Brown University Band
Encyclopedia
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. Like all Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
bands except Cornell
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
's, it is a scatter band
Scramble band
A scramble band - also known as a scatter band - is a particular type of field-performing marching band with distinct characteristics that set it apart from other common forms of marching bands; most notably, scramble bands do not normally march...
. The Brown Band is famous for being the world's best and only ice skating
Ice skating
Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...
band. It is the source of much of Brown's school spirit, and often appears as a public representation of Brown to the Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
community and to other universities. The Band is present at Brown's football, hockey, and basketball games, in addition to Commencement
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
and many other events each year. It receives funding from Brown's Undergraduate Finance Board.
History & Traditions
The Band was founded in 1924 by Irving Harris, a freshman who was shocked to find that the University had no band. This established a tradition of a student-run organization that currently has University practice space and a faculty advisor (currently Matt McGarrell), but is primarily driven by its student leadership.The Band creates between 700 and 1000 buttons for each football game. These buttons have short messages that make fun of the opposing team, usually through wordplay and stereotyping the opposing school. Brown Band members proudly display these buttons on their uniforms, often making large patterns out of them. Buttons are handed out to every fan who goes near the Band. During the third quarter, several bandies will walk over to the opposing team's stands and hand out buttons. Other bands are typically the first recipients of buttons during this time, and many band members at other Ivy League schools wear Brown Band buttons on their uniforms.
Elrod T. Snidley
Elrod T. Snidley is the Brown Band's mascot. He is always depicted carrying a bugleBugle (instrument)
The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments, having no valves or other pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure, since the bugle has no other mechanism for controlling pitch. Consequently, the bugle is limited to notes within the harmonic series...
and leaning on a bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
. Elrod was created in the late 1960s as a self-portrait of Douglas "Doogi" Ballon, '69. Elrod's likeness adorns almost every object that the Brown Band wears or sells, including their uniforms, pens, and kazoos. Bandies often form intramural teams for various sports, and always sign up under the team name "Snidleys."
Elrod also made a nearly successful run for President of the Undergraduate Council of Students in 1988. Bandies taped up posters of Elrod with the slogan, "Vote for Snidley - he won't do diddley!" While he was not officially recognized, he received nearly half of the student votes as a write-in candidate.
Leadership
The Brown Band is a student-run organization with a faculty advisor. The leaders of the Band are collectively known as the Band Board, and are elected near the end of the fall football season. Band Board consists of a president, vice president, general manager ("mom"), business manager ("money god" or "goddess"), corresponding secretary ("corsec"), and recording secretary ("recsec"). In addition to Band Board, there are several appointed positions of leadership, including a student conductorConducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
and one to two assistant conductors, script writers, historians, librarians, webmasters, section leaders, and alumni liaisons.
For information about the current Band Board see http://students.brown.edu/band/people/band_board.shtml
Repertoire
The Brown Band's repertoire is a selection of music from the Band's music library, which contains several hundred pieces of music. The repertoire itself consists of approximately fifty songs and undergoes slight changes each year. The repertoire comprises several Brown-specific songs and many more pop songs. While most Brown students know the words to Ever True to Brown (Brown's fight songFight song
A fight song is primarily an American and Canadian sports term, referring to a song associated with a team. In both professional and amateur sports, fight songs are a popular way for fans to cheer for their team...
), few people outside the Band know the words to any other Brown song. Many songs have alternate lyrics that the band sings to pass time on long bus trips. Brown songs are typically played, sung, and played again. Some Brown songs are played only at certain events. Ki-Yi-Yi is played when the hockey team scores a goal. On the Chapel Steps and the Commencement March are part of the repertoire only during Commencement Week.
The following Brown songs are currently in the repertoire:
- Ever True to Brown (a.k.a #1)
- Brown Cheering Song (#2)
- Brown Forevermore (Brown Three-evermore, #3)
- For Bruno and For Brown (4 Bruno and 4 Brown, #4)
- Alma Mater (That Song)
- Brown Bear (a polkaPolkaThe polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
) - Bring the Victory
- In the Fray
- I'm a Brown Man Born
The band plays a wide variety of pop songs, which are often arranged by the band's own members. Some of the more frequently played songs include:
- You Can Call Me AlYou Can Call Me Al"You Can Call Me Al" is a song by Paul Simon, the first single released from his album Graceland. The song originally charted in the U.S. at No. 44 in October 1986 but it was reissued with greater promotion in March 1987 and hit No. 23. In the UK it peaked at No. 4, while in Sweden and the...
("Number Al") - Stacy's MomStacy's Mom"Stacy's Mom" is a hit single by American band Fountains of Wayne, released in 2003 and taken from their album Welcome Interstate Managers....
- Time Warp
- Ding Dong SongDing Dong Song"Ding Dong Song" is a song by Swedish pop singer Günther, featuring The Sunshine Girls. The song, originally released in 1984 as Tralala by Dutch band Phil & Company, was released in 2004 on Günther's debut album, Pleasureman. The song was No...
- Bad RomanceBad Romance"Bad Romance" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released as the lead single from her third extended play , and second major release The Fame Monster . Written by Lady Gaga and produced by RedOne, the track was inspired by Gaga's fear of negative love relationships and the...
- Don't Stop Believin'Don't Stop Believin'"Don't Stop Believin is a popular song by the American rock band Journey, originally released as a single from their 1981 album Escape, which became a #9 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 on its original release. It re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 2009 as a result of increased prominence of digital...
- Karn Evil 9- 1st Impression, Part 2Karn Evil 9"Karn Evil 9" is an extended work by progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer, appearing on the album Brain Salad Surgery. A futuristic fusion of rock and classical themes, it is regarded by many fans to be their best work...
- I Want You BackI Want You Back"I Want You Back" was released in 1969 and in early 1970s became a number-one hit single recorded by The Jackson 5 for the Motown label. The song, along with a b-side cover of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "Who's Lovin' You", was the only single from the first Jackson 5 album, Diana Ross Presents...
- Build Me Up, ButtercupThe FoundationsThe Foundations were a British soul band, active from 1967 to 1970. The group, made up of West Indians, White British, and a Sri Lankan, are best known for their two biggest hits, "Baby Now That I've Found You" , written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod; and "Build Me Up Buttercup" The Foundations...
- Crazy TrainCrazy Train"Crazy Train" is a song written by Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads and Bob Daisley. It was released as the first single in 1980 on Osbourne's first solo studio album, Blizzard of Ozz. The song was recorded in 1980, a year after leaving Black Sabbath, and later included on the live album Tribute,...
- I Touch MyselfI Touch Myself"I Touch Myself" is a 1990 single by the Australian rock band Divinyls. The song was written by Divinyls bandmembers Christina Amphlett and Mark McEntee and professional songwriters Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg for the band's self-titled album...
- ThrillerThriller (song)"Thriller" is a song recorded by American recording artist Michael Jackson, composed by Rod Temperton, and produced by Quincy Jones. It is the seventh and final single from his sixth studio album Thriller. It was released on January 23, 1984 by Epic Records...
- GhostbustersGhostbustersGhostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
Events
The Band is present at every home and Ivy footballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game in the fall semester. During the spring semester, the band will play at basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
or hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
games once or twice a weekend. Other sports, such as soccer, water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
, and even rowing
Sport rowing
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
will occasionally be cheered on by the Band. Brown University administration also occasionally asks the band to be present at certain important events, such as the kickoff of the Boldly Brown campaign. Other yearly events include the stealth show, where the band hides in bushes and building surrounding the main green, then surprises students who are just leaving class at the busiest time of day with a humorous and uncensored scatter band show. On the morning of the Parents' Weekend football game, the Band completes a Campus March that takes them inside several dorms and outside most of the rest. While the Band stands by the claim that this is to build team spirit and to get people to come to the football game, many students are unhappy with the early wakeup. However, not all parades are early in the morning. Every December, the Band parades around campus playing Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
and Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
carols, giving out hot chocolate and candy canes to anyone willing to brave the cold New England weather. Once a year, the Band performs for patrons waiting in line for Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day before getting their own free ice cream.