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Did going to Bb help new corps?


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*sigh* I miss the Olds company.... :lol:

My first trombone and onyl Bari I competed with. But our lower brass had the Duratone (frosted) finish. Great bari.....

Heh, Flashback from Chuck Mangione hosting DCI (posted this before).

Chuck (talking to members of a horn line): What do I have to do with my 3rd valve to be able to play with you guys.

Horn line (in unison): CUT IT OFF!!!

Chuck gets look of horror like he was told to cut something ELSE off. :thumbup:

Edit: Googled around and found this on Jeff Mitchells bugle site: The fate of the piston rotor bugle was sealed in 1975 as Olds announced they would no longer produce their fine Ultratone line. The problem was two-fold. Initially Olds bugles took the drum corps world by storm. This was accomplished to such an extent that they drove everyone out of business. No one could match the quality of their horns. Secondly, with drum corps having great financial difficulty and folding, the market for new instruments was shrinking.

Edit 2: Might as well post the link as further on there is info about corps going away from "park and blow" during the 80s. http://home.hvc.rr.com/jmitchell1/bugle3.html

Pretty neat site. Lots of research, but conclusions seem more to be conjecture on the author's part. One small detail, it states that DEG bugles, (back then), were made by Getzen. Technically, I believe they were made by Allied Music Corporation. A small difference, but a difference none the less.

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I know a lot of people that marched G bugles. I've yet to have one of them tell me that they liked them.

If they marched with a DEG you won't get any positive reactions. They were one of the worst to play with. Other than the brand in use I know of nobody who had any real issues with marching with G bugles.

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If they marched with a DEG you won't get any positive reactions. They were one of the worst to play with. Other than the brand in use I know of nobody who had any real issues with marching with G bugles.

Ya mean the DEG Die-Nasty (Dynasty) horns??? :thumbup:

Yep....

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*nods vigoursly* Give me a King or Kanstal anyday.

Now, I only have close to 50 years playing experience, so I know everyone else knows better, but I like my Dynasty 3 valve and I've played the Kanstul and hated the Kanstul. Couldn't wait to give it back.

I thought the tone on the Kanstul lacked vibrant overtones and had a dead sound, it was awkward to hold, and felt stuffy.

Never played a King bugle.

I have only ever played; Conn, Ludwig, York, Getzen, OLDS, DEG, and Kanstul bugles. I think the Kanstul was the worst.

I know Zig has a neat name and people like to say it. He's also had a long, long career and has done some great things in brass manufacture and design. I don't like his bugle.

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Now, I only have close to 50 years playing experience, so I know everyone else knows better, but I like my Dynasty 3 valve and I've played the Kanstul and hated the Kanstul. Couldn't wait to give it back.

I thought the tone on the Kanstul lacked vibrant overtones and had a dead sound, it was awkward to hold, and felt stuffy.

I'll agree that about the Kanstul being a bit awkward to hold, at first. But it was because it was a well-balanced horn, compared to a DEG so it took a while to get use to having a horn in which the weight was evenly distributed. As for the sound, it was able to hold itself in tune much better (and longer) than a DEG. But since I was in a mix brand hornline (DEGs, Kanstal and a couple two valves...how Donny allowed that :P ) I can't comment on the overtone issue.

I will agree, mixed brands do not make a good hornline since each company has their own process and idiosyncracies.

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Sorry, but the Kanstul Sops and that stupid TAN slide has to be the most poorly designed POS I have ever played. Absolutely the most stupid design ever IMHO.

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Jim,

We went to Bb/F in 2005.

Jerry

Thanks Jerry, thought it was about the time the Buccs returned to their winning ways.

Will have to play some of the "before and after" shows in a row to see if I can even guess at a difference.

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I'm a snare drummer and I never bothered to ask any of the horn players how hard it was to switch to G bugles every summer after playing Regular horns the rest of the year in band. I do know that the bugles always sounded louder - and to my ears - better! Now that I'm just a spectator I can tell that all corps have gotten quiet compared to when they played bugles. I thought Pioneer sounded great this last year in the alamodome. If they only had a bunch of power players the place would have been rockin! I guess this year nobody in DCI will play an actual bugle. Sad.

Thing is it's also getting impossible to find replacement parts. And those horns were ancient, most of them had gaping holes in the finish and some were starting to get holes eaten all the way through.

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