SkyDog

1985 - 1986 Suncoast Sound 1988 & 1990 Velvet Knights 1991 & 1993 Blue Devils 1991 - 1992 Crossmen 1996 Vanguard 1995 - 1997 Madison Scouts

The answer's going to be different depending on whether we're talking about a marching band or drum corps. A drum corps horn line with 50 players is going to be a LOT louder than a marching band with 20 or so flutes & clarinets. For a drum corps, I'd probably like 7-8 snares, 4 tenors, and 5 basses to balance a 50-person horn line. For a marching band with 50 winds, I might reduce that to 4/3/5.

Yeah, the thickness does seem to take some edge off the attack, but I'd guess it's also part of the reason the head's so durable. BTW - According to Remo's web site, the Suedes and Renns are also 7.5+7.5.

The title of the movie already sounds like the name of a Blue Knights show.

If durability is a big priority, the Remo Smooth White Emperor is pretty hard to beat.

I'll go against the grain a little bit and suggest the Articulites. They won't cut quite as well outdoors, but won't sound "tubby" indoors. And if weight is a concern -- as it often is with high schools -- the 10-12-13-14 Articulites actually weigh about the same as other companies' 8-10-12-13 options. With the Articulites, you get the size of a "big block" set at the weight of a "small block" set.

They're using the Stik, as the Cavaliers use XL carriers and hardware. As for Premier... They and Ludwig use XL hardware much like Yamaha and Pearl use Randall May stuff.

...and this one, this one, and this one.

I've just completed my third year of basically building a high school drum line from scratch. What I've tried to do is to keep the exercise program simple and focused. Instead of just throwing a big book of exercises at them, I tried to figure out what concepts I wanted the kids to master in the short term and I picked out an exercise or two to reinforce each concept. Once they become proficient at those, we add something to build upon it. Below is the basic stuff I started with: Eight on a Hand for the basic legato stroke, basic listening skills, figuring out what to do with the non-playing hand, marking time, basic bass & tenor splits... SCV's Thirteen to define tap/accent heights (and to have fun playing something a little funky) The ol' Sanford Double Beat / Triple Beat to introduce multiple strokes After they got the hang of double strokes, we added Huggadiggaburr at very-slow-to-moderate tempos so they could figure out how to play a clean roll. ...and in case it motivate them a little, I threw Ditty into the exercise packet. We've never really touched it other than a segment or two with a student one-on-one, but I wanted them to know there are things beyond Eight on a Hand that we can get around to playing if/when they learn the basics needed to do it right. Since then, we've added (and retired) a couple of exercises. Triplet Diddle and Flam Accent Heights have been added to the book and we'll probably play some sort of Shopping Spree this fall. I'd also like to try something along the lines of SCV's (old?) Stick Control. We could probably stand to do more grids, too, especially to work on timing for the feet. As for fun stuff to play, I tried to take care of that with the show music for the most part.

The kid's good, but no, he couldn't. I think you'd be surprised at some of the talent in open class corps.

Dynasty has incredible customer service. I've never come across another company in any line of business as responsive as they are.

I don't think they've done an all-original show, although their 1992 show did have two short original pieces.

Photos from the Stockton, CA show are linked in this thread.

The lack of posts or lugs looks awkward on the full-size snares, but it actually doesn't look too bad on the "Shorty" 14x10 model. There's a little less "nothingness" between the tension ring up top and the bottom lugs. ...and the logo could definitely use updating.

I was in BDB that year and was just absolutely freakin' blown away by SCV's line in the Concord Pavilion parking lot. Possibly still my favorite line & book of all time.

I agree -- the Reading Buccaneers in particular.

If I was asked to dress up like a clown, I'd walk out. I'm a musician, not an "extra" to set the scene visually. The same goes for my equipment. I'm not going to deface my instrument with some cheesy scene dressing.

From what I can tell by looking at pictures, the snare strainer on Mapex snares looks absolutely identical to the one Dynasty uses.

Most of the Remo drums I've seen have sort of an inverted V cut, similar to 1980s Pearl tenors. Drums with a "weird sound projection hole cut in the front" sounds like the bargain-basement fiberglass drums that used to be sold by McCormick's.

If I remember correctly, Remo bought out or partnered with Legato, an Australian company, for the snare drum design. Legato was producing high-tension snares for pipe bands. The drums were reasonably solid, but tuning was a headache. Not only did they use allen bolts instead of regular lugs, but you had to tune them from the underside of the head. It was really inconvenient. My biggest complaint about Remo's marching drums in general is the shell material. Remo's "Acousticon" is basically a pressed mix of cardboard and resin. Under tension and with a little help from the elements and stray mallets, it tended to delaminate, particularly at the bearing edge on tenors. Once the bearing edge started to go, the drum is beyond repair. Remo still uses the stuff to make drums, but it probably holds up a lot better indoors. As for odd-looking drums on eBay... Remo's tenors looked pretty normal, but I've seen some Stingray tenors on eBay and I'm wondering if those might be what you're talking about. They're fiberglass drums whose shells are angled forward for projection.

I've got no problem with some of their drum set stuff, but their marching tenor heads are awful IMO. The second ply in the playing area just doesn't seem to make sense -- the playing area on tenors is off-center, so the second ply is going to affect tuning unevenly. And their 6" head also has the off-center playing area even though spocks are generally played in the center. But hey... to each his own. If you like 'em, more power to you. My personal favorite tenor head is the Remo Renaissance Emperor. Very tonal, with a reasonably bright attack. Those things sing when they're in tune. The down side is that it takes some daily attention with a drum key to keep 'em in tune. (If you've got an inexperienced group and nobody to constantly wrench on the drums, they might not be the best choice.) And some people with an aesthetic hang-up don't like the yellowish color. Some other good tenor options: Remo Smooth White Emperor (like Adam mentioned above). Decent sound, low maintenance, and VERY durable. The Evans MX Frost is also a decent head. For basses, if you want to go the pre-muffled route, the Remo Powermax is a great choice. It's basically a Smooth White Ambassador (a very good head) with a muffling ring. I also like the sound of Evans' bass heads, but I'm not crazy about the muffling in their MX heads -- it has a tendency to make a buzzing noise. If someone wants to use Evans bass heads, I'd recommend the MS1 heads so you can muffle them yourself. At one of the schools in town, I've noticed their 3-4 year old Evans MX1 bass heads have become brittle, which is something to consider if you don't change heads every year or two. There are a bunch of different snare head choices out there. I'm currently using Evans MX Whites and I'm very happy with them. The Remo White Max and Black Max also have good reputations. If you want something higher pitched (in the "dogs and dolphins" audible range), the Remo Cybermax is probably more to your liking. If you want something with a warmer sound, but still a Kevlar/fiber head, give the Evans Hybrid a listen. If you want to go even lower in pitch, you're into Mylar heads. Since the Premier Marathon is no longer manufactured, you'd have to settle for a Remo Powerstroke 77. For a snare side head, people will generally come down in one of two camps: Mylar or Kevlar. Personally, I like lots of snare response, so I tend to stick with Mylar even though they require more tuning attention. The Ludwig Xtra Thin is a great head, as are the Remo Marching Ambassador and Evans MX3. For those that like the dry, high-pitched sound of Kevlar snare side heads, you can choose between the Evans MX5 and Remo Falam II. -------------------- Or to make the selection process easy, here are my choices for your gig: Snare: Evans MX White batter, Remo Hazy Marching Ambassador snare side (since they're only $4.95 at Steve Weiss) Tenor: Remo Smooth White Emperor Bass: Remo Powermax

I'm personally not too fond of using 13" snares outdoors, which rules out the 13" by 9" Pearl Articulite. Dynasty has a shallower 14" x 10" drum whose sound I like, though. I honestly don't think it sounds too different from their full-sized 14" x 12" drum.

I didn't speak to my parents at all. One year I returned home to find out I didn't have a home -- we had been evicted!

The front ensemble counts against your membership total, so moving people to the pit wouldn't keep you in Class A. From the DCA web site: "Class A corps must consist of no more than 65 members. This number includes brass, percussion, color guard, drum major, and pit. The honor guard would NOT be counted as long as no member of the honor guard participates as one of the members of the above stated."

You're correct. There was a tie between Vanguard, Star of Indiana, and the Cavaliers. SCV had the higher GE percussion score.