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Dec 8, 2021
6:52:59am
Punk Philosopher All-American
A Neuroscientific response to TADOW's "unpopular opinion" on the Marching Band
As someone who has studied both neuroscience and marketing and performance psych...and also worked as in intern for BYU's Athletic Marketing Dept. Along with choosing mass comms theory for my BA … I feel the need to weigh in on the subject.

First, let's observe magic in action - this is a short of my son's first BYU football game. He's kinda just sitting there taking it all in until the FIGHT SONG starts playing...thats when you can see in his eyes everythign click. He realizes that this isn't just one of dad's bedtime stories, or something playing on the TV...he is at a BYU FOOTBALL GAME and this is REAL. It was a powerful experience for him and one that he remembers to this day - the first time he heard the band. I have videos of him singing both the BYU fight song and utah fight song (not that he loves the Utah fight song, rather, he just loves the power and tradition of FIGHT SONGS!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz_wukoM8lQ

Okay on to the Neuroscience and Social Science stuff...

1. Differentiating between NCAA and Pro - college sports bands give a specific vibe that induces the brain and subsequently the crowd to engage in the traditional aspects of college athletic events. It induces you to jump up and down, to grab your neighbor and get into it. This is different from the pro enviornment where you are there simply to be entertained. College athletic marketing depts need to be more strategic and aggressive and careful now more than they ahve ever been. They need to do everything they can to get people motivated and out of their seats and into the stadium because the alluring temptation of the comfortable seat in your living room watching on ESPN in HD with a bunch of snacks and drinks at your disposal makes going to a game that much more important to FEEL the difference between a college football game where YOU are an active and NECESSARY participant instead of a passive bystander who is simply there to be entertained. College football bands give you that instant RAW feeling of being there at the game and being uniquely present and contributing to make some noise and earn that false start....its important to understand the impact this has on fanbases across the country. Athletic Marketing Depts. understand this.....at least the good ones do.


2. Dopamine and norepinephrine - too much artificial sounds along with the routine overload of low bass notes over and over and over keeps you desensitized and in your seat and passive. The band and its drum lines and the unique and new sound that most kids and even adults have never heard (beyond moderate amounts) induces a limbic response of stimulated motivation and adrenaline. Again, these kids listen to your standard pump up music on their head phones all day. This introduces something new. Mass Communications emphasizes a theoretical approach to every issue they seek to provide an answer for fbased on the social science implications of whatever is being studied. When it comes to mediums that present a message to a selected target audience, most individuals within the field of mass comms theory understand the power of visual stimuli combined with biological instincts. It doesn't take much for a mostly obese person watching television at 7:00 at night and stumbling across a specifically and intentionally placed ad for other hungry and addicted males where all you have to do is produce some sizzling sounds and flash some images of melting cheese, etc....before you know it, advertisers and marketers can gurarantee to a certain percentage based on "The Theory of Planned Behavior" the probability that this individual will be salivating and in their car hurrying to the closest restaurant to pick themselves up one of those burgers just advertised. SOOO....when it comes to college football and applying mass communication theory to this scenario...think about the power of the band combined with the exhileration of a pick-six at home which follows up the magic and excitement with the cougar fight song.

3. Neurodiversity is a thing. Variation and variety induces a state of awareness and can promote involvement beyond your modern more “hip” sounding tunes in exchange for the unique and rare traditional band.

4. The social science numbers also disagree with you. From what data I’ve seen in the past, it looks like most young people enjoy the band and especially the bands rendition of popular songs.

5. The military has also tapped into the power of a strong drum line and it’s role in promoting stimulation of adrenaline and novel experiences.

6. I am assuming that you have been to NBA games and NFL games and have been enamored by the non stop and constant synthetic stimulation of the environment there and feel that it just can’t compare to a college band or a drum line. You are right. On a synthetic level, it can’t compare. And that’s the point. College football is beyond synthetic. It’s more authentic and passionate and real. The band solidifies that.

7. The band mixed with the heavy bass and the upgraded high performance sound system + PA speakers provides a nice mix. We don’t need to do away with one and keep the other, we can in fact enjoy the complementation of both.

8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cl-f8NABMM

9. Then there’s the why? If it can be established that the band does more for the experience and atmosphere then you realize and can and does provide a measurable boost to the fan experience and home field advantage…what other reasons do you have for getting rid of the band? Also...Have you heard some of the new renditions of college football music? Like the fusion of deep bass and a modern and solid drumline like seen on NCAA Football 14 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fn3ldwhZk4

10. More neuroscience and research :

1. Constant Recalibrations: A Study of How College Marching Band Members Develop Understandings of Inclusion
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1586380577149599&disposition=inline

2. The Music of the Marching Band: Collectivity, Embodiment, and Performance
https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/41893/TheMusicoftheMarchingBand.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

3. The Benefits of College Marching Bands for Students and Universities


I could go on, but now I’m more interested in your guys’ feed back. I for one enjoy the NBA and also the NFL and the synthetic “prime time” environments of both. But there’s nothing like the tradition and pageantry of college football.

I’ll probably post this in a new thread…. But yeah, he’s you go.
This message has been modified
Originally posted on Dec 8, 2021 at 6:52:59am
Message modified by Punk Philosopher on Dec 8, 2021 at 6:53:42am
Punk Philosopher
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