MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- You may have heard a different vibe coming from the Health & Sports Center this year. No need for alarm, you did, and that's a good thing.

Barry University has its own pep band this year, and you can find them at Cesar Odio Court on game nights. They have their own section on the southwest side of the bleachers, and their music is booming, bringing a different feel that has livened things up. Just ask the student-athletes who hear them perform on game days.

"They do bring a good energy that sometimes we can't bring when they play a good song," Barry women's basketball senior forward Kiara Palmer said. "It's fun to have them here. It brings an extra element of noise that we need to have in basketball."

In August, Peter Brewer, a first-year assistant professor and associate dean in fine arts was approached about the idea of starting a pep band. He quickly agreed. He went about recruiting students by approaching music majors and others with different educational paths through mass e-mails, flyers and meet-and-greet table discussions in the Landon Student Union. Shortly, he assembled a small group that produces a loud return. 

"Just from that, we cobbled together this embryonic, small group that we have now," Brewer said. "Now we're getting more interest across campus, and we just hope to keep growing and growing."

By mid-October, the Buccaneers band was born. One of the first students to chime in was Sabrina Meli. She performed in concert band until her sophomore year in high school. While some of the members of the pep band are music majors with a deep musical background, Meli said it's not necessary to play in a pep band. 

And she, herself, can tell this Bucs band is making a difference.

"It's just really fun because you can see how the crowd interacts with the songs that we play, and how it really brings sort of spirit to the game," Meli said. "It's exciting for us because we can definitely see the crowd getting excited. There's people that come up to us, and they want to request songs." 

Band members are offered a $500 scholarship per semester. They were asked to play at volleyball and basketball games to start this year, but Meli believes they could expand to baseball and softball down the road. It's a gradual process, but with growth and time, this band could cement its own niche at Barry.

Schools around the country have their own pep band identities. While the Barry bunch is starting small, Palmer would like to see them eventually fill an entire section in the HSC bleachers. 

"With some hard work and rehearsing, we're on the way," Brewer said. "It's just kind of the ambiance a live group brings, and just kind of the up-tempo, live music that we do. It just adds to that atmosphere that's typical to many ball games. When you have that live music, I think it brings an energy that's not there when it's just can music. We're happy to be able to contribute. Luckily, most of the home games we've played at so far, the teams have won, so we'd like to think we had an impact."

Their presence has certainly resonated among the athletes out there playing.

"Actually, yeah," Barry men's basketball junior forward Marko Tomic said. "The other day there was a solo guitar playing, and I thought in my head, 'It was really awesome.' I noticed at some other schools that they had bands, and I thought it was pretty interesting."

Here at Barry, the Bucs band offers a new flavor to game day environments. It's a live vibe, if you will.

"It makes a big difference," Palmer said. "My first year, we didn't have a band. This year, we have a pep band. It's very cool. I always like having a pep band when they're playing those funky new songs. I find myself at halftime moving my feet. It's always nice to have that. When they play a really good song, or even when we're warming up, we're like, 'Yeah, that's a good song.' There's something about the way they play the instruments so loud and energetic. I think that's a really good element. Sometimes regular music just doesn't cut it."

You might say the Buccaneer band has spiced things up. Even the administration has taken notice.

"Sister Linda (Bevilacqua), it was something that was really touching to us," Meli said, "she came up to us after the first game, and she said, 'I wanted a pep band for 15 years.'"

Now they have it, and believe it, you'll hear them.

"I like what they're doing here," Tomic said. "We're good with anything that gets us hyped. When the guy played the guitar, I thought in my head, 'Dang, that's good.'"