Typical World Class Horn Numbers

[OldBones82]

Just curious...what are typical numbers for a World Class corps these days. I have seen Madison with 20 Tubas, Bloo with 16 etc. What would be the typical makeup of each section within a World Class horn line?

[vferrera]

Just curious...what are typical numbers for a World Class corps these days. I have seen Madison with 20 Tubas, Bloo with 16 etc. What would be the typical makeup of each section within a World Class horn line?

20-24 Tr, 12-16 M, 20-24 B/E, 12-16 Tu

Edited August 3, 2010 by vferrera

[OldBones82]

Thanks!

[MikeN]

Up to the last few years I'd have said 20-12-20-12 = 64, but with the expansion to 150 members, hornlines got most of those numbers, it seems. That's a good thing, too!

Mike

[Tez]

It seems all the top corps have either 72 or 80 horns.

I wonder why no one tries 81 horns so they could make a 9X9 box?

[soccerguy315]

It seems all the top corps have either 72 or 80 horns.

I wonder why no one tries 81 horns so they could make a 9X9 box?

b/c one section would have an odd number of people? that's my guess... but I have never even attempted drill writing, so I don't really know what goes into that at a DCI level (obviously HS programs and such, you have odd numbers all the time).

[ouooga]

It seems all the top corps have either 72 or 80 horns.

I wonder why no one tries 81 horns so they could make a 9X9 box?

Because that and a 1 3 5 triangle are the only geometric shapes you could make. Numbers like 64, 72 and 80 can be divided up into smaller, equal groups, so you can make other shapes, but aside from 9, 81 doesn't divide into many other numbers, and you'll rarely have a section of 9 anyways. When you have lots of smaller, equal sized groups that total into a block, that's when you can do the kaleidoscope drill that's become so popular.

On a related note, since so much music is in 4/4, having a number that's divisible by 4 lets you do a lot of cool follow the leader stuff, like you see in Pete Weber's drill.

[Tez]

Because that and a 1 3 5 triangle are the only geometric shapes you could make. Numbers like 64, 72 and 80 can be divided up into smaller, equal groups, so you can make other shapes, but aside from 9, 81 doesn't divide into many other numbers, and you'll rarely have a section of 9 anyways. When you have lots of smaller, equal sized groups that total into a block, that's when you can do the kaleidoscope drill that's become so popular.

On a related note, since so much music is in 4/4, having a number that's divisible by 4 lets you do a lot of cool follow the leader stuff, like you see in Pete Weber's drill.

Excellent points..... thank you.

[HornsUp]

Because that and a 1 3 5 triangle are the only geometric shapes you could make. 81 doesn't divide into many other numbers...

Don't tell that to a drill writer from the 60s! They would have killed to have 27 squads of 3.

Edited August 3, 2010 by HornsUp

[ouooga]

Don't tell that to a drill writer from the 60s! They would have killed to have 27 squads of 3.

Ah, the good old days of squad drill.

Speaking of which, does anyone know when drill writers went from squads to symmetrical drill?

Edited August 3, 2010 by ouooga