Lauren's BYU Adventures
Home | Page 1: Summer Term | Page 2: Working at the Morris Center | Page 3: Heritage Halls | Page 4: Band Camp | Page 5: September-October | Page 6: November | Page 7: More November (Marching Band) | Page 8: December
Page 4: Band Camp

The BYU Marching Band may well be the only thing that keeps me partially-sane out here in Happy Valley (Provo). It all started on August 26, the first day of band camp. That week was like an army boot camp, but while carrying a 40-pound hunk of metal the whole time. Ten hours a day for six days, but I survived, and got $500 for it. Not to mention one lousy credit.


p1010033.jpg

We rehearse in a parking lot. It makes for rather miserable rehearsals in hot weather, since the ashpalt absorbs all the light, so you can never sit down and rest. On the other hand, it's always fun to see twenty guys lift and move a car out of our "field" because they didn't read the sign.
 
 

p1010036.jpg

One of the traditions in the tuba section is eating Jelly Bellies. This is because Ben (the guy in the picture) and his brother, Dan, have parents that live right next to the Jelly Belly factory. They each own thirty pounds of them! It's definitely a great treat during football games!

p1010037.jpg

The guy in the middle is Chris, our section leader. He's really great, and like all tubas, has a unique sense of humor. He's the one who authorizes visuals in the shows, who leads the pack through our "frolick through the stadium" (before the football games we run with our tubas as fast as we can through the stadium, doing twists, turns, and hops, generally ticking off BYU fans trying to reach their seats). The guy to the left is Ben (there are two Bens), and he has some creative vocabulary, if you know what I mean. Risa is the girl to the right, one of us three "tuba chicks."

p1010039.jpg

 

The Band is waiting to start drills. Dr. Don is up on the scaffolding. There are 225 members of the band, plus color guard. We're an awesome band! If you want to hear the fight song, it's on my Album's home page.


p1010035.jpg

Here's the tuba section getting a little rest on Monday in between charts. There are 18 of us in all, with 3 girls and 15 guys. Our shirts say "Hell Week," meaning Band Camp. Our section leader made them for us. Since this is BYU, some people, including Dr. Don (Donald Peterson, the band director), didn't really appreciate our little message. Which is why we wore them again on Wednesday.

p1010038.jpg

Corry, Chris, and Ben continuing the popular tuba tradition while the rest of the band does silly stretches.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p1010040.jpg

Here are some of the guys standing there while the rest of the band does their stretches. Tubas don't do stretches. We're not allowed to. There are two possible reasons for this. The first is that, as tuba players, it's our responsibility to rebel. The second is that the stretches are really stupid. With stretches like "The Alphabet Stretch" and "The Heel Can-Can," tubas refuse to participate in such acts of silliness. So there!