Military band


A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of bandmaster or music director. Ottoman military bands are thought to be the oldest variety of military marching bands in the world, dating from the 13th century.
The military band is capable of playing ceremonial and marching music, including the national anthems and patriotic songs of theirs and other nations, both while stationary and as a marching band. Military bands also play a part in military funeral ceremonies.
There are two types of historical traditions in military bands. The first is military field music. This type of music includes bugles, bagpipes or fifes, and almost always drums. This type of music was used to control troops on the battlefield as well as for entertainment. Following the development of instruments such as the keyed trumpet or the saxhorn family of brass instruments, a second tradition of the brass and woodwind military band was formed. A third type, that of a mounted band, serves cavalry and sometimes artillery formations.
Some police forces have their own police bands that provide a similar function to that of a military band.

History

Military band instruments such as fife, drum, and bugle were historically used to communicate orders to soldiers in battle.
11th century book Diwan Lughat al-Turk mentions a prototype of the Mehtaran, as a "nevbet", Turkish military band tradition. Bands were formed by soldiers. 17th century traveler Evliya Çelebi noted that the Ottoman Empire had 40 guilds of musicians in the 1670s Istanbul. Ottoman military bands influenced European equivalents. Each regiment in the British Army maintained its own military band. Until 1749 bandsmen were civilians hired at the expense of the colonel commanding a regiment. Subsequently, they became regular enlisted men who accompanied the unit on active service to provide morale enhancing music on the battlefield or, from the late nineteenth century on, to act as stretcher bearers. Instruments during the 18th century included fifes, drums, the oboe, French horn, clarinet and bassoon. Drummers summoned men from their farms and ranches to muster for duty. In the chaotic environment of the battlefield, musical instruments were the only means of commanding the men to advance, stand or retire. In the mid 19th century each smaller unit had their own fifer and drummer, who sounded the daily routine. When units massed for battle a band of musicians was formed for the whole.

Functions and duties

Military bands can vary in function and duties based on their specific mission. Bands may perform for a variety of reasons such as special events, military parades, military review, military tattoos, public relations, and troop entertainment. It may also play a role in boosting the esprit de corps or morale of the entire military, a particular service branch or a specific unit.
Military bands play ceremonial and marching music, including the national anthems and patriotic songs. A concert band's repertoire includes original wind compositions, arrangements of orchestral compositions, light music, popular tunes and concert marches found in standard repertoire. Modern-day military musicians often perform a variety of other styles of music in different ensembles, from chamber music to rock and roll.

Military bands in Africa

Algeria

Military bands take place in Algeria. The Algerian People's National Army maintains military bands in the country.

Angola

The Angolan Armed Forces maintains Portuguese-style military bands, primarily in the Army, Navy and Air Force and then in individual units of the FAA. The primary band is the 100-member Music Band of the Presidential Security Household, which is the official security service of the President of Angola. The music band of the Army Command was created on 16 June 1994. 4 years later, on 15 August 1998, the National Air Force created a music band within the artistic brigade. Outside the navy's marching band, the navy also has a small musical group known as Banda 10 de Julho, based at the Luanda Naval Base. All bands follow both the Portuguese and British precedent with the percussion at the front ranks of the band.

Cameroon

Cameroonian military bands solely follow the French precedent for military music and military bands. The Yaoundé based Music Band Company of the Cameroonian Armed Forces under the baton of Captain Florent Essimbi is the main military band of the country. The band was founded in 1959, a year before Cameroon gained its independence, as purely a brass band company. Because of its increase in musicians it was upgraded to a musical section 10 years later. It has retained its current name since 2004. The band currently and has previously relied on its cooperation with the French Military and specifically its connections to musicians from the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Lyon. Other band include the Musique du Carroussel spécial de l'armée, the Musique de la Garde Présidentielle and the Musique de la gendarmerie.

Egypt

The Egyptian Armed Forces Symphonic Band is the main band of the Egyptian Armed Forces and was founded in 1838. They perform at many occasions like state visits, funerals, parades, and the annual graduation ceremony at the Egyptian Military Academy in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. They also have a pipe band division as well.
The band has been known for playing performances of national anthems quite poorly, such as when Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin and François Hollande visited the country for a state visit.
During funerals, the band plays the Funeral March composed by Frédéric Chopin. Notable examples include the funerals of Anwar Sadat in 1981, the martyrs of the Attack On Rafah in 2012, Omar Soleiman in 2013, Hisham Barakat in 2015, Ahmed Zewail in 2016, Hosni Mubarak in 2020, and Jehan Sadat in 2021.
Instruments featured in the band include the Trombone, Tuba, Euphonium, Wagner tuba, French horn, Trumpet, Cornet, Clarinet, Bassoon, Saxophone, Western concert flute, Piccolo, Snare drum, Bass drum and the Cymbal.

Ethiopia

Although Ethiopia has a very long militarily history dating back to the Kingdom of Axum its bands were firstly of the French manner of a fanfare band. The first regular band was established by the early 20th century before the Italian invasion of the 1930s, based on the British and German tradition.
The first permanent military band in the country took the form of the Imperial Bodyguard Band of the Ethiopian Empire, being formed in 1929 under Swiss conductor Andre Nicod. It originally consisted of just over a dozen uniformed musicians, majority coming from Welega province. Members of this band got their training originally from the Arba Lijoch fanfare band led by their Armenian bandleader Kevork Nalbandian. Notable members of the Imperial Bodyguard Band included Tilahun Gessesse and Mahmoud Ahmed, Bizunesh Bekele, Colonel Sahle Degago and many more. It was the first African nation to implement western style military music conventions. It came under the direct command of the Derg in the 70s and went into its current form in 1991.
Current marching bands in Ethiopia
Today the Ethiopian National Defence Force Band is the central military band of the Ethiopian National Defense Force. With its headquarter in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa, it performs on ceremonial and state functions. Given the British influence, its current formation on parade is modeled on those of the British Army line infantry bands. It is composed of a marching band, a big band, a Corps of Drums, and a youth cadets section modeled on similar bands in the Commonwealth of Nations. It has received assistance from the British Royal Corps of Army Music, most recently between 2007 and 2012. The band itself has trained other marching bands in the country like the Tigray and Somalian marching bands.
In Addition to the EDFMB, there are some notable marching bands in Ethiopia, including:
  • Amhara Regional State Police Marching Band
  • Benishangul Gumuz Regional State Police Marching Band
  • Tigray Regional State Police Marching Band
  • Somali Regional State Police Marching Band
  • Dere Dawa Youths Marching Band

    Namibia

The Namibian Defence Force maintains many military bands throughout its service branches and even its own central band for the entire NDF. These bands followed the South African/British precedent due to the country's administration as South West Africa from 1915 to 1990. In recent years, it has gained a more German and Prussian tradition when marching and performing based on the country's 19th century colonial era as German South West Africa. Since the early 2000s, regular music training has been provided by the South African military. The Namibian Defence Force Brass Band is currently the country's most senior military band, having an area of responsibility out of its base in Windhoek. The Namibian Navy and the Namibian Marine Corps also maintain their own ceremonial brass bands.

Nigeria

Nigerian military bands follow the British Household Division format and are heavily influenced and aided by British military bands. Military bands in Nigeria share similar practices with the Nigerian Police Band, which was considered to be the pioneer military band formation in the country, being established in 1892. Being mostly composed of buglers at the time of its founding, the band was originally composed of British servicemen, rather than native Nigerians. Over the years, however, the Nigerian Armed Forces have taken enormous steps to indigenize military bands due to the overuse of American and British military music and the exposure of the military to Nigerian art. Some of these steps include the establishment of the Nigerian Army School of Music and the creation of new military music. Nigerian military bands are today under the command of the Headquarters of the Nigerian Armed Forces in Abuja.
The Nigerian Army Band Corps, which provides official military records for the armed forces, is the most senior band in the Nigerian Army and in the armed forces. Other bands maintained by the Nigerian Armed Forces outside the NABC include the Nigerian Air Force Band, the Nigerian Navy Band, and the Nigerian Defence Academy Band. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Band also serves as a paramilitary band. The Nigerian Navy Band was established in 1963 months prior to the country becoming a republic. The Air Force Band was the most recent military band established, being founded in 1970. Enlisted musicians only joined a year later, and did not have its first director of music until 1975. On 9 April 2019, the NAF graduated its first set of pipers from an air base in Abuja who would later comprise the newly formed NAF Pipe Band. A pipe section can also be found in the Guards Brigade. Steel pans were introduced in the late 70s, with the NABC beginning the process of manufacturing steelpans and was the only steel band in the country until 2001. The Army School of Music in Ojo and the Navy School of Music in the Ota both provide musical instruction as it pertains to incoming musicians. In September 2019, Ibok Ekwe Ibas, the Chief of the Nigerian Naval Staff, announced plans for the Navy Directorate of Music to partner its foreign counterparts as well as the Music Society of Nigeria to improve its performances.