Independent Silver Band

Q. Do the antique instruments play differently?   
  
     A. Yes they do.  The instruments are not built with the close tolerances that we have with modern instruments, and this causes leaks, which can cause intonation problems.  Many of the instruments were played in "high pitch" which was approximately A=445 vibrations per second, as opposed to the modern pitch of A=440.  Our instrumentation has a mixture, which means modifications to the instruments had to be made.

Q. Are the clothes hot?

     A. Yes!

Q. Why do you portray two different bands?

     A. Our portrayal of the Independent Silver Band, is that of a town band of the 1880's period.  We began getting requests to do Civil War music, so we chose to do a Civil War impression of an actual band of a regiment from Southern Illinois, the 48th Illinois Volunteers, nicknamed "Pharoahs Army".