Iowa State University Cyclone Marching Band

As success returned to the Cyclone football squad, the band accompanied the team to five bowl games in six years (including twice to the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana. Pep bands made appearances at the 2000 men's Elite Eight and 2004 National Invitational Tournament semifinals in New York. Over 300 alumni and five former ISUCF'V'MB directors (including Roger Cichy) joined the band on the field at Homecoming 2005 for a performance of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture", complete with artillery from the Iowa Army National Guard. The 2007 ISUCF'V'MB made its first appearance at an away conference football game in a decade against the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kansas. The band biannually travels to the rivalry game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.

The ISUCF'V'MB has made recent appearances at 4 bowl games. In 2017 they accompanied the football team on a trip to the Liberty Bowl, in Memphis, Tennessee for a cyclone victory. The next year, they marched in the Alamo Stadium in San Antonio, Texas. In 2019, the band accompanied the football team to Camping World Stadium for the Camping World Bowl in Orlando, Florida. In 2021, they returned to Orlando for the Cheez-It Bowl. The band will continue to accompany the football team on any future trips to the Big 12 Championship Game, College Football Playoff, or any other times when the Cyclones appear at an NCAA Bowl Game.

In the beginning of the 2019 NCAA regular season, the Varsity Marching Band debuted their brand new uniforms. Notable changes to these new uniforms include; a collar with the letters "ISUCF V MB" embroidered onto them, a modern, half-cardinal and half white-to-gold design, shacos with an embroidered cardinal logo, longer plumes with gold trim, custom gauntlets, and most notably, a cape spelling "CYCLONES" on the back of the right shoulder.

A drum major on a ladder conducts the band between plays at a Jack Trice Stadium home game

• 6 Student staff
• 1 to 3 Featured Baton twirler(s)
• 3 Drum Majors
• 30 Color guard (flag spinning)

• 36 Trombones
• 9 Bass Trombones
• 18 Baritones
• 54 Trumpets
• 27 Mellophones
• 34 Sousaphones

The drumline and brass instrumentalists forming the "S" for State during a pregame show

• 8 to 10 snare drums
• 7 bass drums
• 4 to 6 tenor drums
• 8 to 10 cymbals

• 23 alto saxophones
• 18 tenor saxophones
• 27 clarinets
• 18 piccolos

Six student staff members are annually selected through an application/interview process from the current membership of the ISUCF'V'MB. These students are usually senior members with past experience in administration and have marching band experience. They assist the directors with band logistics and help the band's librarians with the copying and distribution of music. Staff members assist the directors and drum majors during practices in improving marching technique and discipline. Staff members with conducting experience help the drum majors lead the band to provide better coverage on the field or in the stands.

Drum major candidates audition at the conclusion of each season for the position for the next season. Their audition includes aspects of field marching, conducting, and leadership in front of the directors and the entire band. The main responsibility of an ISUCF'V'MB drum major is as a field commander who conducts and calls songs during rehearsals, games, and special performances, though they have other roles as instructors and leaders. They teach fundamental marching and playing techniques during Band Camp, and themselves briefly march on the field at the beginning of every pregame show.

Each instrument's section has a designated captain who is responsible for the musical output of the section. The captains are selected by application, and are generally very senior members or have special expertise in music (they are commonly music majors). Captains rehearse their sections during special sectional practices during normal rehearsals, special practices organized by the captain themselves, and occasionally coordinate the section's group travel plans and unofficial and traditional activities.

The wind instruments are divided into 28 ranks (designated A through Z with the additional "super-A" as @, and DD (Double-D) rank for Bass Trombones), each with two guides. Flags have their own system of guides, and the drum line has a single guide for each instrument. Guides are selected from a section's membership based on experience and teaching ability. Guides serve as leaders for each rank and are charged with perfecting their marching performance.

Every rank marches pregame with eight members at a time (designated by the Arabic numerals '1' through '8'), though there are usually nine members per rank. Therefore, one member of each rank (typically a first year marcher) marches in the back of the field in "Star Rank". There is also a much smaller Star Rank for each halftime show. This system replaces the alternate system by providing replacement players while guaranteeing every member a spot to march on the field.

The band on parade under the trees surrounding Jack Trice Stadium before a game

The band holds a final rehearsal the morning of a Saturday game day. The band stretches in a parade block and warms up in sections to fix any last musical issues before performance.

In past years, the band participated in the Spirit Walk, wherein the band formed a tunnel into the stadium from the main thoroughfare and played various school songs as the football team entered. From here, the band moved approximately two hours before kickoff into the courtyard of the Iowa State Center near the Scheman Building. Here the students would stretch and warm up on their musical instrument. Guides would sometime give special performances before assembly for early-arriving Cyclone fans, and the whole band would perform a few songs and a sample of the halftime shows for the gathered audience. The band would then break by ranks to form a block and parade under cadences to the south side of Jack Trice Stadium for pregame.

Recently, the band has maintained the Spirit Walk tradition, now held in front of Jack Trice Stadium; however, there have also been approximately five sub-groups made up of a few of every instrument forming "Tailgating Bands" that will roam the parking lots, playing school songs for the fans out tailgating. After the Spirit Walk is complete, the band will move to the Alumni Center's eastern staircase and perform a collection of school songs, halftime selections, and other cheers, in what is called a "Step Show". Once complete, the band still dismisses by rank to form the parade block, and then marches around the parking lots and back into Jack Trice Stadium.

The band's "Cyclone" entrance to the field before playing the "ISU Fanfare" introduction

The ISUCF'V'MB pregame show begins as the drum majors enter the playing field and bring the band to attention with the call of "Go State!" The band enters the field to a double-time "X" drum cadence in alternating clockwise and counterclockwise cyclones, the looping imagery reminiscent of the Cyclones' nickname. Straight lines are formed at five-yard intervals before half the band "unfolds" to form a square block for the presentation of the opening "ISU Fanfare". The band launches into "ISU Fights", the school fight song, and forms a gigantic "ISU" (with flanking lines of flags and Sousaphones), then "floats" it down to midfield and faces the west stands of Jack Trice Stadium.

Having flipped the "floating" ISU, the band performs "For I, For S"

The band then turns to face east and plays Wilson's "For I, For S". The students in the "S" mark time while the "I" and the "U" march together to form a grand central block. They then flip and march back out, having reversed the "floating ISU" to face the east stands. "The National Anthem Fanfare" is the next song performed, while the band forms a star-like shape in front of the central 50-yard (50 m) line ladder. "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played under the colors of Iowa State's Reserve Officer Training Corps unit (conducted by the director of a visiting band if one is present). This is followed by "The Bells of Iowa State"―a song inspired by the Campanile.

The band then plays "Go Cyclones Go!", and transitions into the Iowa State logo.

The band transitions to form the word CYCLONES on the field while playing "ISU Fights", and then turns and marches North while playing "Rise Sons of Iowa State". The band then "swings" to the tunnel formation. Here the band plays the fight song once the football team comes to the field, after which the band runs off to its position in the stands near the Jacobson Athletic Building. All pregame music is memorized by the entire ISUCF'V'MB.

During the 2012 season, some modifications to the pregame show were made. The show still follows the same sequence from entering the field into floating the ISU while playing "Iowa State Fights". "Go Cyclones Go" has been moved later into the show, and the ISU is now flipped / "For I For S" is played immediately after playing "Fights". "God Bless America" has been replaced with a fanfare leading directly into "The Star-Spangled Banner", along with a new star set. Once the National Anthem is complete, a new set depicting the Campanile is formed, along with a new introduction (based upon the Campanile's "Westminster Quarters") being played for "Bells". Following "Bells", "Go Cyclones Go" is now played while forming the university's I-State logo. The band then moves to its spelling of 'CYCLONES' while playing its "First Down" cheer, wherein it again plays "Fights". The band continues to then traditionally 'swing' into the tunnel for the football team.

In 2019, more pregame modifications took place, and the band no longer "swings" to a tunnel formation; instead, the band stops in place after Rise Sons of Iowa State and commences the "Cyclone Power" chant. Once started, the east side of the stadium will chant "Cyclone" and the west side will respond will "Power." When the football team runs onto the field, the band plays the fight song once more, running to the stands when the drum majors give them the call.

The ISUCF'V'MB moves in unison to "Malaga!" by Bill Holman during an autumn 2005 halftime

The band enters the field at the conclusion to the first half, glide-stepping to drum taps. The song selection of the ISUCF'V'MB is eclectic and varied: classical music, jazz, Latin, movie themes, pop, rock and roll of all decades, show tunes, and swing are all featured. Field formations often reflect the style of music being played—or even the individual song —itself using picture-oriented drills. Two or three songs are selected per halftime, and are performed facing the west stands of Jack Trice Stadium. Occasionally a song may be played facing east to entertain the opposite stands. Solos (usually on trombone or trumpet) are sometimes part of the presentation, and the pregame "high-step" is often used for dramatic effect at the finale. Favorite tunes from the year are chosen for a "recycle" show for the last game of every year, the choice of songs given to the seniors in the band. Every halftime performance concludes with "ISU Fights" as the band high steps off the field before the second half and returns to the stands.

As recently at 2019, the band no longer glide-steps onto the field to drum taps. At the beginning of each halftime performance, the band will line the east side of the field and run onto the field to their positions when the drum majors blow their whistles (a technique termed "bravehearting").

The ISUCF'V'MB watches the game before a kick-off

The band also performs in the stands between plays and during timeouts. For offense, the ISUCF'V'MB has specific fanfares for first and third down, and the drumline repeats cadence for every second down. "ISU Fights" is played after Cyclone touchdowns, and "For I, For S" is played after successful field goals and extra points.

Songs for defense are louder, more bombastic, laced with power chords, in hopes of disrupting the opposing teams' pre-play preparations. Other songs played include arrangements of Little Mix's "Wings", Demi Lovato's "Confident", and The Lonely Island's "I'm on a Boat". The drum majors organize a "Roving Band" in the second half that parades around the stadium and up into the stands, playing fight songs and doing cheers. The band has the tradition of reversing their baseball caps after Cyclones win, often playing an arrangement of Sweet Caroline.

Recently, the "Roving Band" has been replaced with State Storm, a sub-section of the Cyclone Marching Band. Additionally, a tailgating band made up of mostly captains and members of the band with exceptional musicianship will be put together and play for the president of Iowa State (currently Wendy Wintersteen).