Grenadier

I been looking around at buying a Soprano and French Horn single valve G Bugle with Rotary. Anyone know of any one who sells old instruments in the North East. Thank you in advance.

The FREE Players Drum and Bugle Corps one of Long Islands only Drum and Bugle Corps to play at Nassau Coliseum for the NY Open Tennis Tourney.

Probably a lot of you all know about this site. For all you really old times I came across a blog site NanciD with uploaded copies of old drum corps news. The site is Historical Drum Corps Publications. http://historical-drum-corps-publications.blogspot.com/

I know I said good bye but you are all full of it. The corps of the 50'single and 60' and even tell early 70'so were real. They were every day kids playing their hearts out. They weren't music majors or dance majors getting college credit. We did not have to pay. We were every day kids. You pompous #####. Corps was home town USA. Not what it is today. Real corps has died.

Good bye to this forum. Indeed drum corps as I knew it died. All that is left is the show corps comprised of the music and dance majors. Gone are the local corps with local kids making music and having a good time. No auditions, just wanting to belong. Just take a look at the face book pages of the drum corp of the golden era and the 60s. There were hundreds, if not thousands of corps. From small to large. All enjoying the drum corps experience. It is all gone. Why, I am not sure. But, the sense off community is gone. Being a part of the community lost. The Golden era has died. My it rest in peace.

I had the opportunity to talk with several people who were involved with drum and bugle corps on Long Island in the 50’s through the 80’s. I had asked them why the local corps died out. But, first you have to understand that many of the local corps on Long Island were sponsored by volunteer fire departments. In the 50’s and 60’s most of the volunteers were WWII and Korean war veterans with a sense of service and community. In the summer, each department held a parade and carnival or picnic and the neighboring fire departs showed up in force and uniform and marched in the parades. They marched like a military unit lead by a band, corps or even just a drum line. The firemen 40 or more in number, were followed by the ladies’ auxiliary and a couple of fire trucks. Today’s volunteers are different. They don’t have a sense of community, they don’t march. No need for a drum corps. Even before that, the fire departments started divesting themselves of the legal liability of have a bunch of kids on a bus. Another problem was that the kids did not want to commit being at every performance. They had other things to do. Also, volunteers did not want to make a commitment to the corps. So, the corps over time disappeared. I’m sure the CYO, VFW and American Legion Corps had similar financial and legal issues. With no one willing to sponsor and no one willing to commit, the days of the local corps are over, and the sound is lost forever. We are left with the Big Business corps of today, where members have to audition and pay to join. They may even get college credit. Staff is paid. Sure, they sound profession and the choreography is great. But, it is not drum corps. Drum corps is a bunch of local kids getting together and making the best sound they can. I checked out the DCX - Drum Corps Xperience site and there used to be over 1000 US and Canadian Drum Corps. Many of them local groups. Now most are gone. The future generations will miss out on a great experience. RIP – Local Drum Corps. Grenadier

Jeff, I agree that money is a problem, a big problem. The organizations that used to sponsor corps like the Catholic Church, VFW and American Legion don't have it any more. But, here on Long Island, NY the volunteer fire departments, which sponsored many corps in the 50's and 60's still do. They are tax payer funded and have million dollar trucks. Each department has an aerial ladder which could be shared by several departments. Each chief and assistant chief has personal vehicles. They get retirement benefits. Back in the 50's and 60's it was all volunteer. They have enough cash to sponsor a band or a drum and bugle corps. But, the model you are talking about is not the model corps of the 60's. No one had to pay to be a member. They were given a uniform and an instrument. Corps were small. They could be as little as 20 or as large as 80 or 90 members. They started out small and grew. The staff was all volunteer, except maybe a drum instructor and bugle instructor. The drum corps started out marching in parades, providing marching music for the fire departments. But that said, I have come to the opinion that even if I could find a sponsor and organize a drum corps, I don't think today's kids would want to march. They are too busy playing with their video games, playing soccer or other activity to want to march with a drum corps. Sadly, I think know the days of the local corps are gone. Times have changed. The local community spirit has gone. The hundreds, maybe thousands of local corps are gone. I know believe those days are gone.

It must have been great playing with one of the major corps of the era like the Skyliners, Blessed Sacrament or anyone the corps that made the Dream. But, for a lot of us it was great just to play in a small town corps. We went from a small drum, bugle and glock corps to a M&M corps in the 7 years I marched. The highlights included getting single valve bugles and later adding on the rotary valve. But the real highlights were being with a bunch of friends whether marching in a parade, performing on the field, playing for people in hospitals, or our Christmas parties. There was nothing better then marching in a volunteer fire department parade, going to the carnival and the bus ride (yellow school bus) home with your girl sitting next to you. And just having a great time.

It is pathetic. The volunteer fire department that sponsored my drum corps for over 30 years just had it 95th anniversary parade and there were no bands or corps that Marcheday. So tell me that corps is alive and well. You got to wake up to the fact that traditional corps is dead. Only the Broadway version exists, amplified and elitist. You got audition and pay to belong. It is not drum corps.

Frank, respectfully, there is no longer any Long Island drum corps. With the exception of the Sunrisers.

Apparently, not much about drum corps on Long Island!

Like you know.....

Don't bother because you ignorant of the facts. There use to be dozens of corps on Long Island. The Skyliners, Sunrisers, Smithtown Freelancers and Plebes, the Golden Grenadiers, Portsman, Czechmates, West Sayville Golden Eagles, the Lindenhurst Legionaires, and dozens more. Now there is only one corps on Long Island, the Sunrisers. Explain that HBD! If drum corps is alive and well. Why does in not exist on an island with over 2 million people. Get over yourself. Grenadier

You missed my point. It's not that the kids today don't have heart and soul. Sure they put everything they have into it. They are probably more talented then the average drum corps member in the '60's. What I am saying that the corps in the 60's had your everyday kids join. They joined because they wanted to be a part of something. Some didn't even know how to play. A number of us older corps members became the instructors. Almost every town with in a 10 mile radius had a corps. They were small. The heart and soul of the corps is not only the music and performance. It about the spirit of the corps, the team spirit and the friendships. The feeling that when you enter the field that your doing your best because to paraphrase "Drumline" when one sounds bad you all sound bad". Also, personally I like the sound of the earlier corps. But, that's my taste. Maybe my problem is I long for the days of community and hometown spirit which has been lost around these parts for years. Grenadier

I have posted in this forum trying to understand why drum corps as I know it has died, and I am sad to say that after hearing the responses, I must agree, it has changed into something else that I don’t like. I first want to say, that I was from a small local corps. We were sponsored by a local volunteer fire department. Most of went to the same school, and our parents were members of the local volunteer fire departments. The corps was formed in the 50’s and marched into the 80’s. Uncle Bert as he was known was the director for all those years. We were like family. We marched in local parades, participated in local M&M Circuits and performed at little league openings and special events. All we needed was a school bus and a step van for the equipment. There were no dues or fees. We raised money through fund drives going door to door or on standing on main street. You can’t compare the local corps to Hawthorne, the Skyliners, or Blessed Sacrament. We weren’t in the same league. But, we had spirit and drive. As for the corps of today, it’s like the music of today. It may be technically better. But, I don’t like it. I like the Hassles when Billy Joel was the keyboard player. It was just good old “Rock and Roll”. Just like the corps of the 60’s. So, what I’m saying is that sure in most people’s opinion today’s corps rock, I just miss my old time drum corps and wish it could live on. The sound was like rock and roll. But, I feel that our legacy is leaving out the very heart and soul of drum corp. The local kids who want to play in a corps. Not just those talented few. Grenadier

It'seems just this way is leaving a lot of kids behind.

Jeff, you sound like urgent not a fan of the good old days. It was never about the money. It was about the corps.

I have always stated that today's corps are much more talented than the corps from the 60's and 70's. But, a lot of us were just a bunch of guys and girls from the local towns who joined a corps because we saw a corps performing in a parade or show. We were local kids who maybe played a trumpet in the school band. The corps was a group of friends getting together to have fun. We learned about esprit de corps. We went to see larger corps like the Skyliners and Hawthorne at the Dream. We tried to be our best. Probably the best players in our corps may have been able to pass an audition for one of today's corps. But for must of us, we wouldn't make the cut. But, again we weren't majors or performing arts majors. But, the sounds that came out the corps of the 60's and 70's was great. It had it's own distinct sound. Give me the sound of the Blessed Sacrament hornline any day. I'm not trying to take anything away from the corps of today. But, I don't like there sound or look. Just my opinion, Grenadier

I just keep thinking back to a time there were hundreds, no thousands of corps at all levels, from the small local corps to the Giants, like the hawthorn or the skyliners. They were local corps and it was just as much about the spirit of the corps as the music. We took in anybody who was eager to be a part of the corp. We taught them how to play an instrument. Now it seems it is only available to select few who have to audition for a spot in a limited number of corps. I can't celebrate the future that excludes a lot of people who cannot make a slot in a corps. Drum Corps was as much about the spirit of working together as it was the music. Grenadier

Jeff, you are correct to some extent. I was in corps in the sixties and later a volunteer fireman. We got no benefits. We did it for the community. There were no problems attracting volunteers or members for the corps. Then something changed. I am talking about Long Island New York. Today they have a hard time attracting volunteers, volunteers get pensions and benefits. They have the best equipment, million dollar trucks. Almost every officer gets a vehicle. They could certainly support a corps or band. Maybe I am tainted by where I live.

I would like to think that groups like the local volunteer fire departmentstation or vfw would fund the groups. The question is if it was funded would the kids join.?

We just had a 4th of July parade in my hometown and there were no high school bands. Schools out. The summer was prime drum corpset season. So what are the kids who like to play and march doing if they didn't get accepted by a corps. In the 60'same the 4th of July parade had a dozen or more corps and field depth entry bands. No more. I think there is a need to bring back the local corps programs. Grenadier

We just had a 4th of July parade in my hometown and there were no high school bands. Schools out. The summer was prime drum corpset season. So what are the kids who like to play and march doing if they didn't get accepted by a corps. In the 60'same the 4th of July parade had a dozen or more corps and field depth entry bands. No more. I think there is a need to bring back the local corps programs. Grenadier

My point is that we are leaving out a large portion of the youth of today. Corps is like a team. A relay team that learns to count on each other. A band of brothers and sisters. Drum Corps was more about the spirit of working together an community than the music. My point by those standards todays Corps miss the boat. It is about a bunch of local boys aND girls getting together and making the best music they can. Not a bunch of music majors playing and prancing on a field. Grenadier