[Most Influential Instructor]

Pete,

Great thread!!!!

George Tuthill, for me.

A grad of the Manhattan School of Music, George was WAAAAY ahead of his time in the late 60's through mid 70's.

Taught the Cadets in 70 and 71, and the Cabs as well prior to Dennis.

When Garfield let him go after 1971, just about the entire drumline quit in support. Most of us went to the Cabs, where he already was teaching.

I ended up going back to Garfield, but I refused to pay drums for the "new guy", so I picked up baritone instead. I was a music ed/percussion major in college, and I had brass class the coming fall, so I played bari. No way I was going to play in a non-Tuthill drumline taught by this "new guy"...................Fred Sanford.     ;)^

The sad thing to me in our 71 Revolutionary War show was how unable many of the old guard drum judges were to understand some of the stuff George wrote for us. The percussion book we ended up with at VFW's was a shadow of it's original self, as we watered down and changed stuff all season long.

One example:  A cannon shot on the two bass drums. We were still using thumpers at that time, a large and small drum. We wanted to create a cannon shot sound in or percussion feature, so George had first one play, and then the other as an echo right behind ("ba-doom" kind of sound). Well, we got ticked just about every show for the basses "not playing together". So......after fighting with judges show after show we took out the echo.

Another: We split the hornline into sops as the Americans and rest of the brass as the English/Hessians. We did a 3 against 2 spot in the show where the Americans played "Turkey in the Straw" or something and the English a minuet, complete with dancing. Well, George split the line into two halfs, 2 snares, 2 tri-toms, 1 bass, 1 cymbal to support the Americans in 2/4 and 2 snares, 1 tri-tom (me), 1 bass, 1 cymbal supporting the English minuet in 3/4, simultaneously. We got  zonked by the judges for 'splitting the line up', as it 'lessened the demand'.  Ended up taking THAT out too prior to Nats. It was VERY sad.

The above and other examples from that show in particular have probably contributed to the way I think about innovation and looking ahead and being free to accept new ideas. Which of course gets me into trouble sometimes in these forums.      :p

George also got me m first HS band teaching job. As a freshman music major in college in 1971, George brought me in to teach at a HS close to my college in NJ. He wrote the drum book and did some teaching and Larry Kirchner did the wind charts. I was what today would be called a 'tech'; at that time it  was the 'Asst Drum Instructor'. The band director was the Cadet's Asst Brass Instructor from 1971, Larry Schillings, a former Chrome Dome member.

Mike

[Woodwind to Brass]

I majored in percussion in college (started in 4th grade), but I played sax in my HS band (class of 71).

I payed percussion in the Cadets 70-71 and switched to baritone for 72.

Mike

[BD on new mouthpieces?]

There was a link posted to the DCW interview with Wayne where he said that the BD would be swithcing to the SILK mouthpieces, colored blue with a black stone embedded someplace.

Mike