Full admission time here: I am a Black marching band fiend. It started in seventh grade when I wanted to find a way to get out of seventh period early, so I put down my books, picked up a trombone, and the rest was history. Having played competitively in both high school and college in several honor bands, marching bands, symphonic bands, jazz bands and orchestras, something about the Black marching band experience speaks to me.
A Battle of the Bands competition? You know I’ll be there.
However, those not privy to the goosebump-forming chill and noteworthy awe of listening or seeing a Black marching band don’t have to look far to get an introduction.
No…not YouTube, silly. The Marching Network.
Started in 2006 out of Jackson, MS, The Marching Network has over 10,000 videos of Black marching bands easily categorized by decade, college and many other categories. Users can comment and rate videos, and upload their own using TMN’s upload tool. Videos are displayed in either Windows Media Player or Flash video format (including the option to incorporate a YouTube-hosted video), and includes code to view the videos on an HTML message board or any website.
Overall, while I love the content, I found parts of the site hard to navigate because of the small font used for comments and ratings. A redesign, hopefully, is around the corner, to better separate ad content from the videos themselves. I’d even suggest a special TMN branded Flash video player for further branding efforts. Your mileage may vary, of course.
TMN’s back end is powered by Vidiac, a technology and video distribution company out of Atlanta, GA.
November 15th, 2007 at 1:06 am
The existence and virtue of this blog is once again validated here by this post. I would have probably never trasped across nor stumbled upon this site had it not been for BlackWeb2.0. While I am not as huge a fan of marching bands as Mr. Cherry, the notion of broadband On-Demand video of a long-tail subject matter with a library as deep as this has long been an obsession of mine.
Hats-off to the folks at The Marching Network for showcasing the model. Now take it to the next level, you’ve got a huge asset in your library…I’m just sayin’. - Mega
November 19th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Wow thanks for the site! I was sitting here at my desk looking at the PV videos and my heart was pounding with excitement thinking of my college days on the yard!
Prairie View Panthers Marching Storm - The Best in the Nation!
November 20th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Whoa Lionel Whoa. Everyone knows that the FAMU Marching 100 is the world greatest band. Often imitated but never duplicated.
Great post Maurice! I have directed many ex-band members to the Marching Network. FAMU has footage that goes as far back as 1986 (remember those gigantic shoulder mounted VHS cameras) and footage as recent as this years homecoming. Great find!