Fans who made their way to Memorial Field for the first two games of the 2009 football season may have felt that something was missing. Although across the country on Saturdays this fall, a similar scene played out: fans watched as their team battled against the opposition throughout two 15-minute quarters, and at halftime, listened to the sounds of brass and woodwind as their school's marching band takes the field. At Dartmouth, something has been different.
In Hanover, the space between the second and third quarter has been filled with games and awards, not the notes of the Dartmouth College Marching Band.
Rumors spread as to the possible reasons why the Dartmouth band did not march at the Sept. 19 game versus Colgate University or at the Oct. 3 game versus the University of Pennsylvania.
Some claimed that the band had done something to lose its marching privileges. A Valley News reporter quipped that the band's absence on the field may have been related to the football team's current losing streak.
The truth of the matter is less salacious and more encouraging. The band's directorate headed by President Nick Barber '10, General Manager Nate Caron '10 and drum major and conductor Katie Fitzgerald '11 in conjunction with faculty advisor Matthew Marsit, made the decision not to march in the first two games.
The Colgate game fell prior to the start of classes, and many band members were not yet on campus.
"The marching band has not had a history of doing a band camp or bringing students to campus early," Marsit said.
The band, however decided to similarly not perform at the Penn game, appearing only as a pep band. This meant that while the band did perform in the stands, they did not march on the field at halftime, as the Penn band did.
The directorate and Marsit agreed that the decision not to march was made for two main reasons decline in enrollment and musical development.
"It definitely did have to do with numbers, and at the same time, we were getting a new director [Marsit]," Fitzgerald said.
Caron stressed, however, that the decline in enrollment was not particularly significant, and that the band members saw more interest this fall.
"We've had the same tactics for recruiting," Caron said. "This year, it just seemed easier to get people for the band. This year, we have a great group of '13s and great instrumentation for the band."
The larger reason for the decision was to allow the band to become more musically focused, Carson said.
In recent years, Caron said, the band had strayed a little from its musical center. This year, he said, the band felt that it was important to make sure that it was fully prepared to march before getting on the field, citing some "difficulties" in past years.
Marsit also agreed that musical development was the top priority, adding that the band had held only three rehearsals prior to the Penn game.
The band will begin marching at the Oct. 22 Homecoming game against Columbia, and will march at all subsequent home games, along with the road game against Harvard on Halloween.
"It would have been unwise to march and play against Penn," Marsit said. "Let's focus on music first, make that great."
Marsit, in his first year as faculty advisor after stints at Cornell and Drexel University, said he is hoping that he will be able to get the band to sound and perform better.
Marsit, as well as the members of the directorate, said they felt that the band had already made progress by the time of its performance at the Penn game.
"I felt we were better musically," Caron said.
In addition to compliments from the alumni and the Athletic Department, several students had shown interest in the band after the performance against Penn, Marist said, adding that there were three new members at practice last week.
"Someone contacted us after the game and said they liked how we sounded so much they wanted to join," Fitzgerald said.
In general, band members were not upset with the decision to delay marching, recognizing that they needed more practice before their debut on the field, Fitzgerald said.
"I wasn't too upset because I felt that we did better in the stands than we would have on the field," she said. "It will make our presence at Homecoming more appreciated."
The discussion about not marching began in the spring, Fitzgerald said, as the members of the band directorate looked ahead to this fall.
"[The band members] seemed quite okay with it," Marist said. "They knew their charge, or challenge, from me was to improve their overall performance. They were with me all along. This was not a surprise in any way."
"[Not marching] troubled some people, but for most, there was an understanding that we were trying to become a better group overall," Caron agreed.
Although watching the Penn band march at Memorial Field last Saturday while the Dartmouth band remained in the stands may have seemed strange to some observers, it did not concern the band members to see Penn on the field, Caron said.
Ivy League rules stipulate that the visiting team must receive 50 percent of halftime for on-field performance.
And, as they seek to tune up this fall, the band members will keep in mind its history as the oldest marching band in the Ivy League, its roots trace back to the late 19th century.
The band got its start giving concerts on campus and in the surrounding towns, and also toured the Northeast, performing in several cities.
The band later began marching at football games, performing as a traditional marching band.
In the 1960s, however, the DCMB switched to a scatter band, in which, instead of marching from formation to formation, band members frantically rush from their old position to their new position.
Every band in the Ivy League, with the exception of Cornell, now performs as a scatter band. There is something of a rivalry between Ivy League bands, though it is not meant to be as serious as the one between their gridiron counterparts, Fitzgerald said.
"I'd say there is [a rivalry]," she said. "When Penn came here, they talked a fair amount of trash. I'd say our main rival is Harvard."
Fitzgerald maintained that the main competition between bands is for one to sound better than the other, though each band has its chance to poke fun at the other during halftime of football games.
Each band writes a script, which is read over the public address system during halftime as the band performs. Much of the subject matter talks about recent news or the rival school.
Most of the time, the jokes are made in good fun, but occasionally the band can get a little carried away.
The Dartmouth band, performing at Holy Cross, once made reference to a Ted Kennedy Triathlon, which included driving and swimming, a reference to the controversial Chappaquiddick affair.
Members of the Kennedy family, some of whom attended the game, took offense, and the DCMB was banned from performing at Holy Cross for several years.
The band has evolved since its early days, now performing as a pep band at hockey and basketball games in the winter, but many of the songs remain the same, even a century after the band's formation.
A collection of four songs, historically known as the "Dartmouth Tunes," are band favorites. The "Dartmouth Tunes" consist of "Dartmouth's in Town Again," "Come Stand Up Men," "As the Backs Go Tearing By" and "Glory to Dartmouth."
The band also plays the Alma Mater, in addition to several more contemporary songs.
There is also a lighter side to the DCMB: At the top of the band power structure is the Coke Machine position, held by an actual Coke Machine.
Below the Coke Machine is an ex-officio directorate position held by the Governor of Hawaii, currently Republican Linda Lingle. Both the Coke Machine and the Governor of Hawaii outrank any of the members of the student directorate.
It is unclear when these traditions began, but several members of the band claimed that the positions have been around for as long as they can remember, supposedly originating several decades ago.
"They were around a long, long time before I was in the band," Caron said.
With that history and tradition in mind, the band will get back on the field at College on the Hill at Homecoming in two weeks.
