The Ohio State University Athletic Band is a non-audition band for any student, faculty, or staff of Ohio State University with prior instrumental experience. Many students who perform in the Athletic Band also perform in the Ohio State University Marching Band. Each Athletic Band features full contemporary concert band instrumentation, including woodwinds. It performs throughout the year at various athletic and goodwill functions across campus. Members of the Athletic Band receive course credit for their band participation.
History
Military band
Military training was an important part of the early curriculum at Ohio State, and a band was formed to provide music for the cadets to drill to. The first appearance of a marching band was in 1878, as a 12 piece fife and drum corps. The first marching band in 1878 was sponsored by the Military Department at OSU, and continued to perform for military functions until 1881, when a missing mouthpiece incident led to the student director's expulsion from the university, and the Military Department refusing to sponsor a program. Various student-led bands with no university faculty were formed and performed through 1896. In 1896, the Military Department decided to once again sponsor a band, hiring Gustav Bruder as their director. Under Bruder, and later Eugene J. Weigel, the band grew in size to a block of 64, and later 100 bandsmen. They also began playing and marching for most military and athletic events.
By 1929, the Marching Band, which Weigel limited to an even 100 musicians, was composed mostly of upperclass ROTC cadets. This caused many of the freshman and sophomore students to be unable to march. Weigel, in his desire to create a more well-rounded music program at the university, created two Regimental Bands to complement the Marching Band. These bands, known as the Infantry Regimental Band and the Artillery Regimental Band, helped to train new students in the marching style of the Marching Band. These bands met primarily in the Winter and Spring Quarters, and were often complemented by the upperclass members of the Marching Band, looking to continue to improve their marching and musicianship. In 1934, Weigel removed all woodwind instruments from the marching band (flutes, clarinets, saxophones, etc.) The only exception to this was during World War II. From 1943 to 1945, director William McBride allowed woodwinds, vocalists, young, old, and even citizens of the campus community to wear the uniform and perform at home football games. The Regimental Bands continued to complement the Marching Band throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
In 1952, the ROTC department, by directive of the Department of Defense, had to sever ties with the Marching Band program. This allowed the general membership of Ohio State University to try out and become members of the Marching Band. The Regimental Bands, which were combined into one Military Band, continued to perform during the Winter and Spring, and were conducted by the Band Staff of the Marching Band. Under director Charles Spohn, the Military Band became an ensemble that was highly respected. In 1970, the Military Band recorded the album Adjutant's Call. The Military Band was eventually merged with the Buckeye Scarlet and Gray bands.
Athletic band
In 1947, Jack O. Evans created the first Activities Band on campus. The Activities Band, from inception, allowed both men and women. This band performed at concerts, men's basketball games and some pep rally events across campus. In 1956, the band's name was changed to the Buckeye Band. Enrollment in the Buckeye Band was open to students who played any concert band instrument, unlike the Marching Band which was limited to brass and percussion only. In the late 1950s, with membership passing 130 members, the Buckeye Band was split into two bands: Buckeye Scarlet and Buckeye Gray. These bands were run separately from the Marching and Military Bands until 1979. In 1980, the Military band took over the performance of Basketball games from the Buckeye Bands. The Buckeye Bands became concert bands solely, taking on the names "University Band" and "Symphonic Band." The new Military Band performed at men's and women's basketball games, the spring football Game, ROTC parades, other campus events, and concerts throughout the city. The Military Band continued to also be a source of training for prospective members of the Marching Band, as well as an ensemble for veteran Marching Band members to stay in shape with. By 1980, the Military Band's uniforms were replaced for men's basketball games. The band started wearing gray slacks and white shirts with a red vest for these games. The military style uniforms continued to be used for concerts, parades, and the Spring Football Game. The Military Band met twice a week, and once the spring football game was over, the remainder of the year was typically spent teaching more advanced marching fundamentals used by the Marching Band.
As the Military Band began performing at men's and women's basketball, various different uniforms were experimented with for these athletic events, including scarlet and gray striped Waldo sweaters, jerseys, and T-shirts. The Men's Basketball Band was an auditioned band, while the bands that performed at other events were open enrollment. In 1988, the Marching Band received funds for new uniforms. Dr. Jon Woods kept the old Marching Band uniforms for use by the Military Band. These uniforms were used by the Military Band until the 1992 spring football game. After that game, it was decided to retire the military uniforms and standardize the Spring Military Band with red polo shirts and gray pants. In 1994, Dr. Jon Woods decided to retire the name "Military Band", since the band typically performed at only one ROTC event, and did not wear any type of military uniform. The program was restarted in the autumn of 1994 as the Athletic Band. The Athletic Band continued to perform at the same functions as the Military Band did during Winter and Spring Quarters.
In the autumn quarter of 1996, Dr. Jon Woods was approached by the OSU Athletic Department to form a Fall Quarter Athletic Band. This band would perform at women's volleyball games during the autumn and then perform at pre-season men's basketball and ice hockey games. The first Volleyball Band at OSU premiered with 14 students, one of whom was the conductor. The band continued to experiment with various uniforms, including track suits, T-shirts, and polos. As enrollment increased, the Athletic Band would be split into evenly orchestrated smaller bands, which rehearsed together and occasionally performed as a full ensemble. In the early 21st century, with declining enrollment, the Winter Athletic Band ended auditions for the Men's Basketball Band, and rather split up the total enrollment of the band into smaller bands of relatively equal instrumentation. In 2006, the Band Staff launched what it called the "Total Band Program". This program emphasized the importance of the Athletic Band alongside the Marching Band. The Marching Band would host an event every spring known as Junior & Senior Night, which invited high school students to tour the Marching Band facilities and perform with the Marching Band in a concert at the end of the day. High school students would be given a tour in small groups by Squad Leaders and other members of the Marching Band. This event was opened to Athletic Band in 2006, and Junior & Senior Night was opened to all students who played any band instrument. Students who play woodwinds would be given tours and information by section leaders of their respective sections in Athletic Band. The Band Staff also decided to remove Fall, Winter, and Spring, from the Athletic Band name, allowing for one continuous band through the year. A new logo, a crest of similar design to the Marching Band crest, was commissioned, and embroidered on new polo shirts. These efforts by the Band Staff have helped to bolster enrollment in the fall quarter, as well as continue to provide for a very robust winter and spring quarter band.
Beginning in 2011, the athletic department requested that the Men's Basketball Band did not total more than 57 musicians, to maximize the number of seats for spectators. This arrangement made the Band Staff determine in the fall of 2012 that the Men's Basketball Band should once again be an audition band, to allow for the best musicians to perform at those games.
In 2012, Ohio State transitioned from quarters to semesters, allowing for only Fall and Spring Bands. The Fall Band began rehearsing twice a week (Fall Band used to rehearse once a week only), and with more emphasis on musicianship, memorization, and choreography, the Athletic Band program has continued to evolve into a highly energetic program that complements the Marching Band throughout the year. The Athletic Band performs at men's and women's basketball, men's and women's volleyball, men's and women's ice hockey, men's soccer, wrestling, the spring football game, an ROTC Pass-In-Review, as well as an annual concert on campus. Typically the Fall Band program numbers around 200 musicians, with the Spring Band often totaling more than 300.
The school fight songs—"Buckeye Battle Cry" and "Fight the Team Across the Field"—were first performed by the Marching Band in the early 20th century. Other traditional songs performed by the band are the 1960s pop hit "Hang on Sloopy" and the famous "We Don't Give a Damn for the Whole State of Michigan", which was popularized by James Thurber in the Broadway production of The Male Animal. Several other popular charts include Al Jarreau's "Boogie Down", the Michael Stanley Band's "My Town", Royal Crown Revue's "Hey, Pachuco!" and recent hits such as Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven". The Athletic Band performs music of many different styles and genres, which allows for a variety of music to be played at performances, and also allows expansion of the musicianship of the performers in the ensemble.
Composition Every September, the Marching Band holds tryouts. Roughly 400 or more people try out for the Marching Band's 228 positions. As such, a significant number of musicians are cut. The Band Staff offers all of those cut the opportunity to return to the Band Center the following week to play through various School Songs and popular music pieces. Many students who have committed to moving in early, as well as Columbus-local students, return for these pre school year rehearsals. Marching Band candidates make up a significant proportion of the brass and percussion sections of the Athletic Band. Many students who do not make the Marching Band their first or second year improve their marching and musicianship via the Athletic Band and subsequently make the Marching Band. Many students who tried out for the Marching Band and subsequently join Athletic Band find the atmosphere more to their preference, and stay with Athletic Band. Other students, including most woodwind players, join Athletic Band because of the atmosphere, schedule, and performance opportunities.