BigW

The good ones are pretty heavy. Not that a modern marching Tuba isn't. Neither are particularly maneuverable, but at least you don't have to worry about slides....

They made the switch? I know for anything like that to change with OSU, it has to pass through some kind of special committee that makes those decisions. Pretty involved.

Especially with the I-Touches. Man that had to have bit.

I can fake slide technique, and on those old horns, which I own one of and played in period- they're easy to grease around because of the build quality. I practice on the P-R to make playing the alumni corps Kanstul easier.

If any of the lead baris at Westshore from 1979 to 1983 would have been asked just that, 4 of us would have gladly taken a crack at it. Kind of a crazy question. 3 of us were College Trombone majors and I was crosstrained from Euphonium by a great private teacher and can fake the slide pretty good myself.

As a Low Brass Man, spot on in regards to the timbre. The thing is, the Marching French horns- waaaaal.... there are issues. The old Getzen French horns are pretty much thought of as wall decorations because they're so awful. Only two guys were ever thought of as able to actually make real music on them, Pepe Notaro, and, if you're lucky enough to hear Danny Fitzpatrick when he gets his out for fun. Two legends. The newer ones, arguably, the French horn mouthpiece is a bit risky for field use, small diameter, sharp rim, with the kinds of physical challenges in modern visual design, better off with a Mello/trumpet style mouthpiece I'd think. The Trombonium bugles were used for like one month of one season IIRC around 1979-1981 and ditched by 27 and Madison IIRC. King makes the marching Flugabones which aren't bad- but, my guess is they're eschewed by the DCI units because they just can't project broadly like a Bari or Euphonium can. More piercing, less sweet and deep. Regarding an earlier post, yeah for some of the Kenton solos, you'd prefer a Trombone to get that "feel" right, though one of my old comrades who plays T-Bone professionally could always get that sound on his old King Bari.

OSU doesn't use French Horns, they use old-style cross body Altos. Competing? The problem with the high step/prance is this, in all seriousness- Drill velocity is glacial, and would put them at a disadvantage there if they used it throughout the program. They do what they do extremely well, it doesn't necessarily translate into the competitive end of the activity nor is it really intended to. Does it enthrall 100k people at the Horseshoe, get a buttload of YouTube hits and positive publicity for OSU because their shows are done well and entertaining as heck? You bet!

I did notice. I do think it's that kid from a couple of years ago.

Agreed. No way will the visual people want to deal with Trombone issues, and the French Horns are also more than a bit difficult to move and project with. They're definitely gonna use them with mikes for specific solos.

My problem with Isaac's is not the food, it's the confusing names for all the sammiches! Listening to my Frank Zappa Channel on Pandora as I get ready to head out for dinner. Re-Gyptian Strut on now!

Have to pass this on. been down recently, just exhausted, cold, depressed. Was working through it, and I was having lunch at the West Shore Plaze Neato Burrito when I realized they were playing the beginning of Frank Zappa's "Joe's Garage", it was like flipping a switch. The guys working there were shocked some guy like me knew the words. Lots of classics sung by the corps from the Part I album BITD.

"the corps being ran by (for lack of better words) "grown ups" that have no idea what they are doing" Yeah- there have been cases of that, and they don't last long. The wording of the entire statement makes me think Peter Pan wrote it. Corps that ARE successful ARE ran by "grownups" (age irrelevant, maturity counts here) who DO know what they are doing. What's the business plan? That's the main issue. Corps who fail in general don't have a solid plan in place to ensure long term viability. Also, if you want sponsors, I'd think they'd want to see those kinds of things in place with responsible, knowledgeable people taking care of it. And I'm a smart enough "grown-up" to tell you I don't have an answer in that area. I'm smart enough that if I wanted to start an organization, I'd find people who were able to do just that for the corps. I'd make sure the right people were taking care of the business end and doing it well. Most corps fall into problems when they're ran entirely by, to be blunt,... people like me, people who have the skills to take care of the creative and on field/educational issues, but aren't skilled at making sure the corps has reliable transportation, the staff is paid, the equipment is in good repair and well maintained, there's lunch and dinner ready after and during practice and the money is there to cover it and cover any possible and well, likely emergencies. It doesn't matter how cool the show is, how talented the kids and staff are if you end up broke halfway through the season. Sometimes, being "grown up" is knowing your strengths and weaknesses, knowing how to delegate authority to the right people because you might not be skilled at a certain aspect or aspects of running a corps and you'd be crazy and delusional if you thought you were, and understanding there's more to this than an initial concept and idea.

That could be a whole topic of discussion in and of itself when considering the Stanford Marching Unit Technicans et al.

Thanks for that link. Seems SDCA has some issues in getting their message out....

I don't have time to totally dissect this, but there are some red flags- wasn't there a similar move a couple of years ago by someone in this region to start something up and was found to be a HS student? This sounds too familiar in certain aspects. I am familiar with the FFA model, growing up in rural PA and teaching in upstate NY. Gone unsaid in the comments was that from my observation, the well-run FFA chapters had an incredibly talented, extremely professional, top-notch vo-ag educator that guided and advised that program. At WCU we had the student Field Operations Council, I believe it was dismantled later. It worked well, BUT-- the members of the FOC, including myself, all had several seasons of experience in DCA and DCI units, being taught by incredible educators. We were ready to go, we had been trained to teach. You want names, I can provide them as to who was on that FOC with me. Great people. The point was that we had experience as performers. Another point is this: Most corps now sell the educational experience and professional, knowledgeable staff as a reason to be there. No one wants to be used as guinea pigs. Usually staff learns the hard way apprenticing with a HS program first or by getting an education degree. John is right- Sound Sport is a better option. Haven't heard beans about SDCA for some time on DCP. Have there been any SDCA organizations who are or have moved on and grown? Seems like there is talk, a lot of talk, a lot of this and that but no real growth or results I know of. It could be that they're not promoting themselves as well as they should- or- nothing much is happening. I have to run to work, but I'll discuss the final red flag later. I'm not sure whether I should be insulted, amused, bemused, entertained, or a combination of all the above in regards to that issue.

"That Chapter 6 Guy". Kind of like the superhero arch enemy of the supervillainous "Higher Organizational Person".

My guess is the problem they have is most of the bands from their area that would be likely entries- aren't they still CoB affiliates? Kind of wierd how certain pockets exist like around Chambersburg and Lancaster as well as some of NJ.

Thanks for Sharing the Argonne link- pretty stiff and capable brass ensemble for that era to say the least....

Looked at recaps, your show was wild in its own way, G3... Wow. The closest show I've ever done, period. Trusting everyone to do their job was the key to it. From the looks of it, the Biglerville kids were a lot more exciting then a very, very good MZB. Rick Hillborn still directing there? Good guy.

Being a Low Brass/Euphonium major, one thing also had to have me think- How much are you working to transition yourself in two ways- 1: Being comfortable with valves and with the different bore, resistance, and tone quality as well as intonation issues a Baritone or Euphonium gives as compared to a trombone? I started on Euphonium and learned Trombone around your age, and there is a difference in a lot of the technical approaches- legato playing, etc. And don't think Trombonists can't learn these things-- Three of the Lead Baris I played with and still play with 2 of them in alumni corps were Trombonists, I was the exception. 2: I do know BITD it was also an advantage to be fluent in Treble as well as Bass Clef, and to be honest, lead parts are a lot easier to read in TC than because of the ledger lines. It may not hurt you to be agile in that way. Other good people have said much the same thing I'll say now-- Find a place where you feel like you fit in and belong and are valued as a member and comrade in crime. As I have said many times here, find a place like I did and have. They keep the seat on the end for me at alumni corps, they remembered 30 years later that was where I always sat (Mike and John preferred to be 'inside' the section and felt more comfortable listening across the section that way, Bruce and I didn't care). That is the kind of place where you want to be.

The two kids from Biglerville really did a nice job at practice, I'm happy they're on board the ship. And the band's pretty beast for its size. Not afraid to do what is needed to make things happen musically.

Yeah glasses, rain, fogged up, was a mess. Speaking of the Bucknell show, I do remember '79 was one where I think they got part of the show in before the conditions got too bad, we had a real good run that ended up sorta negated because of the weather. Modern Artificial surfaces are so much better now, and I'm always happy to see contests scheduled for them. The old tartan turf stuff could be problematic. The Meadowlands surface was really bouncy, and some of them when wet were non-existent and all you felt was concrete. How you played football on those in rain-- all I can think of is pain, and a lot of it. 1981 AL at Nickerson Field in Boston, we did that spin turn and came down on our knees and the spray from the wet field was wild, and so was the "OWTCH!" when we hit the wet turf.

Jim or Fran would remember, I thought it was the Brick show with the generator and the exploding temporary lights to go along with the rainstorm. I do remember being on the field and thinking as we're playing the show in the back of my mind, what next could make this even worse than it was, and there went the lights.

Sad but makes logical sense. Big community event in place for many years. Problem is once you lose one, hard to ever get it back. People move on to other things to present and do.