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KevinDCAChamp

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    Libertyville, IL
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    Drum Corps, what else!

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  1. I can't agree more, I miss him dearly.... But with every new story I hear about him, I know he is with us, and always will be. I know I can never forget him..... Guido
  2. I find a good cleaning with white vinegar every 4-6 keeps the crude from building up inside my mello. Even then the stuff that comes out amazes me. I pour about 1/2 a bottle in the bell, turn her around and around to get it in all the tubing and let it stay in for 5-10 minutes. Pour it out and power rinse with a sink hose until the water is running freely from bell to reciever. Clear out the water, oil the valves and lube the slides and your good to go on the inside. Good silver polish on the outside and it will look and play great. Guido
  3. If you are talking a G horn (which valve/rotors where), it is the Eb below the staff that can't be played. The Eb on the staff is played with the rotor down. And that is only if it isn't a french horn, it could play the Ab on the staff with just the valve, and anomoly that made that horn very usefull to arrangers. To make it even more fun to play, lots of notes, like the D on the staff could be played open or with the valve. Or if you were Pepe Notaro you "didn't need no buttons", you just lipped every note....... Guido
  4. Weird isn't it how things work differently for different folks... I played mello for most of my earlier drum corp career, but always using Bach trumpet mouthpieces (a 10 3/4 DW, per a Hy Drietzer fitting...), and of course on a G horn. It might seem like a bad mouthpiece choice, but it gave the brilliant sound Hy was looking for. We used french horns for the darker sound that seems to be prefered for Mellos today. When I played trumpet in a rock band at that time, I had about a 3rd higher (relative) range comfortably than I had on the Mello, using the same mouthpiece. I found the trumpet way easier to play, needing much less air support. And not the worry about tuning and pitch control, always a challenge with the Mello. Now we use Mello mouthpieces, mostly 6V, though I use a warburton 5. When I play my G soprano with the Bach 10 3/4 I have almost a 5th higher range. The mello mouthpiece made my chops better for the soprano! We are all like snowflakes, each and everyone different.... Guido
  5. Yep, the staff will probably rule what you have to do, so maybe figure out where you want to play and find out what they require. I have tried the "sparkplug sockets" that the Cavie's used, and it didn't suit my chops, plus it is way heavy for an old guy... I have been using a Warburton Mello 5 this year. It works much better for my chops than the 6V did. Since the factory burned down I am not sure about availability though..... Guido
  6. The Chicago Royal Airs are proud to present Big Blue's Brass Review, our first DCI show. With one of the strongest line-ups in the Midwest this year, it will be an exciting and entertaining evening for all. For information and to purchase tickets check our our web site at http://www.ChicagoRoyalAirs.com Come join us !! Guido
  7. Add to that Connecticut Royal Lancers, ND-ettes, as well as the Buccaneers feeder corp the Musketters and the St. Raphael's all-girl corps the Marrionettes. Yes, St. Raphael's had 3 corps going at one time..... Ahh the good old days... And Joe taught about 5 corps a year, each year.... How did he ever do it.....
  8. For execution there was none better than Pepe Nataro. He could clean 2 points out of a horn show in a night. He had a way of explaining things that was quite unique and understandable. I think it was because he knew the level of the kids he was working with, and related to them on that level. And when he talked, you listened, oh did you listen. He could be quite intimidating, and also could be a ton of fun, if you got the work done. All he expected was your best, you gave it and you were rewarded. You didn't and you got "the Axe". He was an example and mentor for dozens of technicans who went on to teach numerous championship corps. He truly was a legend..... For arranger, Hy was the man. Talk about a sound..... No need to say anything else but listen to his music....
  9. Would love a copy of either of those shows... Dream was the first time we did Elks in the show that year. When the crowd heard the drum opening it went nuts! I have a copy of the Boston show in June with Mambo, and I have to agree it was a good change. I don't think we would have won DCA with out the change. But listening to the DCA recording vs the Boston one, the entire show was performed better by the end of the year, so maybe it wouldn't have made the difference. Either way, I was happy as a pig in mud to win DCA!! We did it for us and we did it for Lefty that night in Rochester, and I will never forget it......
  10. Had to love the 1975 Skyliner show: OTL - How could you believe me when I said I love you, when you know I've been a liar all my life. pheew A Jimmy Durante tune. Color Pres - Hymn from Victory at Sea. Richard Rogers chorale type piece. Concert - Buddy Rich's version of West Side Story. Not you typical show tune. Production number - 1st half year Mombo from West Side Story. Again not your typical show tune. 2nd half year Elks Parade. Can't beat a crowd favorite. Exit - Give my regards to Broadway/ 42nd Street/Traffic Jam/Little Ole New York Theme?? Great tunes that fit the style of the corps to a T. We don't need no stinkin' Themes......
  11. Oh yea I remember Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, like all those type places the sidelines and the stands never lined up, dredfull for any corps, much less the less able ones... The Dream...ohh first big show I ever saw 1965, and what a show!! Didn't even notice the place was not that great the show was so overwhelming. When I got to compete there in 1973 it was more noticealbe how bad it was, but who cared I was marching in The DREAM!! The field there was even more challenging than the regular not lined up stadiums. Half of the field was either a mud hole or a sand storm depending on the weather that year. Had members lose shoes in the muck during the show, but it was The Dream #### it!! Did a ton of shows at Kennedy Stadium in Bridgeport, in fact my first competition ever was there. And the first show I didn't come in last was there too, as well as the first World Open I competed in so many fond memories there. The Barnum Fest shows had unbelievable crowds and were amazing to march in. Did an indoor show at Madison Square Garden with Sky in 1975, one would think that would be cool, but the acustics sucked, you couldn't hear anything well. ohhh gee how could I forget.... Carnegie Hall Evening with the Corps!!! Now it wasn't a competition, but to be playing on the stage at Carnegie Hall was pretty awe inspiring for a pre-teen kid. So awe inspiring one of the girls in the guard wet the stage floor when the curtain went up!! The worst place for a show...... Gaelic Park in the Bronx, NY... bad enough it was one of those stadium places, but it was surrounded on 3 sides by multiple levels of train tracks. So every few minutes a train would pull in or out and you couldn't hear anything from the field!! First time I got to see Cavaliers was there in 67 or 68. They go into concert, Hall of the Mountain King, starting with a way cool Contra solo (heard it on record many times previous). Just as he starts the solo, here comes the trains, and they last until Hold that Tiger is almost done. What a bummer and a disappointment. Hated that place before that, despised it afterwards. God we had fun didn't we??
  12. Well here's a story that doesn't involve fighting or drinking just good old fashioned fun... In 1976 the Matadors had a very interesting and fun group of people, with Jim Centerino being the ring-leader for most of the mayhem. Not only was he a brilliant horn player and arranger, he was a brilliant practical joker also. One late night after a DCA show in Johnstown NY, a group from the corp ended up at a resturant in a very lonely part of a very lonely area of the country. Much of the staff was there, including a member who besides playing in the bari line also was the drill designer. Since this person now has positions of responsibility in drum corp organizations, he will remain nameless. After eating, the group went out to the parking lot, where this member decided to change into more comfortable clothes for the 3 or so hour ride back to Rhode Island. He popped open his trunk. and since the area was very desolate, started changing right there in the parking lot. When he was down to what he was born in (plus a large amount of body hair that he had accumulated over the years), Centerino reached into the trunk, grabbed the guy's wallet and keys and slammed the trunk shut. Running to his car, Centerino threw the wallet and the ignition key back. There is this poor guy standing there with the deer caught in the headlights look on his face. Needless to say the rest of the people there, feeling the guy's pain, got in their cars also, and drove off behind Centerino, leaving the member to drive back to Rhode Island au natural, which must have been a sight when he got to the toll booths..... We did pay for this indiscretion at many drill practices after that, but the memory was well worth it....
  13. I have a few DEG bugles that I love, and a few Bflat trumpets from days long gone by that saw service when I played in a rock band in college. My favorite horn though is an old beat up Eflat trumpet that graced a bookshelve in Leonard Bernstein's study. I was fortunate enough to aquire it when they auctioned off his estate a few years ago. It doesn't play too well or sound very nice, but it is something that the Maestro touched, so it is very precious to me...
  14. Oh we played the low A flat and low D also, we just lipped it in!! As my mentor Pepe used to say, "the horn ain't out a tune, your ear is!!" He was the only person I know of who could play chromatic scales (on a G bugle of course) from C below the staff to C above the staff WITHOUT TOUCHING THE HORN. He would lay it on top of an upright piano, lean into it with his hands behind his back and play quarter note chromatic scales. This was his answer to you if you complained about the quality of a horn. After doing this he would just turn to you and say "Go home and practice, kid". Ah the joys of those old G bugles, you could make them play anything.....
  15. I have been told that Bach no longer makes 6V Mello mouthpieces. I have been "ordered" to switch to a 6V and do not like the small cushions on the ones I have tried to play on. From what I remeber the Bach had a bigger cushion, which is more comfortable for the kind of chops structure I have. Can anyone provide any information on this? Does anyone know where I can acquire a Bach 6V Mello mouthpiece from any existing supply?? Does anyone know of a 6V Mello mouthpiece that has a bigger cushion??? I have played on Bach's since 1972, being very comfortable on a 10 1/2 CW, and like the feel and sound it provided me. And even though my sound was not noticeably different from the other players in the section, everyone is to now play on the 6V. I still do not understand this, since everyone has different lip and teeth structures, I feel a mouthpiece fitted to the individual would give a better sound for them. And it is not my decsion, so I will go with the flow. And I want to play the best I can, and I know I need the bigger cushion for that to happen. So any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Guido
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