Kansan Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 (edited) Were the two tone horns the Crossmen used to have a trade mark or is there some other story behind them? Just curious, they were one of the first Drum Corps I saw and heard live. Edited June 23, 2004 by Kansan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbl Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 I don't know about "why" the crossman had them. But I do have a story about them. In 1983 when I was marching SCV a soprano's horn needed to repair just before a show. Since there wasn't enough time to have the horn fixed. The staff went looking for a horn to borrow. Crossmen gave us one of theirs. At one point in the show I remember turning around and be startled by facing this brass bell that I wasn't expecting to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossmenAlumni Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 (edited) If I remember correctly, and by looking back at the photographs I have, they had the brass inside the bells from 1981-1988. I always thought it was a great look to see the silver when the horns were down and then see BRASS when they came up. Certainly unique and distinctive. The white bells in 1989...no comment. I would love to see them bring that look back. It would look great with the new uniforms, IMO. (with a little Photoshop magic...) Edited June 25, 2004 by CrossmenAlumni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoHead Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 This looked like a good topic for my first post so here goes. 1981 was my first year with the corps and was also the first year with the brass bell. There was no symbolism invloved or any special story. The brass staff felt that the brass bell would produce a unique sound (and clearly a much better sound than the old chome plated babies they had been using). As this was the only bugle that I had played I can't say that it was that different from any of the others that I had heard. I suspect it helped produce a slightly darker sound. I believe the most unique aspect of that horn was in the way it looked as it was certainly different from everyone else. A special thanks to Gary for his photo it brings back some good memories !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 "Silver & Brass": The old "Boys of 76" senior corps from Racine Wisconsin used GD Valve/rotor horns of this kind back in the 1960s. I believe Dave "Big Daddy" Richards was their horn instructor. Elphaba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orpheus Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 Yeah, but do you remember the silver horns with white lacquer bells from 1989? Now that was odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyRyder_FMM Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 If I remember correctly, and by looking back at the photographs I have, they had the brass inside the bells from 1979-1988. I always thought it was a great look to see the silver when the horns were down and then see BRASS when they came up. Certainly unique and distinctive. The white bells in 1989...no comment. I would love to see them bring that look back. It would look great with the new uniforms, IMO. (with a little Photoshop magic...) I agree. The brass inside the bell with silver on the outside of the horn was a GREAT look. I imagine that presented problems if there were repairs or replacements, since the horns are not made that way. I could never really tell a difference in the sound. But the look was very distinctive. Tim Kviz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goalieguy Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 "Silver & Brass":The old "Boys of 76" senior corps from Racine Wisconsin used GD Valve/rotor horns of this kind back in the 1960s. I believe Dave "Big Daddy" Richards was their horn instructor. Elphaba Just an FYI - The 2 tone horns that '76 had were Olds DURATONES. They were Ultratone knockoffs with a matte finish on the guts, and a bright chrome finish on the bell. I got to try one 'back in the day', and I didn't notice any difference in sound quality from the Ultratone I was playing with MBI at the time.( I think they were only in the late 70's and early 80's) Need more info, ask Paul Chaffee or any of the old '76ers. As far as if Richards was doing their line, I don't recall it..Dave was makin' money at the PO, and judging. Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malibu Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Yeah, but do you remember the silver horns with white lacquer bells from 1989? Now that was odd. Nope....more like ugly. Sorry, had to say that....but it's true! They looked like white dots all over the field. ^0^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossmenAlumni Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 No, they looked like toilet bowls. :) "The Porcelain Cadets" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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