While attending the basketball tournament, Drane or Jason Wysocki, the other graduate assistant, coordinates the band, determining what song to play and when to play it.
"Most important is to raise the team's morale, and the crowd's, with upbeat tunes that get the fans out of their seats," Drane said.
One way he does this is by transposing recent pop music songs so the band can play them.
"Sometimes, athletes respond to a newly transposed song like [Beyoncé's] 'Crazy In Love' and say they have to catch themselves from dancing in the huddle," Drane said.
Almost all of the new songs come from student and band recommendations, while more traditional refrains like fight songs remain a staple of the band's collection.
Katie Bogniak (senior-information sciences and technology) has played the piccolo for the Blue Band for four years, and this year marks her second trip to March Madness.
Bogniak is also known for her impersonation of head coach Rene Portland, donning a curly wig, a suit and other accessories during every home game this year.
"Different players like different songs," Bogniak said. "Rene likes 'In The Mood,' a classic jazz song."
Mood and the right moment heavily influence the decision to play a particular song or a style.
"We don't have any real sets; we play what seems fitting at the time," said Chris Finelli (sophomore-kinesiology), a sousaphone player in Blue Band. "Fight songs motivate the team, and after a great drive, we'll play rock 'n' roll."
Like Finelli, fellow sousaphone player Victor Wills (senior-history and political science) is making his first appearance at the tournament.
Wills explained that, through the conductor, songs are relayed by hand signals and cue cards.
The band can thus quickly coordinate its efforts during the brief timeouts and game breaks.
Richard Bundy, director of the athletic bands and a former member of the Blue Band, said these breaks leave space to focus on the music.
"The nice thing about the tournament is that they take out all other prerecorded music," he said. "There are no contests, and so the members of the band really stand out as a concentrated block of supporters for the team."
Another competition, though less fierce than that of the hoops, takes place among players in the band vying for the limited number of spots to travel for the tournament.
Last weekend's games only had room for 29 band players to attend.
Ian Kohl (freshman-information sciences and technology) plays trumpet and is in his second semester with the band. He said that although he wanted to go, he realized there is limited space for trips.
"It's understood that some are going to go, and some aren't," he said. "It's hard to get selected for trips like this because of seniority, and that's OK."
In the future, Kohl said he would like to go to the tournament.
"It's a lot of fun to get to go on trips, and March Madness is as exciting as it gets," he said.
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