decompressed

seems like much ado about nothing

Yes...in 1985 Les Eclipse had overage members

very nice post...i like your vernacular!!!!! You keep it simple but your comments are quite observant! Keep it up! :)

Actually...with some of the judging panels they used to have....this isn't much different.

you were making out......during Schindler's list?

Gary: Nobody wants you here! Nobody! :P

If a corps has feet issues when they head out on tour...chances are ...they're gonnna have feet issues in August too! Just not enough time on the road to do what needs to get done....that is why the winter program is soooooooooooo important. I hope i'm wrong....would love to see magic tear it up this summer!

How about using the evans self muffling bass drum heads...they sound great and you don't have to deal with all that mucky glue and stuff!

I agree completely Stephen....you also must have an arranger that understands the voicing of that particular section of the low brass.........the way the euph parts are written impacts tremendously the overall depth of sound!

I would like to suggest that the style of show you are doing also dictates the sound of the brassline. For example, a brass line playing jazz would probably have a brighter sound because of the nature of the idiom....more soprano voices, more aggressive low brass (baritones, etc) and a somewhat brighter mellophone sound.... This is one of the reasons why more and more corps have gone away from true jazz shows.......for one thing, many young judges don't credit these hornlines for the style they are achieving. I know we fought that all the time.......the legitamacy of the jazz style and the fact that we are asking our performers to do so much more with articulations, inflections....no offense to all of you classical buffs out there, but teaching jazz to a DCI brassline offers many more challenges to the students and the instructors. In addition, when you achieve it at a high level, you often don't get the credit you deserve! The extremes of ranges are more demanding, the style is more demanding and the nuances of a jazz book are much more demanding...yet many judges percieve the exact opposite when evaluating a jazz show. I mean...."The rite of spring", all you have to do is accent one upbeat eigth note every once and a while......contrast that to a Buddy Rich chart or Pat Metheny....there ain't no comparison really. As always...IMO! Peace Out!

Interesting.....when we went over to Bb with Yamaha in 2001 the horns were not free....actually purchased at a discount, but Yea still had to pay for them. Then we sold the used horns at the end of the season to various band programs and individuals to supplement the cost of new horns each year. I believe most horn deals are done this way....I find it hard to believe King just gave y'all over $100,000.00 in free horns....i'm sure your corps paid something for them. Otherwise, I'm getting on the phone right now and ordering me some kings!!!!!!!

One thing to consider folks...... Cavies are running their !@#$%^^ off and Phantom moves at quarter note = 80 most of the time.....a huge impact on the brass sound to be sure!

I feel your pain....brass staff members feel the same way too! I remember when I was teaching Spirit in 1998, the drum staff all got these cool Premier Hockey Jerseys and all we got was this dorky Dynasty baseball cap....it wasn't even a real cap, it was one of those 1970s mesh caps that were twice as wide as your head! The real reason being that drum equipment, sticks, heads, etc are all purchasable by members and their respective band programs for big bucks, whereas brass players usually have their own type of horn that they bought individually....so it really is a matter of market and economics i think. Evan