Carolina gives out band scholarships correct? If so, then treat it like any other sport, recruit band members, especially if you're having trouble attracting talent that's already in-house, so to speak.
I do like your idea on having a band member on the council. Solid idea. But yeah, the material has got to change.
Unless the situation has changed in the past 20 yrs or so, the answer to your question is "NO". I have two daughters who are vets of the UNC Band, (the latter left the "Band" in 1996) and at least at that point in time there were no "band scholarships" - same as when I participated in the Marching Tar Heels for one year back in 1963. When my older daughter who attended UNC played in the Band (and she was in it for 4 yrs), we had a pretty dynamic director, music-wise, but no matter how hard he encouraged members to change instruments to low brass, he was never able to get many to switch. Great director, but he got virtually -0- support from the music dept OR the athletic dept beyond supplying uniforms. If I'm not mistaken, most of the big football schools' with massive bands support a significant number of Band Scholarships from the Athletic Dept budget.
But even there, that's not necessarily the case - either 2 or 3 yrs ago, the top ranked collegiate marching band in the US was none other than the Western Carolina University Marching Catamounts (they succeeded the University of Indiana-Bloomington in that spot). I saw them at one home game in Cullowhee (one of my daughters, who at one time was a Marching Tar Heel, was employed there)- VERY good outdoor show band with plenty of brass, including sousaphones, and the following year they appeared in the Rose Parade. And, I guarantee you they did NOT have any significant support from the WCU athletic dept (which budget is miniscule compared to Carolina's). They had a dynamic director, who loved marching bands, and that band became a major attraction for kids coming out of high school marching bands to attend WCU
Musically, as reflected above, even though our band numbers more than 250 most years, over half of that number are woodwinds (large # of clarinets, flutes, and piccolos - which DON'T produce any significant sound in an open arena) and flags (which produce -0- sound). The biggest single lack, compared to the "Marching Chiefs", for example is lack of Sousaphones, (the big over the shoulder Tubas that are designed for marching bands). The Marching Tar Heels of recent vintage probably have a dozen of the big horns on the field, whereas the "Chiefs" will have about 30 or more, including a significant # on band scholarship - ditto for most comparable programs. Back to the makeup of our band - one issue which has grown through the years, is that the majority of brass players, particular trombones, baritones and tubas, are guys, while gals still tend to take up the smaller, lighter instruments which are not nearly as effective in a marching band in producing sound. And last time I checked the female % of our student body was larger than the male, and the gap was widening.
However, IMHO, the biggest issue with the band program has been apathy. We've had the same director for a number of years, and IIRC, he was promoted from within. We have a band, largely because we're expected to have one, and no one in the Athletic or Music departments has show much interest in promoting that function. I have never heard anyone discuss our current band director's leadership, recruiting or promotional skills as anything other than maintaining the status quo.
You only have to look at what a dynamic director was able to accomplish in Cullowhee to see what a difference leadership makes in a program such as this. I suggest that if we're going to try to improve, we need to find someone of that inclination and ability for the Director's position, and then provide him with a decent level of support to make some basic changes (which I believe in most comparable schools comes primarily from the Athletic Dept budget).
One other idea - many years ago, my oldest child attended school at Rice University - the only school in NCAA Div 1 smaller than WFU at that time. Students at Rice would show up for games midway through the 2nd qtr to be there for the half-time show of the MOB (the Marching Owl Band), and then leave during the 3rd quarter because the team was traditionally down by 28 or so at the half. I mention this only because the MOB was a very contemporary, unconventional aggregation of musicians - #1 - they didn't "march" - they always ran to their positions in formation, #2 - their uniforms were variegated "gangster" suits and hats and #3 - a significant core of that very good band were NOT current students - many were relatively recent alumni who still lived in the Houston area, and remained active in the band. Seems to me that a similar approach might be effective in the Triangle for Carolina alums (or musical alums of any school who have an inclination to support the heels) with the right person at the helm of this enterprise.
