A parade is not a parade without music! Interspersed between the floats are marching bands, in the most part from High Schools. Accompanied by Drill Teams and Dance Teams, these foot-soldiers are granted the, in my view, unenviable task of marching the entire parade route, usually in footwear I certainly wouldn't care to put on my feet! I admire these kids.
At any given time at least one of the bands in the parade will be playing but they don't play the entire time. They have their pieces worked out along with their moves.
Those musicians I would least like to be are the ones with the most cumbersome instruments – the big base drums or, as in this image, the sousaphone players. While the sousaphone was not originally intended for marching band use, the construction that fits around the musician's body and rests on the players left shoulder makes it readily playable when marching. It was reportedly originally designed to be easier to hold than a tuba while giving a similar sound.
But clearly in the image above it is resting on the young man's right shoulder. This is simply because he's not playing it. When the band next struck up a tune, he ducked his head through the loop to get it into playing position. Some modern sousaphones are made out of fiberglass to make them lighter at the cost of some richness of tone. Bud you'd have to have an exceptionally good ear to pick that difference out in a Mardi gras parade.
It might be easier to carry than a tuba but easier is relative. I applaud this young man and his peers in the band for the entertainment they provide, and for the respite from falling beads, doubloons and other throws that can hurt if they catch you just wrong!
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Production Data
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Battery Grip: Canon BG-E6 Battery Grip
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Zoom Lens
Processing: Lightroom 3.6
Processing: photoshop cs5
Processing: Nik Software Color Efex Pro 4 (Nik Software)
