Anyone who walked into the band room during the first week of school probably noticed the band students warming up in more ways than one. For the first week of school, as well as the beginning of the second, the air conditioning in the band room was broken, leaving the musicians in sweltering, oppressive heat. However, the problem was fixed by September 1.

In an effort to alleviate the humid and miserable air, band director Ryan Schulz set up two fans facing the room. While they relieved a little bit of the heat, the air only reached those on the outskirts of the room. “I’ve been thinking about buying a portable fan and clipping it to my stand,” Ananta Arora (‘17), the second-chair alto saxophonist, said. “All of my reeds are waterlogged and broken.”

The band also noticed some problems in the core elements of the class. “I felt it was very difficult for the band to concentrate,” said band director Ryan Schulz. “It gets very warm with 79 people playing and hot air coming out of the instruments. The morale was down because people were uncomfortable. The band also had intonation problems due the temperature of the room.”

In addition, many students stated that the crushing heat made it hard to breathe properly, and their playing suffered because of it.  Luckily for the large band, the problem was fixed in a week, leaving them much more comfortable to pursue their new musical endeavors.  The Symphonic Band and their new leader have persevered through their discomfort and are already on track to sound better than ever.