Bob984 Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Is is me, or are more and more corps increasing the size of their contra (tuba) lines?? I am not necessarily talking about the total number of horns....just contras. I have even seen smaller corps (ie 40 horns or less) that had 8 contras..... back in the 70's, the average hornline size for the top corps were 50-64, and they averaged 6 contras..8 contras was "huge" I believe Star was the 1st corps to use a huge number of contras.... 8 went to 10.........10 went to 12................and now we are even seeing 14 and 16 contras!!!!!! Before I go further, let me say I have nothing against the instrument or those who play it.......... What is kind of funny is that interval errors REALLY stick out with a contra bell............ I'm not certain we are getting that much more bottom with the additional players......frankly, I would just rather see a bigger baritone line, and I think some soprano (excuse me....trumpet) lines could be a bit larger......... Before the contras get upset, let me also say that I think the pit numbers are getting a bit out of hand, too. Now that we have electronics and amplification, we don't necessarily need 400 people (lol) up there........10 people total should be more than enough with what they have access to............ Now, what would be REALLY controversial would be if a corps did an all jazz show, and you saw this.......... 60 horns..........no contras......bass handled entirely by a great electric bass player percussion..........regular, full battery.....snares, tenors, bass drums, marching cymbals..... pit.....a great set player.......2 great keyboard (electronic/piano) players......a guitar player.....a bass player (above)............ only one mallet instrument (a great vibe player) , no timpani..........a few times they occassional play some accessories.......however, all of them play their tails off on the above instruments........ It probably will never happen, but (1) the sound would be interesting, (2) even more interesting would be the judging..... GB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2000Cadet Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Is is me, or are more and more corps increasing the size of their contra (tuba) lines?? I am not necessarily talking about the total number of horns....just contras. I have even seen smaller corps (ie 40 horns or less) that had 8 contras.....back in the 70's, the average hornline size for the top corps were 50-64, and they averaged 6 contras..8 contras was "huge" I believe Star was the 1st corps to use a huge number of contras.... 8 went to 10.........10 went to 12................and now we are even seeing 14 and 16 contras!!!!!! Before I go further, let me say I have nothing against the instrument or those who play it.......... What is kind of funny is that interval errors REALLY stick out with a contra bell............ I'm not certain we are getting that much more bottom with the additional players......frankly, I would just rather see a bigger baritone line, and I think some soprano (excuse me....trumpet) lines could be a bit larger......... Before the contras get upset, let me also say that I think the pit numbers are getting a bit out of hand, too. Now that we have electronics and amplification, we don't necessarily need 400 people (lol) up there........10 people total should be more than enough with what they have access to............ Now, what would be REALLY controversial would be if a corps did an all jazz show, and you saw this.......... 60 horns..........no contras......bass handled entirely by a great electric bass player percussion..........regular, full battery.....snares, tenors, bass drums, marching cymbals..... pit.....a great set player.......2 great keyboard (electronic/piano) players......a guitar player.....a bass player (above)............ only one mallet instrument (a great vibe player) , no timpani..........a few times they occassional play some accessories.......however, all of them play their tails off on the above instruments........ It probably will never happen, but (1) the sound would be interesting, (2) even more interesting would be the judging..... GB I love the big tuba lines they have today. But I think anything past 16 is a bit pushy. I wish I weighed as much as I do now because I would have LOVED to march around with a tuba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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