Cavie74

For all you youngin's, back in the day Brasso was used to polish your cymbals before every show. I've left tarnish circles on sidewalks from Boston to Denver over my four years with the Cavaliers.

Since we strayed off topic, I went to a Cavalier show in Naperville a few years ago and the same thing happened. It was a beautiful afternoon when I arrived but right as the contest started some nasty lightning showed up. Everyone was directed into the stands which doubled as a fieldhouse for the Athletic Department of North Central College. I went up to the press box and the announcer for the show is a weatherman for the ABC Chicago affiliate. (He's a huge drumcorps fan and very knowledgeable about the activity.) I started talking to him about the storm and it was like I put a quarter in him. He pulled out his I-phone and gave me a weather forcast based on the weather maps he displayed on the device.

As a guest, I got spanked with "nastygram": [#10345] You do not have permission to rate this topic. Great topic. I rated it at 5 stars. It has a good beat you can dance to (American Bandstand reference). :smile:/>

Don't listen to Boo. After three years in the cymbal line he auditioned me for the 1977 Cavalier tympani line. I figured it couldn't be that different since the second letter in cymbals and the second letter in tympani are both "y". I didn't make the cut. He told me I tuned like a cymbal player. It has taken me 35 years but I've forgiven you Mike. Edit: Hey, I just noticed the third letter in both is "m". Also, "cymbals" and "tympani" both have 7 letters! Maybe I just missed the cut. Edit: My audition was in Emerson Junior High School in Park Ridge. Hillary Clinton attended school there as a child. Maybe that is a factor in ... Maybe I think too much. Edit: Emerson Junior High School was torn down and now a Senior home is on that site. Maybe that's a factor and I've been holding a grudge against Boo for no reason. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders! Edit: I'm crushed. There's no "y" in "timpani"!

I'm there!!! http://newsantaclarastadium.com/images#/exterior

I was on the side 1 sideline at about the 15 yard line after intermission and I would like to add a few observations. Spirit I was really impressed with the energy of their show. They really sell it. I also thought their guard uniforms worked well for both males and females. Bluecoats That snare line was tuned to perfection. They projected well and the sound was rich and true to the instrument. WOW!

The Cavaliers have a “Future Corps” of sorts – Classic Cavaliers. It consists of mostly Cavalier alumni and we have about 30 horns, 10 drummers and an American Flag section on the roster. We rehearse on Tuesdays nights at Cavalier Hall. I enjoy it a lot because I get to play in a nice little ensemble with a relaxed intensity. We play old Cavalier standards like Bully, Rainbow and Battle Hymn. Bob Rada gave us some new arrangements of Kansas’s Carry On Wayward Son and a West Side Story medley. Bret Kuhn wrote some really fun percussion parts. We also dug out some old drum solos and street beats. I figure we can march about half a mile of parade without playing the same thing twice. We do a few parades around the major holidays and some standstill performances and local drum corps shows and Green Thunder Family day. We have a really sharp Cesario designed uniform made by FJM. It’s been a great way to keep in touch with local alumni and the corps benefits from a closely connected group of volunteers for local events. It’s also been a great way to just mess around with the instruments. You may have seen posts by MOBRIEN on these forums. He’s also a snare tech for the group and he managed to tune a Yamaha sfz snare drum to sound like an old school drum last week. Cool stuff.

Back in 1996 I got a job a a major insurance carrier that has a presence in "All States". About a week after I started I found out my boss marched in Norwood Park Imperials. His sister marched in a drum and twirling corps called Vernell who's designer taught the twirling corps I marched in - Hi-Lighters (pre-Cavaliers). The designer's son was my drum sargeant in Cavaliers in 1974. My boss and I used to trade drum corps stories and I'd like to relate a funny one. 27th Lancers were at the 1976 Wheeling Illinois show. Their equipment truck broke down and they borrowed the Cavaliers drums. My boss was in the stands at that show (he (friendly) hated the Cavaliers) and everyone knew that 27th had our drums. He commented that that's the best the Cavalier drums ever sounded was when 27th was playing them! Position Corps Score 1 27th Lancers 73.050 2 Phantom Regiment 72.850 3 Cavaliers 66.900 4 Marquis 65.800 5 Guardsmen 65.000 6 Fox Valley Raiders 49.600 7 Kilts 49.050 8 Pioneers 44.950

Boy those rims are tall. I'm thinking bloody knuckles.

Presents! I like presents. This will be like an Oprah "Favorite Things" show where you look under your stadium seat and find presents. With the new judging system, I'll vote for them to win because I like presents!

You know, they can turn the Dynasty logo hoizontal - because the can! (without those pesky lugs in the way). See picture:

Jump to this link for plans and instructions to build a pair of timpani. http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/2023/timpani/index.html

No! No! No! I've been afraid of clowns since 1971!

Trust me Mike. There were a lot of things we could never understand about you ... I remember the incident though. "Cantilevers? Canti stop for you to sightsee, Boo."

A review of the Cavalier 2010 show: (youtube performance link at bottom)

I'm deeply disturbed by people twirling rifles around their head without using their hands. I am also offended by people making fun of my sleep walking disorder. While I'm at it, I grew up a few miles from John Wayne Gacey and clowns still frighten me. So ... clean up those avatars and signatures folks. Just kidding.

I'm thinking "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" where Spicoli gets a pizza delivered to History Class. Velvet Knights? Beuller? Anyone?

1973 DCI Prelims recaps: http://www.fromthepressbox.com/19730816div1prelims.htm

I was a 14-year-old cymbal player that year and its true that we were pretty young. My drivers license permit the following year listed me at 5'5" and 125 lbs. But we looked even younger because we had a grooming code that consisted of being clean shaven and your hair could not touch your ears or your collar. Back in 1974 that meant we looked like a bunch of clean-cut choir boys compared to the style of the times. I too remember the "128 Swingin' Dicks" speech. I was too young to understand the dire straights we were in. I just remember completing the prelims performance and thought it went really well and that the Ithaca crowd was really enthusiastic. Like Paul related earlier, there was no high-fiving and back slapping. It was just a calm confidence as we stood and waited to find out if we would make finals. Conversations in later years about that prelim performance from people that witnessed it (that performance)was that it was exceptional. It was especially obvious to the people I spoke to because we went on so early in the day and in comparison to corps that performed near our time slot, we clearly outscored them.

Thanks but the Cavalier Alumni Corps was a one-time-only thing for our 60th anniverary.

Mike, Mikey might be referring to Michigan City in '08. We were both housed at the same school. No, we didn't eat with Pioneer anytime that I can recall.

Not true, the 1976 Cavaliers came in 7th. Ironically, the 1977 Cavaliers came in 7th too but we (the Cavaliers) don't talk about 1978!

Why mess with a good thing?

I feel that a marching cymbal line is now purely a visual component similar to a flag. Cymbal sounds eminating from the pit ar far more musically appropriate. My own personal opinion is that cymbals positioned in the back half of the field cannot be heard. Furthermore, since they are accents and not part of the pulse of the ensemble, their sound appears to lag behind the rest of the musicians. This can be effective such as in the example of the Cavalier alumni corps closer "Somewhere/Rainbow" medley where they (I'm) way back on the number 2 side. Mostly, cymbals are drill dots and bits of flash. Remember that one of the last Cavalier cymbal lines wore guard uniforms. Years ago I got the impression from Fiedler that he is not a fan of marching cymbals, but then again he is savy and he understands tradition more than most of us. It wouldn't surprise me if SCV brought up the subject of marching cymbals with Rennick during the pre-hire process.

Sal wore bigger shoes than you can imagine. Aside from his accomplishment toward the financial viability of drum corps, he spent his professional career devoted to providing housing assitance to low and moderate income families. Sal had a Phd in Economics from the University of Chicago and applied his talents to the disadvantaged of my community. Resume: http://www.thechicagorelocator.com/about_drferrera.html He was also President of the not-for-profit Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation: http://www.mhdcchicago.com/ I visted Sal in the hospital a few days before he died. One of the subjects we talked about was how amazed he was by the tremendous talent in modern drum corps. He was proud of his association with the activity. Sal's son Vince posted earlier in this chain and I would like to reiterate that the family is aware and appreciative of your messages of condolence. When I spoke to Sal's wife at the wake she gave me a tour of all the flowers sent by the drum corps community. It really meant a lot to the Ferrera family. Thanks folks, these are the times when I'm proud of you all.