Brad T.

Well, many of you will be pleased to know that Dynasty has ended production of marching brass and bugles. Parts are also NLA from Dynasty. The Bb/F marching brass can still be ordered direct from Weril in Brazil, however the horn cost plus shipping would kill any benefit to their horns. Kanstul is in apparent financial trouble from rumblings I've heard, so hopefully they can pull through. Sadly Yamaha and Jupiter have put all the other names (minus King) out of business with their ridiculous price points, sponsorships, and package deals. This is a shame because I find Yamaha and Jupiter to both be garbage. I haven't played a Yamaha marching only tuba, but their 4/4 convertible in concert setup played like absolute @$$. The tone was thin, and it felt like playing into a sewer pipe, no back pressure in the low end, no intonation in the high end. I was sorely disappointed by this horn. I have also played the Jupiter marching tuba, AKA the really bad clone of Zig Kanstul's BBb 5/4 marching tuba. Aside from the fact you can push dents in and out of the brass with your bare hands and gentle pressure, the bell rim gets flat on every horn I've seen. Playing wise, it was a tremendous disappointment. There's nowhere for your air to go. The sound presence is just not there. I haven't played King marching brass aside from the K series line of bugles which are basically the Rolls Royces of non-chromatic marching brass (played a K-20 and K-90, own a K-50 and K-70). I also own a number of DEG/Dynasty bugles. Used to own a 3v 4/4 DEG Contra. It was an average horn. I had to use a small mouthpiece to get any volume out of it. I've also played the giant 5/4 4 valve DEG Contra bugle. That's a great horn. Deep tone, full presence, edgy with more volume. I love Kanstul brass. I've played many of their bugles and some of their regular horns, and everything they build plays pretty much as I expect. The Kanstul bugles and Bb/F marching brass are all based loosely on the K series bugles, so their characteristics are similar. I really think, aside from the copious G vs Bb arguments here, that the issue with sound production in corps these days is the inferior horns being used. The last time I heard a tuba line I could hear clearly was Madison 2010 with 20 tubas. All the corps rushed to get synths on the field, and the reason is clear, to me at least: to cover up the lack of body these horns provide. I've stopped by Cadets rehearsals and they sound amazing. But they are lacking a volume and presence I am expecting from such talented musicians. The synths add that presence back in. Spirit has released a few clips of ensemble and even the crappy little clips had a certain magic to them! I could hear their tubas loud and clear and the high brass had that sizzle. It was refreshing.

From what I've heard, Jewel City did not pass OC Evaluation. They decided to continue as Sound Sport, but a week later decided to shut down for this season, citing difficulty with rehearsal sites and scheduling. Not sure what is happening with the kids who signed up.

I have it on good authority (the until-recently VP of Marketing and Sales for Dynasty) that brass sales are alive and well. Marching brass is built by Weril in Brazil while bugles are built in Lake Geneva. The USAF Academy just recently (within the past year or two) seems to have purchased a whole new line of Dynasty G bugles.

G vs Bb is in fact a minor 3rd lower. From a high brass standpoint this allows less seasoned players to more easily scream high notes. There's a mathematical science to it that deals with the harmonics of the horn and all that, which I'm not really all that sure about. From G to F is actually a major 2nd higher. G mellophones and G sopranos have the same amount of tubing and therefore the same partials and theoretical range. In a G corps, there really isn't a true soprano voice since the G soprano is closer in tube length to an Alto trumpet than a soprano trumpet. That's why most soprano parts are written and performed quite high. This is also why G mellophone parts seem to soar above some soprano sections. From a low brass standpoint, the baritone voice is usually arranged higher than a traditional baritone part to keep the voicing from getting to close to the contras. Also, both the G baritone and G Euphonium are only a major 2nd higher in pitch than an F tuba. This allows the Euphonium especially to take on a voice of its own as either a Contra double, solo voice, or whatever the case may be. The GG contrabass isn't technically a member of the tuba family (not having descended from the Saxhorn line of chromatic instruments) but for arranging purposes, it is the lowest pitched brass instrument in mass production. A three valve contrabass has a usable range down to Db1 if you are familiar with the musical number notation. The less familiar 4 valve GG contrabass has a usable range to A0 (both of these are discounting pedals and false tones which not all players can do). Keep in mind a standard 3 valve Bb tuba can play down to E1 and a 4 valve can play to C1 (also omitting pedals and false tones). This gives a chromatic G bugle horn line an average potential range from D1 to D6 or more.

I'm not going to spoil the entire show coming up this weekend, but if you're a fan of swing style arrangements, this show is chock full of it. Our closing piece channels a very Stan Kenton feel. This week's show also caters to the football crowd. Our interim director, who hasn't really worked with the marching band very extensively in the past, is quite pleased with our progress this season. One of the things he has been focusing on was also mentioned here: the rhythm in the French National Defile (Le Regiment). It is certainly sounding much better than in previous years!

Excellent follow ups! The question about kids in the OSUMB doing auditioning for DCI and not making the cut is something I cannot answer because I just do not know. I am actually curious about that myself now and may try to get an answer. I would have to say it is a rare situation that someone from the OSUMB would not make a DCI corps simply due to the training that OSU gives in time management, flexibility, and quick memorization of music. I don't have any DCI experience myself, so I cannot personally compare a DCI tour to OSUMB rehearsal. The majority of my comparisons come from other peoples' stories and social media posts showing tour daily schedules. Bloo's Tilt show was interesting to me. I'm not really a fan of most recent DCI shows but the music, drill, and impact was all very fascinating and entertaining to me. I however don't think it would be received very well by OSU fans. OSUMB fans would love the musicality and expression, the drill would be received marginally well by band fans, but to the average rear end in the seat, it would miss that huge impact that has been in shows recently. I was also in the band prior to the recent popularity, and there were times that the stands would be half full to watch us. We did some "cutting edge" style shows those years too. We put an entire rock band on a stage in the center of the field that rocked out to Rolling Stones music, we featured a Jazz singer on a Ray Charles themed show, and so forth. Much of the drill was composed of "diamond cutter" drills, step twos, "flower petal" drills... Lots of symmetrical sets and designs that are still seen performed by the Aggie Band. These charts were boring to the fans. We would do an occasional picture, as the band had done for decades before. It really wasn't until the movie themed show we did in 2006 that we experimented with animated pictures. The crowd went wild when the band formed the Titanic and sank it into a blue tarp ocean, from which the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean rose up. The crowd went wild for those formations, and a new tradition was born. I think animated picture drill is so successful for the band because unlike corps who have really shed their militaristic roots, the band is very much rooted in military bearing, so flat emotions, 1000 yard stare, and no emotion after a successful solo or feature are the standard fare. The only way the OSU band tells its story is through music and drill. Corps have the luxury of narration, guard, dancing, props, and so forth. The only props that are used in an OSUMB halftime typically consist of fire extinguishers and painted banners. The story isn't told on the expression of the musicians, but rather the forms on the field. Lastly, drum corps have been doing the one show thing for decades. I appreciate your comparison of a corps to a traveling troupe. That is something I hadn't considered before. You also make a point about volume and tone quality in regards to perfecting a single show. But I feel that if you can do those things for one show, those attributes of musicianship should transfer over to multiple shows of varying style. And lastly, one person correctly stated that I was describing the OSU band schedule to demonstrate that OSU doesn't rehearse much more than other bands during the school year. The difference is that students are expected to put in about 25-30 hours of additional practice time in per week. The big difference between most colleges and OSU is that students don't try out for the OSUMB for fun and games or to "let their hair down," if you will. I am in the band, and also working a 40 hour a week job. I don't have much time for anything else because band takes up so much free time. I wouldn't have it any other way, because it has. retained been a bucket list thing that I wanted to do (not planning on dying anytime soon by the way).

Played a Jupiter, was not impressed. Played a Yamaha 201 tuba in high school, also was not impressed. Never tried a King System Blue, maybe those are alright. Never played a Bb Dynasty either.

So I've been following this post lately and finally decided to speak. As a former member of the OSUMB (2005-2006) and now current member of the OSUMB (2014), the level of hard work and dedication it takes to be in the band is far more than in many drum corps. Most people just assume OSU is another college band that pumps out campy shows. The show themes are selected by students at the end of the previous school year. The season begins in June with twice weekly practices that cover typical school songs and drill fundamentals. All band members go through a rigorous tryout process during the first week of August that includes one playing audition and four marching auditions. There were two brand new candidates this year try out on Sousaphone that marched DCI. One did Blue Stars, the other Cavaliers. A summer of competitive marching and playing did not give them enough of an edge to make the band. Neither of those kids made it. We routinely have band members who march in DCI. Corps represented over the past few years include Cavaliers, Bluecoats, Glassmen, Madison Scouts, and Carolina Crown. Once the band is selected, they rehearse for nearly 12 hours a day for two and a half weeks until school starts. These rehearsals teach the basics of the Pregame show as well as the first halftime show. Once school is in session, the band rehearses for two hours a day. Everything else is done on personal time. Most shows are learned in 5-10 class days, depending on the football schedule. The music and charts are handed out on Monday, and performed either that Saturday or the following Saturday. Every show is written in a different style to expand the musical horizons of the students in the band. There are swing charts, classical charts, modern charts, etc. The band typically refrains from playing pop/top 40, there's another Ohio college that does that plenty. The band has a huge following not because of the football team, but rather because of their continued quality. Some shows that the band plays are not always as wildly popular with the crowds as others. Many alumni of the band have gone on to join the Brass Band of Columbus, which is a competitive British style Brass Band. I will admit that even at OSU, not all of the instrument professors are totally sold on their students being in the band. Mostly it is because of the time commitment, not because of anything else. People have said they wouldn't mind seeing OSU do something more "corps style." Truth be told, OSU has continued to perform shows in a consistent style since the 1970s. I believe I posted before links to DCI shows from the 70s and shows from the OSUMB of the same era. Similar style and content really. Perhaps it should be the corps that begin to emulate programs like OSU. Perhaps then it wouldn't be the same few of us attending shows. The style of show that is DCI today loses the average audience member, and even loses me as a drum corps performer. Shows that require audience thought or seek to evoke some hidden emotion do nothing to the average person in the stands. OSU didn't gain attention in media outlets on six continents by playing an avant garde show featuring synths, dancers, and a pit. They gained attention by learning a show in 5 days and performing familiar drill and music to captivate the audience. This notion that OSU or other college bands aren't educational while drum corps is, is questionable to me. Just as many of you don't see the benefits of playing "pop" charts, I don't see the benefit of playing the same 5 warmup chorales and the same 12 minutes of music everyday, for 12-16 hours a day, for nearly three months. The only thing that is being proven is that the corps members can learn and perfect a single show with a single style of performance. The flip side to that is drum corps do something that I wish OSU could do, and that is to play really loud, really well. The OSU band should be louder than any DCI corps simply because of the numbers. The biggest DCI hot line has what, 70-80 horns? OSU has 168 horns on the field. At any rate, as someone who performs in the OSU band, has performed in a DCA corps, won a DCA I&E medal, is staffing a DCI SoundSport team, and performing in and staffing a new WGI Winds team, I do appreciate the many facets of the marching arts. To say that a college band doesn't work hard because of the type of show they do is not giving the group any credit where credit is due. That's akin to saying that Pioneer doesn't work as hard as Carolina Crown and the evidence is in the scores. That is simply not true. Both corps work extremely hard and give their kids experiences and memories they'll never forget. I digress, this is a topic that I am very passionate about. I will entertain reasonable questions...

That's the reality of modern art. You mention the degrees. Remember the average age of a DCI performer is around 20. The overwhelming majority of these performers are music education, music performance, or some other type of visual/performing art major. The product being put out is worked and refined by staff members who come with long lists of credentials; BMEs are almost a necessity to staff a line. The nature of the staff and students in a World Class drum corps puts them on a similar level as a collegiate marching band. The exception being that a college marching band doesn't usually meet until August and often only rehearses 2-3 hours a day anywhere from 3-5 days a week. This aspect of a more "educated" staff and student base leads itself to drum corps as an art form becoming more of a high brow art form. Something you would expect to find performed at a museum of modern art. I for one, hate modern art. I could throw paint at a board, glue garbage to it, and call it art by assigning random meanings to everything. That's what I get out of today's drum corps. The show no longer is about entertaining the casual audience member. Few corps even play recognizable music anymore. Today it is practically considered kitsch to play a recognizable piece of music from the history of drum corps, and unheard of to play anything performed/written within the past 5 or so years, unless it was written by an obscure artist. So many corps spend good money to commission original works loosely based on themes of classical music. There is a far greater focus on emoting to the audience. Music is about telling a story, sure, but good musicians can tell the story beginning to end through their music. Today's corps tell part of a story, but rely on the audience to fill in the gaps and missing parts. When I see a Top 12 corps (with few exceptions), I'm reminded of my former instrument professor before I dropped out of music school. He always asked me "What is the piece trying to describe? Tell me the story." I'm not a story teller, which is why I didn't make the cut in music school, and why I find modern drum corps so very boring. I am not the only person that feels this way! I think back to 2010 Madison Scouts. The audience at the show I saw them at were on their feet cheering within the first 30 seconds of the show. Few people actually stood and cheered any other corps that night, mostly because there was no connection with the audience. A typical drum corps audience is parents, friends, family, alumni, potential recruits, and fans of all ages. The people with no musical background, such as parents, friends, and family, have no clue about deeper meaning, and simply just cheer when something the like is done on the field. A blasting company front playing a recognizable tune is far more effective in gathering attention and interest than a 3-D pyramid drill done during an extended pit and battery feature. The 3-D pyramid gathers half hearted applause from the parents, while the only folks left foaming over such a drill are drill writers, modern drum corps fans/recent alumni, and avant garde aficionados. Part of my dislike for modern drum corps is based in my personal music upbringing. I attended a small high school with a not very good band in the early 2000s. None of the other schools we played against had a competitive band. Most schools did band festivals (no trophies or awards at all, just play the show), or had to share stadiums with multiple high schools and therefore couldn't go to festivals since many football games were played on a Saturday afternoon or evening. None of the schools had pit equipment, or expansive color guards, and few even had drum majors. Most bands were conducted by their director, and featured a dance line or twirlers. Our drill was often symmetrical, and we always played shows with recognizable music: Classical hits, Latin, Broadway, Rock, Americana, etc. A lot of our influence was based on the drum corps of the 1980s. Our director wrote the drill and put the music together; we didn't have an arranging and drill staff like many competitive high schools. We didn't have the talent to have featured soloists very often, so everyone just played. It was fun, and the audience enjoyed the shows. So for me, a good entertaining show features recognizable music, loud moments, screaming soloists, and everyone just engaging the audience. That is far from the case for me with modern corps.

My mistake!

I just checked WGI rules not but a few weeks ago and the Indoor Drumline and Winter Guard teams both had a 22 age limit listed. Winter Guard lists a 23 exception for US based teams.

Except there isn't fair competition between SoundSport and WGI? SoundSport for the time being is all age, much like SDCA or Mini-Corps, while WGI follows DCI protocol and requires performers to be under 22 years old. So only some teams from SoundSport would be eligible as WGI teams, while any WGI team would be eligible for SoundSport... doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And personally I think it would do more damage if SoundSport decided now to put an age 22 limit on their circuit. I know my SoundSport ensemble would be down to about 6 brass players if we had to enforce a 22 an under rule.

Huh... I already staff a SoundSport ensemble that plays on G horns only... You're a little late to the chase there bub. We'll see what the audience wants. Only time will tell. But this guy has given up on DCI corps because of their constant program changes. Perhaps you too should staff and/or start a corps that is as avant garde as you wish. "Make people think" during the show and all that crap that most people don't give two you know what's about. Drum corps is an art form designed for entertainment. Many of today's shows are better suited as background music to a black tie gala. Please, go take your ideals of some "cutting edge modern" show and petition them to someone who cares about this new style of boring program. It's all about greed regardless of what you say. An unsustainable tour model, elitist mentality from performers and staff, and this push to make the audience "think" has pushed many the casual observer of drum corps out the door. But that is not what this topic is about. People just want to know why highly competitive British and US brass bands don't have to constantly evolve and change instrumentation to stay competitive.

Loud LM-5 is my weapon of choice. A veritable bathtub of a mouthpiece. I have wonderful tone on that mouthpiece, and it requires so much air that I can't possibly overblow my horn. I've tried an LM-12 as well. Goodness... if you literally need something to make you three times as loud at the expense of quality tone, that's a perfect mouthpiece. I may pick one up just for giggles. Good luck finding an LM-5 though. When Loud went out of business for a few years, the LM-5 did not make the cut when they returned to production. Those who have an LM-5 do not give them up!

There are several competitive brass bands in my city (yes, in the USA) and certainly they are more cutthroat than a DCI corps to make it into. One in particular hasn't had significant changeovers of personnel in the 30 years it has performed. The majority of musicians in any of these brass bands are educators or well-known local musicians. Many have ties with the Ohio State University School of Music and got their collegiate experience playing in a brass band by marching in the OSU marching band. The OSU band though is far from a traditional brass band though. For example, the high brass uses trumpets, flugels, and Eb cornets, the mid voice is mellophones instead of alto horns, there are only American style baritones, not separate baritones and Euphoniums, and there are no Eb tubas, just Bb Sousaphones. Oh, and the instruments that read bass clef, read bass clef, unlike trombones, baritones, and Euphs in a British brass band. I can't imagine, other than for some sort of personal aspirations of the voting directors, why DCI has changed its instrumentation roughly every 10 years since the 1930s: 30s: unlock the G-D piston 40s: slip slide tuning slide 50s: rotor to F/F#/E (baritone only) 60s: piston to F, rotor to F# 70s: two vertical pistons 80s: stable period of two pistons, begin experimentation with Bb horns and third valves welded down 90s: three vertical pistons (four for contra) 00s: any key marching brass (piston valve limit dropped) 10s: any brass instrument Look at the instrumentation changes of the OSU band: 1934: conversion to all brass 1938: slide trombones replaced with tromboniums 1980: tromboniums replaced by slide trombones 1996: alto horns replaced by mellophones 1999: bass trombones replace 6 tenor trombones And that's it. I can't speak on the changes of the British brass band instrumentation, but I'm sure it hasn't changed that greatly in the past 50 years or so. To me, it seems like drum corps is an art form constantly trying to be in an image crisis. Some of the best shows in my opinion came out of the 80s and 90s. Why change for the sake of change? If something works, and the people like it, there is no reason to change it. If the people start protesting against something, then perhaps it should be looked it and reviewed. I didn't hear about massive demonstrations and wailing and gnashing of teeth because corps wanted three valves, or Bb horns, or Sousaphones. The only people whining and griping are the corps directors, not the alumni, fans, and members. Unfortunately only the directors have any real power, and they cried because they felt stifled by two valves, G horns, and not having a trombone... really? If the OSU director decided to put woodwinds back in the band, the alumni would likely stop supporting the band and petition the university to terminate the director. Something similar would likely happen in a British brass band if a director decided to add CC tubas or trumpets. Instead, DCI has perpetuated this stereotype of "keeping up with the Jonses." Corps vote on a rule, and then if it passes, everyone scrambles to follow the new rule, lest they be docked unfairly by the judges who seem to only further this awful stereotype. That happens both in DCI and DCA. A G bugle hornline will never win a championship in either because that's not what the ruling bodies want. Just wait, soon corps will be penalized for not having lines of trombones, choosing to stay with marching tubas, etc. In the end, it's not about the kids, or the alumni, or the fans. It's about furthering some ideal that can never really be achieved because the competitive circuits are so blinded by greed.

I too have listened to "Concerto," and can find no section which must be done on a trombone. I keep hearing this argument that no instrument can do a trombone glissando, except a trombone. Why not ask Madison 2010, Blue Devils 2004, etc. etc. whose lead trumpet players clearly are featured performing glissandos. Instead of watering down the drum corps unique instrumentation even more, why not teach the kids a new talent: playing through the valves? Clearly some folks know how to do this still, and they have performed valved glissandos quite well. Oh right... The whole "private instructor is going to kill me for blowing my chops/learning valves/not playing French horn" argument...How stupid of me.

I highly doubt the Conn 20J is 60 lbs. I have a Conn 20K Sousaphone, which has the same 24" bell and identical short-action valves, and it is nowhere close to 60 lbs. It's about 30 lbs last I checked. That being said, equipping a tuba section with brand new 20J's is akin to finding enough brand new King K-90 Contras. The 20J hasn't been built for nearly 30 years. While it is entirely possible a corps will switch to some type of recording bell marching tuba (I guarantee if a Top WC Corps petitioned Yamaha to make a 20J clone, you bet they would), I would see a line of Sousaphones happening before this.

On my sousaphone (Conn 20K), I typically play a Helleberg. When I owned a Dynasty M375 GG contra (the 4/4 sized horn), I had to buy a Helleberg 7B as the horn would only respond the way I wanted it to by playing on a smaller mouthpiece. On my CC tuba (Meinl Weston 2145) and GG contrabass (Kanstul Contra Grande) I play a Loud LM-5. The LM-5 is a bathtub mouthpiece. No other way to describe that one. The LM-5 doesn't lend itself to good attacks at full volume on the contra, but the volume and tone are wonderful. I have a hard time hitting the pedal G on my contra, but I have a very usable false tone range from written F to D below the low C (treble clef transposition). Of course if this were a 4 valve horn I wouldn't have to false tone those notes!

I can't speak for specific corps, but most contras are about 40" tall and weigh 25-30 lbs. If you're lucky (or unlucky), Spirit or Cadets may be marching a line of Sousaphones by the time you audition.

I don't remember where I got this mp3, but I had to have gotten it over 10 years ago. It is called "Blue Devils 2000 Lot Clip 6" but I have no way of confirming this is the Blue Devils or from 2000. The only thing I can tell is that this piece is in D major and more than likely played on G horns. My ear is not good enough to pick out all of the moving parts and I'm trying to find a score for this exercise. If anyone can help me with at lease a corps name, year, or the title of the piece, that would help tremendously! Link to the piece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xste85KgBiA

I am of the younger generation and I feel that this pandering to the bandos is making DCI less unique and more like professional BOA. I was turned off when I realized way back in 2003 that corps had all switched to Bb. I wanted a new experience playing a new horn. Not a new experience playing the same crusty junk.I can play at school. If a performer can't adjust back to trombone or horn after the season, clearly they aren't the prodigy they were assumed to be. I don't practice anywhere near the amount I should, but I can pick up most any valved brass and play it with some degree of technique. Even after not touching a horn for a well or more. Before I got involved with all-age corps, I hadn't touched my horn in 6 months and came back with no problems. And folks have mentioned OSU. In 1980, the OSU band switched to slide trombones from upright tromboniums. OSU ditched the slide bones in 1938, citing difficulties with intricate drill including the script Ohio drill. But by 1980 they attempted trombones, and it works for them, but the drill isn't at such breakneck tempos (however it seems all the very complex DCI drill, like Crown's 3D pyramid, are done with the brass not playing). In 1996 the band switched from Eb Alto horns to F mellophones. The alumni cried drum corps for years! They felt that the director was trying to push more corps style instruments into the band. Since 2005, the only instrumentation changes have been in the percussion. Tonal bass drums, sextet tenors... each change and the alumni began crying drum corps again. There was real tension when someone brought up Kevlar snare heads. That never came to pass however. But aside from these changes and expansions in size, the OSU instrumentation has remained relatively constant since 1934, when woodwinds were removed. The OSU band has not had any shortage of performers auditioning for the 225 spots either. There was a long running joke, heard both at OSUMB functions as well as on this page and maybe even Marching Band Planet back in the day: The day a Sousaphone marches in a drum corps is the day a shoulder tuba dots the "i" in script Ohio. ...I never thought that joke would come true... especially now that the OSU band is technically a "drum corps." They just have a few too many people and a handful of folks marching in their late 20s to mid 50s.

I am completely against the "band instruments" rules change. I felt the switch to any key brass was too much, but at the very least the instruments maintained the appearance of their ancestors in G. Changing the rules to allow anything (which would certainly also include concert Euphoniums) changes the makeup of DCI entirely. No longer are these Drum and BUGLE corps, but rather marching brass bands. Marching brass bands are popular in the UK, South Americas, etc. But the very core of Drum and Bugle Corps is the word BUGLE. A Sousaphone is NOT a bugle. It is a marching band instrument. If I want to pay money to go see an all brass and percussion marching band, I'd sooner go watch Ohio State and their 28 Sousaphones, 28 upright baritones, and 28 slide trombones and be entertained then watch the new generation of garbage that will flow onto the fields should this rule pass. There's only one good Sousaphone, and I guarantee you no corps will buy them since they aren't made by Jupiter or Yamaha. How sad that DCI has come to this. The final step after this passes is adding woodwinds and then the transformation to competitive marching band is complete.

I staff and play in a Sound Sport group which uses three generations of G contra: piston/rotor, 2 valve, and 3 valve. I am the only contra player who reads treble clef. I would like my section to learn treble clef because myself and the caption head prefer to reference notes by their treble clef names. Maybe next season... This Texas Clef thing is nothing new. It's supposed to make transition for Bb tuba players easier. I play Bb and C tubas, so the switch to G was easiest by switching clefs for contra only. I read my other tubas in standard bass clef. I can read contra in standard bass clef, but in this transposed Texas clef I have a miserable time. I'm a very aural person, so when I see Bb in bass clef I expect to hear a Bb not a G. Anyway, I have made charts for everything from G/D/F# bugles to 4 valve GG contras. Let me know what you want.

There's a lot of back and forth about kids not caring what makes the sound when they play in a particular corps. Ten years ago I seriously looked into Bluecoats since they were the closest corps to home. However my parents said no because of the cost $3000+, and I lost interest because of the fact they had switched to Bb. If I wanted to play a Bb tuba, I could play my high school tuba all summer. I was looking for a musical challenge, not just notes on a page, but learning a new instrument. The kids these days expect instant gratification. They don't want to learn a new horn. They want to play their same old trumpet. They don't want to learn to play a new pit instrument, they want to play drum set or bass guitar. I'm sure I am in a significant minority, but some kids today might not be interested simply because of the key of the horns.

So, I promised myself I wouldn't post about this, but I can't bite my tongue anymore. Let's start by clearing some misconceptions: Drill Arrangements: The shows are planned in the spring, and drill is written over the spring and summer. Each one of the directors (director, associate, assistant, and graduate assistant(s)) writes the drill for a show. Because the band uses an extensive tryout process and military-style block, the instrumentation does not fluctuate year to year. There's always 10 Eb Cornets, 44 Bb Trumpets, 18 Flugelhorns, 24 Mellophones, 20 Tenor Trombones, 4 Bass Trombones, 24 Baritones, 24 Sousaphones, 12 Snares, 4 Tenors, 4 bass, and 4 Cymbals. So you can plan out far in advance the drill designs for a given show. The band does not hire outside vendors to write drill for them. Music Arrangements: Because of the quasi-British brass band style of the band, everything played must be custom arranged. There are a number of pieces through the years that parallel DCI arrangements. The band's 1965 arrangement of "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" is very similar in style and substance to Madison Scouts' 2010 arrangement. Music arrangements for the current band are done by John Tatgenhorst, Steve Pfaffman, Lisa Galvin, James Swearingen, Ken McCoy, Dr. Ted McDaniel, and John Brennan. John Brennan is a graduate conductor as well who arranged the Video Game show music that started the viral life of the band. The snares are hiked up as far as they are to allow for a full chair step from the snare drummers. The snares are on standard Ludwig slings. They didn't start hiking up to the chest until the 70s and 80s. There's actually a slit under the left breast pocket flap to pass the hook through to connect the snare. Concessionaires in Ohio Stadium aren't fond of the band lately. This is because fewer people are going to get hot dogs and relieve themselves during halftime. When I was in band in the mid 2000s, we would routinely play to half empty stands (especially in the club seats). It is completely true that the band fills the old basketball arena before home games. About half of the 13,000 in the arena are there just to see the band. The band typically sells out concerts around the state, and nearly sells out a 4,000 seat auditorium every November for an end-of-season concert. The band has released 31 albums since 1958, had a 90 minute documentary produced about it, and was featured in a small portion of the 1996 film "My Fellow Americans." Instruments have been custom produced or modified because of the band, including their entire current line of Pearl drums. The Conn 20K Sousaphone was redesigned for OSU. The band has started ordering custom built Conn 8HY trombones, and in the past necessitated the production of the Conn 90G upright valve trombone, 50B alto trumpet, and a varying host of other random instruments not normally associated with marching band, such as Couesnon Flugelhorns and Alto Horns. None of what I am typing is to boast; these are all verifiable and searchable. The OSU band has been a unique source of pride for the state and university much long that the viral videos have been around. That being said, if you have to give me a choice between current DCI or current OSUMB, I will have to pick OSUMB. I am an old school drum corps fan. I want my face peeled off. Current shows require far too much thought, and most of those issues are being discussed in another thread. Many of you compared it to high-brow vs low-brow. I see plenty of educational value in low-brow shows that serve a mostly entertainment purpose. Clearly the corps from the 70s and prior have created some wonderful educators, and they were far from high-brow entertainment. In today's DCI, if a corps allowed their Color Guard to flash their panties a la Troopers 1974, there would be mass chaos and upheaval. At the same time, the OSU band was performing shows with Women's Liberation symbols and the like. At one point, bands like OSU, and drum corps, were not far removed from each other as far as substance. Yes, method of production was what kept them separate (G vs Bb, etc), as well as intended performance audience. It is indeed like comparing apples to oranges, but at the end of the day, DCI should look at successful college band programs and try to incorporate some elements. Why college band? Because most of the members of a DCI corps are in college! And for your viewing pleasure, some old school.. http://youtu.be/UXw3cOLZ2-U OSUMB 1971. http://youtu.be/s6hWb7BQstw Troopers 1974.