TenorTim

Back in the day (I think it was 1991) Bush used a tail-pipe in the pit. Made a great sound and fit very well with the moment when used ...

Although I did a quick scan, it's interesting... with all the great Cadet shows they've done, I don't think there's one post with a request to play any of their tunes .... not a crack on them because I'm a fan as well, just curious why... So, I'll throw one out... 1989 - Les Mis

Although not as clean as some of the other 80's lines, SCV's 'Stone Ground Seven' from 1980 has to be one of the most innovative writing of its time. The meter, rhythm and dynamic changes all put into that one solo was just sheer genious. One of the best from Ralph H. Too bad it wasn't as clean as some of the other lines but it's still one of my favorite. Plus, having two sets of quad section (one high and one low) never hurts!!! I definately wore out the needle on the record player with that one.

"Tempo tears"? I don't think so. I marched that show. I didn't feel or hear anything like that.

Dude, it's just Dave's opinion and doesn't require a dissertation by you to what he did or didn't do. I'm pretty sure that, if the comment was made about a different corps, you wouldn't be posting as hard. Move on with life ...

Is that you Frank?? I always knew you had the hands to play tenor!! What made you switch to snare? Oh wait, I know ... it was the 124 pound drums you were carrying!! Nice pic!

Maybe some other Bushwacker people can chime in here (Dugan?), but I think there is a rule which states a corp cannot add more than X percentage to their ranks after DCI championships. People have told me this is known as 'the bushwacker rule'. Back in the mid 80's, Bush use to get a good amount of people from DCI after their championships (mostly in the horn line) and the corps would grow significantly enough to impact the scores/placement. I know this is a little vague and perhaps someone can chime in with the specifics. But, with that, it still does happen but, as Jeff mentioned, far less than it use to. Todays shows are a little more complicated than they were 20 years ago so it's alot to learn in just 2 weeks.

That's only because the tenor line did the "bug" visual before our tenor feature (lol)!! How's it going Frank!

Wow... thanks for all the praise. I marched in the tenorline that year (as well as 1993) and it was Robbie Robinson's first year writing for Bush. To this day, I still feel that was one of the best field percussion books put together for the corps. Every note, every phrase just seem to fit perfectly together and more importantly it wasn't over-written. It was just a great accompanyment (sp?). Alot of people say 1993 was the better year/show but that's a tough one for me. I had more fun in 1993 (going undefeated has those advantages) but I think the 1992 show hits home with me a little more. To be honest, most of the shows run together in my "old" head but I do remember coming off the field feeling pretty confident about the show we had just done at prelims. I have a video of our 'underwear' run through the day of finals. Pretty funny stuff (and scary at the same time). Tim Hamel Bushwackers tenorline - '89 - '93 I&E Champion 1992

Typically, when I got ready for my I&E (and early on, my pre-season workouts), I would do 2 15 minute sessions and then went to 3 and then to 4. I think I did an hour once or twice but most of the time, I didn't feel that sadistic!! I would watch a TV show and basically play when there weren't any commercials. The commercials would be my break. After I did this a few times, I would have enough endurance built up that I could play through the commercials. The key was to concentrate on the TV show and not on the BURN!! It's like holding your breath underwater. The more you think about not having any oxygen, the less time you feel you can hold it. Hold your breath underwater and concentrate on something else and you can hold it for longer.

100 count rolls? At what tempo? Even at a steady 132 bpm that's not long at all. You want to build your chops? Pull out your pad/drum/couch/chair/floor (or whatever) and play a roll for 15 minutes. Then try 25 minutes. Then try 45 minutes and then 1 hour. By the way, this would be at a minimum 132 bpm. And, this should be at common time not three quarter. By the way, back in the older Bush days (mid-to-late 80's and early 90's), to build our chops we use to roll around a factory!! I think the factory was a good 2/3 mile or so. It use to take us about 20 to 25 minutes or so to do it. And, it wasn't at 132 bpm ... not with Dugan in front of us - neck vein popping out and all!! Feel the burn ...!!!

Funny though, I was never a fan of the triple stacks. I loved the look but never liked the sound. I always enjoyed listening to their parts on the regular bass drums. IMO, the heads that they used on the triple stacks muddled the sound. Add in the amount of notes they had and it just didn't speak very clearly to me. The heads on their regular bass articulated the notes much nicer. But others, obviously, loved them and that's cool. They certainly worked and I'm glad (for us) my opinion was in the minority. Of course, I'll throw out the fact that our middle tune (Color and Light - drum feature) had 6 tenors (3 high sets and 3 lower sets). Talk about a big section. We took about 15 to 20 yards of drill!!

No, don't worry about it. You called it out (and correctly). Hey, it is what it is. It was glaring but it was quick. IMO, I don't think we lost drums bthat year ecause of that tick. I think we lost drums because our pit was very weak. Same with 1992. Empire had a very good battery but their pit was just as good. We just didn't have a balanced attack.

Ouch!! That hurt .... but I can only say ... very true. That tenor tick has haunted me for that past 13 years!! lol (not really ... but it did hurt for a while). We did have a great line that year and years before that. It's funny that the two best "field" lines the Bushwackers ever had (in my opinion) got 2nd place. Hats off to Empire for having a great pit to go along with a very good battery. I joined in 1989 and marched through to the end of 1993. As good as we were, we never had hoards of people come to the drum line. I always asked others why they never came down. The very consistent answer? Fear. Most people were afraid that they couldn't play with us or didn't want to go through that much effort to win (for whatever reason). In my opinion, there were three reasons why Bushwackers drum lines were always that good: 1) Jim Dugan 2) Frank Nash and 3) Eddie Marino. Each having a major role in developing, pushing and maintaining a level within their responsibilities in which they refused to allow anybody to regress. When I got there, I was so floored by what a drumline could be and do that I bought into it the very first rehearsal I went to. Because those guys never allowed the section to play poorly, when others came into the ranks, they were educated "quickly". One other comment... in my opnion, our rehearsals were never very clean. Ya, from time-to-time we run through a section that was just a tight as could be but it was rare that we could put together a nice, clean, full run. But, when we put on the uni's and started to warm up in the parking lot.... look out. Our intensity just flew through the roof and we all fed off of it. Being a tenor player and standing on the side of the arc, I had the advantage of watching the intensity unfold right before me from the snare and bass sections. (All the tenors did).... and boy, did we feed off that. By the time we got to the actual performance, it was lights out. Tim Hamel Bush Tenors 1989 - 1993 DCA Individuals Champ 1992 DCA Duet Champ 1993

1993. Billy Carnes and I ended up doing a Tenor Duet just to finish out our career. We decided to do this because we didn't want to compete against one another for fear that the guy who won would never let the other one forget it!! So, during the season we tried to get together and practice ... but ... never happened. It was the Friday night before I&E and we finally decided to throw something together. Now, it rained like a son of a b**ch that night so we really couldn't practice outside. So, we jumped into my car and proceeded to take bits and pieces from each others solo's and slam something together. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to peice it together 2 1/2 minutes of music while playing on my steering wheel and my dash board!! (it was a beat up car anyway). I remember practicing it on our tenors only 2 or 3 times before we went on and it was like we were playing it all year. This wasn't basic stuff either. We had alot of scrapes, split roles, flam patterns, singles, fast rolls, etc. Amazing what you can do with a young mind from a retention standpoint! I wouldn't get through two bars now!! Good Times. 1st Place.