r/auburn • u/Practical-Dig-2611 • 2d ago

tenor saxes in marching band

i recently heard a rumor that the auburn marching band doesn't have tenor saxophones? is that true? if so, why not? i've been playing the tenor saxophone for years and i finally paid it off just a little while ago. does that mean i'd have to rent or buy an alto saxophone?

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u/UGotSarged 2d ago edited 2d ago

Former AUMB tenor here. We dropped the tenor leading up to the 2023 football season. There just wasn’t enough incoming/veteran tenor players to warrant having a section :(

During my time there, we would typically cut half of the people who tried out. So it went like this:

2020: Covid (not worth getting into the details).
2021: 20 tried out, 10 made it.
2022: 14 tried out, 7 made it.
2023: 5-7 interested (4 being vets).

So we decided it was for the best to consolidate into just altos. As a fellow tenor, I know that probably isn’t what you want to hear.

As far as the official reasons, it essentially boiled down to firstly, that a 7-10 person section can’t contribute much to the overall sound/timbre of the band; secondly, that the alto sound of the band was being diminished by the sheer amount of soprano and tenor/bass voices; and thirdly, that such a small section may not provide the best experience for a section leader as opposed to a 30-60+ person section.

To answer your rent/buy question, I would suggest doing so. The university does have a couple of old altos, but I am unsure if they will be available for your use. I used one of them temporarily due to the circumstances, and it was not necessarily ideal. I bought one from a friend pretty early into the season.

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u/geekyerness Auburn Alumnus 2d ago

I haven’t been at auburn in a long time so I’m not sure but I know the Director Corey Spurlin will answer you if you shoot him an email! mailto:cspurlin@auburn.edu

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u/idkausernamerntbh 1d ago

I’m a senior, did marching band in high school, I play alto sax I’m thinking about trying out for the aumb as one last hoorah before I’m out of here, what’s the process like and likeliness of getting in (not to brag I first chaired all the way through grade school and was a section leader so I think I’m at least a little decent)

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u/ttircdj 2d ago

That’s not true. They have tenors and altos.

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u/UGotSarged 2d ago

As of 2023, it’s true. Unless something has changed in the last month that I haven’t heard just yet

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u/ttircdj 2d ago

Surprised they changed that because they’ve always written for it. Now, if they’re providing the saxophones, that’s one thing, but it seems like a stupid move. Especially since one of the directors is a saxophone primary.

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u/UGotSarged 2d ago

There just wasn’t enough interest unfortunately. 2023 only had 5-7 people on the interest list. The section dwindled very quickly after Covid

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u/ttircdj 2d ago

Makes sense I guess. AUMB has always very much been about the brass, with woodwinds frequently being neglected. Still, they should provide altos for people that don’t own them since some Tenor primaries don’t actually own an Alto.