Which band do favor more, and why?

[zookie]

Take note…

which band is more favorable... USC or UCLA and please explain why. No need for any aggression or putting up a fight. Just feel free to share how much you favor one of the two.

USC has substituted loud for best for the last 30 years. Even your instrumentation is built for loud. Small amounts of woodwinds, cannot tell if you guys are even still marching Clarinets.

Such a wildly obtuse statement here. The instrumentation at USC is based on recruitment of players coming into the university. Currently, there are well over 30 clarinets and they can be heard fine in person. There are over 100 woodwinds the USC Band. I hope you’re not basing your “observations” on the lo-fi RealAudio clips on the website.

Invoking the name of John Williams. I did not see the banner.

And that is where you should stop and think before posting on because this totally negates the rest of your “guesses” regarding John Williams and the banner.

Did Dr. Bartner or did NBC pay the bill for Mr. Williams writing the banner.

No.

Seeing how John is making about $2 million a picture now a days, someone paid him to write it.

Well of course he was paid to write it, HE’S A PROFESSIONAL and one of the best in his line of work. The banner was heard in person by 97,000 people and see on TV by millions. It was a very special performance by 2 great bands. Notice John Williams had not done the same for any other marching band in previous Rose Bowls.

I have been in bands with guess conductors who were brought in for the banner, they don’t get up there and say “you guys suck, see you before the game”. They are very encouraging because they don’t want players to get uptight.

It did not suck and you didn’t see it. Personally, I was on the sideline listening to rehearsal and the sound was amazing. John Williams DID compliment the sound and clarity. The music was very difficult but both bands did a great job. Please do not speculate that that was John William’s opinion especially if you didn’t even see it on TV.

If a school band is expected to be loud and per mote school sprit than USC is good.

What?

Not music Majors? What a copout. It does not take a music major to play in tune. Where does Doctor B tell you to listen for pitch? I am very curious.

I’ll have to agree with you on this point. For example… the USC trombone section has a lot of engineering majors and they surprisingly tend to do a awesome job the technical aspects of pitch and articulation. USC has a very good music school though and the music majors in the band can be counted on to provide perfect examples each time. Reference tuning usually comes from a music major tuba.

The college band that I was in did the parade once and no one wanted to back because it was such a hassle.

That’s a shame. For USC, the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl are instrumental to building a reputation (outside of the marching band / corps realm). While I totally enjoy competition on the field, I’ve gotten to see how widely recognized the USC Band is to the public.

The only reason USC gets the big gigs is because they are geographically desirable.

Untrue. USC gets the big gigs because of its reputation outside of the marching band world. While it might be tiresome for people involved in marching band or corps to constantly hear that “USC has the best band” and whatnot, that reputation comes from the 80,000 people at each football game, millions watch the Rose Parade, or simply seeing the band in person at community functions, sporting events, movies, parties, rallies, etc. Plus, compare UCLA to USC and you can see almost the exact same “geographically desirable” distance from Hollywood and LA. In fact, UCLA is even a little closer to Burbank but USC seems to keep getting gigs there too. The USC band is going to be featured with Outkast for the Grammy's, the producers could have just as easily called "that other school across town."

Do not put me in the D&B camp. That style and the attempt by marching bands to copy it was never a good move. Like you say, you got two weeks to put a show together you got two choices. Do one good show and water down the rest of the season or just work up the marching and throw the music out the window.

I too see your disdain for USC coming from a very elitist point of view (like many corps fans). I’ve been involved with corps as well and you even see people wearing shirts bashing marching band… “If drum corps were easy, everyone would do it, and they’d call it marching band.” (haha) Come out to USC on a Tuesday afternoon (during football season) and witness how incredibly well the band sight reads music. Each of the 8 shows is memorized. Parts are hardly ever “watered down” as our arrangers are in-house experts of what the band can accomplish. Members of the band work very hard to present these shows as more people will see that show performed once than the fans combined though a short DCI tour. The real question is; if you went to a season of football games (same team), would you want to see the same show every time? It’s a lot of hard work but the rewards are not driving yourself nuts playing the same music all season long.

Since when is not playing in tune entertainment? When is not playing in tune a style? All the bands that were listed are good programs and yes, they have their own style. They all try to play in tune. They show respect for the music.

Entertainment is when a performer can connect with the audience. This includes putting out quality pitch, tone, rhythm, and marching… but it’s not everything. Though, the way you describe these programs reminds me of when I was in the middle of my 2nd year of aural skills in my undergrad… I couldn’t listen past intonation and started to lose interest in most groups but sometimes, you have to realize that nothing is perfect and if you cannot see the excellence in music but only “tick” the errors, it is no longer an art.

What is a sad commentary is the blind loyalty that people show to USC.

I’d say your lack of evidence is “blind” here. Throughout this thread, people are demonstrating that they don’t know very much about college bands which is why this thread can be a positive thing. I’d say that your comments have been more along the lines of blind hatred.

You really think that the USC band, who has twice the resources of most of the other bands you mention, is as good as it could or should be?

That is really not your call. The term “better” should not really apply at all. Yes, some favor one over the other and some demonstrate excellence more than others but none deserve the disrespect that you have shown to the members and staff of the USC band. Leaders in the band choose to put focus on new music, more stands charts, etc. Typically, the band can do a postgame concert for over an hour without repeating any charts. Just because most bands wouldn't do it doesn't mean that it can't be done.

OK besides the ABC network. What else did I say, that was not “true”.

see my commentary above…


It has been a joy to both march and teach the USC TMB. I have been involved for many years. Previous to that, I marched for several years in drum corps, youth band, winter drumline, and even worked at Disney. I must say, that USC has really been the center of my experiences and I'm very proud to come from a great school with a great band.

Fight On!
-Scott

[Havokdrumms]

Figth On Zookie!

[tetzlaffdrummer]

Thats right listen to zookie he knows what hes talking about!!!!!

[JLGORMAN]

I am not going to say that USC has the best band in the nation, however they have been an excellent representative for Southern California. The real sad thing is the poor status of University Bands in the PAC10 and in the other Schools in CA. In Florida they have about 5 really excellent Marching Bands at Universities and even Oklahoma has three top notch Bands. We texans have three of greatest bands in UT, A&M and the Great if not well known :Going Band from Red Raider Land at Texas Tech" It would be great if CA had more than one university band that represented the state with distinction.

[DJ-PsiLon]

I found this link to be interesting.

http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=Kee ... d=53819513

[Wings]

I was raised to be a trojan. My sister went to the school, HS band director was a trojan, and many of my friends were trojan fans. I was all set to go there until I went to one of their practices. I immediately lost all respect that I had for them as a band. If you are planning on going there, be ready for an entire band camp of being called to attention and all the upper classmen yelling "F*** the Freshman."

I chose to become a Bruin because of the usc practice I witnessed before their band camp had even started. In my four years in the UCLA Marching Band, I have not heard them (sc) play anything remotely difficult, where we have played charts from BD and Vanguard shows (that made them Champions), and other very technical charts.

They may be known in other parts of the states, but for what? Being a good band or playing whole notes with a great Artist. I am sure that they have some good players and they have some catchy tunes but for the whole package (good players, catchy tunes, solid sound and respect from other University bands and directors) Bruins for life.

[MeghanLaFay]

Do you have to ask?

If you do, you OBVIOUSLY haven't seen both bands in action...the answer?

UCLA!

[Bryan81]

As a member of the UCLA marching band I can tell you that there is really no comparison. Remember that there is a big difference between acting cool and being cool. The entire collegiate marching scene regards the $C marching band as a joke. A bad, lame joke. Their waddle-step is a sad-looking rip-off of Wisconsin's marching style, and their tone is, I gurantee, worse than you're used to at your high school. Somehow they manage to slap their butts every half time show and fall down on the ground. Three years ago their sousaphones and drums fell down and couldn't get back up.

In essence, the USC marching band is a big step DOWN from your high school program. If you decide to join the SC marching band, here is the proud tradition you will be a part of:
1. Hazing. You will be hazed incessantly. That's just the way it is.
2. The USC marching band was restricted from flying American Airlines because on a return flight to LA they thought it would be funny to run back and forth on the airplane, causing it to roll dangerously as the pilot was trying to land.
3. The waddle-step. This "marching style" is best done in diapers.
4. Tone quality? What's tone quality?
5. USC plays two songs. Over, and over, and over again.

In 1993, UCLA won the Sudler Trophy, an award for the best college band in the nation voted on by directors all across America. Our band is also cheered by marching fans everywhere we play, including in the Colisseum. We play fun, challenging music that has in the past few years included "That Old Black Magic", "One More Time, Chuck Correa", "Malaguena", and "Suerte de los Tontos" along with just-for-fun songs like music from ET, Star Wars and Shaft. And our stand repertoire is quite extensive. In one line,

UCLA is what college bands are supposed to be. USC...isn't.

[codma]

How can anyone support a band that disrespected John Williams during practice for the Rose Bowl because he didn't go to their school? Those of you that want to go to U$C should consider how awesome it would be to learn all four of their songs. This is all small stuff considering what a bunch of drunk beligerent morons they can be. I'm all about the Bruins because they have a few things: class, talent, style, and the ability to play songs with more than a handful of notes repeated ad nauseum.

Bruins also get recognition from crowds and directors across the country as a great marching band. We even get cheers from people in the USC crowd at the collesium. Disregarding their behavior during rivalry games with UCLA, the SC band has accomplished the following:

1. banned from all hotels within the city and county of San Francisco for drunken disorderly behavior, petty theft, and vandalism
2. banned from a major airline for trying to tilt an airplane during landing (that's actually pretty smart for a trojan, to coordinate that many people to try and kill themselves. too bad they were unsuccessful)
3. stolen about $10,000 of instruments from the UCLA Band equipment truck during a friendly flag football team between each schools band members
4. generally embarrased themselves and their school for being the largest coordinated group of idiots to walk the planet proud of their "achievements."

If you are serious about joining a REAL band, go to UCLA. If you don't have the grades or the scores or you just wanna screw around for four years to the tune of ~$40,000, enjoy fighting on in the name of all that is shameful and classless.

[tsaxspam]

All I have to say is that I believe that the UCLA bruin marching band not only has a better sounding program, but it's also a program with class. I wish to send you to this link http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Keeper1042 , this is someone's unbiased view of the trojan band. It show that a band's excelence is not just made up by playing ability, which the UCLA band has plenty of, but also of the way their members conduct themselves. I know that there might be people that read this and say that all that we should take in to account is how well a band plays. I would just like to say that in that case the U$C band does not but BLAST!!! They get no real tone quality in their playing.

And another thing, after the UCLA vs. U$C game this past year, the UCLA band was being booed through just a little bit less than 1/3 of the half time show. The rest of the time they were politely clapping, maybe because they realized that the UCLA is indeed a great band with great playing ability. One more thing, why would anyone want to be in a band that likes to think they're rock stars and then ATTEMPT to ghetto dance on the field when their band is made up of a majority of white kids. They obviously need to get a reality check on what their race is.

I have plenty more to say, but I think that I'm going to leave my comments right to this point. I hope I have shed some light into those of you that are U$C fans. Peace.

[Havokdrumms]

Anyone who tells you that USC has lots of hazing is wrong. There is absolutely NO HAZING in the Trojan Marching Band, simple as that. We occassionally get disciplined with laps when we make mistakes, with the idea that it will keep us from making the same mistakes again, and that the laps will keep the band in shape so we can actually have enough ENERGY to remain standing, marching, playing, and getting excited about our football team for about a 7-8 hour period every gameday, something that is not required of heel-toe vanilla groups that play malaguena and boogie woogie bugle boy.

Alex

PS: Keep complaining about Tribute to Troy being played over and over. We as Trojans giggle because we love reading it.

[visine]

Ok first of all. I am not going to say how good UCLA's band is.. instead i'm just going to say how bad USC's band acts and performs.

When I have seen USC's band at football games, they have the ability to play 3 songs. OMG, wow! they are so talented. These songs are also the slowest, and most obnoxious things ever created. When they perform at halftime they dance instead of play and march. They supposedly spend 2 weeks in band camp, practice on saturdays and they still suck. No wonder why they are at USC, because they don't have the brains to get into other top notch schools. However they do have some things at USC thats better than UCLA, but it certainly isn't the band. They have better fans, a football team and sometimes more swagger. That is why the band is getting national attention by appearing in commercials and other tv flicks. One guy from the Michigan marching band comments on how USC's band dissed John Williams, possibly one of the greatest composers of all time. John Williams also did not think USC was that great of a band contrary to someone else who posted on here.

Oh by the way, did USC ever win the Sutler Trophy... yeah i think not.
I can go on and on and on about this band being terrible.

USC isn't even in the top 3 bands for the PAC-10 in my opinion. I would rank Washington, CAL and of course UCLA ahead of them easily.

These bands actually learn how to march (maybe with the exception of CAL)
and they play technically demanding songs. If you can play a song loud, does not necessarily mean you are a good band. That is what I think of USC when they play. As for their attitudes, they are a bunch of pricks. When they were walking down the tunnel for the USC vs UCLA bball game the other night, they blasted their tubas just to annoy us or some crap like that. I would respect them a lot more if they had class. Anyway, just talking about them so much gets me annoyed, so I'll stop here.

UCLA > USC by a landslide.

[sherpa41]

I have to say UCLA, If you look at each university band, there are a few major differences. While UCLA might not be the most perfect band on the planet, the sound they produce is way above USC's. The Trojans sound lacks sustain and is crappy because of it. UCLA's marching technique is also much better than the trojans high knee-jerk thingy.

Hands Down, UCLA

[minaa]

Three people fell the time I was watching UCLA
USC: 1 UCLA: 0

Was that at the Arcadia high school competition this past year? If so... it was pouring down rain all day and the field was pretty muddy. And besides which the reason you've never seen a member of the trojan band fall is because a) they never march at a tempo above 120 and b) they don't really do much marching to begin with. UCLA meanwhile is not a park-and-blow band. They march quick tempos, and learn hard sets. But thanks for trying to be fair and objective.

USC has travelled to Notre Dame, Auburn,and throughout the world. UCLA cannot even get their full band ready for their first game. Cut me a break.

Umm, yeah, because this is the criteria a band should be measured by. Allow me to clarify a few things for you. 1) U$C is a private school, UCLA is a public university. Every single person enrolled at U$C pays a hefty tuition (nearly 10 times more than people at UCLA) for their band and other organizations to travel to all these places. Meanwhile, UCLA relies on state funding which is continually being cut, and the generous contributions of many alumni to travel to the places they are able to go. So, as you can see, this is a very superficial reason to pick the U$C band as better. Sorry that UCLA is not a rich enough band for you.
2) The UCLA band cannot get the full band ready for the first game for one reason, and one reason only. Classes do not begin at UCLA until practically October while the football season begins in the end of August. UCLA does have its entire band at the first game after move-in week, and typical they do perform a field show during that game. Classes for USC, on the other hand, begin in early to mid August, so they are already in session at the start of football season.

USC

i just like them better
probally cuz my mom does 2

Well, at least you're honest. Misled, but honest.

I would like to know how many people dislike USC, just because they are good, and are recognized nationally . What a sad commentary.

I think you're disliked because you're jerks, and you're quite full of yourself if you think otherwise. Every interaction I have EVER had with the U$C band or with any individual currently attending USC has been negative and left a sour taste in my mouth. Meanwhile the UCLA band has always conducted themselves with dignity and integrity and are all-around likeable people. That's just my thoughts though.

The only reason USC gets the big gigs is because they are geographically desirable.

I'm actually going to agree with the U$C kid on this one. UCLA is actually closer to Hollywood and Burbank. But, don't let this kid fool you into thinking that UCLA doesn't get its share of movie/ hollywood type gigs. The UCLA band has been in many movies, commercials, TV shows, and other such gigs. The All Santa Band in Gov. Arnie's movie "Jingle All the Way" is UCLA, the band playing the alma mater in "Road Trip" over the opening credits is UCLA, and the band playing "Hail to the Cheif", and acting as the marching band from ficticious Redmund University, in the upcoming Katie Holmes movie "First Daughter" is also UCLA. Their argument and your argument are pretty much meaningless, seeing as how the bands are fairly equal in this case.

I would also like to point out that insinuating that the fans were coming to the football games just watch the band is an insult to your football team. And assuming that USC had anything to do with the number of viewers of the Rose Parade is just a downright lie.

And finally,

so we can actually have enough ENERGY to remain standing, marching, playing, and getting excited about our football team for about a 7-8 hour period every gameday, something that is not required of heel-toe vanilla groups that play malaguena and boogie woogie bugle boy.

Wow, someone must have come close to hitting a nerve because this U$C kid's gotten defensive. I don't know where you get your facts, but UCLA does remain standing, marching, playing, and getting excited about their football team for 7-8 hour periods (sometimes even as long as 12 hours). And the UCLA band does this despite not having a phenomenal football team. By the by, I think using the word "vanilla" and "malaguena" in the same sentence is a travesty. You're just resorting to name-calling now. Very classy.

Well all, sorry to poke holes in your dizzying logic, but it is quite clear that anyone who supports the U$C band has either not seen their attempt to march and play at the same time, or the degrading little dance they do in the middle of their shows. (If I were in the U$C band, I'd sue them if they tried to make me do that.) Most of your reasons for voting for U$C are misled or only based on the fact that U$C was highly visible this year because of their football team.

I'm out.

[Shota871]

First of all, to some people, this is to give positive views to the band you favor, not a place to be critical of. If you ever want to make criticism of either of the two, especially to those talking trash out of USC's band, MAKE YOUR OWN FORUM to write how you feel. On the second thought, ZIP IT, because all you'll get are oppositions right in your face! I am getting really excremented by this...

Another thing. We know we "hate" John Williams. We hissed, the rehearsal attendants, including the Michigan band, might have heard it. Well, he did graduate from UCLA. But don't be too sweating on it. We're just doing it to give ourselves a little humor. I don't think most of the band members really meant to really hate him anyway. UCLA fans might have said in their heads "Boo" to George Lukas, a USC alumni. Way before during band camp and practice, lots of band members hiss whether Dr. Bartner mentioned Notre Dame, or Michigan (where Dr. Bartner graduated), or any other words indicating or implying our opponents. Yup I hissed myself, just to poke fun of the school Mr. Williams went, but I really respect him for the music and his accomplishments. I never dared to say F the Bruins right in his face; I was just asking for an autograph and a picture with him.

And to someone who was ranting that the USC band apruplty chanted "Beat the Wolvorines!" right in the middle of the John Williams. That was not meant by the entire band. Once a member in the percussion section (particularily the bass, which starts it all) begin, and I knew that was a stupid action. Of course, Dr. Bartner was completely furious about it, because it was definitely not the right time to be aggresive, when the two marching bands play together for the national anthem. Of course, after it was done, Michigan shouted "See Ya!" after the USC band ran in an off-field percussion sequence. They later did chant "Beat the Trojans!".

Don't be too stereotypical about it. Some might really want to jeer for the fun out of it, while some others just want to pump ourselves up.

People, especially to the ignorant UCLA band fanatics, we're not completely what your think. And I know some other band members have some common sense equivalent to yours, but seems invisible.

Back to the MAIN topic, BE FRIENDLY YA PEOPLE!!!!! If you have any room to criticize USC or UCLA, buzz off!!!