pitn0926

I only got to march 1 year due to money issues. I went to 3 camps the next season but the airfare was killing me. I'm glad I got that 1 season, but (considering how things ended up) would have loved to have marched my age-out year. SCV Mello '98

I did not get to see the show as it was sold out (stinks) which is good for the future of keeping the cinema showings going. I hope that they expand the number of showings in future years and am very thankful for all the fans who can't be there that they have the chance to see it "live". Having said that, I somewhat agree with Tommee, but for a different reason. I think the fans that go to the theatres are looking to see the show as they might see it if they were really in Madison (or Indy for 10 years straight!). For me, I want to feel as if I'm actually in Camp Randall Stadium, not just watching the DVD's on multi-cam in December. I'd say, give us more high-cam action. Let us see what the audience sees. That's all.

Hey, I didn't say our soloists didn't have troubles that year, but nothing compares to that. :P

How 'bout BD '89? Oh, my bad.

And it was his left arm. The corps changed some of their horn holds (like parade rest) to conform to what he could do. They still incorporate those changes to this day. I guess they're traditions now.

I just remember seeing it during horn arc when they stayed at my high school for Drums Along the Rockies.

The coordinate sheets are one of the main advantages to using a program like Pyware. Like one other person said above, I e-mail all of my drill/coordinate sheets to the school in PDF format that they can then print out and give to the kids right away. The PDF also gives them a backup copy of the file for later use. The main band I write for puts all of the PDFs on the band's website so the kids can download it themselves if they ever lose anything. Even if you handwrite your drill, it should still be put into Pyware for this kind of usage.

I'm pretty sure Cadets used one in '96.

Try the Stork C series. I've been using them for about 5-6 years now. I currently use a gold-plated CMA 12. It's a medium-deep cup with a slightly wider diameter and a narrow bore. The gold rim is very comfortable.

I did finally get the DVD and I think it's a great teaching tool. Such a wonderful resource for young educators, like myself. I would love to see those two guys in action with the hornline sometime. Thanks for the comments.

Thanks for the info! What's great is instead of me shelling out the 55 bucks, I convinced the band director I work for to buy it for the band.

I was just checking out the Cavie's updated website when I noticed that they have a new brass technique DVD available (a la BD's "Dynasty of Brass"). I was wondering if anybody has seen it yet and could give me some feedback. Is it as good as Wayne Downey's? Does it have some different stuff in it to make it worth the $55 since I already have the BD DVD?

The majority of the professional trumpet players I've ever observed play with a downward angle, so why would it be different for mello players? There's no difference between the angle when using a horn mouthpiece versus a mello mouthpiece. Either way the head must be tilted slightly back. The same holds true for other brass instruments as well.

Find a corps that lets their mellos use French horn mouthpieces. SCV let me use mine when I marched, but that was maybe a Dean Westman thing.

Sorry, I can't make a donation (trying to get a new double horn myself). One of my good friends went to Patterson's shop and tested his custom horn. He loved it, but eight grand was a little too pricey so he ended up getting a Hans Hoyer 7801 with a Patterson lead pipe.

I love the little baritone duet in Madison's '99 show. Pretty tight lip trill from the upper guy.

I can't remember if it was in '96 or '97 but I believe Cadets used a piccolo soprano. It was the first time I had ever seen one be marched with. Boy, would I loved to have been that guy.

They originally wanted to go with fourteen tubas but ended up going with twelve. What a huge sound they have. I watched them rehearse in Denver on July 2nd and I definitely think they're on their way back to Finals. Brad Green has done a great job with the brass. They've put together a pretty stellar brass staff with some Blast! alumni and a couple of other fine teachers. *Mike, I'll make sure to tell Brandon Epperson you liked his hornline choreography!*

You're pretty close, Tankbone. The fundamental pitch of the C trumpet is actually the pedal tone. The next C up is the second partial followed by the G on the third partial.

What do you mean by "middle partial"? The basis of all brass instruments is the harmonic (or overtone) series, where the lowest open note (or fundamental) determines the key of that particular instrument and this is followed by a series of open partials above fundamental. The 3rd partial of the trumpet, soprano, mellophone or any other upper brass instrument is a written "G". But many of these are transposing instruments, so when a G soprano plays a written "G" it will actually sound as a concert "D". I hope this clears some things up for you. Dustin

I'll have to go with the last two chords of Agnus Dei (adagio) in SCV '00.

Are you positive about this? I know one of the mellos in this year's line (plus, he's a two or three year vet) and he's most certainly a trumpet player. You must've gotten some misinformation.

Well said.

Ron, I so wish I could've known GR. What an amazing legacy he left behind. Most of my drum corps experience has been post-GR, except my first show (or two) which was right at the tail end of his career, 1991. And what a summer that was. Those top four shows are some of my all-time favorites, especially Miss Saigon. Thanks for your comments, Ron. I'm glad somebody sees my point and that I'm not trying to bash drum corps.

OK, MelloKid, you've obviously missed the points of my posts. Since I'd rather not go back through and re-explain everything, you should go back and reread my posts more slowly. As I mentioned before, I had a great experience in corps with one of the best brass staffs in the business. I've seen a ton of brass sectionals of different corps and the basic structure of the rehearsals is the same. The difference is in the staff's knowledge and ability to teach it. You don't seem to understand that I'm not putting corps down at all. I love drum corps or else I wouldn't be on this site at all. And, if you learned some musicality while in corps, great for you. But there is so much more to be learned than can be taught in corps.