ironlips
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Posts posted by ironlips
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Hi Felix.
No, the "Amen" remained for '77 finals. I considered removing it since we were right on the cusp of making the night show, and we were guaranteed a penalty. The corp members wouldn't hear of it, so it stayed. With the penalty, we tied the Kilties for 12th. So, in a sense, the "Amen" put the Kilts into finals. (On the other hand, perhaps our GE score would have slipped w/o the vocal. We'll never know.)
By '78, I was teaching the BDs, and my old team, Garfield, chose not to sing at "Class A" finals (or whatever they called the show for the 13 through 25 group) since their penalty would have been a full point. (Does anyone keep a tune for more than one season anymore?)
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Ah, the "Infamous Aaa-men". That was really something. At the time, the rules (DCI, VFW, American Legion) all prohibited "singing or chanting". But they also stipulated that there were "no penalties after the gun, except for sideline violations".
So, at the end of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" (from "Jesus Christ- Superstar") we thought it would be both appropriate and legal to emulate Joel Kaye's arrangement and sing the plagal cadence. You would have thought we had advocated the overthrow of the government by violence! Penalties were assessed, disqualifications threatened, ex-communications announced. The audiences, of course, loved every minute of it.
At DCI East Prelims I was told to exorcise this abomination under pain of disqualification. We had the staff sing it from the sidelines, having made a secret pact to re-insert the offending two notes if we made finals. There was to be a manager's meeting about this between shows. We went a.w.o.l. and, having come in 12th, were the first on in the night show and, after telling all our friends and supporters what to expect, sang the "A-men". The place erupted. It was great. During the mayhem, with perople standing and cheering in support of this feisty corps, I sought out the executive director and the contest sponsor.
"So", I asked, "you want me to take that out?"
The only time we didn't get a penalty was at CYO Nationals. Dr Baggs was chief judge and I framed his sheet which says "No penalty for singing "Amen" on a Sunday afternoon in Boston at a CYO show."
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Overheard in a neighborhood sports bar the night of the ESPN telecast:
"It can't be a sport if you wear sequins!"
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Are there video and/or audio recordings available from DCUK? It would be interesting to see and hear these corps. The last release I saw was an LP on Ebay from the mid-'80s.
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Our community has lost a great teacher. Frank set an example for all of us. I extend deepest condolences to his family and friends.
Frank Dorritie
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I must agree with my esteemed colleague, Ray Fallon.
Nobody (and I do mean "nobody") is getting rich teaching a drum corps. Even the highest paid instructors make less than their contemporaries in other industries. Virtually all have some other supplemental work, be it school teaching, working with marching bands or other related (or unrelated) activity.
Back in the '70s at a DCI congress, there was once a management session called "Instructors and other Rip-offs". I wanted to punch someone's lights out when I saw that. Most of us weren't even making gas money in those days.
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Actually, I think it's a great article that lets the participants speak for themselves. Well done.
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Mike has a point. It's all in how one frames the question. Here's another:
Suppose you're 22 and just aged out of DCI. Is there a way to continue to pursue quality drum corps performing while getting on with your life?
I suggest the answer is yes, and that you'd find it during the last 120 minutes or so of DCA finals.
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Dannyboy has found the center of the thought, like a Zen master.
"...Motorcycle Maintenance" should be required reading for anyone who presumes to perform, or teach performance. It is on the reading list for my Recording Arts students so they may appreciate the relationship between art and technology.
A great performance is not simply the absence of mistakes. Every note and step is a mistake, since nothing is perfect. The presence of "romantic" quality is also required, and to the degree that it exists in the performance, the moment is art. Who decides? Why, the audience, of course. (Not the "adjudicator".)
I have a slight variance of opinion from my friend Donny (not Danny): In my view, by any standard, the Hawthorne and Skyliner corps of the '60s were far better than any of the juniors, Boston, Royal Airs and all others included. The '65 Royal Airs, however, signalled the beginning of the new junior standard which would ultimately move those corps to higher technical excellence than their all age brothers and sisters. The reasons have already been clearly delineated by others here.
Still, in the category of soloists, juniors will take a back seat to DCA and Alumni players like Donny, Ritchee, Joe Pero, Ace, Frank Ponzo...etc.
So, may we have a little balance here, Yin and Yang, so to speak?
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Frank Dorritie
St. Catherine's Queensmen '61, '62
Sunrisers '63-'73
LI Kingsmen instructor in the "Dave Borden-Mike Aronson Era"
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I'd be interested in where the aforementioned Diva marched, as well as the background of the staff members who influenced her thinking.
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In a word, wow.
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Just prior to the formation of DCI, the Blue Rocks from Wilmington, DE (a "top 5" contender), played "Lincoln Portrait". I believe it was arranged by recent Drum Corps Hall of Fame inductee, Red Winzer. They played the h@@l out of it.
With all due respect (really) to those who are writing "original" music for drum corps (and marching bands) these days, none are Prokofievs or Brittens exactly. Much of this "new" material is lacking in memorable melodic and harmonic content, and is rhythmically monotonous. Personally, I am in no particular rush to hear more of it.
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Posted yesterday:
If memory serves,
Sop: Chris Trimblett - Garfield
Bari: Jim Trimblett - Garfield
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In the pre-mello era there were some outstanding French Horn sections. St. Kevin's of Dorchester, MA had one of the finest, heard to great advantage on the '64 Dream recording . The first notes of the show were a gliss to unison high A (with high mark time, no less).
Some excellent FH (bugle) soloists:
Hy Dreitzer - Skyliners
Pepe Notaro - Skyliners
John Sasso - Queensmen, Sunrisers
Buzzy Bergdoll - St. Kevin's
Steve Buglino - Floyd-Bennett Golden Eagles, Sunrisers
Scott Tiret - Blue Devils
Chris Nalls - Renegades
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Ambassadorhorn,
Yes, I believe so, but check wth Chris. I gave him my only copy.
Regarding the tuba, Farkas relates that the streetcar conductor banned that instrument for taking up too much room to and from school, so he switched to the Horn.
Frank
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That's quite possible. What I said was, "..Farkas was once a bugler." I'll bet a comprehensive bio could shed some light on this.
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If memory serves:
Soprano: Chris Trimblett - Garfield Cadets
Baritone: Jim Trimblett - Garfield Cadets
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If you'd like my help getting a gig, may I suggest you supply some answers to the above?
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Sam King,
You can call me on it all you want. On a recent trip to Chicago, I stopped at the Symphony Store and picked up a CD of performance excerpts and interviews with the great one.
In one of the latter he mentions having been a bugler, though he doesn't name a corps. I gave the CD to Chris Nalls.
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JimF,
The horn you have was the original single piston baritone (a/k/a "baro-tone) bugle. It has a tenor trombone bell which is why some called it a "tenor bari".
When the bass bari was developed in the late '50s it pretty much replaced this horn.
The instrument I play is actually a tenor soprano. It has a standard sop "body", but a much larger bell. Originally these were made for the 2nd and 3rd players to give their sound more presence. Many soloists used them for that reason as well as their rich tone.
By all means you should play this horn in I&E. You would enter in the baritone category and it will be a treat to hear this beautiful sound again. Your horn has a unique timbre and an especially gorgeous upper register that can not be reproduced by today's baritone or euphonium.
Frank D
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George was a great talent and a real gentleman. It was an honor to play with him and to hear him play. Our community has lost one of its true heroes.
Frank Dorritie
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In one of Ursula LeGuinn's novels, a character asks, "Casimir, why do you play the bass viol?", to which Casimir replies, "Because he is the enemy of the feasible."
This could be applied equally to the marching French Horn.
Major props to Lani, Frank and Chris for turning feasibility into reality. After all, the great Phillip Farkas was once a bugler. (As they say, "You could look it up.")
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So, Diva, where did you march? How long? What did you play? Who were your teachers? From which college did you graduate?
Why do you want to teach a drum corps?
Vocals, How many corps Have done it?
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
When Ralph Hardimon "invented" the "dut", it was as a rehearsal technique. Why would anyone use it in performance? It's the equivalent of Dr. Beat, and you wouldn't use him, would you?
I judged a band show in Denver last week. They were dutting all over the place. I explained that, since I was the music judge, I was charged with evaluating both instrumental and vocal sounds. Since this utterance appeared in the show, I assumed it was to be judged for timing, quality, balance... etc .
It was an interesting critique.