BigDale

In '82, the Kilts equipment trailer got into a major accident, which trashed some equipment, my contra included. I got the extreme pleasure of playing a Duratone CB, from Boys of 76, which was just like butter to play. The other guys did not want it because of the satin finish, but I picked it because it played so well. :mmm:

Yes, that was the idea, but I am not sure I agree with the concept. Colts had brass horns and once that laquer wore off, the horns looked terrible. A good player wll get a good sound on most any horn. VK had some pretty mismatched horns those early years into finals--silver K90s, a plain brass K90 prototype with a chromed bell, DEGs and Olds P/Rs in the contraline. We managed to get a pretty good low brass sound, with some good tuning work. Made things much simpler once the horns are matched, but very good hornlines have achieved some very good sounds with mismatched stuff.

I did not think there was much difference, except for the brand. Olds made a great piston/ rotor bugle, Getzen, Smith and others did not. The Ultratone was a good horn, played reasonably in tune and with the use of the half slide, you could get notes that just did not exist on any other horn, other the the french horns. Again, with the 2V, a noticeable difference was there between DEG and King horns, with improvements made by Ziggy Kanstul in '85, using Besson tuba parts. Oddly, unless you paid next to nothing for the G contras, you just wasted money. You will need to upgrade to 3 or 4V eventually, as well as Bb someday, just to stay competitive. It is a sad, but true fact. I still maintain that a mix of G and C horns would be ideal, similiar to Bb and Eb in brass band work, but the "bandardization" of the modern corps was inevitable. Still, those Olds piston/ rotors were so comfortable to play and sounded so good. Just listen to the recordings of the last corps using them and the quality of sound.

Hey, I helped paint those back in '84. And they were ^OO^ TURQUOISE!! ^OO^

Actually, the World Champion drum corps is from Ireland, St. Laurence O'Toole. http://www.slotpb.com/ and the World Champion for the 5th time is from N. Ireland, Field Marshall Montgomery. http://www.fmmpb.com/news.htm#Fifth_World_Title_For_FMMPB Of course, those are pipe bands though! Today, even in the US, there are more pipe bands than drum and bugle corps. What we think of as "drum and bugle corps" did not develop in the UK and continent like it did here. They have corps of drums, which includes fifes and bugles, but I believe the "drum corps" are copies of the American variety. Brass bands are also very big in the old country, but the military bands march in stadiums. Go to Ireland for the pubs and music, not American drum corps! :mmm: Or Horlick Field I suppose! Or a tailgate with Cavalier Ed or TheMadMajor!!!

Huntington Beach!!!

Playing our concert of "Great Gate of Kiev" to the 86 champion Blue Devils. Note the one ageout with no shoes on (sorry Rick South, IT'S A KILT THING!!!). I wish I had a picture of the shoes, with that MacLeod Kilt garter and poem, "An Epitaph to an Old Shoe" laying there. I also wish I had a picture of Rick South going off on me and me saying "sorry, guess you can kick me out now". I remember the BD boys jumping up and down and spiking their shakos. To quote another famous SCV CB from Ohio, my good friend and Phi Mu Alpha brother Dave Beck "Dale, you just won DCI there--they would have never done that for us".

Note kids--you *DID NOT* get your green ageout feather until the Parade of Champions and banquet!!!

:( My ageout picture at Camp Randall in Madison. Right to left, a very young Jim Barany, myself, Marc Goffstein and my little buddy Alejandro Valcazar. Jim was DM of Renegades last year.

^0^ Note the perfect armswing young CBs/ Tubas! Smitty reminded me of that pic all year "oh yeah, look at Dale with the perfect armswing--urgh!"

The SCV 86 CBs section picture, Doug Smith section leader. PRICELESS!!! and it Really ###### off Gail Royer (sorry St. Gail!). That's me, striking an "operatic pose" with sword in hand. :P

VK at Pacific Procession, #5 is now #4 (before we added the other 2 contras) the King and just off the 50 yardline--FOUR!!!!!

B) Worked! Note #5 (that's me!) and no hat on until stepoff. Also note the red velcro, which held our sharkfins and the bulky jackets, where we had our fins tucked in.

Let's see if I can get these to send. Will try individually. Pics are from '84 VK and '86 SCV Atlanta DCI Finals #5 (Big Dale aka "Orchestra Geek") and #10 ("Band Geek") are Kings!

Very sad news indeed. I had the disctinct pleasure of being Bill's drum major for many years in the Kilties Senior. He always played his solos right on and was a great member of the corps. Rest in Peace, Brother.

FITS TOO!!!!! B)

Price is under $100 and Mayra has photos, or you can click on my profile. This is not only a bit of nostalgia, but the future as well. They have been accepted into DCI for the 2007 season! ^0^ B) ^0^

Bobbie, We are OK. This is for our alumni and friends. B) It is a long time coming!

b**bs Hello VK Fans, Thanks to the good folks at VK Youth Arts, the VK jacket is available for all once again. Past members will get their show years sewn on the back (mine says "NBC Chimes Fest '84, Peter Gunn '85"!) and their name and instrument on the front ("contrabass", not tuba!!!). Fans will just get the jacket. Please email Mayra at mayra@vkyao.org for more info and pricing. For those unfamiliar with the jacket, this would be the black silkies that the corps came out with in 1985, with the palm tree logo on the back, the same year we first used red high tops! Now THAT'S ART!!!! 2CoolVK Big Dale 8485

Hey! What are the numbers up to now?

This was an absolute blast last year!!! B)