zmom Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 There's also a blog by a PR member on the Conn-Selmer site: http://www.conn-selmer.com/blogs/OntheRoad/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corps-mudgeon Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Phantom's euphoniums are called buicks...bc they sound like the car of the same name's horn. big, loud, and in your face. You would know better than me, but I thought it was because the euph line sounded "like a fleet of idling buicks", i.e. smooth, rich, and powerful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k1001001 Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Or like a bunch of grandmas were in the driver's seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos001 Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 You would know better than me, but I thought it was because the euph line sounded "like a fleet of idling buicks", i.e. smooth, rich, and powerful. well, that's what i was told. but who can say if it's true? i do know for sure is that it's something about the car. if you wanna hear the army of buicks up close check them out on youtube. type in "champions fanfare during retreat 2006." it should be a video taken by some of BD's percussion ppl on the field. notice the girl's face after the buicks chime in (priceless!). the difference in brass approach from BD to PR seems to have been a bit much for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRAng Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 (edited) On a side note...Phantom has historically been about 10 days late on peaking at finals...With the new philosphy maybe they be on time this year! The "new" philosophy is far from new. I was thrilled to read those comments in Courtney's Chronicles because it's much closer to the approach that was used by the corps in the late 80s and 90s. The past several years have been really irritating to me when they would just throw some drill on the field in the early part of the season with little regard for staging or musicality and then spend the rest of the season making major changes rather than tweaking and cleaning. Whether it's because of the shortened season, the new drill writer or whatever, I'm very happy to hear that they're going back to the old philosophy and I'm looking forward to seeing better drill at the dress rehearsal this year - next weekend! Edited June 7, 2008 by PRAng Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 (edited) I enjoyed her articles and thought they were very informative. I was a little surprised to read that she was destined for the Marine D&B after the season, but her DCI experience will serve her well in Basic Training. That I know for sure. Edited June 7, 2008 by Piper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
year1buick Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 well, that's what i was told. but who can say if it's true? i do know for sure is that it's something about the car. if you wanna hear the army of buicks up close check them out on youtube. type in "champions fanfare during retreat 2006." it should be a video taken by some of BD's percussion ppl on the field. notice the girl's face after the buicks chime in (priceless!). the difference in brass approach from BD to PR seems to have been a bit much for her. Former brass caption head Bill Peterson came up with the nickname during warmup before one of our shows in 94. We'd finished tuning in sectionals and were about to arc up and he had us play a line from the begining of White Witch Doctor. Basically, we were playing it a little too pretty. To get us in the right frame of mind, he used the analogy that if the sopranos were the Porches of the corps, we had to be the Buicks. The name stuck--he also began to call that same phrase (three loud *** whole notes) the Buick mating call. It wasn't so much about literally sounding like a buick as having the character, so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos001 Posted June 7, 2008 Author Share Posted June 7, 2008 ...and that's the rest of the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos001 Posted June 7, 2008 Author Share Posted June 7, 2008 TWO UPDATES POSTED TODAY!!! it's like early christmas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvertrombone Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 On a side note...Phantom has historically been about 10 days late on peaking at finals...With the new philosphy maybe they be on time this year! They probably got sick of alum like Trish and I railing on the results/philosophy the last couple/few years. Didn't help having Dr. Dan (?) quoted last year in the discussion. I think a Trish quote. Good to hear it has been taken to heart. What is a Buick player, by the way? See Corey's explanation below...but I always thought it was in reference to a previous Bari line...93 maybe? One of you other guys chime in. Phantom's euphoniums are called buicks...bc they sound like the car of the same name's horn. big, loud, and in your face. Sorry, redundant me quoting this one with Corey's explanation below! Former brass caption head Bill Peterson came up with the nickname during warmup before one of our shows in 94. We'd finished tuning in sectionals and were about to arc up and he had us play a line from the begining of White Witch Doctor. Basically, we were playing it a little too pretty. To get us in the right frame of mind, he used the analogy that if the sopranos were the Porches of the corps, we had to be the Buicks. The name stuck--he also began to call that same phrase (three loud *** whole notes) the Buick mating call. It wasn't so much about literally sounding like a buick as having the character, so to speak. Bill was so eloquent! Wow, we were iconic!! I thought the term was established well before I got there. Now I could kick myself for not buying a section shirt during the season! Money being tight and all. Would be a great souvie, now! Corey, did you get one? Would be a great photo for your signature! The 94 hornline was widely renowned (or at least we were being told by staff to encourage us!) that it was the finest line since--and including!!--the 89 line. Buicks were no different. By the end of season, we were insanely in tune. Bill, or whoever, would go down the line with the tuner and just keep on moving. Scrotum (John Tsosoras) was amazing--I still owe him a Dr Pepper for our running in-tune competition. He won by three days--me being a little off when he was right on. White Witch Doctor/Death Hunt/North by Northwest (the closer medley) was, of course, a repeat of 93 with some additions. But where 93 was a more technically proficient hornline due to the book, we were hand's down a better line--requisite for the book also. When you do something as musical as Claire de Lune, you have to have the line to do it, and (/humility) we were good! I've always been disappointed that BD's horns were so balls-out great that year! Would have been fun to take horns. Oh well. And as stated before, the closer was SMOKIN' finals! We came off the field sayin', "Where did that come from?!?" Go Spartacus!! Rockford should be fun. Oh, and I'm sure that Rockford being opening day had nothing to do with the "new" philosophy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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