One of the new perspectives being brought to the OSU marching band viewing experience. Credit: Courtesy of The Ohio State Marching Band
Traditions are being set aside for the Ohio State Marching Band this season.
Amid COVID-19, the Ohio State Marching Band is providing fans with a new look for their famed halftime show. Unable to perform live in front of an audience, the show is filmed beforehand and streamed on YouTube.
Owen Hennessey, a second-year in computer science and engineering and a flugelhorn player for the marching band, said they miss not being able to perform in front of a home crowd.
“You can hear it all in Ohio Stadium, they’re singing Buckeye battle cry to the music that you’re playing and you can hear it and it’s such an unreal feeling. We definitely miss that. God, we miss that really bad,” Hennessey said.
Despite the change, there is still a light at the end of the tunnel in Hennessey’s eyes.
“I believe that we will fully revert back to tradition once everything is deemed safe,” Hennessey said.
Although the loss of live performances is weighing heavily, Evan Drexler, communications manager for the College of Arts and Sciences, said the final video ends up being more than what the live shows would be themselves.
Drexler, who is responsible for editing and producing the videos, said he tries to give fans a field-side view and show the performance from the perspective of the musicians, instead of the regular above-field view on game days.
“We’re recording these types of videos because there’s nobody. We’re not performing it live in front of an audience. But I would hope that all the work that we’re doing in getting different camera angles, editing things together, creates an experience that people can really appreciate from angles that they’ve never seen the marching band from before,” Drexler said.
The shows are recorded three weeks before their scheduled release date. In the meantime, Drexler said he spends 30 to 40 hours producing and editing the video, depending on the length of the show, often including interviews with band directors or marchers about their experience putting that week’s show together.
Drexler said the process stems from the new format Christopher Hoch, the band’s director, uses to script the shows. He said the format has allowed the band to get creative with age-old traditions such as Script Ohio and the marching band’s ramp entrance.
“There’s this collaborative feel to it where you know, you’re all sitting at home, but you can watch the Ohio State University marching band perform live and chat and communicate with other fans,” Drexler said.
Footage of the Ohio State Marching Band’s latest performances and video packages can be found on the band’s official YouTube channel.
