An open letter to the Notre Dame Band,
You really are the finest university marching band in America — and you’re announced that way at the start of every home football game. But for all your incredible music and marching, as coach Freeman would ask — are you playing up to your fullest potential?
The immediate issue is to play your part this Saturday in helping our crowd produce max noise and energy at the most needed moments.
1. Pick the right times to play the Celtic Chant
It’s a great song; pumping everyone’s arms is fun and an ND tradition. But it effectively quiets the 12,000 loudest voices in the stadium. Play it sooner, like when there’s a time out, when the opponent has the ball or even at the very start of the prep for those key third downs, to get the crowd engaged and lead into the video board’s “More Noise” moments or your own “make band noise urgently” fanfare bits.
2. Amplify your noise
It may be too late for this week, but your sound is so good, it deserves more amplification. This Saturday, especially if USC brings their own band, based on the past few years with them, you’ll need to outduel that horrible repetitive noise they make ad nauseum. Get more miked up please.
3. Expand your ND music repertoire and engage the crowd
We have four great fight songs, and you only play the “Victory March” — and don’t help the crowd sing it — and barely play “Hike Notre Dame.” Slow the tempo, put the lyrics on the big board and get the announcer to cue you. It’s now too late for Saturday, but you can help make a home crowd better for the rest of the year. Plus, whatever happened to “Down the Line” — tailor-made for our defensive and offensive lines — and “When Irish Backs Go Marching By” — ditto for Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price and our running back room?
4. Coordinate better with the crowd manager team
You are one of the finest components of a great university. Nobody works harder; nobody plays music better. But you can be better in that one very small part of your collective lives here. As coach Freeman likes to say, incremental improvements one play at a time will get you to team glory.
And we need every advantage we can get Saturday.
Go Irish.
Peter Herrly
Class of 1968
Oct. 13
