When Charles Mills, Director of the School of Music, brought Edson Morphy to Madison to assume leadership of the Band Department in the fall of 1920, a new period in the development of the Wisconsin Band began. Morphy was to have a tenure of 14 years and during that time produced many traditions upon which the Band was to build. When Morphy took the leadership of the Wisconsin Band Department, it appeared he had two goals. One was to raise the musical level to the highest degree possible and the second was to redistribute the performance responsibilities of the two bands at the school. It was his plan to establish the strongest possible commitment to the Concert Band. He wanted to develop an organization whose repertoire, tone quality, blend, intonation, precision and musicianship were second to none. While he realized the importance of having a band that would march at football games ... participate in ROTC reviews ... arouse the crowd at basketball games ... and provide music at other University events, he felt the Concert Band should not be required to utilize valuable rehearsal time in preparing for such activities. From his earliest days at the University, Morphy set about to release the members of the Concert Band from any marching or ROTC obligations.

In these years the Band that appeared at football games or parades was often referred to as "The Combined Bands of the University of Wisconsin" indicating that First Regimental Band and Second Regimental Band (or Concert Band and Second Band as they were soon to become known) had combined forces for the performance.

During the war years Band enrollment had decreased to about 45 men. Within eight years, mainly due to the efforts of Morphy, Band enrollment increased to 195 players with 68 making up the Concert Band and the rest making up the Second Band.

By 1927, Morphy had begun to achieve one of his goals. The Concert Band's musical level had risen significantly; however, the "Combined Bands" were still involved with football games and other ceremonial events. During this period, the Second Band spent a significant amount of time not only on concert material but also serviced the military and performed at home basketball games. Another significant event in the 1927-28 school year was the establishment of the first annual fall Band Banquet, a tradition which still exists today.