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Alumni Horn Lines - Which bugles


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On 6/27/2018 at 9:17 PM, Kamarag said:

It's going to be interesting to see what happens when (or even if) alumni corps get an influx of members from the Bb/F era. Will they be willing to switch instruments...or repertoire?

They will NEED to of they want to keep operating. Otherwise Alumni corps have a known shelf life- at best, the ages of the youngest members before they get too old to perform even in standstill situations. And many of those cats are older than me... way older.

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On 6/27/2018 at 9:17 PM, Kamarag said:

It's going to be interesting to see what happens when (or even if) alumni corps get an influx of members from the Bb/F era. Will they be willing to switch instruments...or repertoire?

Honestly, I think it will be more of an "if" than "when" scenario. 

 

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Repertoire will have to evolve. Westshore did music from roughly 1980 to 1996, which is a lot newer than most Alumni corps. Why? Well, there were some other reasons but the best one was that a lot of things from earlier in the corps history wasn't as popular, nor was it particularly good. I don't know if our fans should have been inflicted with 1978's Alexaner's Ragtime band for instance. We did perform a vastly updated version of Impossible Dream once- and I think it was very well received and I enjoyed playing it- the decision makers didn't seem happy with it.

 

There were those in the corps including myself that wanted to explore and create new material-"What if the Westshoremen had continued to do exist and create new music?" much like Mike Vax's Kenton Alumni Band. We never had the time.

 

The problem with the more modern material is, how do you edit and chunk it? Those shows are designed to be a total entity in and of themselves. There would have to be some serious thought and re-working for alumni performances.

 

I'll throw a bone out to John and the Cabs. One of my favorite pieces from the Cabs was 1992's "One More Time, Chuck Corea", which on any given night, was as good as it got in DCA that season. It's now 26 years old. It qualifies for an Antique car plate in PA. That's a "newer" piece that should be considered. It might be a start. :winky:

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3 hours ago, BigW said:

I'll throw a bone out to John and the Cabs. One of my favorite pieces from the Cabs was 1992's "One More Time, Chuck Corea", which on any given night, was as good as it got in DCA that season. It's now 26 years old. It qualifies for an Antique car plate in PA. That's a "newer" piece that should be considered. It might be a start. :winky:

 

A small part of me wonders if we'll ever hear the Alumni play any of the recent Cabs hits...like Stairway to heaven or this year's Green Hornet

:devil:

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2 hours ago, Kamarag said:

 

A small part of me wonders if we'll ever hear the Alumni play any of the recent Cabs hits...like Stairway to heaven or this year's Green Hornet

:devil:

John, last year's show touched my heart in a way no one else did last season. VERY memorable and deeply appreciated. Maybe when I come to a show using a walker. :cool:

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27 minutes ago, BigW said:

John, last year's show touched my heart in a way no one else did last season. VERY memorable and deeply appreciated. Maybe when I come to a show using a walker. :cool:

Just wait 'till you see this year...

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On 6/27/2018 at 9:17 PM, Kamarag said:

It's going to be interesting to see what happens when (or even if) alumni corps get an influx of members from the Bb/F era. Will they be willing to switch instruments...or repertoire?

Corps I was with is on G and younger people I was around never mentioned key at all. About 10-15 years ago members were asked for suggestions to improve recruiting and keep current members. Bunch of responses were to get away from all parade tunes and play a variety. It helped recruiting new and young members. Newer stuff lot more complex and kept older members from getting bored. Helps that the corps is not know for any specific music or era.

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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  • 1 month later...
On 6/27/2018 at 9:17 PM, Kamarag said:

It's going to be interesting to see what happens when (or even if) alumni corps get an influx of members from the Bb/F era. Will they be willing to switch instruments...or repertoire?

It’s a non-issue.  I played a G bugle with The Cavaliers but I’m way better on my Bb trumpet any day of the week.  It’s no big deal to switch from one key horn to another because even non-music majors like me are used to it.  Those of us who have played orchestral music, for example, routinely switch between Bb and C trumpets.  Heck, I originally learned to play on an Eb trumpet my school had because all the Bb school horns were taken.

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1 hour ago, ThirdValvesAreForWimps said:

It’s a non-issue.  I played a G bugle with The Cavaliers but I’m way better on my Bb trumpet any day of the week.  It’s no big deal to switch from one key horn to another because even non-music majors like me are used to it.  Those of us who have played orchestral music, for example, routinely switch between Bb and C trumpets.  Heck, I originally learned to play on an Eb trumpet my school had because all the Bb school horns were taken.

 

The "they" in my post wasn't the individual potential member...it was the corps.

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