Oregon Marching Band
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| Oregon Marching Band "The Wall of Sound" |
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| School | University of Oregon |
| Location | Eugene, Oregon |
| Conference | Pacific Ten Conference |
| Founded | 1908 |
| Director | Dr. Eric Wiltshire |
| Members | 240 |
| Uniform | Custom designed Nike forest green jacket with yellow patches on shoulders with numbers and Oregon logo on left breast and back, custom Nike forest green bibbers, yellow Nike vests, custom black Nike Free shoes, black gloves, green or yellow baseball cap (2007 season). |
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The Oregon Marching Band (OMB) is the marching band of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. At over 240 members, it is the largest student organization on campus and its members come from nearly every department and major at the university. The marching band serves as the foundation for the larger Oregon Athletic Bands that include the Oregon Basketball Band, Winter Drumline, and Green and Yellow Garter Bands. The OMB performs at all home football games at Autzen Stadium, some away games, and bowl games. Some of the OMB's recent travels have taken them to Seattle, Washington, Pullman, Washington, Las Vegas, Nevada, and El Paso, Texas. In addition to football the OMB supports other parts of the university, such as the women's volleyball team.[1] The OMB also hosts a large high school marching band competition every fall known as the Festival of Bands.
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[edit] Organization
[edit] Director of Bands
The Director of Bands is in charge of the department of bands at the university, teaches/conducts the Oregon Wind Ensemble, and assists with all of the bands in the department. The position is currently held by Robert Ponto. Mr. Ponto conducts the Star Spangled Banner at all home football games.
[edit] Director of Athletic Bands
The Director of Athletic Bands (DOAB) administrates the athletic band program by leading and teaching students, supervising graduate teaching fellows and other assistants, and working with the university and athletic department. This position also serves as an Assistant Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Instrumental Music Education. The position is currently held by Dr. Eric Wiltshire. Along with the athletic bands, Dr. Wiltshire teaches/conducts the Oregon Campus Band.
[edit] Assistant Director of Bands
The Assistant Director of Bands also serves as an Assistant Professor of Instrumental Music Education. The Assistant Band Director teaches/conducts the Oregon Symphonic Band and regularly assists with all of the bands in the department. The position is currently held by Dr. Timothy Paul.
[edit] Instructors and Graduate Assistants
The Oregon Marching Band employs several instructors and Graduate Teaching Fellows (GTF’s) to assist in the teaching and administration of the band.
- Administrative Assistant to the Department of Bands: Kim Rottschaefer
- Battery Percussion Instructor: Micah Brusse
- Auxillary Percussion Instructor: __________________
- Arranger: Dr. Sean Wagoner
- Color Guard Instructor: Emily Crocker
- Graduate Teaching Fellows: Shira Fadeley and Jennifer Wood
[edit] Student Positions
The OMB is largely run by its many student leaders. These include section leaders, drum majors, uniforms managers, equipment/truck crew, and the Oregon Marching Band Council. The drum majors for the 2008-2009 season are
- Amanda Cox (Center)
- Katie Thomas
- Kate Alessi
- Megan Knowles
[edit] Songs
The Oregon Marching Band plays a wide variety of songs designed to pump up the crowd and make the infamously loud Autzen Stadium even more deafening. Current director Dr. Eric Wiltshire says "I believe the band has the potential to greatly influence one major play at every game," and so the band uses the tools in its arsenal to further intensify the Autzen experience. The fight song of the Ducks is former director Albert Perfect's "Mighty Oregon". For the most part, the OMB plays popular tunes from the last 40 years. Some fan favorites include Journey's "Separate Ways", the theme song from Disney's "Ducktales", "Louie Louie", "Ease on Down the Road", numerous charts by Earth, Wind, & Fire, and dozens of BBQ's.
[edit] Instrumentation
The instrumentation of the Oregon Marching Band is similar to that of a military band but with the addition of a full auxiliary percussion ensemble (also known as a "pit"), like those of drum corps. The band is open, so specific instrumentation varies from year to year.
Winds
- Piccolos
- Flutes
- 1+2 Clarinets
- 1+2 Alto Saxophones
- Tenor Saxophones
- 1+2+3 Trumpets
- Mellophones in F
- 1+2 Trombones
- Baritone Horns
- Sousaphones
Battery Percussion
- 10 Snare Drums
- 5 Bass Drums
- 4-5 Tenor Drums
Auxiliary Percussion
Includes: Marimba, xylophone, tom-toms, timpani, bells, vibraphone, gong, chimes, keyboard, electric bass, bass drum, cymbals, various other percussion instruments
[edit] Uniforms
The Oregon Marching Band is well-known across the nation for its unique Nike designed uniforms. The uniforms were a gift in 2003 from University of Oregon alumni Phil Knight. The band uniforms were designed in partnership with the school's new football and cheerleading uniforms in an effort to give Oregon football game day a brand.[2] The end result gave the new band uniforms a motorcycle theme, complete with helmets. The uniforms met mixed reactions including the ire of alumni and donors. The helmets were a particular source of controversy—often compared to those used by Nazi stormtroopers—and so in 2006 the helmets were abandoned in favor of baseball caps. Despite the varying opinions toward the unique uniforms, they have become synonymous with the OMB.
Field/Stands Uniform Like the football team, the marching band's uniform has near endless levels of customization by pairing different items together.
- Custom Nike forest green jacket with yellow number patches on shoulders and yellow Oregon logo on left breast and back
- Custom Nike forest green marching bibbers
- Custom Nike yellow/green reversible vests
- Custom Nike Free black running shoes (w/ black socks)
- Yellow and green Oregon baseball caps
- Black Gloves
Other Apparel In addition to the uniforms worn at games, members of the band receive many material benefits similar to those college athletes receive, including
- Backpack
- Heavy and light weight DryFit mock turtleneck
- Warm-ups
- Nike V-Cadence sunglasses
[edit] Festival of Bands
The Festival of Bands (FOB) is an annual high school marching band competition where 30 bands from around the northwest come to compete in the Northwest Marching Band Circuit. The event is coordinated and run by the students of the Oregon Marching Band. The Festival of Bands is one the top fund raisers for the OMB, raising about $15,000 every year. It is also used as a major recruiting tool for the Oregon Athletic Bands.
[edit] Oregon Marching Band Council
The Oregon Marching Band Council (OMBC) is a group of students in the OMB that meet once a week throughout the school year to plan and organize many of the behind the scenes and logistical aspects of the OAB. Some of these aspects that the OMBC handle are FOB, the winter band banquet, the Duck Call (the OMB's newsletter), recruitment, and spring intramural softball. On top of running large events, members of the OMBC act as some of the student leaders for the OMB during rehearsal and on game days. Membership to the OMBC is open, and its members come from every section of the band. The council is comprised of several committees, each with their own region of focus, which are headed by chair positions. These positions are President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, the Drum Majors (all of these make up the Executive Council), Communications, Activities, Historical, and Public Relations. The OMBC also meets with the Director of Athletic Bands once a month to express concerns and to better coordinate the faculty with the students.[3]
[edit] Other Athletic Bands
[edit] Basketball Band
The Oregon Basketball Band (OBB) is a group of 50-60 OMB members who perform at all University of Oregon Men's Basketball home games. The group is auditioned from members of the OMB at the end of marching band season and provides a large part of the “home court advantage” in McArthur Court, better know as “The Pit.” In addition to Men's home games, the OBB plays at the Women's Basketball home Civil War game, as well as travels with both the Men's and Women's teams to post-season tournaments.
[edit] Green Garter Band
The Green Garter Band (GGB) is a select group of twelve players that performs for all UO Women's Volleyball home games, UO Women's Basketball home games, many UO Softball home games and serves as the core unit of the OBB and OMB. Each year, the GGB also gives approximately 20-25 performances at special Athletic Department events, for the UO School of Music and Dance, for the University at large, and at various special events within the community.[4] In return for their large commitment, Green Garter Band members are awarded a full instate scholarship. The GGB plays mainly student arranged songs which range from funk to rock to hip hop. The group has a faculty advisor, but for the most part is entirely run by its student members. The demand for the GGB is so high that in 2002 the Yellow Garter Band (YGB) was created to help fulfill the number of requests coming in. The Yellow Garter Band is identical to its Green counterpart in most regards, but has a slightly smaller commitment. The group is often used as a launching pad to membership in the GGB. In return for their commitment, members of the YGB receive a large book scholarship every term. Together, the Green and Yellow Garter Bands have gained recognition and acclaim on campus, in the community and even nationally.[5]
[edit] Discography
- 2007 Fighting Duck Spirit 2007 includes Music of Journey; Music of 007
- 2006 Fighting Duck Spirit 2006 includes Disney's Fantasmic; Superheroes: Music from X-Men and Superman
- 2005 Fighting Duck Spirit 2005-06 includes Music from The Incredibles; Rock Show
- 2004 Fighting Duck Spirit 2005 includes Music from Harry Potter; Gershwin Medley
- 2003 Fighting Duck Spirit 2004 includes Music from Pirates of the Caribbean; Call of the Mountain; The Green Garter band
- 2002 'Fighting Duck Spirit 2003 includes Music of Earth Wind & Fire; Adiemus: Music of Karl Jenkins
- 2001 Fighting Duck Spirit CD 2002 includes Music of Chicago; Appalachian Spring
