I am writing in response to the letter submitted to The Polytechnic by Nick Durland. This letter appeared in the February 25 issue of the Poly, and discussed Durland’s opinion of the quality of the RPI Pep Band’s performance at men’s home hockey games. As a former director of the band, I would like to address some of the iniquities contained therein.
While Durland is certainly entitled to his opinion of the band, comparing the band to an elementary school group is unnecessarily antagonistic. Perhaps if Durland had some discernable musical talent of his own, he would be capable of joining the band and thus improving its quality, instead of merely offering his agenda-motivated critique.
Next, we have Durland’s criticism of an alum’s letter “bashing the people who play music over the sound system at hockey games,” saying that said alum “missed the real issue.” Had Durland bothered to read the aforementioned letter, he would have noted that the writer was criticizing the sound system operator’s attempt to “show up” the band by playing an MP3 of a song that the band just finished playing moments before. Regardless of what anyone thinks about the band’s quality, the actions of the sound system’s operator were completely inappropriate. Instead of being a team player and doing his job, he chose to engage in an infantile prank, and it was that prank that I and numerous other fans in the stands—including Michael Brown, the writer of said letter—objected to. Brown chose to express his displeasure with a letter to The Poly. I chose to express mine with an e-mail to Athletic Director Ken Ralph. I am happy to say Mr. Ralph and the band’s leadership have resolved the issue to my satisfaction.
Finally, we have Mr. Durland’s “tips for improvement,” which are quite humorous coming from someone with no knowledge of the band’s operation. First, he suggests the band “learn the songs [they] play before the game.” It may surprise Durland to learn that that’s exactly what the band does from 10:30 to 12:30 every Saturday morning, when most RPI students are still recovering from the previous night’s revelry. Some songs sound better than others because they have been in the band’s repertoire longer. The band tries to add new music each year, and invariably the new stuff isn’t quite up to snuff for the first year or two. But that’s why the band keeps its signature tunes well on hand. Next, Durland suggests that the band “[weed] out all the members who suck” via auditions. It will almost certainly shock Durland to learn that this is impossible under the rules of the Rensselaer Union and the Pep Band’s constitution. Some music groups are granted exceptions, and I don’t profess to know all of the rules, but when I directed the band we were forbidden to exclude any activity-fee paying student, and I’m pretty sure that remains true.
Then we come to Mr. Durland’s snipe regarding the band’s repertoire, stating that it is limited to five songs. In reality, it consists of over four hundred songs, about fifty of which are commonly played throughout the course of a season. Then we have his suggestion to seat the band in the stands, an impossibility given the band’s fluctuating size—for Freakout the band typically numbers over eighty players, and would be far too unwieldy to put in a regular section. Further, all the band’s chants are available in print form, though admittedly Durland would have to fork over a few more dollars for a program, and I doubt he’s that committed to the cause. Finally, there is Durland’s disapproval of the “One Minute” cheer, a long-standing joke directed at RPI’s archrival that Durland would only find funny were he an educated Engineer hockey fan.
And as a parting shot, I will state right now that the band is not leaving the music to anyone else. The band has provided music for RPI hockey games for decades, and it will continue to do so for decades more. The only reason the sound system plays at all is because the band allows it to. So really, Mr. Durland and any other “fans” out there who are similarly devoid of musical taste should consider themselves fortunate in that regard.
William G. von Achen
ELEC ’00
