ajlisko Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Not sure who was last DCI corp to perform with marching timps on the field but I believe we, the Chicago Royal-Airs were the first out on the field with them in early 1968. Bridgeport PAL used them right from the first show in 68 also, as did most Dreitzer taught corps ... many judges had a tough time accepting them or adapting on how to judge them though ... at our first show of the season we got a 0.9 out of 10.0 (you read that right - only nine tenths os a point) in GE drums ... his only comment: tymps don't belong on a drum corps field ... cost us the show ... there were other early adopters in the East and by 69 most top corps had them incorporated into their line ... the weight of the early models were killers though ... I had enough trouble slinging a snare let alone a tymp ... :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 ...This got me wondering, who was the last top 12 corps to actually march their timpani? I know by ’81 a lot of corps had already grounded theirs, and the concept of the Pit wasn’t far off. Was Phantom the last hold out? Magic of Orlando marched one timpani for effect in their 1994 "Cirque du Magique, Part Deux" opener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storkysr Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Bridgeport PAL used them right from the first show in 68 also, as did most Dreitzer taught corps ... many judges had a tough time accepting them or adapting on how to judge them though ... at our first show of the season we got a 0.9 out of 10.0 (you read that right - only nine tenths os a point) in GE drums ... his only comment: tymps don't belong on a drum corps field ... cost us the show ... there were other early adopters in the East and by 69 most top corps had them incorporated into their line ... the weight of the early models were killers though ... I had enough trouble slinging a snare let alone a tymp ... :-) St. Joes undefeated line of 1968 used 4 marching timpani all year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 .....These drums were so new, they hadn't even been painted so they were the traditional copper..... Oh man do I remember those days. Corps started stripping them down, painting them with their corps colors, and putting the corps logo on the front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Honest to God.... and I'm a bit of an "old-timer" with my drum corps involvement dating back to 1967.... of all the stuff that has happened in drum corps over so many years..... of all the rules changes/equipment changes, etc...... IMO, the marching tympani top my "WTF were WE thinking?????" list. Looking at those old photos/videos of corps using the marching timps.....those things look....well....primitive. What WERE we thinking????? Geeeez. LOL Fran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Oh, not really. We introduced our Tympani at Madison Square Garden during Evening With The Corps April 1968 - Our last year as St. Joseph Patron Cadets. Barry had to play both because our other player Rod was ill. Talk about cranking your butt off! These drums were so new, they hadn't even been painted so they were the traditional copper - Here's Barry and Ron during our concert segment. The influx of new members that season was so big we had to put our drum line in non cadet tops. I've got a color shot I'll dig up somewhere around here. Puppet Note: These guys don't even have legs on the drums, which to old time timp players that means, "we ain't puttin' these things down for the entire show",....................now that's bad a@@! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Note: These guys don't even have legs on the drums, which to old time timp players that means, "we ain't puttin' these things down for the entire show",....................now that's bad a@@! Ain't even putting 'em down for the concert number. LMAO, that kicked off an old memory of the first show we ever beat another corps after we reformed. Got a .1 penalty for dropped equipment.... one of the tymp legs fell out during the show. Still remember seeing a judge pitch it off the field while we were playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Ain't even putting 'em down for the concert number. In those early days, even that was not permitted. NO grounding allowed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puppet Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Honest to God.... and I'm a bit of an "old-timer" with my drum corps involvement dating back to 1967.... of all the stuff that has happened in drum corps over so many years..... of all the rules changes/equipment changes, etc...... IMO, the marching tympani top my "WTF were WE thinking?????" list. Looking at those old photos/videos of corps using the marching timps.....those things look....well....primitive. What WERE we thinking????? Geeeez. LOL Fran Well Fran, from an historical perspective the marching timp was a direct development of the need to bring more musicality to the drum line. You can probably blame the Cabs who first trouped onto the field with timbales in '60 or '61. That was all Drum Corps needed to go into what you call the "WWWT!" stage. Bass drums began to play actual rudiments and corps began tuning their Bass drums and carrying monster sized versions we call Thunder Basses. In '65 St. Joseph Patron Cadets bopped out on the field with "tuned" Tenor Drums and they were followed by double and then triple Bass, double and then triple toms and somewhere in between ('67 / '68) corps began grabbing up Ludwig or maybe Slingerland marching Timpani drums. They were fiberglass and I'm told by the guys who carried them weren't really all that heavy - not like the Big a**ed Thunder Bass, anyway! Primitive? You could tune them on the move and as I may have indicated elsewhere, 4 players on the top of their game played like one and would enhance not only the sound of the Drum line but the Horn line as well. Especially when you had a music arranger like Hy Drietzer working with Percussion maven like Eric Perillioux! BTW all the rules of the day aside, having everyone on the field made for a more cohesive sound IMO. Even today with all of the electronic sophistication there is nothing more annoying then that amplified xylophone/bell/clang/ding-ding instrument thingy that seems to be out of place no matter when you hear it and adds to the lop-sided balance of the total musical presentation. And before I forget, people also freaked out when the Contra Bass was introduced and guard spinning rifles and pikes proving we can't please everyone all the time. Puppet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esch Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 There never was a line that made marching band drumlines drool better than a hot tymp line. Even practicing with them grounded made jaws drop. And you're right, Puppet: one of the biggest strengths corps back then have over today's is that it was all mobile: we could do parades, standstills, fly-bys, whatever. Mind you, my back and knees HAVE do complain a bit these days.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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