Brass culture: Players share more than meets the eye

The marching band is one of the most well-know groups of students on campus because of its size, reputation and presence at many school events. The brass section, easily identified by its shiny and loud instruments, includes trumpets, tubas, french horns, baritones, mellophones and the trombone.
Within the brass section, instrument players seems to form a unique bond that goes beyond their musical performance experience. Even outside of class, they have their lunch spots in the band quad and around campus, where they can be found joking and talking. They seem to share a certain type of energy and spirit.
The 13 baritone players started the year following a specific tradition: with a bowl of pho at a Vietnamese restaurant on DeAnza and an ice cream at McDonald’s afterward.
“Nobody knows why, but we do [the traditional lunch],” senior Jeremy Veis said. “We have a ton of fun every time.”
The baritones start each competition with a special chant to get excited about performing.
“I would say we work hard and play hard,” Veis said. “We really find a great balance of working hard and also having a fun time and enjoying what we’re doing.”
The trombones seem to blend these two cultures. They are diligent and always give their best, but seem to have enough time to joke around.
“We’re like a big family,” sophomore Margaret Maccoun said. “Some of us are quiet, but most of us are loud and energetic.”
On some Saturdays, the trombones enjoy “section lunches” at local hangouts like Chipotle, Pizza-My-Heart and Jamba Juice. One fact that is not well known about the trombones is that they start each competition or performance with a secret handshake.
“[Our handshake] is kind of a good luck thing,” said Maccoun.
Another section with an interesting culture are the tubas.
“I’ll give you three words [to describe the tuba section],” said senior section leader Jimmy Zheng, “resilient, funny and crazy.”
According to Zheng, band members can go into the tuba area of the band room almost every day and find something to eat. Like many other sections, the tubas are also a lively and fun section. They always enjoy eating and playing pranks on people, both inside and outside their section.
To prepare for the season, the tubas also attend “tuba camp,” in addition to band camp, at the end of summer. The goal of this camp is to allow for section bonding and to teach everyone how to hold and play the instrument correctly.
In addition to this culture, the tubas have a “tuba rap.” Here, the entire section stands in a circle, and a person starts a beat. Little by little, the other tubas join in, adding words and other beats. The rap ends with a loud chant.
“[The band culture] is really fun,” said freshman Bridgette Olsen, who plays the tuba. “It’s a big family. We love each other, and then sometimes we can’t stand each other, but that’s how a family is.”