All eyes were on the Tigers at the NCAA Football Championship showdown. Despite Clemson’s best efforts to clench a back-to-back National Championship title, it was the record-breaking Louisiana State University who sealed their undefeated season with a 42-25 victory.

Millions of spectators were locked in to every minute of the highly anticipated battle between LSU battled and the defending champions.

As halftime came around, the audience remained on the edge of their seats to witness two powerhouse ensembles perform on the largest stage in college football.

At the beginning of this 2019-2020 season, directors from both programs were excited to see the number of students that showed up for auditions skyrocket.

LSU experienced the largest turnout of students to audition in the program’s recent history.

“The band this year is an extremely special one. The students overcame one of the most grueling processes to make it in the 325-member band,” LSU’s Director of Tiger Band and Interim Associate Director of Bands, Kelvin Jones stated.

 

Following Clemson’s first appearance at the College Football Playoffs, interest in joining the marching band grew exponentially as well — to the extent the program had to implement a cap on the number of members able to join.

(Photo credit: Imagine! Studios)

It is no wonder musicians from all over the map would jump at the chance to join either of these prestigious, collegiate bands.

Dr. Mark Spede is the Professor of Music, Director of Bands, Director of the Tiger Band, and Conductor of the Symphonic Band at Clemson University. He is also currently serving as the national president of the College Band Directors National Association.

Spede arrived at Clemson in 2002 and led the program by entirely by himself for his initial years. In 2008, he teamed up with Tim Hurlburt —Clemson University’s sole drill writer and Assistant Director of Bands. This duo have elevated the design of the Tiger Band’s shows to exceptional heights.

As our team at Pyware attempts to continually update the functionality and flexibility of the software, it is thrilling to hear positive feedback from drill writers of such great caliber.

“My experience using Pyware have been great! I love how versatile the program has been and I appreciate that the developers are making more versatile with every version,” Hurlburt said.

He added,

“Using Pyware to label performers in such a way to make it easier to stage different instrument sections in the drill for important melodic and musical impact moments. I also find myself writing backwards quite often — another cool Pyware feature — so I can build to those cool moments in the drill in the most exciting way possible.”

As the drill writer and one of the main instructors for the Tiger Band, Hurlburt also commented on the seamless integration of the UDB interface, which has expedited the process of updating and sending drill to his students immensely.

Clemson continues to honor its military heritage through the drill they perform, their uniforms, and the style in which they march. They demonstrated that sense of pride throughout the season and at the biggest game of the season.

Although, the Tiger program who took the title was LSU and the “Golden Band from Tigerland,” under Kelvin Jones’ leadership. Dr. Jones is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, the National Association for Music Education, an award recipient of the LSU A.P. Tureaud award for significant contributions to the university, and has been a loyal Pyware user for well over a decade.

The LSU Tiger Band also pays homage to the program’s military heritage throughout their performances and we were not surprised to see another stunning showing to close out the football season.

Congratulations to both Clemson University and LSU. We are honored to support each of these phenomenal programs, and we hope to continue to assist both ensembles in marching excellence!