Purdue All-American Marching Band
| Purdue "All-American" Marching Band | |
|---|---|
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| School | Purdue University |
| Location | West Lafayette, IN |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Founded | 1886 |
| Director | Jay Gephart |
| Assistant directors | Max Jones, Pamela Nave, Matt Conaway, Douglas Fletcher |
| Members | 389 |
| Fight song | "Hail Purdue!" |
| Website | www |
The Purdue "All-American" Marching Band (or AAMB) is the marching band of Purdue University and the main source of auxiliary entertainment for Purdue Boilermakers football games. The AAMB is also the host band of the Indianapolis 500 race, having held the position since 1927. The band has grown from an original 5 members to 389 members. The three most distinctive features of the AAMB are the World's Largest Drum, the Purdue Golden Girl featured twirler, and the "Block P," the first marching band field formation created in 1907.
In 1886 the Purdue Student Army Training Corps formed a five-member drum corps to play music for the cadets during their morning conditioning marches. While operating without a director until 1904, the band had started playing at Purdue football games and had grown to over 50 members. However, during this time it played sporadically, as there was no consistent director. Additionally, the band received almost no training and had to provide most of their own equipment.
In 1904, Paul Spotts Emrick, a freshman from Rochester, joined the band. His experience as a conductor resulted in his election as band president and director the next year. During his senior year at Purdue in 1907, the band became the first to break ranks and form a letter on the field—the famous Block "P". In a 1953 interview with the Lafayette Journal & Courier, Emrick recounted seeing geese fly over a lake in the fall, saying "usually, they'd fly in a 'V', but once in a while, they'd change formation and fly in various figures. I used to wonder if you could do that with men drilling." The "Block P" has been performed during each pre-game performance ever since its inception.
Emrick stayed on as director after his graduation in 1908. In 1921 Emrick commissioned the Leedy Manufacturing Company of Indianapolis to construct the world's largest bass drum. The "Big Bass Drum" has been a part of the marching band ever since. In 1935, during a Purdue football game at Northwestern University the band donned lights on their uniforms while performing at halftime. With the stadium lights turned off for the performance, the band drew such awe from radio broadcaster Ted Husing, he referred to them as a "truly All-American marching band," hence the current title of the band.
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