Jump to content

The Crossmen Silver horns with brass bells.


Recommended Posts

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. :rolleyes:

Edited by Kansan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. :rolleyes:

I would love to see them bring that look back. It would look great with the new uniforms, IMO. (with a little Photoshop magic...)

XMen1a.jpg

Edited by CrossmenAlumni
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 !!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. :rolleyes:

I would love to see them bring that look back. It would look great with the new uniforms, IMO. (with a little Photoshop magic...)

XMen1a.jpg

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"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

:rolleyes:

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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^

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...