This is the first of our series “The Road to Ireland” as we watch Gator Band prepare for their trip overseas.
While many University of Florida students soaked in the last days of summer, members of the Gator Marching Band were hard at work.
Memorizing music, learning drill, practicing new movements and making new friends are all part of the annual band camp at UF, but this spring the band is traveling to Ireland to participate in St. Patrick’s Day festivities including St. Patrick’s Festival Parade in Cork, 51st International Band Championship in Limerick and St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin.
To reduce the cost per student, the band has set up a trip fund through the UF Foundation.
Take an inside look at this process of how the marching band takes the field and is preparing for its overseas performances.
All 425 members of the 2022 marching band are “welcomed home” to the Steinbrenner Band Hall to begin the check-in process. Playing the drum, Big Boom, is a game day tradition for the UF community.
Associate Director of Bands Jay Watkins greets the crowd with “This is the year,” kicking off the week ahead.
Student leaders in the band help check in all the members, giving them a name tag and guiding them through the next steps and rest of the week.
Student leaders assist the members in measuring their bodies to be fitted for two pairs of pants, a jacket and a hat that will be checked out to them.
The measurements are put into a website that contains the uniform dimensions and tell the leaders what sized pieces would work for the members.
With buttons, snaps and zippers, the jacket is a two-person effort in taking on and off, building bonds between the members.
Instruments get checked out to students who play brass, percussion or piccolo.
Student leaders show the members where the instrument was located with the combination for the locker, making sure the instrument was in working order for later that afternoon.
Friends catch up as they practice for their audition of playing the fight song, The Orange and Blue, and a few scales.
Auditions are done by graduate assistants in the School of Music who will be teaching each instrument — or section — for the rest of the season.
After all 425 members go through the check-in process, the band gathered together for the first time to meet Watkins, Assistant Director of Bands Chip Birkner and all of the graduate assistants who will teach the band members this year.
Sectionals, music rehearsal with just your instrument, are held every day of camp to work on music, movements when playing in the stands of the stadium and getting to know each other.
These sectional rehearsals occur in and around various music buildings around campus.
Full band rehearsal happens every day after sectionals to practice the music the members just learned.
The practice field is where they put all that music rehearsal into action by learning the movements and drill to go along with it for game day.
Florida Visual Ensemble and the Gatorette’s work on choreography is shown in the field rehearsal of the pre-game show that occurs before kickoff on game days.
Each member is given coordinates for each shape created on the field in an app on their phones.
Members will then mark off where their new coordinate is based on landmarks such as the sideline or yard lines. Knowing where the new set is, they will go back to the previous spot and march directly to the marked off new spot.
Band members use sheet music on their phones to learn what notes and rhythms go with each field set.
