After 30 years, the Central marching band is getting a major overhaul with a new director, Lewis Norfleet.

New additions include a string section, a new sound system and a whole lot more movement.

Mary Jarvis, senior music education major, said the marching band used to perform a classical “park and bark” style. Park and bark means that the musicians stand still on the field to play with precision.

Sean Devlin, senior music major, and Aaron Mykins, junior music education major, both gave insight to the direction the new director plans to take with the marching band.

They said the addition of a string section provides the band with the ability to play new music that breaks away from classics.

“There is more passion behind the music we’re playing, the new music is relevant to the band and the audience.” Jarvis said.

A bass guitar adds rhythm, an electric guitar helps make new, exciting music and a keytar adds some unique additions.

The synthesizer, however, is what truly brings the band into the 21st century.

These new additions were not cheap, Devlin estimated they had to spend in the ballpark of $20,000.

The new music includes songs from Macklemore, Bruno Mars and more.

After years of playing the same music, band members are excited about the idea of mixing it up.   

“It is music that is audience oriented. From the two performances with the new music, we really have seen a ton more audience participation,” Devlin said.

Not only does the marching band have new music, the movement and choreography have drastically changed.

Despite the increased difficulty level, the band hasn’t increased the length or number of practices.   

“When we practice, it is more focused and we’re able to get more done because the new director has experience working with a marching band,” Mykins said.

The band has a total of four performances this quarter and have already played two. From those performances the band is heading in a positive direction.

Practicing every day for two hours, the band is going to add more new, upbeat music.

Currently, the marching band consist almost entirely of music education majors, but it is open to any student regardless of major.      

“Director Lewis wants to have more students outside of music department, students who played in their high school band. The new music is going to help a lot,” Mykins said.

There are plans to increase the size of the band, ideally to reach the same size as bands at University of Washington and Washington State University.