While Morris Brown is a real college in Atlanta, there is no real Atlanta A&T. The filming was done at Clark University in Atlanta and at Morris Brown. The performers (aside from those from Morris Brown) were recruited from high school and university bands all over the Atlanta and Metro Atlanta area. High school band director Don Roberts was recruited to turn the performers into real, convincing bands.
In the graduation scene at the beginning, the drummers that are playing snare are playing concert snare drums. The sound heard however is from a marching snare drum which uses a Kevlar drum head as opposed to a plastic drum head that would be used on a concert snare drum.