What started as a Minecraft hangout between trumpet players in the University of Michigan Marching Band (MMB) turned into a timely virtual marching band video with thousands of views.
Brendan Owens, a fourth-year student studying history and political science, and Holli Conrad, a third-year student studying sound engineering, made a small-scale video on Minecraft recreating one of the Michigan Marching Band’s game-day traditions for fun. “We parade from Revelli Hall, which is our band hall, over to the stadium, and the way that we form our parade block is through a process called Revelli exit,” Owens says.
Many of their fellow band members found the video entertaining. “[The first video in the fall of 2019] was just one line going out and doing the Revelli exit,” Conrad says. “We posted that just among MMB people, and everyone got a laugh out of it.”
The video caught the attention of Danielle DeMarco, the MMB marketing and social media manager. She asked Conrad if the band could modify the video and post it to social media accounts.
“We actually had a Discord server set up with about 100 people who were in the MMB and [who] had an interest in Minecraft,” Conrad says.
The final video, posted on Aug. 22 on Facebook, showcased about 40 characters controlled live by participants as they marched through a virtual University of Michigan.
The video even included drum major Walter Aguilar catching his mace after throwing it over the goal post, another game-day tradition and sign of good luck.https://halftimemag.com/web-exclusives/michigan-uses-technology-in-stunning-light-up-halftime-show.html
The project brought new and returning members of the Michigan Marching Band together during the pandemic. “We were giving some of the freshmen tours of Revelli Hall through Minecraft,” Conrad says.
