Band Program at Cornell?

<p>wow. you usually get PAID? free game, cool uniforms (hopefully), doing what you're good at AND get paid? that'd be the most awesome way to make pocket $$</p>

<p>we get paid in hockey tickets other than that no we dont get paid</p>

<p>as a clarification, hockey tickets where the band sits are worth a lot of money; $15/game at the door, but you'd need season tickets to sit where the band sits, so that's $18/game. Individual tickets for the band's location would go for easily upward of $50 for the harvard @ cornell game.</p>

<p>how hard is it for a clarinet to audition into one of the groups???</p>

<p>Mwhtw,</p>

<p>For the concert bands (Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony), you can go to [Wind</a> Ensembles of Cornell University’s Department of Music — CU Winds](<a href=“http://www.cuwinds.com%5DWind”>http://www.cuwinds.com) to sign up for an audition. Audition requirements are also posted on the site.</p>

<p>i don’t think you get paid for marching or pep band. i will say that the marching band is VERY different than one you’d be used to at high school. it is not a competition marching band at all, and in my opinion is more like a fraternity than a band. that is not a bad thing for some people, while others are completely turned off. for example, if you are in a competitive high school marching band then you are used to marching in a strict formation, staying at attention, practicing drill till it is perfect, roll stepping or high stepping, etc. At Cornell’s marching band there are sections that literally dance and skip during parade block, no emphasis on correct posture, or on truly perfecting music. you can skip practice whenever you want, and unlike i believe most marching bands, at least the high schools from my area, you have the music in front of you on the fields using a lyre AND the drill written on the music. now a lot of these things seem great at first and really chill, but i feel that after a while you begin to really miss the feeling you get when you know you did the show perfectly, that you nailed the notes and the drill from memory. with the cornell band you don’t need to make this effort and get this feeling. now once again, everyone is different. some people like that experience of goofing around, all the traditions, and the friendship built around it. however, it is definitely not for everyone. i personally missed having it like in high school where people came to see the marching band and orchestra to see a fantastic performance - i am sure people would disagree with me on this, but you don’t get nearly the same feeling. sorry, but playing pep band tunes for the post game concert when no one is watching you is just not the same, though others will claim that it is for the love of music. so yeah, it is not for everyone and really is heavily based on traditions like in frats, and there is a lot of drinking too - a good perk. i personally don’t care for all the traditions as i see them mostly as dumb inside jokes made years ago (this is not necessarily true for frats at all though) that i could care less about. the worst thing is that some of the things that the band does are tantamount to public ridicule. some take it all in good fun, while there are also people who have gotten really upset or quit over this (for example someone i know’s friend was failing a class and then publicly humiliated when someone found out about it) - and i will go far as to say that it is an unspoken truth about the band that does come out occasionally in some serious atmospheres. so i’ll end by saying that if it appeals to you and you get there and fit in, you should do it, and you will make a ton of friends and truly great friendships from what i’ve seen. however, if you are more in it for the music and don’t like all the traditions and goofing around (it really is appealing at first - to me it gets very old fast though) and feel you don’t fit in with it or can make friends in different ways, then don’t do it</p>

<p>waffle - it would be interesting if a competing band was started. one that was more similar to high school competition bands. i know that smaller colleges in the south would go on showcase(non-competing/ranked) at various high school marching festivals and many would host high school marching contests. </p>

<p>btw…although what you say might be true…that doesnt mean the kids playing in the band arent full fledged players (i.e. 1st division). i played with the pep band once and was impressed at their skills.</p>

<p>i completely agree that it would be awesome if a competing band was started - i have friends in other colleges who are in bands like that and they are terrific</p>

<p>yes, it is true that people in the band can be very good. i will say that i was referring more to the marching band in terms of skills - both groups are in fact much better with the standing post game concerts or playing during the game and i think that’s what makes the pep band very good musically. on the field i still think it is a completely different story for the marching band in pre game and half time shows, although individual players themselves may be quite excellent</p>