By Shelby Peck | Staff Writer
Marching season never stops, and for the Golden Wave Band there is no exception. As band leadership prepares for game days at McLane Stadium in the fall, they spend countless hours on the many details that create the unified sound of green and gold.
“After the bowl game, we have a banquet in February, but we’re looking for our freshman class. Recruitment is the biggest motivator right now because we need a very large freshman class because that is the necessity of any organization,” Isaiah Odajima, director of the Golden Wave Marching Band, said.
The Golden Wave Band uses the few weeks between the deposit deadline of May 1 and the start of freshman advising in early June to reach out to any committed freshmen who may have band experience.
“Students can choose to come here for Orientation and Line Camp, and that’s another opportunity for us to meet. We have a team of staff who are students and directors who are actively engaging every week, making connections,” Odajima said. “During the summer, a majority of our time from May through June and early July is focused on trying to reach students and get them involved.”
Odajima and band leadership spend time throughout the summer looking at the home game calendar and deciding what shows to perform. He said he began contacting rightsholders in February because receiving permissions can take great lengths of time.
“We come up with the ideas for halftime shows based on what’s popular, what’s available, what’s relevant to our crowd and students. It takes weeks and months to get copyright permissions,” Odajima said.
While other universities form drill designs for halftime shows earlier in the year, allotting a certain number of marching spots, Odajima said the Golden Wave team waits until they have an exact number of students participating in band so every individual can march.
“We want everybody who is involved to have the opportunity to perform,” Odajima said. “August is really late to start writing, but that’s what we do, and we start writing the halftime shows for all the positions on the field.”
Instruments need repair over the summer, and dents need to be fixed. Many Golden Wave directors and staff are involved in university-run summer music camps, and while Odajima said those camps do not affect the Golden Wave Band immediately, they still require staff’s time throughout the month of June.
“We always say Aug. 1 is our execute the plan — our go time. We’ve made all the preparations up to Aug. 1, but then it’s time to make sure we execute the goal,” Odajima said.
All band members come to campus the week before classes for preseason. Throughout this week students march, play music and spend time together all day Monday through Saturday. The week before preseason, band leadership attends an off-campus retreat.
“We have different sessions throughout the day, so on the first day we’ll have a morning marching session where we’ll … practice teaching how to march so that we know how to teach the freshman how to march whenever they come in. We’ll have some music sessions where we’ll play a whole bunch of music … see where the trouble spots in the music are,” Tomball junior Blaise Alfredson said.
Alfredson, who assumed his role as a drum major last season, said the responsibility and experience he gained last fall make the upcoming year not seem as overwhelming. He said he looks forward to using the leadership skills he has gained to guide new members and the new drum major.
“The directors talk to us about important leadership strategies and different leadership concepts that we can use in our squads or in our sections or wherever we’re needed,” Alfredson said. “That’s also a time where our leadership groups can talk and discuss strategies that they want to use throughout the season.”
Carrollton junior Arianna Parks, who also leads as a drum major, said over the summer, drum majors are responsible for planning pre-game traditions, routines and certain tricks to make sure everything is ready for when the rest of the band members arrive in Waco. She said serving as a drum major has shown her the administrative side of the Golden Wave Band and taught her flexibility and preparation.
“As a performer in the marching band, you don’t really get to see all the angles of what goes into it preparation wise, so this past year was just a learning opportunity for me in terms of, OK, every box has to be checked, things can’t just fall through the cracks,” Parks said.
Since the Golden Wave Band is a “very visible group” because of their participation with the university, athletics and the Big 12 Conference, Parks said they must be “diligent and organized.” Sometimes band leadership may learn things last minute and they have to be able to adjust, she said.
Odajima said the athletic bands are a “significant contributor” to many Baylor events. He said he is blessed to work with a group of students who serve Baylor by practicing in the hot Texas sun for months on end and students who spend hours before and hours after football games creating the perfect game day atmosphere.
“I love what I do, and they love what they do. We’re always excited to be the soundtrack of Baylor,” Odajima said.
