GoSpursGo2

That is without a doubt the dumbest and most disrespectful thing I've ever seen in the Brass Forum. Having actually marched in a Blue Devils contra line, I can tell you we marched the dots we were given, and never - NEVER - asked for easier drill. I, along with my bretheren of The Line through the years are insulted by your ignorance. Besides, if we were going to buy off the design team, we'd do it with a case of beer, not stupid Mountain Dew. Moron. I know several guys who have marched with the Blue Devils contra line who can confirm this... how do you think that I would have found out about it anyway. The choice of mountain dew over beer is because mountain dew just happens to be the drill writer's preference, not 'The Line''s preference. Maybe you don't know about this because it happened after your time, but I do know that it happened as recently as 1999.

Phantom Regiment will not win high brass until they change their philosophy about brass playing. Every year during finals week most of the hornline comments make some reference to playing louder. This is now way to win a high brass trophy... not in DCI anyway. That's why a lot of people think that Phantom's hornline sounded better and Indy this past year than they did at finals. The sound was cleaner, more balanced, more in tune. Their were also fewer release issues. That is my best explanation of why PR's horns fell from 1st to for 4th place during that timespan. BTW, my vote is going to SCV, because they HAVE changed their philosphy, and their hornline has been sustantially overhauled.

Blue Devils do have the most consistent sounding contra section, and there's no way that anyone could ever argue against that with sufficient evidence... just personal preference (and/or bias). BUT... I know for a fact that their contra section has a tradition of sending the drill writer a case of Mountain Dew as payment for the drill (which is noticeably easier than Cadets, SCV, or Cavaliers). And that I do not respect. If we are talking about musical performance, BD wins, but if we're talking about overall drum corps activity performance, then it's still pretty much up in the air. Phantom's contras overblow a lot and hangover releases more than most, cadets are always solid but not outstanding... I would have to go with Cavies because they showed they can march, play the technical stuff, and play with a good supportive bass sound. And I've never heard them ever stick out or overblow. The only flaw I noticed on the DVD was when the section where they're all in pairs and some sit down and stuff, there's a lick where the tubas have some ascending eighth notes followed by a sustain... and they blew that sustain way sharp... like 30 cents. But other than that... I'd say cavies won 2003.

I hear that the Blue Devils traditionally used this stuff called Blue Magic... it supposedly works very well, though i've never tried it. You can find it at the Great Wall of Mart in the automotive section.

I think the majority of those who switched have been from saxophone... at leasts that's what i gather from this thread. That's interesting. I switched from saxophone to tuba my junior year of high school because my director needed more tubas for the marching band. I ended up marching with Revolution the following summer. I kept playing tuba in the off season, eventually went on to college, did a semester as a sax player and then made a decision to stick with the tuba... never looked back.