U.S. Army Band is ready for inauguration

[unhappycamper]

The U.S. Army Band rehearses "Stars and Stripes Forever" at the Brucker Recital Hall on Fort Myer, Va., in preparation for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.


U.S. Army Band is ready for inauguration
By Jason Watkins - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jan 19, 2009 6:39:26 EST

If temperatures drop too low on Inauguration Day ,for members of the U.S. Army Band — “Pershing’s Own” — no worries. “Antifreeze” was written just for that.

Wind instruments such as trumpets and clarinets can freeze in cold temperatures, rendering their moving parts immovable, but “Antifreeze” doesn’t require any movement or sliding.

“If things freeze up, you can still get notes to come out, so it’s like a bugle call for a band,” says Sgt. Major Mitch Spray, drum major of the band. Of course, that’s a worse-case scenario.

“We don’t want to have to do that,” he says. “We want to play the other things.”

The band gathered for a brief practice session Jan. 9 at the Brucker Hall recital auditorium to iron out inaugural details and to decide on music. Among the songs played will be “Stars and Stripes Forever” and, if the weather goes south, “Antifreeze.”


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/01/lifelines_armyband_011909/%2e