mosthumbleone

Q: What's the range of a 3/4 G contra? A: About 20 yards if you have a good arm.

Banged, bruised and cut up a little but not hurt badly. We are truly blessed to have both guys still with us.

Hmmmmm, well, let me think a minute.......

Got mine. Couple years ago I found a box full of drum corps stuff I forgot I had saved. Thought I had thrown it out with my flag collection after I got married, but no there it was: music (including a copy of the score to Salvation is Created that Jim gave me), gloves, gauntlets, plume, cord, suspenders, tour schedule with written directions on how to get to each site, a corps' suggested packing list (which is rather humorous compared to what kids take these days), corps roster and a group photo from DCI Canada. My biggest regret was not taking a camera on tour, but to quote a friend from that year, "I was too busy having fun that summer to document it."

And then there was that new corps from down South messing things up.

When? Where?

I'm fairly sure our legs used to bend, especially on the high knee lift fronts.

It's funny. Not until reading this thread did I ever know we had a penalty. It just didn't seem to matter much after that performance. Looking back it is truly an honor to have been in the midst of a championship battle with such legendary corps, all at the top of their games. I wonder if the penalty was for being too loud?

Oh, I thought this thread was going to be about the Bridgemen. B)

What she said!

I thought this thread was going to be about something else. I guess balance would still be the key there too. ;)^

Inside The Score by Ray Wright is an excellent book if can still be had. Ray Wright was at Eastman for years.

Both in the same line for me please. And some good mid-voice writing to boot!

Little soprano Garfield kid....wouldn't that be Shorty? ;)^

You've got all the classic over generalizations covered don't you? Let's see. The semester after I marched one of those "balls to the wall" corps I did the Artunian, the Kennan and the Fasch. I'm pretty sure I didn't sound like feces on my Bb, C or Pic. Do you or did you march any corps?

I'm pretty sure Jim Clark has a piece of that glass in the SOA archives in his basement.

What he said. I've been using it for 25 years. The 'shield' part works well and lasts longer than all others, but it makes the mouthpieces taste kind of funky for a day or two.

Let me see if I got this right. Since I like Phantom's sound better than Cavies I must be an unsophisticated, neanderthal eared, general audience member incapable of appreciating the higher end sonorities produced by the only hornline in history to produce beautifully intoned sounds for an entire show???? I like the references to 40 year old recordings. Brass concepts change. MUSIC concepts change. The sound of brass you played back in 80 (fun to listen to, but I wouldn't teach it that way) isn't acceptable now. The instruments are better. The teaching is better. Things change. I double checked, the Chicago/Reiner recording was from 1954. O foolish me! I also failed to mention that the music was written over 100 years ago. I guess that makes it irrelevant to the discussion too. No not better, just different. If you want something more current try recent recordings of the Atlanta Symphony, especially the Mahler. But then again that's an 'old-school book' too. BTW, the principle trumpet player with Atlanta is a young man named Chris Martin. His daddy, Freddy, founded Spirit of Atlanta in 1976.Chris marched years later later. Many people don't know but Chris won the principle job at the LA Phil in 2001 and turned it down. Listen to any of the Chicago/Reiner, Chicago/Solti, Montreal/Dutoit or the recent Atlanta recordings (just to name a VERY few)...they will set you free.

81.3 Let me see if I got this right. Since I like Phantom's sound better than Cavies I must be an unsophisticated, neanderthal eared, general audience member incapable of appreciating the higher end sonorities produced by the only hornline in history to produce beautifully intoned sounds for an entire show???? Many people that played a bugle, including myself, have spent years continuing to perform on their instrument(s) in many different venues and styles and are extremely capable of discerning "higher end" musical performances. To imply that those whom prefer Phantom's sound and style over the Cavies are less musically sophisticated is arrogant beyond description! When did it become wrong to play a brass instrument very loudly with full body, good intonation and edge (and on a football field at that!)????? My god man, go get a copy of Chicago Symphony doing Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra conducted by Reiner from the early 60's (1963 or 1961) and tell me those brass players are not playing that music the way GOD intended it to be played. Yes, I appreciate what it takes to do what the Cavies have done with their sound. I sat next to a friend who is a Cavies alum at finals this past year and he kept commenting how the brass sounded like a big fat organ. He was right. It was beautiful. But a whole show of it is BORING and PRETENTIOUS. Ok you can do that, NOW show us what else your brass instruments can do, BECAUSE THEY ARE CAPABLE OF MUCH MORE!!!! That's why Phantom was tops in my mind. They did it all and pushed the envelope a bit. Frankly, that kind of risk should be better rewarded by the judges; it certainly was by the rest of us 'general fans.'

Nope.. Those horns were Olds Ultratones..All two valve except for piston-rotor contras. It wasn't until the mid 80's that Spirit bought a few king baris, altos, and euphs. King didn't even manufacture bugles until the 1980's. When I marched there in 89-90, Spirit was still using some of those Old(s) :P horns. I played an Olds V-R Bari in 77 and an Olds 2 valve in 78 in Scouts. I always liked Olds over King. I think Phantom played King 2 valves and I always marvelled at the low throaty sound their baris made. And they seemed smaller than ours! Then a couple of years ago when I was teaching a small corps, we bought some old King 2 valve baris. They are about 2 inches shorter than Olds baris and with a bore size that will suck the wind right out of you. You had better be in good shape playing one of those breath stealers in 1978 at Mile High stadium! Anoxia City! To this day however I feel the V-R baris blew much easier and deeper. One could really honk! In 80 sopranos and baritones were on 2 valve Olds Ultratone IIs, the flugels were on brand new King 2 valvers, and the mellos, f-horns, and contras were on Olds Ultratone P/Rs.

What he said! Can't go wrong with a Schilke! I play a B5 with a Beryllium bell and a B7 with a brass bell. I've played dozens of horns and for the money I think the Schilke is the best mass produced pro horn out there.

I always thought Sweet Georgia Brown's contra parts were pretty hip for piston/rotor contras.

80 Crossmen rocked!

And there are those that believe housing is the single biggest problem threatening the activity.

3?? They didn't, but I got it....... o=ii=(O)~~~