Jeff

The Kingston DCA show is sponsored by the Children's Home.

Put down a vote for my fellow Poughkeepsie Pacer alum, Cannonball Mike Morano. Heck of a mellophone player and someone that knew how to have fun at all times.

The Benge and Kanstul CG3 mouthpieces should be identical. Zig Kanstul was at Benge and then opened his own company in the same location. While I'm sure that your mouthpieces are different, it's hard to fathom a Zig Kanstul product having that much variation. He makes quality products. Did you get both new?

Benge supposedly made the CG models in 1,3,5,7,and 10 to correspond to Bach sizing, but I've never seen a 1 or 5. Claude Gordon played on a personal model that was a V cup with a 22 throat. The numbered models are C cups as is the WDTR1, which is in my collection.

$250?????????? Nevermind................ An old lead player friend of mine, who has more mouthpieces than anyone I've ever know, thinks the S relates to the shank and not the cup. He says that CG's were never made with a shallow cup as Claude Gordon was very much against them. But then again, he said you never know what you might find.

Chris, Kanstul should be able to make a copy of your gold plated CG3S in silver and it would brand spankin' new at that. If not, you could find a number of companies that would be more than glad to copy it. My search is for a vintage Purviance 4*K4 in my never ending quest to find the right piece. Jeff, Bush program consultant

Just a couple quick points: US Military bugles in G are correctly identified as "field trumpets" in the old Dept. of War publications. Both conical bore bugles and cylindrical bore field trumpets have seen military usage. Conical bugles look very much like a valveless flugelhorn. We have always played trumpet based soprano voiced brass instruments in drum corps. From the earliest days of drum corps until present, the sheets and rules have judged brass, not bugles. There has never been a bugle definition that ever mentioned bore. The main component through the years has been a straight, bell front design. Military bugles were designed for use and abuse in the battlefield. Mouthpieces were attached with a chain, there were no valves, no lacquer or plating, and not even a spit valve to maximize it 's ability to remain functional in battle. Only soprano voiced instrumets were employed and no true military bugles in the baritone, alto, or bass voice existed for signaling purposes.

The new Euphoniums really do add much to an already impressive low brass sound. It was really great to be on the other side of the bell and listen. In all seriousness as well, it takes a real man or (wo)man to march euphonium. It is a physical challenge. Jeff, Bush Program Consultant

Just to provide some perspective about what drum and bugle corps was about in it's original form back in the 1920's might be interesting. Corps played valveless bugles in the soprano voice using only one hand. Color guard was simply what is know as an honor guard today. Rifles were actually real weapons, usually a 1903 Springfields. Scotch tenor and bass drums were the rage and street beats were played between the bugle marches. Fifes were legal instruments and played by about 20% of the corps. The veteran's groups had their prelims, not on the field, but as part of a parade with judges on the street picking corps for finals.

The 105 point system was a fairly transparent device to artificially raise the scores of DCA corps as DCI scores began to climb. It is wonderful to see so many people still remember the tick system. :) It should be noted that the primary motivation for dropping execution judging was the cost. It was felt that two judges were needed for each caption, given the variations in scoring that were seen. In addition, a Timing & Penalities judge and a tabulator were required. So it took 8 just to judge the execution portion which is the total number of judges in the current system.

Euphoniums have been around since Whaley Royce made them in piston rotary configuration back in the mid 1960's. They were made both in bell front and on the shoulder models. Sky and others had them way back then. Bush played euphoniums back in the 1980's as well according to Jerome. So while we aren't the first or even close, it is exciting to expand the horn line with Dynasty euphoniums. Jeff, Bush Program Consultant

Joe, Actually you need to thank Don Hill for breaking that tie. Star was up by a tenth on the field and BD up by the same margin on Ensemble. For that, you can thank me. Don was the GE Brass judge and had BD over Star in the showmanship subcaption. It was showmanship which was then employed as the tie breaker. Interestingly Phantom Regiment took GE Brass that hot, humid night in Dallas and probably did so by virtue of their showmanship. All three hornlines were awesome that night and set new standards in brass performance and arranging/show design. 1991 is one of my favorite seasons! For scores and recaps, you only have to go to From The Pressbox. It has it all!

At Bush, we had a Bb Flugelhorn duet in 2003 with the rest of the line in G. So it wasn't a full time venture. Flugels in G are hard to find in the three valve configuration and it didn't hurt to be the first DCA corps to play Bb's. :) The only corps that I've heard mix G and Bb were the current DCI Div 3 champs, the Raiders. They did that back a few years ago after the moratorium was lifted on 2/3 corps. My advice would be to avoid a G and Bb mix.

DCI has actually "done away" with nothing. Any corps is free to make a color presentation and use the flag. DCA rules are similar and there is no mandating use of an honor guard. It is an option. The only difference is that DCA does not count the honor guard in the number of performers. Obviously we have moved away from the military roots of the activity and the discussion of that is interesting. We should also note that the miltary has moved away from the same traditions. Bugles no longer signal commands to troops. Infantry no longer march into battle to the beat of a drum.

Jason, It would be my hope that you and other young people would consider judging a worthy pursuit. The most difficult aspect of judging is to be able to listen, watch, analyze what you see and hear, and then make concise commentary all while trying not to be run over. :P

Just for clarification, DCI judges work within the context of the rules and instructions from the judging administration team. While providing input for corps is a vital part of the process, it is not employed for a Finals. Judging finals has some unique aspects. Quite obviously this is the last performance and there will be no further rehearsal, no other performances, and no need for input to improve. One would think that would be common sense and understood by most. GE judges are to react to the performance of the evening. It is the least analytical caption and being involved emotionally is expected. It is here that the performers are rewarded for their intensity, spirit, and all the intangible qualities that we associate with drum corps. Quite honestly, just thinking back to the 2002 Cavaliers' finals performance gets my juices flowing. That was one of the best performances and program of all time. My reaction to it was my reaction. It was an honor to be selected to judge the contest and that I did to the best of my abilities. Jeff Mitchell DCI Brass/Music Judge 1979-present

Dave, For caption awards, such as brass or percussion, the scores awarded for the night are employed. The method of selecting the other "best" awards at most contests is usually assigned to a working or non-working judge. Now not to read into this too much, but there is usually not a sheet or criteria. It's simply a matter of picking a winner and giving the award to the person or section most deserving. This isn't to say that the selection is a casual endeavor. Judges do take this very seriously. For the 2001 DCA season, the awards were given by the judging administration team and non-working judges, who had judged prelims as I was the brass caption head. This is still likely the method today and in the past. One other item for this list is that the showmanship award is considered to be above any other award. Someone winning the showmanship award could not be best drum major or soloist allowing the wealth to be spread around. Surely there are several brass players each year more than deserving of recognition in DCA. It might be wise to list the brass showmanship winners on the list with the soloists. Jeff Mitchell, past DCA Brass Caption Head Bush Program Consultant

This is a trick question. First of all, every brass instrument that has ever been played by a drum corps is a "bugle", so all drum corps have only bugles. Any instrument that isn't a bugle is illegal according to the rules and would subject a corps to a penalty. The rules, first defined by the AL and VFW and currently DCI and DCA, are very specific about what constitutes a bugle. Every definition has stated that it must be a brass, bell front instrument. Over the years modifications have allowed corps have valves, moving slides, and a bass voice. Key of the instruments was restricted to G at some point in the 1950's and lifted some 50 years later. There is your answer. B)

Just to blow my own corps' horn, Bush was the first DCA corps to play Bb's, using 2 flugels for a duet in 2003.

Perhaps there was some foresight and wisdom by the founders of the activity when they titled the judging caption as brass. We have brass judges and brass sheets. ^OO^

Just to have a little fun here and show my age. It seems to me that Maynard, Bill Chase, Doc Severinsen, Al Hirt, Tower of Power, and many others did pretty well with those dastardly Jet Tones back in the days when Bill Ratzenberger was making them. After he died in the mid 1970's the company was sold and went down hill. Harry James had a modicum of success on his Parduba. Jerome Callet built many of his mouthpieces on the Parduba design. B) Now today you can buy a Schilke 6A4A that is nearly a copy of the Jet Tone BC model or get the Monette MF II that looks like the Jet Tone MF model. That way you can play on a politically correct lead mouthpiece rather than a to-be-avoided-at-all-cost brand. However next time you are listening to Chase, TOP, and Maynard think of all that great playing being done on Jet Tones. Hope it doesn't ruin the listening experience. :P

Donny, The Getzen Titleist baritones were wrapped differently than the Olds and current designs we see today, which is probably what caused the confusion. It is not as tall or high as other horns. Here is a Getzen bugle ad from the 60's that shows the baritone shape. Note that it is the bass baritone and the smaller baritone is more like a trombone bell size. When getzen went to the two valve models, they maintained the size from what I can see. Getzen Titleist Bugles Not sure why you didn't get the euphs in your neck of the woods. They were made by Whaley Royce in Toronto, right across the border from all those fine upstate NY corps of the past. And speaking of euphoniums, we are trying to get some for Bush this season. Here is a page from the Whaley Royce catalog of the late 1960's. Whaley Royce Bass Baritone and Euphonium

From the photo it appears that you have a Getzen 2 valve baritone with a missing receiver. That would be the section that holds the mouthpiece. As the horn is shorter it will play very sharp and probably is in Ab, which is why you need to press the 2nd valve to play E and G. This is assuming you haven't made that repair. If you can find a proper length receiver it should bring the bugle into the key of G.

Thanks for the kind words. Many of us at Bush were rather pleasantly surprised that we were able to get that level of performance on a tough chart at the first camp. Fanfare for the New is a fun chart to play and will hopefully be an inducement for brass players to come down and join or just stop into our next camp to check us out. Other corps will surely post audio as several did last year. It is really early and some corps haven't even had camp yet, so be patient.

Well, it is not the best "so-low-ist" award. :P Low brass just don't have the opportunities that upper brass get. It's like being a lineman in football, you do all the hard work, but don't get the glory. I think the Visa commericials with Tom Brady and his lineman as the 5 layers of security make the point well. It's like being a Pip and working with Gladys Knight.