team's - also helps.  Leaves flopping, always spinning, it's an endearing part of the ensemble.  Oh, and don't forget the cowbell.  You can never have too much of that.  Loud, exuberant, fast-paced, and with a varied book. Just wonderful, the whole package.

2) Oregon

They have a great book, a great arrangement of players.  I kept wanting to turn against them, for Dana Altman reasons, but, damnit, they kept winning me over.  Out-played every band they came up against in Vegas; not kidding. That first trumpet either needs to learn to hold that high note on Stone Cold or hand it off to someone else, though.

3) Oregon State

Oregon State stole Dana Biggs, CU's former director, a few years ago, and their product has steadily improved, as a result.  I've always like Dana's tempos - lightning quick, and impactful - and his players at OSU have really taken to them.  The notes are crisp, clean, and they have the noise to back it up.  It doesn't hurt that the Kentucky product brought many of my old Colorado favorites with him to Corvallis, either. Solid package.

4) Washington

In a surprise, the Huskies caught my eye by having some of the best tubas in Las Vegas.  My word, could they play.  I honestly didn't pay much attention to the rest of the band, my ear was tuned to the big heavies in the back.  Beefy, brassy sound that thundered throughout the arena. Hell of a show, kids, keep up the good work!

5) CU

In 2012, I though Colorado boasted one of the best basketball bands in the whole country.  You may say 'oh, that's just you speaking as a faithful alum,' but I'd put that group up against any (even mighty VCU).  The intervening years haven't been kind, however.  Three directors in as many years have upended the apple cart, and there has been some noticeable slippage in the product.  The new guy (Dr Dockendorf) seems to have things on a positive track, and further continuity will help them regain their standing near the top of this league.

Still, a fun group to listen to.  Generally fun, peppy, fast, and brassy.  I'm a little too familiar with the book at this point, but I still like to hear hits like 'Separate Ways,' and 'Hey Pachuco.'

6) UCLA

The Bruins are very technically good, playing all their songs at an elite level.  Some of the best pure musicians in the Pac-12.  If this were a concert setting, I'd have them much higher on this list. The problem is they're very quiet. I have to strain myself to hear them, even from good seats.  Maybe it's a product of playing for all the blue hairs in Pauley, but they need to be able to turn the amp up to 11 once they hit the Strip.

7) ASU

I found myself really liking this group, much to my surprise.  Nice and brassy, with a fun book.  They make for a really entertaining bunch. However, they have an Achilles' heel.  Wayyyyyyyy too much electric bass. It's distracting.  Pull that beast back in, yo.

8) Arizona

I really like the drummers from Arizona.  As long as I've been listening, they lay on the cymbals, creating a very unique sound.  I can always tell when 'Zona is playing, just from the tone of the kit. The rest of the band, though... *shrugs*.  Pretty quiet, and a little plain musically. The self-indulgent trombone in the first row doesn't do them any favors; dude loves himself some him.

9) Cal

Another band where I kind of just *shrug*.  With the hats and flair, they seem like a corporatized version of Stanford.  Kind of quiet and reserved, I lose track of them, and start staring at Oski... damn is that bear creepy.

10) USC

Speaking of corporatized fun, the USC band gets a lot of pub, but, much like their basketball program, are never what they could/should be.  They're probably down here simply because I expect more from a leading brand.

11) Utah

Honestly can't remember what they sounded like.  I've been wracking my brain, and simply can't remember. I had to sit in the cheap seats for both of their games, so maybe it's just that I was too far removed from their sound, but I'm drawing a blank.  I'll pay closer attention to them next March - they should probably be higher up this list, as a result.

12) WSU

No, they're not the middle school band I made them out to be a few years back.  Much better than that, really.  But, they're still solidly at the bottom of this list.  I will say, however, that they have the best free throw chant in the league.  'You let the whole team down' owns.

Quick Post: pre-emptively hating on NCAA 12

I had been extremely excited for the July 12th release of NCAA 12.  The thought of Ralphie being in the game (finally; an aesthetic touch, but necessary) along with a revamping of the dynasty mode that keeps me recruiting till the wee hours of the morning had me more amped than usual to donate my annual $60 to EA's coffers.

Then came the release of the team rankings. 

You'll have to scroll all the way down, past fucking CSU at #87, to get to the Buffs at #89.  (Rating us below CSU's shit program is just a low blow.  Some Ram must work on that staff, there's just no other explanation.) And the shit has truly hit the fan as what was once a 4-star rated program not three years ago is now 2-star rated along with a bunch of BCS rejects like Bowling Green and Wyoming.  We now have a tangible cost associated with the Hawk Dynasty: our virtual football reality is on par with the Bulldogs of Louisiana Tech.  Scorched earth indeed.

Hawk bashing aside: 2-stars?  It's not that bad is it?  I know the product hasn't been what we're accustomed to in recent years, but the program was in the Big XII title game not even a decade ago.  C'mon EA, give us a pity 3rd star.

Please, I'm begging you.

 

Quick Post: Posted without comment

Also...



Both from WarmingGlow

Happy Halloween!

Mass Effect 2 Review

Since I'm on a video games kick...

I recently finished a play-through of the middle act of BioWare and EA's space shooter-RPG epic. BioWare, which has produced such piles of awesome as Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age: Origins, has become the go-to name in RPG's on the Xbox platforms. Hundreds of thousands of nerds (including, now, myself) across the country wait with bated breath for their efforts (Their next release will be Star Wars: The Old Republic; a MMORPG which will consume my life... I blame George Lucas). The Mass Effect franchise, which was initially intended to be a trilogy (but EA has been giving hints that they may want to milk the cash cow further) has quickly found an audience through its intriguing story, excellent voice acting, and strong game-play. Up until two weeks ago, however, I never had any interest in seeing what all the fuss was about; on a whim, I decided to ask my roommate if I could borrow his copy.

Jumping into the middle of a story is never recommended, but the series, with it's massive world creation underpinnings allows the uninitiated, who cares enough to delve, to quickly get back up to speed. A cute gimmick where the character "dies" in the 1st 5 minutes of the game allows for a story "reset." After brief fits of confusion, I was easily able to pick up the story and follow along with what was going on. The basic gist of the narrative is that you portray customizable super-soldier "Commander Shepard" as he battles an alien threat to the galaxy. Throughout the game you will go on missions not necessarily to progress the main story, but to collect characters and "build your team." Were this game only about the "main story line" it would probably only last a few hours, but the character missions (which do provide interesting background and story) balloon game play-through time to about 30 hours.
(Shepard and select members of his team)

Game-play reminded me of a cross between a 3rd person RPG (like Fallout 3) and a dedicated space shooter (Like the Halo series). Heath, unfortunately, is automatically re-generated (can't stand that... worst invention in video game history), item-hunting within levels often pays off with extra resources or weapons, and leveling-up is more focused on improving powers (like recent action games). In game action is fast-paced, with many enemies flying at you. You are able to combat your foes with a combination of team tactics (you get 2 computer controlled allies), special powers, and shooting skill. Easy to understand controls (with hot link-able powers on your bumpers) allow for precise combat strategies and execution.

Instead of the tired practice of "leveling-up" (historically in RPGs, you'd have to wander the country-side outside of story missions, fighting easy enemies over and over and over, in order to level up; this in turns gives you the requisite skills to face tougher, end-game enemies. It blows.), this game uses a mining mini-game to allow for upgrades and bonuses; while not a true leveling-up system, it has basically the same effect, wandering the country-side to prepare yourself for the actual game. You have to travel to many (often far-flung) systems to accumulate the necessary resources (most stops take about 10 minutes to mine all the available resources). Maybe I'm just impatient, but there has to be a better way to "level-up" your character. This is essentially dead time in the game, and is, quite frankly, boring. All RPG's are beset with this problem, and many people feel that this "dead-time" is what makes an RPG an RPG. That's crap. You shouldn't have to spend countless hours performing repetitive acts in-order to progress the story. It's like the practice modes in recent iterations of sports games: I don't want to practice, I want to play! If I wanted to practice I would've actually picked up a bat and spent time "outside."

(You'll stare at screens like this for hours.... boring!)

The game is, on the whole, very well designed. The world is beautiful, and attention to character detail is excellent (when you're on a mission you can actually see your multiple weapons housed on the back of your characters armor. This is a little bit of real-world logic that has always been missing from video games. For example: where does Link keep his giant sack filled with 3 different swords, 3 tunics, 3 pairs of boots, a mask, a boomerang, a bow and arrow set with 3 types of arrows, a hook-shot, a power glove, 3 shields, a few bottle of magic potion, etc in Zelda 64? For such a small guy, he sure does seem to be able to carry so much stuff effortlessly. ) When I first stepped foot into what was, for me, the first city traveled to (Omega, ironically), I felt comfortable; as if it made sense that the galaxy (set about 150 years in the future) would have developed this way. Combine the dystopian industrial vision of "Blade Runner" with the pragmatic western vision of "Firefly" and the "end of history" vision of "Star Trek: TNG," and you have some sort of idea what I'm talking about. Cities felt livable, but not not perfect. Characters, both in terms of writing and design, are believable; each have stories that invite you to delve deeper to discover their true motivations.

(The designers drew their inspiration from many sci-fi sources. In this fly over shot of Omega, you can definitely see the Blade Runner.)

One of the immersive world-building details which draw you into the story is the near-perfect voice acting. Much of the story is revealed through conversations with the myriad of characters throughout the "universe." Were it not for the talent behind the characters, these conversations would come off flat. Knowing this, BioWare has assembled an excellent cast capable of pulling the job of convincing voice acting off. Stars like Martin Sheen, Tricia Helfer, Yvonne Strahovski, Carrie-Anne Moss, Seth Green, and Adam Baldwin combine with series and voice acting veterans to form a stellar cast. It really is one of the best jobs of bringing video game characters to life I've seen in a while (All without the over-acting present in the God of War series).
(Some of the voice-acting talent in the game. Plenty of nerd favorites in that bunch.)

Overall, I found the game to be very entertaining. The expansive world creation efforts of the design team allows for quick immersion into the world, and solid controls allow for solid fast-paced action. The overwhelming sense I got while delving into this futuristic vision was that it felt like Halo combined with Star Trek. Halo in the sense of the swarms and aliens trying to take over the galaxy and destroy all humans, and Star Trek in the sense that a Federation of alien races combine efforts in the name of inter-galactic peace. It's an interesting combination; and one that has proved very lucrative for EA and BioWare. While not necessairly an original game, drawing upon countless sci-fi tropes for inspiration, this game does a great job of entertaining. I'd compare it to a summer blockbuster movie. Entertaining, but nothing really new. Regardless, I'm still looking forward to the 3rd installment, and I'm interested to see where EA will push the brand in the future.

Damn you George Lucas!!!!

He's found another way to get more of my money.... there really should be 12 step programs for this shit.

-link


(Just because I found it on a random internet search....)

Quick-Post: All Power to the Hypnotoad

All power to the Hypnotoad

Quick Post: Star Wars state of mind

I post this without comment...

Quick Post: Graphical contemplation of esoteric and physical power

I Found this funny.... yes I'm a dork.