FHdork Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 >79 Blue Devils - Changed the way hornlines sounded forever IMHO< DING DING DING. The core of every corps is brass. A case could be made for drum corps not being worthy without any of their sections...but imo, the 1st among equals in the brass section. Prior to 1979, horn lines were doing well if their intonation and balance issues were only glaring. The 79 Blue Devils horns (and even more stellar, the 1980 BD hornline) set a new standard to which all future horn lines aspired. It's the drum corps version of the 4 minute mile. From the time when people first timed the mile, no one had ever run one at or below 4 minutes. Then...it happened. And lo and behold...dozens and dozens of other sub-4 minute miles were run within months. Why? Because everyone began to believe it could be done. BD in 79 and 80 made everyone believe...and now we have fine sounding horn lines all the way down to the bottom of the semi-final pile. For corps today to surpass what the late 70s and early 80s BD (and I would add SCV, Phantom, and Madison) horn lines were doing, corps would have to bring back the French Horn bugle. So...the legacy of those who marched those times is secure...because there is NO way they'll ever do that - regardless of how GREAT a sound it is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dckid80 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Yup, '80 refined the ground that '79 broke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Yup,'80 refined the ground that '79 broke. You know, I felt that way about a great many corps, going from '79 to '80. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: '79 felt like a real transition year. So many shows that were identical, or nearly identical, were refined and finessed in '80 so that it felt like the "real" version of that program: Blue Devils, 27th Lancers, Bridgemen, Spirit of Atlanta, Phantom, even Madison (OK, the two shows were very different, but for me the '80 show had loads more impact). The exception was Santa Clara, whose use of asymmetrical drill in '80 was really nothing like what they did in '79, and then in '81 they refined what they did in '80 and came back to win the DCI championship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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