Cadetsnare

8/4/5 and a gaggle in the pit.

I talked to Max (Colts Percussion caption head) earlier today, and when he picked up, the battery was doing a moving runthrough of the closer at the end of sectionals. They really sound FANTASTIC!!! It was fun listening to Max dodge the drumline on the field! Very very clean for this time o'year. I'm on the road with them starting this week..looking forward to seeing the progress since the last camp I was at!

You sir, are correct. I was one of the players who had a hand in field testing that system. It really is IMO one of the most significant developments to happen to marching snares since the kevlar head. Randy really is always thinking outside the box, and this thing is no exception. I had Randy send a drum to both Roger at Madison and Max at the Colts to check out, and they both flipped out when they heard it! In fact, they both decided to use them this year, so keep your eye out for the Acoustic EQ this summer! PS I don't work for Randy...I'm just a good friend of his who digs what he's doing!

I have Cadets 1988 finals night, when they got a 14.9 (out of 15), and still lost drums, even though they outplayed the Vanguard. A travesty. Brilliant drumming, and perfect except for a 5 stroke roll near the end. And ON MYLAR!! YEAH, BABY!

I endorse Remo products, so I would say use a clear mylar head on the bottom, and don't reef it too far...that will keep the snare response down a bit. You also might try the new Evans Hybrid snare side...IME, it's a very dry bottom head.

That was 1993, and the tenor drummer was David Reeves...if you need contact info for him, try Pearldrums.com, and look in the artists section...you can contact him that way, or call Pearl for his email address...they should have it on file. Good luck!

I don't get it....you didn't dig it, that's fine....last time I checked, we were allowed to disagree. A little love here? 'Specially from someone else who wore the Maroon and Gold? I thought he played his tail off...probably one of the best trombone players I've heard, let alone his baritone playing. We went to UMass together, and he was consistently tearing it up. So yeah, as a musician, I have a lot of respect for the guy. He wasn't just some guy who marched, he's a formally trained jazzer who has a killer track record as a jazz soloist. Other love goes out to Barb Maroney, the gal who played "Make Our Garden Grow", he guy from Florida Wave who soloed for BD in 90, and the absolute swine who played contra with a sop mouthpiece in 27th the year they played "Niner-Two"! I hope those picks are agreeable with you.

My vote goes to Eric Fecke on baritone in BD 83's "Everybody Loves the Blues". YIKES! He OWNED that thing, and was the "man", solo-wise in 83, IMHO. If you haven't heard it, it's a KILLER tune! Still off the right foot, Cadetsnare

My vote......92 Bluecoats! (Just kidding! I had to teach that rolling garbage truck of a show....it had more issues than National Geographic!) Seriously....86 Troopers! Jim Prime and crew did a great job with that hornline!

Glen Crosby's an old friend of mine. I spoke to him about it a few weeks ago. He seems VERY happy with what they've sent him so far (except for the stands...NOT happening, from what I understand...if Mapex were smart, they'd partner up with Randy May for some reliable carriers...JMHO). He says the basses and tenors are as good as anything out there, and he's still tweaking the snares to get what he wants. But then again, Glen can make any line sound good on ANYTHING! He seriously is, THE MAN!

Doesn't Khatchaturian look like Peter Parker/Spiderman's landlord in the Spiderman movies? "I have eyes like rodent and ears like rat!"

Actually, the bug was a plant by Hopkins for more GE. I smell a conspiracy!!! I was in that show. I stepped on more than a few "crunchy" ones that night!! They were all over the field!

Interesting perspective. I marched 90 Cadets, 10 snares, we won perc with a 19.7...didn't turn out too bad. Even outscored BD 86. BD 94 had 10, had a 9.8 on the field. There have been LOTS of killer 10 man snare lines out there over the years. You must not have checked out 27th in the early 80s. SPARKLING clean in the tic system. Now 86 BD...THAT was clean (except for the single sixtuplets coming out of the drum solo...) 90 Star sounded horrible??? I was there, night in and night out hearing them from the side, from the front, from the back, etc. You must be judging them from some recording. The 90s were notoriously bad for making drumlines sound dirty....something to do with mike placement relative to the center of the field. Trust me...I WAS THERE. They were NOT a dirty line, and they certainly did not sound that way live. As far as them being lost at mp when the horns were playing? That's called blend, my friend. That's something that kevlar CANNOT do as well as mylar. Kevlar blends with NOTHING, IMO. I marched in DCI on both... It reminds me of when Glassmen were using mylar when Colin was teaching there. They sounded OUTRAGEOUS, but weren't getting the numbers they deserved. They switch to kevlar....that night the drum score jumps up a couple of full points. People are just not used to that sound anymore.

Nope...hasn't been for a few years. He works with Yamato now, as well as RCC and several HS bands.

Yes, and yes!! We had 2 other BD drummers come out, but they decided not to stay. Pete's a great friend of mine, and is a heck of a drummer and teacher. He's living in Corona, California now, teaching a bunch of groups down there.

Yup...Mike Stevens, who marched BD's tenor line, aged out at Cadets in 91, as well.

Staci at Pro-Mark is "good people". She always treated me great when I was with them, and their products were fine. I hope BD and Pro-Mark have a fruitful relationship. Matt Power

Actually, it was written for 15, but we lost 2 snare drummers mid-season. We started with 10, went down to 8, one due to carpal tunnel, but one of the drummers was a health risk (had some sort of seizure or heart attack in drill rehearsal...it was REALLY surreal), so he actually marched the opener up to the end of the tenor break, then went to the pit, so we actually ended up with 14 in the opener. Hope that helps... Oh, and by the way, it was Short Ride in a Frack Machine (listen to the first 15 seconds or so to the sopranos...eesh.)

Strangest? 92 Bluecoats, for sure. "Jazz-O-Phonic Beatles"...a complete ? from moment one. I was on staff, and it was a miracle we made finals with that rolling garbage truck of a show. Go listen to it...then go have a beer. You'll need it!

My hearts go out to both young ladies, and I know that they will have a complete recovery...I believe it! Greg Orwoll is the real deal, folks. Probably one of the nicest guys in DCI, and TRULY cares about the kids. He's a rare one! I watched this personally when I spent some time with the Colts on the road. A total class act, as is the entire organization. Once again, I am glad Bianca and Erin are improving...let's keep them and their families in our prayers.

Hi TX, In reading your first post, I think you might have mixed up 90, 91, and 92. If you're referring to Star not catching the Cavaliers, and the Cavaliers taking it....that's an easy one to mix up. Cadets won in 1990, Cavies behind us, and Star 3rd. 91, Star won, and Cavies were 2nd (I think). 92, Cavies won, with Cadets in 2nd and Star in 3rd. It's easy to get 'em mixed up, due to the closeness of all the placings, and the flip-flopping. But, Star from 90-93 were hornlines that created a dynasty. They were brilliant at every level. I wasn't a fan of the Cavaliers' horn lines during those years...not nearly as strong as they are today (but Cavies had an outstanding percussion program those years, and still do). I agree with Star having a great book and performance at finals, but their field and GE visual, as well as field percussion numbers hurt them. If those captions averaged out to where the corps placed in the rest of their captions, they would have been 1 or 2 tenths behind the Cavaliers. Hope that helps!

Well, I can tell you that one of the tunes is very Cadet-like...as in early, early 90s Cadets.... I wouldn't want to give a "Prelude" to the material... Hee-hee!

Ooooooo! I know what the corps is playing......but I'm not tellin'!! ...bye, now!

My favorite recipe in the Cadets of the 80s and 90s? ....anything that was available! We didn't eat much, I can tell you that!

I spent about 2 weeks teaching on the road last summer with the corps...a REALLY classy organization! I'm supposed to do several camps this year as well, so I'll do a "camp report" when I get back! I'm sure the kids will be great.