Editor?s Note: This story is the first article in a two-part series on the Fightin? Gator Marching Band. The second part will run Sept. 3.
New members of the "Pride of the Sunshine" Fightin? Gator Marching Band gathered in the UF music building and listened as their director spoke of the sacrifices they would make during their time with the group.
But Scarlet Basler needed no lecture on sacrifice. She had already volunteered to give up the comfort of her lightweight oboe for the good of the band. Instead, she chose to to play the heavy sousaphone, a brass instrument that was modeled after a tuba but has a spiral stem which wraps around the player?s upper body.
Now, she would begin a grueling, weeklong series of tests that would strain her playing ability and athleticism.
The band, which has about 100 new members, will rehearse less than any other school in the Southeastern Conference, said John Watkins, the band director. But with that luxury comes a trade-off. The band camp rehearsals, which started Aug. 18 for most of the band and ended Sunday, are intense.
"Every Saturday afternoon when you come through that tunnel, there are 90,000 people waiting for you," Watkins said.
The band has enough music for about 10 halftime shows, Watkins continued. It is important that students begin learning most of that music now before classes cut into rehearsal time, he said. The goal is to provide the best entertainment and support for the athletes and fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium week after week.
In less than a week, they will need to march through that tunnel in the afternoon heat for their first summer game.
"We would all much rather be in the pool," Watkins said.
The First Practice
As an oboist in high school, Basler was restricted to playing percussion on the sidelines as other band members marched. On that first day of college practice, she said she planned to rely on her experience pushing the heavy percussion equipment to adapt to the weight of the sousaphone. She said her background in gymnastics would also help with the intensity of the marching rehearsals.
As the other members of the sousaphone section unpacked and assembled the horns, Basler and another new sousaphone player, Lalaine Papel, were given their own instruments. Theirs were in worse condition than the others, and Basler?s mouthpiece needed to be boiled in water before it was safe to play.
"How am I supposed to carry this thing?" Papel, a veteran band member who has switched instruments before, asked as she examined the case that held her new instrument. New band members often open their first sousaphone case after band camp starts.
The weight on her shoulders
It is common for students to switch to the sousaphone to fill gaps in the section, said Chad Mizelle, sousaphone section leader. But most who make the change are accustomed to playing other brass instruments like trumpet or baritone.
Basler and Papel were shown how to lift the instruments onto their shoulders, and they followed Mizelle outside while the rest of the section remained to practice together.
The large instruments looked out of place on the women?s small bodies. Basler, who is 5-foot-1-inch tall and weighs 105 pounds, carried a sousaphone that was more than 50 inches tall. Mizelle estimated that the instrument weighed 45 pounds.
It is common for students to switch to the sousaphone to fill gaps in the section, said Mizelle. But most who make the change are accustomed to playing other brass instruments, like trumpet or baritone, which are far more closely related to the sousaphone than the oboe.
As an oboe player, Basler did not do much marching in high school. Oboists traditionally play on the sidelines. She said she will rely on her experience pushing that heavy equipment and her background in gymnastics to adapt to the weight of the sousaphone and the intensity of the marching rehearsals.
The first week of wearing the horn is not fun, Mizelle admitted, but it gets easier. Those who give their all can improve by 300 to 400 percent over the course of camp, he said before the lesson.
"They don?t even look like the same person," he said. "It?s pretty amazing."
They loaded their cases onto a trailer while Stanley Figaro, a staff member working with the section, gave the orders.
"Quickly, quickly. We are not going down as the slowest section again," he said, as the occasional part or two fell from one of the instruments.
Once outside, Mizelle began the lesson. He advised the new students to use Bengay on their shoulders. The constant pressure from the weight of their instruments can be painful, he said, and they may want to numb themselves. He also suggested folding beach towels and laying them over their shoulders for padding.
Now he asked his students to play their first note, a B-flat. They raised their mouthpieces to their lips and blew - the sousaphones spluttered weakly like a car with an engine problem.
He asked them to play again, this time while allowing their lips to flap together loosely inside the mouthpiece. Instantly Basler produced a strong, steady B-flat.
Success, although by the end of the day, their lips tingled.
"Yay, Scarlet, we?re not dead yet," Papel joked. "That comes tomorrow."
Mastering the March
About 300 new and returning band members, including the color guard and Gatorettes, assembled on Norman Field the next day for their first outdoor rehearsal. At 6 p.m., the sun was still hours away from setting, and it glared at them from above the tree line without a cloud to block its rays. A mock football field had been painted on the grass, and six five-gallon water coolers sat on the sideline. Dozens of smaller thermoses dotted every end of the practice surface.
Armed with a folded beach towel draped over her left shoulder, Basler listened with her section as section leaders demonstrated the correct vocal and physical responses to commands.
She had learned how to stand with her instrument when called to attention. Now it was time to march with it. At times, her director slowed her movements down purposefully, making balance difficult, but she maintained her footing through a series of forward and backward marches. Her horn shook from time to time as she traversed the uneven field, but she managed to keep pace with the other freshmen and and even some of the veteran band members.
The band was then ordered to march while playing the F, one of the notes Basler had trouble playing with her section earlier that day. She stepped in time with the group but was too tired to produce a sound.
After rehearsal, Basler was visibly upset as she left rehearsal. She walked while others ran. She said nothing while others cheered. She picked at the grass as the band members gathered around their director?s podium.
She later explained her thoughts. She had wondered why she had she not been able to play the same notes as the others, she said. She had questioned whether being in marching band was really worth adjusting her class schedule as she had done earlier that week.
But she was her own harshest critic, and her superiors had kinder words about her performance. Mizelle said she had demonstrated the strong work ethic he expects from every member of his section and was positive about her improvement.
"She?s a soldier," he said.
Basler said the positive energy of the other band members keeps her marching. "Just having other people around doing the right thing" has helped her remain focused on the path to improvement.
Basler said she plans to feed off the support of other band members to become a better player.
"Everyone wants to be there and wants to do well," she said.
