JohnZ Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Sooooooooo, anyway - to get back to the original question of the thread (because I tire quickly of the usual circular arguments), speaking literally, because we still see many functional bugles on the market and on the field, some as much as 30 -40 years old and still rattling windows in stadiums, my guess is we have many, many years to enjoy them. Perhaps far longer than the lifetimes of the existing generations who grew up playing and appreciating them. You will be able to find them, maybe not in the competitive circuits, but I am sure it would take a long time for alumni, minicorps, or other ensembles to give them up until the last one is no longer serviceable. I would rather hope that maybe someday someone trying to be innovative will think how great it would be to explore G voicing again, and start the whole "the activity is dying" argument all over again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Why not just give the Bb trumpets bigger bells and bores like the G horns? Don't the modern "marching trumpets" have modifications to allow them to project more? Check out the bore sizes on new Bb/F marching brass. They have done what you suggest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Perhaps far longer than the lifetimes of the existing generations who grew up playing and appreciating them. You will be able to find them, maybe not in the competitive circuits, but I am sure it would take a long time for alumni, minicorps, or other ensembles to give them up until the last one is no longer serviceable. Ditto on that John. As for the OP, considering the cost of new horns, it's a LOT easier on a parade corps budget to buy used and maintain the Hades out of a horn. Just amazes me how some say competing Jr corps need to replace horns evey few years because they are beat. (Outside of the endorsement deals.) Used a piston/rotor for 6 years competing in DCA and only thing wrong was a few scratches. Currently using a 3v G that was used and just take it in every other year for minor stuff. After 4th of July parades it's going in for dinged valve covers (can't get a valve outta the horn ). LOL, have another Bari that needs a new spring. That one's only about 70 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnZ Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 And I'll bet there is plenty of great music left in that 70 year old instrument, Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.morgus Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Ditto on that John. As for the OP, considering the cost of new horns, it's a LOT easier on a parade corps budget to buy used and maintain the Hades out of a horn. Just amazes me how some say competing Jr corps need to replace horns evey few years because they are beat. (Outside of the endorsement deals.) Used a piston/rotor for 6 years competing in DCA and only thing wrong was a few scratches. Currently using a 3v G that was used and just take it in every other year for minor stuff. After 4th of July parades it's going in for dinged valve covers (can't get a valve outta the horn ).LOL, have another Bari that needs a new spring. That one's only about 70 years old. After losing the bulk of our horns in August of 2005, we have managed to acquire enough 2 valve bugles to outfit our parade corps plus any imaginable growth for a very modest amount. With only a few exceptions, they are in pretty good shape, and with proper care and maintenance, should stay that way. We weren't able to find many 2 valve contras, so that line is playing mostly on G-F VR's and actually prefer the balance of the older style. I found one D.E.G. Dynasty II melly in a pawn shop that looks like it was shipped directly there from the factory. I bought myself a G-D one valve sop to play taps on that was very well respected by previous owners. I don't understand why corps claim that horns don't last now, either. I laughed very hard at the caption of this picture, but almost cried when I realized how many tens of thousands of dollars of instruments were involved, and was horrified by what some of my instructors would have had to say had we done this BITD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stimmung Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Is this all about projection? I've gotta say, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra doesn't need archaic G bugle design to project with a mass of color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.morgus Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 For me, personally, it isn't so much projection as timbre. I miss the bold, in-yer-face, edge-of-disaster sort of sound that a large high spirited bugle line used to put out. Modern multi-key lines can sound loud and project very well, but the sound is, for me, almost too "safe", and not as millitant as in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stimmung Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Yeah the best of the best G bugle lines sure could pack a phenomenal punch, but there were also a lot of corps which sounded absolutely awful on G bugles, not to mention the timbre in a solo situation left MUCH to be desired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I think they'll probably move to 3 valvers next upgrade (someone had mentioned that on here a while back) . . .but, yeah, as long as the service corps are out there, there will be some units in G. No, they won't. Part of the reason they stick w/ 2 valve G is to set them apart from other military musical organizations. Which helps when they are defending their budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.morgus Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Yeah the best of the best G bugle lines sure could pack a phenomenal punch, but there were also a lot of corps which sounded absolutely awful on G bugles, not to mention the timbre in a solo situation left MUCH to be desired. True, and I will say that some multi-key lines sound much better than some others. There were some soprano solos that sounded just fine, and you have to consider them in their own idiom. Bari and mellophone solo's don't sound much different at all. The timbrel differences only really come in on the high end, that is trumpet vs. Soprano, as has been pointed out elsewhere, because the differences in the middle and low voices are mostly only in pitch. But what an overall difference it give the brass as a whole! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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