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ironlips

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Everything posted by ironlips

  1. This 2 volume set by Steve Vickers is the Holy Grail of drum corps history: https://www.amazon.com/History-Drum-Bugle-Corps-One/dp/B00152949K/ref=sr_1_7?crid=2VQ51DWSNCYC9&keywords=History+of+Drum+and+Bugle+Corps&qid=1691597064&s=books&sprefix=history+of+drum+and+bugle+corps%2Cstripbooks%2C273&sr=1-7 Unfortunately, it has been out of print for a while, though you may find used copies on eBay or Amazon. However, I believe it is available electronically. Contact Drum Corps World: https://www.facebook.com/DrumCorpsWorld/
  2. "...why not support them so that they can survive and grow in the next few years as high school bands come back to life and get back to pre- Covid numbers? " If the entire activity is ever going to show positive growth again, it will require corps like Surf to persevere and thrive. May they live long, prosper, and sell many T shirts at Indy. Save an XL for me, please.
  3. Pogo...the world's greatest philosopher. Walt Kelly was a regular at my father's bar in Manhattan. Somewhere I have a linen napkin on which he drew the little guy for me. As for the question, I don't think many adjudicators frequent this site. One may draw one's own conclusions from that. Full disclosure: I do not currently adjudicate for DCI, though I have done so in the past.
  4. The Long Island Sunrisers were named after the Sunrise Highway, which runs due east from the city to the extremity of the island. The road itself got it's name of course because every inch of it brought one closer to the sunrise. The corps colors, orange and blue, are quite apropos.
  5. Dan is a diplomat among warriors. He kept all the rivals from eating each other. Were it not for his administration and people skills, Drum Corps would have disappeared years ago; instead, it continues to flourish. If his successor has half his gifts, we'll be fine.
  6. I agree. That helmet is an eyesore and totally foreign to any effect any corps is trying to achieve. (Of course, if Bayonne were still around and Hoffman on the planet, he would design a show replicating an NFL game and just co-opt the sucker.) I fully expect the tarp thing to happen, ...but not this year.
  7. Regarding range, think of it as a low trumpet. Write in treble clef (everybody can read that) and I wouldn't score any lower than the "G" below the staff (concert F) or higher than 4th line "D" (concert C), except for an accomplished soloist. French Horn unisons with mellophones, in the latter's mid range, can create a rich texture, though there may be some pitch matching challenges. When they split, score the mellos on the top part. The Frenchie can also double the higher Baritone and/or trombone parts to good effect. If you write them as a separate voice make sure you have 4 to 6 of them at minimum. Before mellos were ever used in drum corps, the alto voice was the marching French Horn. This program will give you some idea of what that sounded like. This group had 6 French Horns in a line that totaled 32 bugles, all pitched in G. There were no tubas (contra basses) either: https://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/2009/01/off-the-record-remembering-the-1961-queensmen/ They are notoriously difficult to control while moving, so be conservative with traveling demands for this section.
  8. It's true Brian was there at the end, but he was also at the helm when they reached their peak and deserves the credit for that. Unlike many other corps, the Glassmen developed a strong individual identity and style, and could slug it out with the best of them, particularly in percussion.
  9. Wow, a show about booze! My grandfather would have loved it. He ran a couple of speakeasies in Manhattan during prohibition. Absinthe was verboten in the US in 1981 when I traveled to Copenhagen with a jazz group. Naturally, we had to try it. I didn't believe in fairies beforehand but I sure did afterwards.
  10. This is an easy call for me. Without question my #1 was the full-corps rotating front on the "50 yd line" executed by the Beverly Cardinals in '65 at the VFW Nationals Finals in Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center while they wailed on the Enoch Light version of "Heat Wave". Through the years there have been moments with more clever design elements, but nothing has ever surpassed this in impact for me. There were no yard lines (just 2 cones on the 50) and those 32 counts produced a visual and musical crescendo no one had ever experienced. When they stepped forward, the house exploded.
  11. Quick hack: Stick a mouthpiece in each and play some open notes in the mid to low register. The one that sounds lower is in F.
  12. Pitch Pucciarelli is a part of that Greatest Generation who rescued the world from the threat of Fascism, the Nazis and others who sought to crush the rest of us. When they got finished doing that, they reinvented the drum corps activity, creating a modern version for their kids and future generations. In more than one sense, we wouldn't be here without them. The highest gratitude and respect are due to Pitch and all his colleagues. I salute you.
  13. All that, and it continued into September. Today's activity disproves the adage, "less is more".
  14. Yes, you can do this. My suggestion is to rent a good student horn from a local dealer who supplies school bands. If you decide, after a couple of months, to purchase an instrument, I'd recommend looking for a used, more professional horn. Even if you are an accomplished woodwind player it would be advisable to take a couple of lessons with a good brass teacher before you develop bad habits that will be hard to unlearn. A compensating horn has a tube configuration that will allow you to play in either the standard key of F or the alternate, Bb. This makes some of the fingering patterns less complicated and can improve the centering of pitch. At this stage it's not of great consequence, though may become a consideration later as you begin to play more challenging material. Ask your brass teacher about this. Meanwhile, give the rental horn a try and see how that goes.
  15. Good question. Clearances work like this: The corps itself needs "permission to arrange". There is a fee for that, but it's negotiable. Performance royalties are paid by the venue,e.g., stadium, night club, yoga studio...etc., pro rated according to capacity and other factors. These are remitted to ASCAP, BMI, or a similar organization as a lump sum for a license to have any composition by any author they represent performed there. Those performance rights organizations subsequently distribute royalties to the copyright holder, based on a probability algorithm more complicated than the DCI rule book. Radio and streaming are treated similarly. Recording and synchronization royalties for TV telecasts, film, DVD, CD and other media are even more complex and the producers of such are on the hook for these. In this is why DCA, DCI and others are reluctant to produce and sell copies of works that are under "copyright". All of this is predicated on the concept that the composition is the intellectual property of the copyright holder, who is usually the composer, unless he or she has transferred the rights thereof to a third party or parties. These rights include the exclusive right to create "derivative versions", i.e., arrangements, or license others to do so for a fee...or not. Clear? (I didn't think so, but good luck anyway.)
  16. Consider what you might be inclined to do if someone had been performing and recording your music hundreds of times over the course of 60+ years without legal permission.
  17. DCI Midwest in Whitewater in the '70s and '80s always seemed to coincide with the National Mosquito Festival. Both events held their respective Finals the same evening at Warhawk Stadium. Seeing the enormous size of these insects, some performers would freak out, fearing Malaria.To calm them we referred to the bugs as harmless 'biting hummingbirds' that had escaped from the Zoology Lab. Then we soaked the kids in Deet.
  18. Chris is now principal of the NY Philharmonic.
  19. JD has a huge musical footprint, within and outside of Drum Corps. His work with the Boston Brass is stellar, for example. For the first Tour of Champions in '04, he composed an opening fanfare and arranged the National Anthem for 150 trumpets, the combined sections of Phantom, Cavaliers, Vanguard, Blue Devils, Madison and Cadets: https://www.dci.org/news/the-tour-of-champions-an-faq I was honored to be asked to arrange the show's finale of Sing, Sing, Sing, but JD, who was teaching the combined 400+ brass, had my back. He called from the camp and said, "Hey, this is great. Eighty contras on the opening vamp from the front sideline! But would you mind if I tweaked the baritone parts just a little?" "H*ll no", says I, "Tweak away". He did, and it rocked. Look, if Leonard Bernstein wants to fix the trombone part, what would you do?
  20. JD is a consummate pro as a player, teacher, and arranger. Much respect from here.
  21. Well, you did ask for the story in your original post. And there are a lot more in the book, about people like Dan Crosser, Doug Denisen, Greg Orwoll, Mike Flack, Mike Nash...etc. This "small town corps" left a mighty big footprint on the activity and I, for one, am happy to see that fact recognized.
  22. The book is a "10.0" in every caption: the Visuals (photos), the Book (design AND execution) and the G.E. (impactful insights and anecdotes). Telling this story in a direct and unbiased way was a skillful endeavor, a metaphor for the corps itself. It resonates personally for me because it gives props to Bobby Hagglund who was my good friend for many years, though we met after his time with Osage. It's easy to understand the super-hip musical approach of the Precisionnaires when you realize their brass guru was the trombonist in Haze:
  23. A "Gathering for the Friends of Dave Hill" will take place at Indy on Friday, 8/11, at 10 AM at the Hyatt (DCI Headquarters) Hotel. Additional details to follow. As Dave was fond of saying, "We're all traveling on the same spaceship."
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