Sounds like to me it is going on display for the off season, along with Smokey, the cannon...instead of being warehoused out of sight while not in use.
BB is awesome, but what physics/instrument construction problems prevents someone from commissioning a 12ft diameter bass drum? I would think the World's Largest Bass Drum would be obscenely large.
I like the move. Big Bertha used to be in a trailer behind the band hall where no one could see it; now it is on display along Smokey the Cannon for everyone to see.
That got me scared for a little bit. When Texas went to the Rose Bowl for the national championship, I drove Big Bertha out there. It was sweet!!!! Got paid to go out there and was able to go to the game. I know I am counting my chickens before they hatch, but if Texas makes it out there again this year I was planning on doing the same trip. The band only takes BB to the Rose Bowl Parade. It doesn't go to the game or any other bowls.
the funny thing is I can never even hear it when that drum is hit. I can hear the littler drums, even the damn flutes. I see some dude run full speed at that drum with a mallet in his hand, but then don't hear it.
I believe the size of a bass drum, and Big Bertha specifically, was initially limited to the availability of a cowhide large enough to cut a round circle out of for the drum head. I'm not sure if they still use real cowhide for the drum head, but if so, that would limit the size of the competition too. You could probably make a decent bass drum head from plastic, but it would have to be special ordered in a sheet that size with the right thickness and other qualities. Stretching a large hefty bag across it just wouldn't do the job.
