upperleadlove

You will never need to "play" anything lower than a pedal f. If you ever do encounter a pedal f in a piece of music you should kick both slides out as far as possible (practice this with a tuner so you KNOW where the F is)... Then again if you are just playing pedal tones to warm down or for emboucher excercises(Balanced Emboucher) they should be played using normal fingerings. so from low F# (123), F (1), E(12), Eb(23), D(13, Db(123), C(0)... You can actually go down a whole other octave (Double pedal C!) if applying the BE technique correctly. You may need to lower your jaw and extend it a bit to get down in the pedal range but in order to do it properly you must keep your emboucher set (dont let it get loose and flappy). I suggest you check out the Trumpet Herald website... www.trumpetherald.com There is an entire forum on there devoted to the study of Claude Gordon's Balanced Emboucher technique that goes VERY in depth with pedal tones! Several professional(Manny Laureno, Peter Bond, Bob Odneal -just to name a few) players post on that forum and often have great insight for begginers and amatures alike regarding proper techniques for any task on the horn!

I think "one motion air" is the phrase that you are looking for there. The air is always in or out... in constant motion. Do not cap the breath or take a pause before blowing out after taking a breath. The air is instantly expelled back out after the inhalation. The primary focus is actually the timing of the breath(breathe in time). Theoretically, if you breathe in time the attack will be in time. So if you are standing with your horn at the playing position you would first set the emboucher and leave it, then breathe in through the corners of the mouth (breathe) and then instantly turn the air around and create the articulation (Dah). One motion air is in fact one of the keys to the proper application of the "breathe dah" technique.

I know for a fact that Connor did everything in his power! I was ready to talk to his parents. I had even offered him an incintive to do whatever it takes to get a spot at Crown. It simply did not work out this season. I am not a bando so don't go there and I do have the experience to back up anything that I say. I consider Connor to be a friend... having said that I will also say that he HAS indeed posted some ignorant stuff... having also said that most people here are NICE and either ignore it or explain how something is for the benifit of his knowledge! Connor has more of a passion for drum corps that some people that I have actually marched with.... Leave the kid alone!

Ummm since you make the rules as to what determines greatness I won't comment on the first statement. The Crown brass line is for a fact taught to finish phrases the exact same way that Star was... Is Crown as good at it? No! But they are getting closer. Not to mention the fact that there are obvious similarities in thier concepts of sound that they produce although Crown has it's own unique meathods of style and phrasing(listen to Star 89-90 and Crown 05 back to back...Crown doesn't have the difficulty but they have the sound). WHEN DONNIE VANDOREN HIMSELF IS STANDING THERE TELLING SOMEONE HOW TO BETTER BLEND THIER SOUND TO THE REST OF THE ENSEMBLE OR HOW TO BREATHE AND ARTICULATE I'M PRETTY SURE THAT IS AS CLOSE AS YOU ARE GOING TO GET THESE DAYS. I'm not saying that Crown is Star or is even close to Star and I NEVER WILL! Nor were The Cadets of the late 90's... or the Troopers... or the Crossmen... or anywhere else that Donnie has taught! Why do people bring this topic up every couple of months? As for the Ott trophies.... Star tied for brass in 93.... so technically that is 4 (90,91, 92, 93)! I dare somebody to say something about the bluecoats hornline... Jared won't be able to contain himself! Thank you that is all... now back to your regularly scheduled topic 1. The Cavaliers (not a fan... overwellming return rate + new drum staff) 2. The Cadets 3. Blue Devils 4. Phantom Regiment 5-8 Crown, Madison, Bluecoats, SCV (not in that order) 9. BK (underestimated brass section) 10. Boston 11. Glassmen 12. Up for grabs (I hope Bones makes a comeback... possibly Colts) I think that is all preatty realistic... no fantasy drum corps here

I am very surprised that only one other person has mentioned Memorial Stadium at IU, Bloomington! This past season my corps actually had a couple of rehersal days there.... WOW! That is an incredible venue... very solid acoustics, nice field... That stadium is no stranger to the drum corps activity! I don't think it would actually work for finals... There didn't seem to be much parking and it is kinda in the middle of nowhere. I think it would be great if there was a show there again... especially since the rca dome is going to be demolished to build a new stadium.

But were all 20 of them really playing all of that??? I doubt it... unless someone actually knows and would not care to share?

There was a sequence of numbers at the end of Crown's show.... you should go back and watch it. It all goes by pretty quickly... but it is there! IV-IV-IV, 7-7-7, 6-6-6, 4-4-4

Nick Angelis marched at Star in 93... he played using his tongue in Blast!

I have heard several stories about The Cavaliers doing this... as well as BD! <**> Not cool... or respectful! Anyone else have any tales of flying jolly ranchers???

The one from 04 that sticks out in my mind is Bluecoats, Crown, and Madison. As far as 2005 goes I would have to say the whole 6-9 bracket was prettty darn touchy. I have never noticed any tension between Spirit and Crown the past couple of years... Maybe they have it out for Crown but I am pretty certain that the kids at Crown have nothing but respect and admiration for Spirit and thier traditions. Based on a few stories that I have heard... there was some EXTREME Star/Cavies rivalry in the late 80's, early 90's.

Didn't they throw a few counts of high mark time in the show in 03'? I think it was just the mellos though... I also believe that it was a hype/focus part of thier visual warmup in 04.

... interesting :devin: And to end the Klesch bashing... I think that if something were indeed wrong with MK's arrangements (which there is not at all) one would think that Jimmer would have set him (MK)straight back in the 80's when he was at the Cadets. Since afterall... Klesch did indeed learn a good part of his craft from Jimmer. But if you have had the privledge to meet Jimmer or Michael (which I seriously doubt many of you have) you would realize that they still go about doing things in similar ways. Although they are two totally differant personalities. Jim Prime is one of the most soft spoken people I have ever had the chance to meet (speak softly and write big chords). Whereas Klesch is somewhat arrogant at times... he has confidence in his product and so do the corps that perform it. He writes to the level of talent... I think it must have either been what tubaman said about his rings and trophies... or maybe he was just trying to say that your "MARCHING BAND" sucks! Some day in the possibly near future Michael Klesch will indeed be voted in to the DCI hall of fame for his contributions to the activity and will some day be looked upon just as Jim Prime and Wayne Downey are.

Hmmm... If the judges that DCI currently has can't see the differance then what needs to be done with them? Should DCI give you a call??? I'm thinking a big NO on that one. Execution is not the issue... execution was a major part of the game for both corps. Crown was visually executing in areas of performance better than the Cadets for a small chunk of the season according to your beloved judges. In the end it came down to GE, level of difficulty, and what the program had to offer. Crown got beaten fair and square. To even debate what would happen if the staff of both corps were to switch is totally ludacris. Both corps perform certain things in very distinctive ways because of the traditions that they have established or are trying to establish. Donnie VanDoren has served as a caption head at the Cadets... Did they sound like Star when he worked there? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Rosie Miller worked at the Cavaliers from 94-00... is Crown's guard technique anything like the Cavies? NO! I think that Crown is trying to play its own game with out being compared to other corps... to set itself apart from everyone else. The Cadets have well established traditions and one would think that it would be expected of the staff to uphold those traditions. What if the Cadets visual staff just decided that they would do left foot step-offs from now on? I can only imagine what kind of chaos that would bring to these forums! I do however think that this has been the most random, yet thought provoking thread that I have seen on here in a while. This site is always good for a friendly giggle and I would like to see more threads like this.

Jim ANCONA* is a front ensemble teacher... Although he is indeed the caption head, his area of focus for his very extensive career has mainly dealt with front ensembles. Along with Cassella, Ancona is also a Pearl/Adams clinician... but I doubt that any of thier sponsorships will affect the Cavaliers organization anytime in the near future. They seem to have a very strong relationship with Yamaha.

BD and SCV.... odd year for the west coast ehh???

YES!!! BOTH the Bluecoats and Crown gave the rest of the "big dogs" a run for thier money in certain captions for most of the season. I do not even see Phantom as an issue for either corps. I do believe that both the Bluecoats and Crown were beating the Cadets in visual performance for a good part of the 2005 season. Crown also beat BD in BRASS this past season in Baton Rouge, LA!!! Not to mention Bluecoats STELLAR battery percussion section!!! I would not put ANYTHING past either one of these corps... The more we sit around and deny thier potential the sooner one of them will sneak up on those coveted groups that seem untouchable. I think this has all just become a matter of placing the championship on a pedastal and making it seem impossible to win unless you have all of the seemingly unlimited reasources that some of the top corps have. What ever happend to the underdog???

Biased... NO! Playing favorites... YES! Don't we all do a little bit of that from time to time? I'm just calling it the way I see it... nothing wrong with that. I thought it was a very impressive moment. I will more than gladly add some other moments if it makes you happy. The begining chord stabs of Cavies 2001- very balanced and clean Regiment 2001- opening statement BD 2003-in general Cavies 2004- had several moments BD 2004- also had several moments Cadets 1987- has some of my favorite hornline moments in DCI Cadets 1989- also has some of my favorite moments Glassmen- 2005 in the ballad after the solos when the high brass sustain a chord and the low brass come in under it. Cadets 2005- Dancer in the Dark BD 2001 Star 1993

Crown 2005 end of the opener. Perfect breath... Text book example of breathe dah!!! On the CD's you can even hear someone yell in the silence before the attack. Too bad the exact same breath and attack at the very end of the show did not have the same effect because the percussion had music through the breath. Buh NUHHHHHHHH! :angel: Star 90, 91 I also think that Star 92 is full of good stuff. It just seems like they could hold out a chord for days and not lose any power. I guess I should just say any "Jimmer" chord...

"A Mighty Fortress is Our God" Crown 2005

:wub: I could not agree with you any more on that!!! This is quite possible... but as long as we can agree to disagree, I don't see the harm in it! I think this may be a Gino thing... I noticed it alot with Vanguard 2004 as well. To me it just seems to be the high brass that sounds kind of harsh though. I really enjoy some of the low brass sounds. We may agree on more than you think we do, after all... That truely is interesting... I would trust Jimmer's opinion over most others. Personally, I just don't see the resemblance. Maybe the Cavaliers will do something to change my mind this year. As far as Star and thier concept of sound is concerned... I expect great things from Crown's hornline this year! ^0^

BD 2004??? I guess thats why thier hornline got a 20 in semi's... not to mention that both groups have totally differant concepts of sound! Too bad the green machine just couldn't keep up with BD in 03 :P I'm also gonna disagree with you on this one. IMHO Most of the top corps for the past few years have lacked great balance... Cavies, BD, Even the Cadets at times!!! BD maintains THIER characteristic tone quality though. It may not be YOUR ideal sound, but that is what they go for and they achieve it pretty darn well. The high brass lines of both The Cavies and The Cadets have had a tendancy to sound very "tinny/metalic" (yet it is the most dominant sound in the ensemble) and somewhat thin in recent years... Whatever happend to the days of the mellos dominating the hornline sound and the sops being the icing on the cake, so to speak(Ala Star of Indiana or even some of the late 80's Garfield lines)? Don't take this personally (I'm sure you are a nice person)! You sure do use alot of big words and technical pedagogy mumbo jumbo for a guy that just can't face the facts. The numbers don't lie... they may be a little misconstrued... but they don't lie! I'm pretty sure BD would not have all of those Ott's if they weren't good for something... ^0^ In regards to the actual topic: Cadets 2000 Regiment 2001 Cadets 2001 Cavies 2001 .... Yeah Yeah.... I thought 2001 was a good year! BD 2003 BD 2004 Cavies 2004 Vanguard 2004 Crown 2005 Regiment 2005 I guess I'll throw in a shameless plug for my favorite lines regardless of the years Star 91-93 To me, those lines are the epitome of what a hornline should sound like!

I was just wondering how many of you out there have chosen to immortalize your drum corps experience on your flesh. You are more than welcome to also discuss drum corps body art that you have seen on others. :angel: Edit: I started this thread and I didn't even mention my own tattoo's... I have a nautical star on my left pec (no corps affiliation), and I just got my corps logo in the upper middle part of my back.

First of all.... ^ That man is one of my heros. This is somewhat off topic, yet related... for the past two seasons with my corps a group has come in for a couple of days during spring training to do a study on how being in drum corps could have effects on member's hearing. The expirement involved several random battery and hornline kids wearing a visor with a sensor mounted on it. This sensor would record db levels and then allow the information to be downloaded and analyzed. I wonder what they actually learned by performing this study?

I'm not going to go into great detail.... But I believe that both activities thrive on each other. Without one the other would lose something in some way or another. Having said that... Heck yes I think there are bands out there that could take on some Div I corps!!!