As the Coe-Brown Northwood Academy boys’ basketball team emerges from the locker room, the drums and cymbals crash, the saxophones, flutes and trombones turn it up, and a symphony of music echoes through the gym, energizing the fans and the players in preparation for the game.

On Tuesday night, as has been tradition since the 1990’s, the Coe-Brown Pep Band was there to push its teams forward.

Before the start of every game, as headmaster and boys’ basketball coach David Smith gives the thumbs up, the band flows into “Takin’ Care of Business.” Against the Pelham Pythons, who knocked the Bears out in last year’s Division II semifinals, the pep band’s energy pushed everyone to the edge of their seats in a very tight match.

“They just do an outstanding job with the kids and it’s great. It’s a great night, just the basketball game, it’s a lot of good music,” Smith said. “They’re very proud of the band, and when we go to other schools, they always comment not many schools have a pep band. Just a reminder of the little lucky we are, how well-organized, and efficient musicians.”

Led by Jon Ludwig, the band attends all 19 home games for the girls and boys and even travels for playoffs when possible. It’s a tricky task to manage for all involved, because besides pep, they prepare for the jazz ensemble, school plays and much more.

However, what sets it apart is the casual intensity of being in the bleachers as opposed to the stuffy stages at formal concerts. The band starts chants, plays a drum roll for scores and does all it can do push its school to victory.

“When our kids are really rocking — and they do because they play several times a week throughout the season — these guys know their music cold. It sounds good and, thus, they’re having a really great time. The challenge is getting the kids to come to 19 games a year,” Ludwig said. “We have two months’ worth of rehearsal where we’re rehearsing for an hour and a half every Wednesday night, so the season for the kids starts in the first week of October and goes, if we play in the tournament, through March. And it is always a challenge.”

Musically, the band sounds great. They’re loud enough to rumble the bleachers under the fans and play a collection of tunes as early as the Beatles up through Kesha’s hit song “Timber.” Ludwig’s focus is always on ensuring all instruments have an important part to play and that the songs complement both the basketball and the development of musical skills.

The band carries traditional songs from Ludwig’s predecessor, Bruce McCormick, who started the pep band two decades ago with songs such as “Takin’ Care of Business.” The band has added many songs to the catalog needed to fill every 30-second and minute-long timeout and every quarter break, but some constants remain.

The Bears came back from a deficit in the first quarter on Tuesday night to go up, 24-22, at half, which cued up “Crazy Train,” the band’s staple halftime song.

For the members of the pep band, it’s not necessarily about what they play but rather the connections they’ve forged and the energy that the pep band brings. Many of the band’s seniors said that their favorite part was hanging out with their buddies, the community and the school spirit.

“Pep band really like helped me learn how to play my instrument, because I had no idea how to play it coming into freshman year. I’d say, for the school, we’re the people that really show a lot of energy,” said Seth Brown, a senior tenor saxophone player.

“It’s the community when the seventh-eighth graders come in; it’s really welcoming. You can really feel just like the enthusiasm that people have and the love for music that we’re spreading to everybody, the audience, the basketball players, the young people. Everybody. It’s really great for that,” Emily Sheldon, a senior trumpet player, added.

The pep band is a lot more fluid than the other musical offerings. The kids have full rein over how they dress, have plenty of time to socialize and are often cheering on their team with chants and shouts when they’re not playing music.

Against Pelham, they were as loud as ever when the game went into overtime, and even though the Bears lost in the end, 53-51, both the basketball players and band members gave it all they had.

“We also get to know our sections better, because in a concert band, we can’t talk during rehearsals and stuff,” said Emily Welch, also a senior trumpet player. “But when we’re in pep band and they’re playing during the game, you can get close, like family, almost like a bond, and you can tell which people are in pep band because they’re all a lot closer.”

This tight bond improves every other aspect of CBNA’s bands and is an essential musical chemistry builder.

Gary Colby, a retired basketball coach who now works the scoreboard for the Bears, has heard the band play since McCormick started it. He said that Ludwig has carried the torch successfully and has made a concerted effort to invite middle schoolers to play with the pep band to introduce them to the opportunities ahead.

“It’s like a good basketball program, and so he’s really doing a great job continuing on, making it his own and making it bigger even better and bringing it all to schools. He’s insured himself when these seniors, graduate, he’s got 30 new eighth graders coming,” Colby said. “That’s how you build a championship program.”

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com.