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Organization

Director of Bands: Currently the director of bands is Dr. Michael Golemo, who is also the Chair of the Music Department. The director's major role in the band is behind the scene support. On game days the director conducts the band in the National Anthem.

Director of the ISUCF"V"MB: The current director of the marching band is Matthew O. Smith. He has been serving in this post since the fall of 2002. His primary job is to conduct rehearsals, write drills, and select music; but is not limited to these. On game day the director usually conducts the Alma Mater, "The Bells of Iowa State".

Drum Majors: The three drum majors in the band are primarily the student conductors in the ISUCF"V"MB. They also assist the band director in carrying out rehearsals. On game day they conduct pregame, a quarter each (with one conducting 2 quarters), and the half-time show.

The Band: The band is organized into sections based on instrument. The ISUCF"V"MB currently sports: piccolo, clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, trumpet(1st and 2nd), flugelhorn(also referred to as 3rd trumpets), mellophone, trombone(1st, 2nd, and 3rd), baritone, and sousaphone.

The Drum Line: The Cyclone Marching Band's drum line consists of tenors, snares, cymbals, and bass drums.

The Flagline: They are responsible for a visual aspect of the show. The ISU Flagline uses flags exclusively, and does not utilize rifles, sabers, or dance routines.

Featured Twirler: The most recent twirler for the ISUCF"V"MB is Allison Arnold-Kempers. She gratuated in 2006 after her fifth year of twirling for the ISUCF"V"MB. As of the fall 2006 football season, the band does not have a featured twirler.

History

Traditions

Like most college marching bands, the ISUCF"V"MB has many traditions. These traditions are what gives the band a culture all its own.

On a game day, the first tradition to be observed is a costume theme during early morning rehearsal. Band members are encouraged to show up dressed in various crazy outfits to start their day. This tradition adds some fun to an early-morning rehearsal, and serves to get a long day off on the right foot. Popular dress-up themes include clothing fashioned from duct tape, swimwear, as well as themes that either relate to that week's field show or the team that the Cyclones are playing against.

The various sections of the band tend to behave at times as self-contained social orders as contact beyond a member's own rank, part, and section is limited during rehearsals; and the sections each have developed their own traditions. Every year each section usually creates some sort of signature apparel for itself (typically t-shirts, but past years have seen more outlandish items such as capes and long underwear) and the shirts are debuted around the time of the homecoming game, with shirts of year's past being worn the previous week (the past year on Thursday, two years past on Wednesday, et cetera).

Some of the strongest traditions of the band's individual sections include the friendly rivalry between the trumpets and trombones (each section often expresses their superiority to the other in their shirt designs), the saxophones' worship of some strange concept known as "Buffalo," and everyone in the nearly all-female piccolo section managing to catch infectious mononucleosis at the same time every year.

The band members often do things without the official sanction of the university or the band's directors, but all in good fun. Band parties during the week and especially after games are a strong tradition, as well as things like sectional or rank dinners, and the singing of songs. Band members will often find excuses to play beyond official ISUCF"V"MB happenings, such as groups randomly playing fight songs in the college dorms, an unofficial pep band for the ISU Men's Hockey Club, and the tradition of campanilling (which involves the band gathering around the university belltower at midnight and playing the night before the homecoming game) and bar fights (which immediately follows campanilling; the band visits and plays in many of Welch Avenue's drinking establishments through the wee hours of the morning, and finally finishs in Friley Hall's courtyard at about 4am).

Another ISUCF"V"MB tradition is the calling of the ranks. This comes after the band finishes its pre-game warmup in front of James H. Hilton Coliseum. The band director will yell out "A rank!" The members of A rank will then play the theme from the television show "The A Team." After that, A rank moves into the street to begin lining up for the march to Jack Trice Stadium. The band director then calls out the names of each subsequent rank, whose members respond with a chant or small song and then take their place in the parade block.

Like most college marching bands, the ISUCF"V"MB plays a variety of short cheers during the time between football plays: the "Go Cyclones" First Down Fanfare for first downs, a percussion break before second down, and the "I-S-U" Third Down Fanfare before a third down. The band also plays a number of longer tunes for timeouts (some favorites include The Ides of March's "Vehicle," Deep Purple's "Hush," Green Day's "Basket Case," and Bruce Channel's "Hey! Baby!"). The drum line will also play many short songs, including a version of the theme to "Green Acres" and the drumline's signature piece, entitled "Cowbell."

The band also plays standard staples as the "ISU Fanfare," "ISU Fights," "Go Cyclones (Don't Know the Words)," and Meredith Wilson's "For 'I,' for 'S'" in their pregame routine and when the team has a great success on the field ("Fights" usually is reserved for touchdowns, "Don't Know the Words" for things like recovered fumbles and interceptions, and "For 'I'" for successful field goals and extra points). The band also plays "God Bless America" and "The Star Spangled Banner" to pay homage to the United States as part of pregame, and "The Bells of Iowa State" to honor the university.

Fuzzy Letters is also a great tradition of the band, usually started somewhere at the top of the stands. A chant will start (usually in the second half of the game) with one or two people saying "Fuzzy Letters!" fallowed by three claps. More people join in the chant, and it is repeated until the pom squad takes notice. After gaining the attention of the pom squad the first letter is yelled out, "I!", until an "I" is formed by their poms. "S," "U," "C," "F," "V," "M," and "B" follow the initial "I" to form ISUCF"V"MB. After this happens, the band will then yell "We Love Pom Squad!" to show their appreciation.

At the five minute mark in the fourth quarter someone usually yells, "Hey Band!". The rest of the band always responds to this remark with, "Hey What?!". The first person will then yell, "How much longer?!". The band will respond, "Five, More, Minutes! HA HA HA HA!"

At the end of the game, if the Cyclones win, the band will turn their shakos (hats) backwards and march back to Hilton Coliseum in the reverse order of their standard parade block. If the team does not win, the band will march back with their shakos on facing forward.

Other chants include:

• "Hit 'em again! Harder! Harder!" - Used when you can hear the crack of a hard hit.
• "It's a Bird! It's a Plane! NO! It's overthrown! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" - Used for over thrown balls
• "Hey Band!" - Used to get the band's attention.
• "Hey What!?" - Used to respond to "Hey Band!"
• "It's all your fault!" - Repeated when an opponent makes some sort of error.
• "You -paused- up" alternatively "You F***ed Up!" - Repeated when an opponent makes a mistake.
• "Hey, you, go someplace else!" Usually shouted at the opponent's mascot if they get close to the band.

External links

• Official Site
• Unofficial Site
• Alumni Band Site
• Drumline Site
• Saxophone Site
• Sousaphone Site
• Featured Twirler Site
• Unofficial Hockey Pep Band