krazyivan

cant remember. didn't pay much attention to the water keys. One is newer than the other. The newer one had a alot of back pressure on it. to the point if i would have kept playing it i would have had to quit playing after maybe an hour or two because i would have got a killer head ache. but the 2nd one was older don't know how old though. but it was really nice to play.

I was once told you dont so much play mello as you tame it. just learn to deal with it and force it to do what you want it to do. They are like small children some times the horn will work with you other days it will fight you with everything it has. But it has made me a better musician playing one. Wouldn't trade mello for the world.

Where did you come across that? It's just a whole lot of niceness. As for kanstul mellos they are sexy, but their price isn't I've played with saving up the money to get one a few times but just can't justify $1200 for a horn right now. I would like to play one once though to see what they are like, I've tried the kanstul sops and like them but never played one of their mellos. But don't knock dynasty, I've played 2 dynasty mellos, one felt really tight, but when i picked up a 2nd one it was nice and open, pumped volume and sound and had a really nice range. Looked like it had seen better days, but still a good horn. Had to use it last practice because my normal mello was at the shop getting some work done to it. I normally play a getzen g mello (yes you read that right), and I love it. So nice sound is awesome, no issues with control on it, you can push the volume to 11 with it and the tone won't get ugly. If you can find one some how get it.

I know I might catch some heat for this but I use a Schilke 6a4a. Started to use Schilke when I played trumpet in high school. Started on a 13a4a that was my older brother's then got a 14a4 and then the 6a4a when right before switching to mello. Like the endurance never had any issues with getting low on it or getting a good tone. But I do have a question and very happy I found this thread. Lately I have been wanting to get a new piece with a darker tone to it. But I am worried about losing the range I get with my 6 and for some reason schilke is the only piece I can play on with out it killing my lips quick. I used Bach till I switch to the Schilke 13a4a and noticed with in 3 days I could play longer with a better tone. Is there any pieces out there that will allow me the dark tone with out losing the range or endurance? I think my 6 has the schilke #4 rim on it. so if i can find something with that or something close to it. maybe even with a little more cushion. Any suggestions?

Now I really wish I could get to the classic this year. Drum Corps, Murphys and hockey. That is a complete weekend rolled up into one day. Hope they show pre-game on tv. GO BOSTON The Pens might by my team but my 2nd team will always be who ever is playing the Flyers. And it doesn't hurt Boston has my favorite player. Mark Recchi.

Don't break the ranks. The first thing I learned in marching band was no one breaks the ranks. If they do first is either a harsh yell of DRILL or MOVE if they do it anyway, move into them. Only exceptions are the old, the young(8 and under), and people who are injured. Last year during a local parade my corps was marking time waiting to move and a fire cheif and his wife broke our ranks and they appologised as they went across. But they were older so we just staired at them. But the group of drunken people weren't as lucky. Whole corps took a step forward into them. The one yelled back they pushed me, the horn line started to chant don't break the ranks, and our dictor yelled back they were lucky we were only marking time when we took the step. It's something you just don't do. The only ones other than the old young and hurt are medical people. the rest can wait.

While i am not old enough to have seen the orginal airings of the muppet show. When i was little and watched reruns, animal was my favorite. And a reason why i wanted to play drums. and yet i play mello instead. same concept i guess. complete lunatic and able to go just crazy while playing ^0^

I think alot of it also has to do with ego. No one likes to fail and if you have two options of marching with a new corps or not at all then the choice is to march the new corps is easier. But when you know of other groups with in 40-100 miles that you can reach with in 2 hours the choice is harder. And i think that is where your inner drive comes out and you develop a sort of ego of, "as long as I am here I will do everything in my power to make sure this group doesn't go under." Ego drive what ever you call it, you end up witha small voice growing louder to the point it is screaming at you to work past your limit and push out the frustration. It teachs you what you are made of. And you know that reward will be all that much sweeter when you get to it.

Granted I've only been with 1 corps for the 7 years i have been marching, and it is a newer group I can't see being anywhere else right now. Part of it is because of how close it is to where I live and the other part of it is I know how much ever member matters and i refuse to leave and watch it die from another group. As long as it is around I will do what ever I can to help move the group closer to being a better one, one that more people know about. When we made it to championship weekend in 05 it was one of the best weekends I can remember. Part of the fun was because we were so small you get to know everyone there. It seems like the bond that brings you back is tighter. You work hard all year and feel the need to be the best you are because you know that every little thing you do brings the group closer to where you want it to be. It's a struggle yes, and there are times you ask yourself why you do it. But that reward at the end is so much sweeter when you look at the hard work you went though the entire year. It really is like being in a family, you know you play a big part in it no matter how minor you feel it might be. And if anyone were to ask who I would like to with and it would be MVE.

a tribute to techno.

atari 2600 greatest hits. although the drill would be pretty cool. life sized space invaders and pac-man!(wackawackawackawacka)

YES! that would be most excellent.

I was "drafted"(what a few if us ended up calling how we got into the activity.) no, seriously i was. My sophomore year of highschool my band director wanted to start an indoor line and a bunch of us horn players and a coupple of woodwind players signed up thinking it would be fun. after finding out more people seriously wanted to do it than the school had drums for (or wantend to buy) we were asked as a group if we wanted to join a local drum and bugle corps. Our DM was already a drummer there and i had signed a list the year before as a freshman but decided i had too much going on to do it(i knew what drum corps was because of a airing of finals on PBS from the summer before i went to highschool). but when the band director looked at a coupple of us horn players we were told if we didn't show up we would be drug out of our houses. and when i laughed he pointed at me and yelled i know where you live. you live less than 2 minuts from where we practiced if you don't show up i will be at your house and drag you out, your parents will let me do it too. So since a coupple of my cloest friends were going to do it i figure what the heck. That was 7 years ago. and i'm still do it. and right now i think it's the only thing keeping my head locked on. Thanks G.

Last winter i was hanging my coat up at work and getting ready to go into the file room(i work in the courthouse in downtown pittsburgh pa) and my one supervisor walks out of the room his desk is at and he looked at me, and the first thing i said was that i was one time because the day before i was late a coupple of people told me about being late. and he said that was good, and he looked at my coat and asked what the design was on the back and he streached the coat out so he coudl read the back of it and before i could say anything he looked at me and went "where is your corps located at?" and i told him where we practiced, and he looked at me and said he thought that there were no more corps in the area. so i asked how he knew about drum corps and he told me his cousin marched with the sharpsburg cadets and that he spent alot of time hanging around the corps and was friends with alot of the members. then this summer i was talking with the one intern and she asked me what i did on my free time and when i told her i marched drum corps she got really excited and told me that her exboyfriend would take her to the local shows and alot of times they would watch the DCI DVDs at his house and that he had tried out for crossmen but didn't make it. twice last fall i also had people talk to me because of my jacket. one was at the local highschool football game. i went to watch the highschool for the town i live in play the catholic school i went to. and when i walked in ont he home side like i always did i heard a voice behind me yell "hey express shouldn't you be sitting over on the visiting side(the visiting side was my highschool)". so i turned around and went how did you know i went to the visitng school and when i realised it was the mother of one of the kids that was in the group when i first joined i knew how, but she laughed and said because almost anyone with that jacket on is from the visiting side right?(which when her kid was in the corps it was right. i joined with about 9 of my friends and my hs band director and asst. band director were staff). the 2nd time i was at a band festival to see our one snare player and her hs band. and when i was walking back to my seat a guy behind me yelled "yea! drum corps!. where are the bucs when you need them?"i was in my mon valley express jacket(only corps i have ever been in) but it was cool to see atlest someone there knew what drum corps was. the band we ended up sitting in front of i coudl hear them asking each other if anyone knew what drum corps was. and some of the guesses they had were really off the wall.

I'm sitting here reading this thread, and I can't understand the whole DCI vs. DCA and the East Coast(mainly NE) vs. West Coast/every one who isn't EC. granted i'm still a fresh snotty nosed green horn compaired to alot of people here. i've been in the activity for only 6 years(this up comming year will be my 7th year). which is not short but considering alot of people here have been playing in corps for 20+ years it is a short amount of time. I'm sure alot of you have been using the same mouth piece for longer than i've been playing a horn. But in my opion i can't see DCI having intrest in all age as a bad thing. I know some of the arguments that DCI eats corps up and spits them out and if they have troubble staying competitive and in the activity, well thats just too bad and how things happen. But i also hear alot of people saying they wish both sides of the activity would work together. But now it seems like since DCI wants to open doors, but now some people want the activty to remain seperated into JR AA. Maby some one can explain what has been going on to the others who are like me who can't understand why DCI is basicly starting to sound like the anti-christ of drum corps. If the two are able to work together but as seperate groups then i see nothing wrong there. It seems like it would be kind of fun to share the field with other groups who share the same feelings as you do. Be them junior senior all age or alumni. And since the juniors have the ablity to practice all summer long maby going up against them will push the all age groups to their limits so that way the all age side grows stronger and losses the image i heard about as being nothing but people who can't march anymore but don't realise it yet. If this helps both groups grown then how can this be bad. More importantly if this bridges the gap between the two and helping the all age groups to grow because more people who be introduced to them then i can't see how that would be bad at all. But like i said i have only been around for a short time and have only been with one group and haven't been lucky enough to have had alot of the exsperiances of being in different groups in different parts of the country at different times in the history of the activity like alot of other people here. so it just might be my freshness.