The WSU Cougar Marching Band claims to be a select group of more than 250 musicians whose performance “saturates the air with Cougar Pride.”

One problem — no one can hear them.

I’m sure the marching band is a talented group of musicians whose performance should not be criticized, but something needs to change so the audience can actually hear them.

Compared to other university marching bands, WSU’s seems small and outnumbered when the opposing schools bring their bands to Martin Stadium. It was especially troublesome when the Idaho Vandals came to town last month, and their band littered the back of the east end zone. They overpowered the Cougar band, which was nestled in the northwest corner of the stadium.

This is a problem because WSU is a prestigious university that blows Idaho out of the water in every way. It is about time for our band to get with the times and live up to the school’s reputation. The second-tier University of Idaho cannot come into Pullman and have their band mockingly outplay the Cougar band after every WSU touchdown.

In the golden age of Cougar football, 2001-2003, the band was acceptable. By no means adequate in numbers, they still led the fan base through the fight song after each and every touchdown, and they would blast the theme song from “Jaws” when the defense faced a third down.

The past few seasons have been different. The buzz of the student section drowning out the quiet instruments has led to multiple renditions of the fight song being sung at different tempos and keys. Many people give up, and it sounds like a chorus of drunken sailors.

I’m not simply criticizing the band, though. Obvious solutions exist, starting with recruiting. The number one problem is that the band is small, therefore their sound does not project. People do come to WSU to partake in its music program. It would be a good move to send more representatives to high schools to inform students of the prestigious program.

Another solution is to change the location of the band at football games. While this wouldn’t address the problem of noise level at non-sport related events like the Lentil Festival – where they were just as muted – it would go a long way toward emphasizing the band’s presence at football games.

Opposing team’s bands set up shop behind the east end zone. However, it is WSU’s stadium, and it is hard to explain why they let other teams bring their marching bands in the first place. So, get rid of other bands and move the WSU band to a section of the stadium away from the noisy student section.

This wouldn’t fix the problem of hearing the band before games and at halftime when they are on the field, but mic’ing up the instruments would. If you can’t make the band bigger, make it louder. It would increase the overall marching band experience not just at sporting events, but at the community events as well.

It is long overdue that the program fixes this problem. WSU is a top tier university, it is about time they have a top tier sounding band.

-Beau Baily is a junior communication major from Puyallup. He can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.