Flame on! The Huskies Pep Band fires up followers with a trumpet trick that’s certain to please
the group. Member Ryan Briggs exhibits the way it’s carried out.
No cause to toss an previous trumpet when you’ll be able to carry it to new, flaming life, mentioned
Ryan Briggs ’23. The senior Michigan Technological College computer engineering major has been taking part in trumpet at school bands since fifth grade. However by no means like this.
When Briggs was deciding on a college, he appeared intently at music applications as a result of
although music wouldn’t be his main, it’s an necessary a part of his life. “I wanted
one thing much less pressured than a symphony orchestra or conventional marching band as a result of
I knew the teachers could be difficult,” mentioned Briggs, who additionally performs upright and
electrical bass, co-founded Tech’s video game music ensemble and is minoring in music composition. “I joined Pep Band straight away. Michigan Tech is a superb engineering college with
a band that likes to have a lot enjoyable! I went to band camp that first day and I really feel
like I haven’t missed an occasion since.”
“We don’t march. We meander.”
It’s not clear how lengthy the flaming trumpet custom goes again. “I can let you know there
was at the least one flaming trumpet once I began right here in 2012,” mentioned Mike Christianson,
an affiliate professor of Visual and Performing Arts at Michigan Tech and director of bands. “We now have just lately activated our fourth.”
Briggs can think about the way it acquired began. “I may see a artful engineer at one level
saying, ‘I’ve acquired an concept,’” he mentioned. Just like the Pep Band itself, every flaming trumpet
is exclusive. “Totally different of us have modified them in numerous methods. One has a pilot
mild,” mentioned Briggs.
Security First and Watch the Wind Course
Briggs’ design includes a small propane tank tucked into the again pocket of his iconic
striped bib overalls, linked to a shutoff security valve with tubing that runs up
to the trumpet’s set off valve. When he hits the set off, the propane shoots out a
small gap drilled within the trumpet’s bell.
the pains of his laptop engineering research. A member of the Theme Park Engineering
Group at Tech, he additionally participates in Tech jazz ensembles. Briggs plans to enter
the themed leisure trade, bringing his distinctive inventive perspective to engineering
work.
“Wind is an element. We house out, hold an eye fixed out for gusts and infrequently must
stroll backward,” mentioned Briggs, checking wind path earlier than popping the discharge valve
and brandishing a long-barreled utility lighter. “The command is ‘flame on!’ when
we’re lighting the trumpets,” he mentioned.
Gamers don’t really feel the warmth from the trumpets however the propane retains Briggs’ pocket
chilly. “My again pocket is roofed in frost after a parade,” he mentioned.
Flaming trumpets don’t make an look at each occasion. They’re solely lit outdoor
the place protected distances will be maintained between the band and the group. You’re most
more likely to witness this flamboyant custom in motion at group occasions, together with
the Parade of Nations and Hancock’s Heikenpaiva. You would possibly see the trumpet part collect to mild all of them with a single flame.
flaming trumpets within the 2021 Parade of Nations.
Briggs, a graduating senior, mentioned it’s a blast to be a part of Pep Band historical past. “Some
trumpets are handed down every year. Part leaders get them, or for those who make one,
you get to play it. That is the trumpet I’ve performed the longest.”
Passing the Flaming Trumpet Torch
“The Huskies Pep Band is like no different within the nation — all the pieces from our very distinctive
striped overalls, our foolish hats, to our enjoyable chants, cheers and jeers. Within the phrases
of our director Mike Christianson, we’re right here to be cute. I feel we positively accomplish
that with our humorousness.”
Briggs plans to stroll in 2023 Spring Graduation, the place he’ll participate in one other
time-honored Huskies Pep Band custom: passing his trumpet to a present pupil
who will keep on the loud and proud legacy. “We rise up in our caps and robes to do
the handoff,” he mentioned. “It’s a candy second.”
Rozsa Performing Arts Heart, created his Pep Band hat by customizing it with what
he had readily available. “I had simply completed a case of Baja Blast, in order that’s what I used,”
he mentioned.
Michigan Technological College is a public analysis college based in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is house to greater than 7,000 college students from 55 nations all over the world. Persistently ranked among the many finest universities within the nation for return on funding, Michigan’s flagship technological college affords greater than 120 undergraduate and graduate diploma applications in science and know-how, engineering, computing, forestry, enterprise and economics, well being professions, humanities, arithmetic, social sciences, and the humanities. The agricultural campus is located simply miles from Lake Superior in Michigan’s Higher Peninsula, providing year-round alternatives for outside journey.
