ironlips
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Posts posted by ironlips
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5 hours ago, Mello Dude said:
You know, could be done on the cheap..a few old tents, some trash. Possibilities are endless. 😛
Careful. We've all heard of glass houses, and here's a "Mid-West Side Story":
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/11/27/minneapolis-close-homeless-camp
There are bigger problems in this world than one on-the-skids, mismanaged non-profit in the wealthiest suburb in America.
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18 hours ago, scheherazadesghost said:
😁 Quixotic is my middle name.
And that's why you are held in such high esteem here.
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3 hours ago, scheherazadesghost said:
And, possibly more importantly, what do the members want? 😎
A sweet thought. I am trying to recall the last time any DCI program designer prioritized this.
I do admire your idealism.
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On 1/16/2024 at 2:57 PM, denverjohn said:
Missing the Farmingdale, Long Island Vanguards.
Were there not also the Seymour (CT) Vanguards?
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1 hour ago, Mello Dude said:
You march a full corps and TEACH what you need to win. You have so much practice time for so little shows that go on late in the years. There are no excuses to being able to get a great show on the field.
This will be a real challenge for the staff, particularly if they are dealing with less experienced performers than those they are accustomed to teaching. Smart writing will be key.
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1 hour ago, LabMaster said:
And to get it on the field complete for the first show.
"From your lips...etc."
I'll buy you lunch if any corps does that.
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For the record, I very much wish for SCV to return, and return strong. After all, I am a former staff member and still feel a deep connection to the folks I worked with and great affection for my former students.
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Just for context:
The State of CA announced a huge (as in many billions) budget deficit a couple of days ago.
Connect the dots.
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In 1979, Tim Salzman and yours truly designed this horn.
SCV, 27th, Madison, BD and the San Jose Raiders all had a section of tromboniums.
If you scored and played it like a trombone, it sounded like a trombone. If you played it like a baritone, it sounded like a constricted baritone.
Hornlines were a lot smaller then and most arrangers simply wanted the darker bari sound, so these fell out of favor except for solos.
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Trombones are ok, though I am waiting for arrangers to wean themselves away from that one cliched sectional portamento effect that seems like the equivalent of a "required figure" in Olympic skating.
The horn really is capable of some other cool sounds.
The other ho-hum for me comes when tuba sections play a (usually) sloppy jumble of upper and mid-register rhythms, followed, inexorably, by a flaccid pedal tone.
Time to call in the Anti-Derivative Squad, I think
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On 12/28/2022 at 7:20 PM, kevingamin said:
Salzman knows his stuff.
Salzman is a genius.
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And, by the way, "hats off" to Frank Williams and the much-missed Robert W. Smith for nuturing Mike's talents.
Many moons ago, I asked the great Dr. Bernard Baggs for his advice on becoming a good music teacher. After all, he had taught Donald Angelica, a Julliard graduate and the finest bugle soloist of his time.
Bernie's answer: "Be on the lookout for Mozart, and when he shows up, know what to do and when to send him on."
Robert and Frank must have consulted with B.B. as well.
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This is great!
The legendary Arnold Jacobs of the Chicago Symphony also referenced playing the bugle in the book "Song and Wind", written by one of his students.
Here's a sample of his playing:
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The late trumpet master began his career with a valveless G bugle in the Thomas Powell Drum Corps which later became the greatest among all the notable African-American corps, The Spirit of St. Louis.
In 2008, Clark was inducted into the Buglers Hall of Fame, recognizing his drum corps roots, his springboard to evolving into one of the finest jazz artists and educators who ever lived.
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17 minutes ago, corps8294 said:
I thought the Hip Pickles played that show?
Note for note. The very charts Pepe wrote for St. Agatha's and Our Lady of Most Precious Bingo. A real drum corps classic.
Those were the days! ($1 to Norman Lear)
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Start by going old school by training yourself to recognize intervals through melodic material with which you are already familiar.
E.g., octave...first 2 notes of Over the Rainbow
dominant 7th...first 2 notes of Somewhere (West Side Story)
Major triad (inverted arpeggio)...first 3 notes of the Star Spangled Banner
You get the idea.
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Personally, I hope they get on the field and don't care if they play "The Muffin Man-meets-Come to Jesus in Whole Notes".
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Hi and welcome.
There are lots of folks here with extensive musical experience, rudimental drummers, set drummers, orchestral and world percussionists, not to mention other instrumentalists of all types.
Best advice: Listen to and study all types of drumming and percussion from marching to classical to African, Brazilian, Indian, Middle Eastern, Rock, Jazz, R&B, ...all of it. Music is a shared language as everyone knows, but all drummers can speak it almost instantly. Cast a wide net if you really are serious about learning to "play really well".
Join a drum corps, or a band (or start one). Find an instructor and/or private teacher.
Oh yes, and play...every day, even if only on a drum pad or book cover. Start with a rudiment, like a paradiddle. Slow and accurate beats fast and sloppy. Speed will follow.
Ok, go for it.
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Welcome to the circus. There are lots of topics to explore and a wide range of experience here. Jump in.
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Yeah, I wonder who'll have the best Off the Line this summer.
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Just wrapping my head around the notion that these beautiful young people are now in their late '60s and early '70s, I can't help but wonder whether their grandchildren are experiencing this level of passion and dedication about any activity, musical or otherwise.
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"DCI...it sought to destroy local corps..."
I recognize that this perception exists, but personally I don't think that was anybody's intent. DCI was formed to place the elite corps in their own category. Local corps who attempted to emulate that model often failed to thrive, for a variety of reasons, in my opinion.
But, to stay on topic, you will find no small amount of criticism for DCI in the books mentioned above, and folks are entitled to their interpretation of this activity's history.
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The new "Wynn Center Toppers" book is available on Amazon, too. To me, the most interesting aspect is the opportunity to read the personal histories of so many members of this unique corps in their own words.
Toppers alumni became college professors, attorneys, psychologists, fine arts coordinators, community activists, religious leaders and the like. Within their orbit came great Drum Corps personalities like Bill Hightower, J. Frank "Fast Frankie" Nash, Carroll "Tiny" Dorrell, Alfred "Uncle Nick" Nichols, and even some more widely recognizable names like singer/songwriters Richie Havens, and Otis Blackwell whose compositions include "Don't be Cruel", "Return to Sender" and "Fever".
Like Harlem before it, Bedford-Stuyvesant had its own Renaissance, and the Wynn Center Toppers were right in the middle of it.
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4 hours ago, Richard Lesher said:
After posting a few rants I scurried off to one of my additional duties as an Army Reservist, and lead a Military Honor Funeral Detail for a passed veteran.
I do about one of these a week. I have another one tomorrow. I suspect there is a crunch to have these services before the holidays, followed by a lull half way through December, and then slammed again in January.
I'm that guy that hands the flag to next of kin, and says: "Oh behalf of the President of the United States...."
My drum corps military bearing really comes in helpful here, and I have Vanguard to thank for that.
As a member of Bugles Across America, I regularly sound Taps at military services in the SF Bay Area and beyond. I look at it as an extension of my Drum Corps and military service backgrounds and a way to honor my late father, a WWII Infantryman, and his comrades who, when they returned, devoted so much of their energy to promoting this activity we cherish.
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Michael Smith – WDCHOF Scholarship Success Story
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
Reminiscent of the old proverb about apples and trees, and the necessity for all such honorary organizations to provide some benefit to the community at large.