Info about Bands
Bands: Sounding the Right Themes for a Social Occasion
Man has many tools by which he tries to strike the keynote of a social occasion. The bands are marvelous tools to strike the right theme of a social occasion. The bands are evidently suited for a large crowd opposed the other forms of music. The instruments used are suited for playing to a great crowd. They have been designed to achieve mobility and their noise can be heard in the din and bustle of a jostling crowd. The bands are used both in the festive and mournful occasions. The bands can convey the appropriate theme of a social gathering.
A quick search of the origin of the word reveals that it has come to English from the French word bande which meant a group. It is a group of musicians whose music is more adapted to a social occasion. It is evident from the kind of instruments that they use. They are loud instruments to be heard in a crowd. The bands usually use percussion instruments and wind instruments. Most bands are designed to perform both when the players are stationary and when they are mobile. Some bands perform dances or acrobatics while they perform.
It is not fare to pin point the origin of bands to modern times. Bands are somewhat ancient and they had a martial element in them. Bands can instill in the warrior’s patriotic feelings and gaud them to fight fearlessly. The primitive tribes in their wars used drums and horns to create in the soldiers the spirit of combat. Sometimes the drums and horns were sounded for hours to create a kind of frenzy in which the reason is somewhat drowned and the urge to kill becomes dominant. Clever tribal leaders know when the frenzy is at the peak. Using the appropriate point of high morale of soldiers the chief give the instruction for battle.
This tradition of the ancient war is seen in all the modern armies. In the past the bands marched along with the troops to boost the courage of the advancing warriors. Today, when the army marches the bands may not sound bugles and drums. The vestiges of ancient practice continue in the modern armies where the bands are used for indoctrinating during the time of training lessons of patriotism in a forceful way. Bands are the routine rubrics of modern armies when a person of rank visited the barracks. The military bands also play music while they marched on the streets on special occasions.
Today, the schools use bands as part of training. The bands and their performance act in the subliminal way on the student and forcefully convey a feeling of fellowship with their pears and give them a sense of belonging. It is an amazing spectacle to see some of the school bands perform.
The relevance of bands today is dwindling due to the onslaught of technology as most of instruments can be used in public places. So these instruments meant for the crowd are getting replaced by other electronic audio devices. In addition to this modern warfare is becoming more a matter of technology than that of human prowess. In the tech-driven wars the role of bands as techniques of instilling courage has no much relevance. However, bands in some form will be always there.