With the football season coming to an end, sousaphone player Seth Goheen, majorette Jillian Pierannunzio  and band director, Larry Detwiler, gave insight on how they prepare to travel with the band for away games. 

Behind the scenes

On Friday afternoons the band leaves the school at 3:15 p.m. The students get on the bus around 3:05 p.m., after loading the coolers of snacks and drinks onto the bus. 

“Packing the bus is horrible because there are big coolers full of water and snacks, but I am very grateful that we can have water and snacks when we get there,” Goheen said.

After the bus ride there, the band members indulge in subs, chips, cookies and water before the game. 

“We march out onto the field and stand there to watch the football game. We have fun, perform at halftime, march off the field and go back up into the stands. Then, we play fanfare and go back to the truck. We get chips, cookies and water when we get back onto the bus. We ride for another two and a half hours, and we get back at the school around 12:30 or 1 a.m. Then, we get picked up and go home,” Goheen said.

Detwiler books the buses and contacts the band director at the opposing school to make sure everything is ready to go. Detwiler also figures out  the amount of time the band has so he can prepare the band to play in that time frame. 

“If we split the halftime show, I’m able to have ten minutes of show time because each band would have ten minutes. Sometimes the band director will say if we’re going to do pregame, and we’re going to give the whole 15 minute halftime. It could be anywhere from ten to 15 minutes,” Detwiler said 

The feeling the students and director get playing on an unfamiliar field varies between each person. Goheen loves performing in new places. 

“I love it because I love showing that we’re a good band. I love going to places and playing better than the other bands. At the same time, if you mess up nobody even cares because it’s like ’oh look at this band from Altoona.’ I do like showing off. I love performing in different places: it’s fun. The atmosphere is different, and I love it,” Goheen said.

On the other hand, Pierannunzio believes her feelings are based on the crowd and how they react. 

“Sometimes, they’re not very nice, or they just don’t say anything. Other times, they make signs that say stuff about us, and that’s not always the most fun  part. [The most fun part is] whenever the crowd gets into it, when they clap for us and cheer and stuff. It’s not different performing on another field, it’s the crowd that’s different,” Pierannunzio said.

Getting ready with Goheen

Goheen has played bari-saxophone since eighth grade, but that instrument was not offered in the high school. He began playing the sousaphone and wishes to continue playing. Goheen believes that playing an instrument other than the one he currently plays would cause disruption to himself and the band as a whole. 

“My instrument projects a lot of sound because it has a very big bell. When you’re playing, wherever your bell is pointing is where the sound is going to go. The sound kind of travels in an area. I think it would affect the band as a whole because I play the bass line for everything. If that’s not there, the pyramid of sound is not there. I would also be surrounded by a different group of people,” Goheen said. 

Prepping with Pierannunzio

Pierannunzio has been twirling for ten years. She chose to become a majorette due to her mother and grandmother because they were majorettes as well. However, she is not certain she wants to continue after high school.

“I love twirling, I really do. I’ve been doing it all my life. I will continue to twirl until my senior year, but I don’t know if I’ll do it after high school,” Pierannunzio said.

Develop with Detwiler

Detwiler has been participating in band since he was in the third grade and has played ever since. According to Detwiler he can play every instrument, but his main instrument is the trumpet. 

“I also do concert band. We do pep-band for basketball games or special events. Then, I have both of the jazz band classes, jazz band and advanced jazz band. I also teach the introduction to guitar class. If it’s instrumental, it’s mine. I’m in the Altoona Brass Collective. I do a lot of church services, weddings and other events. Most weekends, I have some type of gig somewhere playing something,” Detwiler said. 

Detwiler originally went to college and was majoring in architectural engineering. However, he soon found himself skipping class to go to band practice. 

“I was going to be an architect. My first semester on campus I took an architecture class, and it was a five credit class. It met five days a week for three hours every afternoon. I was skipping class to go to the Blue Band practice. If you’re skipping a required class to go to music, something is wrong. That’s what I realized. I obviously enjoy that, so I changed my major,” Detwiler said.