🤘Big Bertha

[Celery Man 21098]

https://amp.foxsports.com/stories/college-football/texas-retires-famed-drum-big-bertha-on-100th-birthday-unveils-replacement
 

I hadn’t seen this, my assumption is that there hasn’t been a lot of band discussion. 100 years is a pretty good run for a drum, Big Bertha II looks like a beast. Long may she reign.

 

[Mitch Cumsteen 18963]

Bigger Bertha. Choke on that shit Purdue and Mizzou. Begun the drum wars have. 

[ChickenNuggets 1661]

So what was wrong with the old drum? this is the aggiest thing ever...  lol. 

[Celery Man 21098]

7 minutes ago, ChickenNuggets said:

So what was wrong with the old drum? this is the aggiest thing ever...  lol. 

I don’t think they said explicitly but I expect it is related to OG Bertha having been built when A&M was on the cusp of winning a few national championships

[Leanderman 2367]

Been following this team from the early 60's. I hope she has a happy retirement and is retired to a place of honor and respect.

[brownboy 46]

We are the University of Texas.  We should be the best at anything we choose to do.  If that means having the biggest drum in the world then so be it.

Aggy would claim it without it being true or would embarrass our great State along the way.  Don't confuse us with them.

[Pato del Muerto 53511]

2 minutes ago, Leanderman said:

Been following this team from the early 60's. I hope she has a happy retirement and is retired to a place of honor and respect.

We will mount the drum head tastefully in the president’s office and serve the rest at a very unfortunate regents dinner. 

[troph 25229]

The OG was a gift was it not? Like university of Chicago or some shit? BB2 is a little aggy. Original was dope. Plus the little kids like it. Future horns and shit.

[KeysPhoneWallet 807]

I really want like 10+ of them encircling the field and banging in concert to raise intensity like drums of war.

[Pato del Muerto 53511]

I clicked on the Fox tweet because I was wondering g who would reply to such a tweet- and the answer is apparently trombone players.  Talking about the trombones. 

[TCU Alum 56]

On behalf of big fat girls named Bertha everywhere, I am offended.

[Captainant 28547]

Buncha frikin non LHB nerds up in here! Bertha was bought from University of Chicago for $1 in the 50's and quickly became an icon of UT and LHB. Fun trivia about Bertha - she was probably under Chicago's stadium when they were first splitting the atom with CP-1, also under the stadium lol.

This year marked Bertha's 100th birthday and retirement, because she had a load of miles on her (multiple presidential inauguration parades, rose parades, etc etc) and was a hundred year old drum lol. Bertha II has a much more robust build and is made from modern materials with travel and football games in mind, and will proudly count out our touchdowns for generations to come 🤘

Edited October 16, 2022 by Captainant

[JesusSweatDuck 18119]

The funny thing is the poor band nerds really struggled to move the new one around. Was pretty funny to watch at halftime 

[TexArcher 39074]

25 minutes ago, TCU Alum said:

On behalf of big fat girls named Bertha everywhere, I am offended.

Okay, but who are you?

 

 

Nevermind, don't care.

[Murfdogg21 4563]

2 hours ago, Captainant said:

Buncha frikin non LHB nerds up in here! Bertha was bought from University of Chicago for $1 in the 50's and quickly became an icon of UT and LHB. Fun trivia about Bertha - she was probably under Chicago's stadium when they were first splitting the atom with CP-1, also under the stadium lol.

This year marked Bertha's 100th birthday and retirement, because she had a load of miles on her (multiple presidential inauguration parades, rose parades, etc etc) and was a hundred year old drum lol. Bertha II has a much more robust build and is made from modern materials with travel and football games in mind, and will proudly count out our touchdowns for generations to come 🤘

Did you put Big Bertha in your ass at band camp?

[Pam Cummings 9872]

1 minute ago, Murfdogg21 said:

Did you put Big Bertha in your ass at band camp?

[TKthunder2 5059]

I thought I heard the Bertha I will go in the hall of fame just like Smokey II, but haven’t seen that published anywhere.

[Lhorn 5095]

We should also have the worlds tiniest snare just because. 

[tokamak 6687]

4 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I clicked on the Fox tweet because I was wondering g who would reply to such a tweet- and the answer is apparently trombone players.  Talking about the trombones. 

Why the fuck would their social media people tweet that and not a video of someone, you know, actually hitting the fucking drum? That's all we want to see.

[LTtxfan 50007]

1 hour ago, Murfdogg21 said:

Did you put Big Bertha in your ass at band camp?

[Dr. Teeth 5868]

We didn’t need to flex on Big Bertha on her retirement with a newer model. 

[OrangEngr 1035]

5 hours ago, ChickenNuggets said:

So what was wrong with the old drum? this is the aggiest thing ever...  lol. 

I was at the game, and it sounds like BB original was just getting too hard to maintain. Ie if you have to replace so much, is it even the same drum anymore? And no, the Aggiest thing ever is Purdue claiming theirs is the biggest because it’s the “tallest” when you include the carriage

[pantone159 729]

48 minutes ago, Lhorn said:

We should also have the worlds tiniest snare just because. 

The Rice nanotechnology institute already has that one wrapped up.

 

[Oakbrook 67]

Big Bertha will have a permanent spot in the Frank Denius Family University of Texas Athletics Hall of Fame after the game on Saturday

Links with more info:

https://news.utexas.edu/2022/10/15/big-bertha-ii-largest-bass-drum-in-the-world-to-make-debut-at-texas-iowa-state-game/

https://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/article/longhorn-band-big-bertha-17509567.php

 

 

[Red Five 41739]

1 hour ago, TKthunder2 said:

I thought I heard the Bertha I will go in the hall of fame just like Smokey II, but haven’t seen that published anywhere.

If they were gonna set it out on the curb during bulk pickup I was going to volunteer to come pick it up. 

[John Coctostan 640]

4 hours ago, Captainant said:

New one is made of space-age polymers and shit. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by John Coctostan

[Eskimohorn 5682]

[Davis Lane 6006]

5 hours ago, TCU Alum said:

On behalf of big fat girls named Bertha everywhere, I am offended.

[Leanderman 2367]

Only South Austins mom has been banged more than Big Bertha

[tokamak 6687]

2 hours ago, OrangEngr said:

I was at the game, and it sounds like BB original was just getting too hard to maintain. Ie if you have to replace so much, is it even the same drum anymore? And no, the Aggiest thing ever is Purdue claiming theirs is the biggest because it’s the “tallest” when you include the carriage

The Big Ass Drum of Theseus

[Captainant 28547]

They made a nice little history booklet on Bertha and gave it out to LHAB members, there's some pretty cool photography and stories from shipping it to London in 2015 for the New Year's Day parade, Bertha's featured role in the John Philip Sousa biopic "Star and Stripes Forever", and her many many refurbishments that were funded by selling the old parts that fell off over the years.

 

[HtownHorn 15235]

7 hours ago, troph said:

The OG was a gift was it not? Like university of Chicago or some shit? BB2 is a little aggy. Original was dope. Plus the little kids like it. Future horns and shit.

Nope. We bought it for $1.

[TrashMaster G 18102]

9 hours ago, ChickenNuggets said:

So what was wrong with the old drum? this is the aggiest thing ever...  lol. 

This is the dumbest post ever.

 

8 hours ago, Celery Man said:

I don’t think they said explicitly but I expect it is related to OG Bertha having been built when A&M was on the cusp of winning their only national championship

Fify.

[hornian 5294]

2 hours ago, tokamak said:

The Big Ass Drum of Theseus

Would have also accepted “Big Theseus”

[SlingeroGuitaro 189]

bits non mentioned in the thread:

 

drum has a wireless mic built in that will feed to the PA

drum produces the lowest note ever produced by a drum

1 minute ago, hornian said:

Would have also accepted “Big Theseus”

for kids these days: big theezy

[ChickenNuggets 1661]

11 hours ago, JesusSweatDuck said:

The funny thing is the poor band nerds really struggled to move the new one around. Was pretty funny to watch at halftime 

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

12 hours ago, KeysPhoneWallet said:

I really want like 10+ of them encircling the field and banging in concert to raise intensity like drums of war.

My wife has heard me mumble to myself, “Keys, Phone, Wallet, Ring” when I’m taking inventory before leaving the house. Been doing it for years since TOS. You’ve saved my ass more than once, kind sir. 

Edited October 17, 2022 by ImissWallyPryor

[Loop 1604 227]

What was with the neon orange on Big Bertha II wordmark? C’mon now.
 

Love the return to the old livery though. 

Edited October 17, 2022 by Loop 1604

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

7 hours ago, Oakbrook said:

Big Bertha will have a permanent spot in the Frank Denius Family University of Texas Athletics Hall of Fame after the game on Saturday

Links with more info:

https://news.utexas.edu/2022/10/15/big-bertha-ii-largest-bass-drum-in-the-world-to-make-debut-at-texas-iowa-state-game/

https://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/article/longhorn-band-big-bertha-17509567.php

 

 

“The drum was manufactured with a proprietary material with aluminum, and it will be wired with an internal mic system that will allow it to wirelessly connect to the stadium sound system.”

 

Why don’t they just name it Big Bob Cole. 

[WBT 20980]

Should have painted it like this

 

[ChickenNuggets 1661]

3 minutes ago, WBT said:

Should have painted it like this

 

talk about a bi-partisan group. I'm in favor just for the bridge-building alone.

[Oakbrook 67]

 

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

On 10/16/2022 at 8:59 AM, TCU Alum said:

On behalf of big fat girls named Bertha everywhere, I am offended.

Fat bottomed girls make the rocking world go ‘round. 

[LTtxfan 50007]

 

[NTVTXN 1439]

On 10/16/2022 at 8:55 PM, ImissWallyPryor said:

My wife has heard me mumble to myself, “Keys, Phone, Wallet, Ring” when I’m taking inventory before leaving the house. Been doing it for years since TOS. You’ve saved my ass more than once, kind sir. 

LOL, I thought I was the only one who did that. 
And yes, I think of @KeysPhoneWallet every time.😂

[SlingeroGuitaro 189]

1 hour ago, Oakbrook said:

 

Is it just me or is this just not good? The beginning looks and sounds like a high school band.

[mrhorn 1478]

[Sawbonz 28225]

On 10/16/2022 at 1:55 PM, John Coctostan said:

New one is made of space-age polymers and shit. 

I heard it goes to 11

[Captainant 28547]

55 minutes ago, SlingeroGuitaro said:

Is it just me or is this just not good? The beginning looks and sounds like a high school band.

I can assure you, it went better then it did during rehearsal at 6:45 on Saturday morning lol. That halftime performance was the second end to end run through, and the first to actually play combined with LHB - AND - that old dude talked so long we didn't get to play the Eyes as we had rehearsed that morning. There was a real "fuck it, we'll do it live" vibe lol. Everything was running behind schedule and not smoothly during the rehearsal and moving from A to B throughout the day, but it was a blast and fun and nostalgic as hell to be on DKR again. 

Real talk though, COVID was rough on LHB as an institution. They basically had two years of no games for upperclassmen to pass traditions down, so everything is a little off as they get the flywheel spinning again. 

Edited October 18, 2022 by Captainant

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

1 hour ago, SlingeroGuitaro said:

Is it just me or is this just not good? The beginning looks and sounds like a high school band.

The very beginning sounds like a sucky DJ to me.