HornsUp

Sorry. If you don't have a valid ticket, you're NOT supposed to be sitting with them.

DeKalb calls for a CORNY title. http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=dekalb+corn

The Commodores pic above is of the round model Whaley-Royce French Horns. The DPV shot is a later-model Smith mellophone. The GR photo is a classic !!!

While we're doing flaglines . . . . . . . .

BITD = salt pills

The Seattle Imperials were formed by a split from the Buddhist Boy Scout corps. They were named after an early supporter, the Imperial Lanes bowling alley !!!

Scooter, they make a tool for those. Just go to the nearest O'Reilley auto parts store. Rent a harmonic balancer puller.

I wrote all the new material, and we brought back and expanded my 1971 DeLaSalle arrangement of Bacchanale. I went to TO for a few camps, and between tours. Ex-DM Joel Alleyne ran the caption, with a couple of recent alumni assisting. Ken Turner came on board for 2nd tour.

Kanstul or Badger Repair could possibly make yo up a leadpipe, but matching up to the Euro-sized .555 boresize could be a problem. It would cost you over a hundy, and still wouldn't be chromeplated. The Ultratone is a MUCH better playing instrument than its predecessors, and the .656 bore is more appropriate for this type of horn. I know several alumni-types who keep one around for parades. I've taught hundreds of contra players, and nobody has complained about the grip on the Olds. Until today.

"How many do you need?" I have 79. They range from a brand-new never-played Olds BU-10 French Horn, to about a dozen basket cases.

The leadpipe pictured above is from a Getzen - the receiver, turned from hex stock, is unique to the "baby" contra. The valveslides look to be correct, or as close as one can expect from Old World Craftsmanship. Play through the harmonic series with all valve combinations, your results should be OK. Most tuba-type instruments can produce "false tones", which can sometimes be useable. The Getzen had a dynamite open low A. Low G was best played with the piston only. Having said all this, I could use a cuppla more smallshank tuba pieces myself. I have four tubas here that need 'em, and only own two mouthpieces that fit.

Early in my instructing career, I decided that I did not want to see my unit lose a show on a flag penalty. Incidents such as the 1966 VFW were the motivation. The guard instructors were always preoccupied with teaching execution and cleaning ticks. They rarely checked up on the A-squad, or looked for flag code violations. So even though I was then mostly a horn guy, I learned the competitive flag code. And I would trail the A-squad during a final run-thru, looking for potential penalties. Especially if there had been any recent drill or equipment changes. The Competitive Flag Code originated from the veterans organizations, not from the U.S. Government. (I don't know how it was administered in Maple Leaf territory.) It was used in all the uniformed groups contests - bands, guards, motorcycle drill teams, etc. Over the years, some guidelines were relaxed. One big change was going from the 180 degree rule, where any flag in front of the National could get into trouble, to the 90 degree rule of the 1960s. That limited the danger zone to the right front quadrant. In that zone, the flag person could not be facing in the same direction as the American, unless their pike was down. This was the "trailing" penalty, because in the overall perspective the A.F. was marching behind another flag. An "about-face" could not negate this penalty, and would have incurred another ! Because the Competitive Flag Code stated that the National colors were not allowed to execute an "about-face", or march "to the rear". These terms were derived from the M&M bible, the US Army field manual 22-5 Drill and Ceremonies. The code also forbid marching backwards, sidestepping, or any kine of dance step. The code required the Nationals to be guarded within two paces, at all times. So if the rifles were elsewhere being fancy, at least one member with a sidearm hung with the A.F. Vestiges of the Competitive Flag Code were in effect for the first decade or so of DCI. The result is that nowadays virtually all A-squads are parked in the Southeast 40. You old T&P guys, feel free to jump in here and add some details or tell war stories.

If the Kellys are an obnoxious color, use a torch to remove them. You will have solved two problems with one tool.

NEVER NEVER NEVER use pliers, visegrips, or anything functionally similar. Mouthpieces are brass, a metal much softer than steel. Mouthpiece receivers are brass. The leadpipe brace is soft-soldered. And the leadpipe itself is very thin (~.015") brass. 98% of the time, this method will result in a trashed leadpipe. Replacement will cost MORE than buying a mouthpiece puller. And the mouthpiece will still be stuck. This warning goes out double for all you handy dads. And triple to all you big tough guys.

What if they had merged with the Cedar Rapids Cadets' feeder corps, the Bees ? The merged unit would have been called the Esso Bees.

Only fragments and snippets. Complete, recognizable melodies might incite the audience to spontaneous reactions, such as genuine applause. Which would badly botch up the entertainment judging process.

I have a purchaser if these are the first-generation 3V Dynasty, with Amado waterkeys. Contact me via PM on this forum.

Bobby was there in '72 with Don & Fred. (HQ was the mansion in Englewood Cliffs.) Paging Mike Davis. Please answer the maroon courtesy phone.

In 1977, 2-piston sopranos were legalized and Garfield bought a set. Their older piston-rotor sopranos were grounded at the front sideline and played by the flagline, after the gun signalling the cessation of execution judging. Of the 24 girls, only two had brass experience. I chanced upon them "warming up" at Allentown. It was NOT a treat to a bugle instructor's ears. They played melody, in the LOW register. There definitely were no piccs in this consort !!!! To get anything out of a picc, a player needs strong chops and a heavy dose of delicacy.

Just about every unit "had to stay" at a resort hotel on the Collins Ave. strip. Many of us at the 1961 VFW Nats traveled to Miami in a chartered RR coach. Cabs in Miami Beach were cheap and plentiful, so several corps arrived at the contest site in a fleet of taxis. Meals were in the hotel restaurants. The waiters were from the first wave of Cuban refugees, many were professionals with advanced degrees. The kids today don't have any idea how rough it was for us.

FJM had a half-off sale.

Hum a few bars, I can fake it.

This kid is often seen and Selden heard.

This horn, like its Whaley/Royce counterpart, was made with a BBb tuba body and a valve section cobbled from .555" baritone parts. Every one I ever saw used a standard receiver. But then, every one I saw was different. They were actually a marked improvement over the baby Getzens, but were annihilated by the 1969 debut of the Olds Ultratone BU-20.