Standing on an eight-foot-tall reviewing stand, flailing his arms and bellowing loudly, band director Neil Boumpani is in the midst of an intense effort to synchronize dozens of band members and scores of musical instruments in less than three hours. But what tries Boumpani more than time constraints or coordination failures are those things he cannot correct—in this case, absent band members.
With fewer than 75 bodies at practices on a regular basis, Boumpani now struggles to keep the band’s numbers at football games above those of cheering fans.
“We’re always going to sound good,” Boumpani said, “but on the field we need the numbers. We can’t rely on the same people to be at every football and basketball game each week.” Over the past four years the Duke University Marching Band has watched its numbers dwindle from as many as 145 members to its smaller present size. Among the factors contributing to its decline, Boumpani specifically cites the University’s change in mailing procedures for incoming students.
Since 2001, instead of incoming freshmen receiving dozens of letters over the course of the summer from different departments, these students have received four packages of University mailings. Some groups, such as the marching band, were not included in these consolidated mailings that now give students much more information at one time.
“We made a concerted effort to coordinate and organize all of the letters students received and now forbid broad-scale mailings to freshmen because everyone wants to mail incoming students something from their department,” said Judith Ruderman, vice provost for academic and administrative services. “However, we do permit targeted mailings.”
Boumpani and his band also believe the football team’s dismal record may contribute to the lack of interest in joining the band. In an effort to combat apathy, Boumpani is permitting students to play in the pep band—which performs at the basketball games—without having practiced and played with the marching band. In previous years, band members were required to attend all home and some away football games if they wanted to play at basketball games. This encouraged many members to stick with the marching band to ensure their seats in Cameron.
“By letting people play with just the pep band, hopefully, we can get them interested in the organization and get them to stay with it after,” Boumpani said.
DUMB student president Devin Bean, a junior and trumpet player, noted that keeping band energy up is more difficult at football games than at basketball games.
“Band people are die-hard fans, cheering win or lose, but when it’s 86 degrees outside and you’re in wool uniforms and there’s only 20 people in the stands after halftime, it’s hard for the band to stay energized,” Bean said.
Boumpani also noticed a change in student attitudes towards Duke athletics. “Now students tell me that people won’t come out because the team isn’t doing well,” Boumpani said. “Outlook differs from year to year. It’s a shame because before, students supported Duke athletics whether win or lose, and that’s something I always admired about the student body.”
Greater scholastic demands and later classes have also cut into practice time for the band and limited the number of students that can participate. DUMB begins practicing the first full week of school, but this year recruitment has been extended to mid-November. Students also had the opportunity take band as a quarter credit or participate on a volunteer basis.
“With changes in scheduling in the past years it has been incredibly difficult for us to rehearse,” Boumpani said. “I could move practices to eight in the morning, but this would not make us very popular.”
Boumpani acknowledges a some positives with fewer participants, such as more flexible scheduling.
“I’ve always encouraged students to participate in anything they want without making them sacrifice something for the band because it is their time here and their education,” Boumpani said. “We try to work around people’s schedules.”
Unlike other ACC schools however, no marching band scholarships or pre-school band camp is offered at Duke.
“All other marching bands recruit in April and May when acceptances come out, but since we cannot send out information in the summer, students don’t find out about the band with enough time to decide to get involved,” Bean said.
Despite setbacks, the band remains upbeat and close-knit as they continue to play through the season.
“The band is very social,” said junior Charlie Suwankosai, a trombone player, “and with this smaller group everyone really gets to know everyone else.”
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