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Hawkeye Marching Band Goes Paperless
IOWA CITY, Iowa — For centuries, musicians have used sheet music in the form of paper to read and follow along with the song they are playing. But just as books have gone digital, so has sheet music. The Hawkeye Marching Band is reducing their carbon footprint and keeping their students healthy by using an app.
“We did a little analysis and we believe that we were using around 15,000 sheets of paper in the Hawkeye Marching Band,” says Dr. Eric Bush, director of the Hawkeye Marching Band.
That’s 15,000 sheets of paper per year, for one band. For students and staff, it just didn’t make sense. That’s why the Hawkeye Marching Band turned to the flip folder app this year.
“Just like that, that paper is gone from our carbon footprint, which I think is absolutely amazing,” said Mallory Obenauf, piccolo section leader of the Hawkeye Marching Band.
The app was developed by a band student at the University of Pittsburgh and stores all of the school’s sheet music on a student’s smartphone. There is no need for paper anymore, and in the year of the coronavirus pandemic, this app also has health perks.
“The Hawkeye Marching Band is really conscientious of how much paper we’ve been using on a year-to-year basis, and it’s also really important in the times of COVID-19, we want to be able to eliminate as much of the distribution of physical items as possible to try to keep everyone safe and healthy,” Bush said.
Adjusting to the flip folder app has taken time, but it’s time they now have since they won’t need to pass out any paper.
“Our members can just pull up our music really quick, and there it is right on their arm ready to go, so it also saves time in addition to helping the planet,” said Obenauf.
The Hawkeye Marching Band does not know yet if they will be allowed to play at the football games in October, but they will continue their virtual performances online.