McDutchy

4th valve on piccolo is to extend the lower register so you can play the occasional F (or lower) that you wouldn't be able to get on a 3 valve piccolo. Most of the time it's not used a lot but I think there are a couple pieces in the repertoire that need an F or two.

04 BD. Pretty much the total package except for that whole winning thing.

As a low brass player, the one thing that really frustrates me about marching bari/euphs is the range below F in the staff. I have not played a baritone or euphonium that had a good, achievable sound to that range. Yamahas have a really strange fuzziness about partials 2&3, Dynasties lose volume and projection, and Kings are just weird down there. Unfortunately, that range is common to what the arrangers and caption heads write for technique exercises and show music. Why can't anyone get that range right? It's been done well with student to intermediate level concert instruments.

The Eugene show will indeed be at Autzen Stadium.

Yep. Consider what this means for the return of Spokane in 2010.

A little background knowledge for those not familiar with Northwest corps: One of the big problems for the merger is the financial history of the Seattle Cascades. The Cascades had been in massive amounts of debt and operating at a loss from at least 2003 onwards. In 2006, the organization was prepared to fold following the summer tour, but then the staff from the Oregon Crusaders jumped to the Cascades with the plan of making Oregon Crusaders the Cascades' feeder corps and making the Cascades the primary competitive Northwest Corps. However, for a variety of reasons, this didn't work out. The Oregon Crusaders nearly folded, but were brought back with new leadership and instructional staff and have enjoyed some competitive success(5th place D3 2007, 4th place Open Class 2008). The Cascades struggled in 2007 and did not field in 2008. A good deal of the difficulty they had in 2008 was that their program management was poor(think food) during the 2007 season and as a result the necessary core of veteran membership didn't appear in 2008. Spokane Thunder, on the other hand, has been steadily growing since their start in 2004 and appeared to have reached some competitive success last year while remaining in decent financial shape (no debt).

Source- http://spokanethunder.org/index%5B1%5D.htm This is.... interesting. Sucks for this to happen to Spokane, especially after the best season the corps has ever had. Any thoughts on what this might mean for the future of the two programs involved?

As much as I'd like to see SCV make it a championship in each decade, I'm going to have to go with this: 1. BD 2. Crown 3. Cadets 4. PR 5. Cavies 6. SCV 7. Bluecoats 8. Madison 9. Boston 10. Crossmen 11. Blue Stars 12. Spirit 13. Glassmen 14. Blue Knights 15. Troopers 16. Academy 17. Surf 18. Pacific Crest 19. Colts 20. Mandarins 21. Pioneer 22. Cascades

1. Cadets 2. Crown 3. BD 4. PR 5. Cavies 6. Vanguard 7. Blue Stars 8. Bluecoats 9. Blue Knights 10. Crossmen 11. Boston 12. Madison 13. Troopers 14. Glassmen 15. Academy 16. Colts 17. Spirit 18. Jersey Surf 19. Pacific Crest 20. Mandarins 21. Cascades 22. Capital Regiment 23. Pioneer

Please note that the list of complaints that this poster has listed is generally exaggerated. Marching corps is more a mental thing than anything else. If you decide you want to be a BAMF or even just above average, it's possible to do it with not that much pain involved over the summer. It seems that there's a perception of corps as the hardest physical thing you'll ever do, and that's wrong. It's one of the harder mental things that you'll ever do. Don't lose sight of that distinction.

I think that if you are conflicted you should definitely test the waters at a camp or two before you commit to the full summer experience. If you're enjoying the camps and the other people who are participating in the group, chances are you'll be fine for the summer. Soccerguy nailed the pushup/running issue: it's not something most groups will spend a lot of time on. Sure, it exists, but it will not be the focus of your season.

One of our lead trumpets' mouthpieces flew out after a horns down at finals this year. Somehow he managed a 2-count recovery. I never had any instrument malfunctions during a show, but I did lose my mouthpiece and have my 3rd valve stick in rehearsal due to some environmental conditions this year.

Brass scores seemed wonky from semis to finals. Maybe everyone's runs really did change that much, or perhaps it was the judge. I will agree on overall placements, but I'm not sure about brass caption ranks.

Argh. We had our first show on tour there this year, and it did not go well. Nobody had a good time with the field, especially the long grass. The only good thing about it was that our vis staff was probably able to identify some pathway issues from the tracks in the grass.

27th Lancers: Never saw it. Not even video. Anaheim Kingsmen: Never saw it. Not even video. Blue Devils: 2003 Blue Knights: Blue Stars: 2008 Bluecoats: 2007 Boston Crusaders: 2000 Bridgemen: Never saw it. Not even video. Cadets: 2003 Carolina Crown: 2008 Cavaliers: 2002. Except for the snare wiping his hand on his pants. Crossmen: 1998 Glassmen: Haven't seen enough shows to give a good opinion Madison Scouts: 1996 Phantom Regiment: 1996 Santa Clara Vanguard: 2004 Spirit: Haven't seen enough shows to give a good opinion Star of Indiana: 1993 Suncoast Sound: 1985 Troopers: Haven't seen enough shows to give a good opinion

I would have to agree. They do sound pretty nice, but the met(which is probably backfield or moving with the drumline) is a little distracting, and the audio equipment is not set up correctly to record this.

Oregon Crusaders has baritone openings.

PR 03. No contest in my book.

SCV 07

Something that has been sorely missing from the discussion has been "The Lick", from Suncoast Sound '85. Not just trumpet/soprano, but the entire hornline.

There are some problems: -It is much harder to write drill for trombones than baritones because of the extra 1-2 feet of instrument -Cannot play as fast as easily But there are some benefits: -Can play in tune more easily -Can add stylistic devices not available with baritones Basically what it boils down to is slide vs valves. Each of these have their benefits and drawbacks, but I think that with the current trend in show style, baritones will be around for a long, long time.

PR 06 - I've seen 05,06,07 about a million times each. I picked this pretty much at random. SCV 07 - Freakin' awesome Cadets 07 - Amazing. Bluecoats 06 - Old style uniforms, great jazz, what's not to love? BD 05 - Scott Dean. Madison 05 - Last good latin show. It's tough to pick just 6 shows.

1. My high school band director, former brass staff for a couple of top 8 corps including BD, shows drum corps videos during band camp to give us a sense of what we should be trying to get to. That, plus there have been some talented people who I look up to who have done or are doing drum corps, and I want to be as good or better than they are. 2. Not really. It just doesn't matter that much. As long as there's still low brass, I'll still be interested.

Generally, mouthpiece sizing is not universal. Whatever enables you to produce the tone that you're looking for, probably fairly dark yet clear for marching, is what you should get. I would recommend starting off testing a 6 1/2 AL like what you have now. Other common-ish sizes to consider are 5G, 1 1/2G, 12C, and possibly a 7 or 8C (these last two are somewhat rarer, in many cases you would be better going to a 6 1/2 AL or a 12C). I would recommend as large a throat size as you can stand so that you can move a large amount of air through the horn, although this may be different depending on your individual needs. Bottom line is that everyone's different, and what works best for you is what you should have.

Agh. Forgot to write Blue Stars. The second time I said BK, I really meant Blue Stars. I'll go and fix that now.