JohnZ Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Oh yes, we had Mellos..Condron, Cicco etc. along with Altos and Frenchies. It was a cool idea, but we ditched the Altos as they didn't project past 10 feet.....(Probably an advantage with who was playing them...LOL) Wow, how could I ever forget those guys!! got the faces to the other mellos in my head but can't get the names now - off to the yearbook!!! and dead on with the Altos - very stuffy horns. Hairbear, I only recall at most five french horns at any one time - Marce, Debbie, Denny, Pat, and Don on the projecting Euphs, and if I recall if anyone needed a break, Bernie would just turn it up to OMFG! and cover it. great times.....so long ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Francis "Buzzy" Bergdoll comes to mind. French horn soloist for St Kevins Emerald Knights "Way Back When", VFW National Champion "I & E" several times as well as NEVER having lost an "I & E" contest. I, too, have never lost an I&E contest. Because I've never entered an I&E contest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegalEagle50 Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jocko the Wonder Llama Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 I, too, have never lost an I&E contest. Because I've never entered an I&E contest. "And there he is ladies and gentlemen, Rocky Rimshot. He'll be here all week.!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny Drum Corps Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Altos...LOL Donny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ywpkm0 Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 I went to my old file and dug out the my original score of One More Time...it was scored for Alto, 2 Mellophone parts and French Horn. It was quite a mid range section. I liked the way Downy scored the Frenchies with Blue Devils in the 80's. He did a lot of experimentation with the Mid Range at that time. One of our Mellos, Sam Rizzi, is an instrumental repair guy. He replaced some of our lead pipes with a graduated lead pipe. I wish I could remember the process, but it really helped our intonation. We were doing things every week to get the most out of our "Heinz 57 Varieties" of instruments.....and players........... We just couldn't fix Curt Hawkins though...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayfallon Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 I remember the wonderful sound produced by drum corps when the French horn was used.Would you like to see it make a come back? thoughts..comments... and why did it disappear anyway? The French Horn bugle was like no musical instrument I've ever seen. I've only heard a handful of people who could actually play the d*mned thing, and the best I've ever heard is not one of the names you're probably familiar with - a guy named Danny Fitzpatrick from Stoughton MA who moved south to join the Marine D&B Corps in the late 60s and stayed to play with Yankee Rebels, Archie, a cup of hot cocoa with Sun, and some time with Reading, probably a lot of those later groups on mellophone. The problem is that if you didn't play like Danny or Riggie Laus, the horn was more like a weapon of musical destruction than like a musical instrument. And so few people play like those guys it just wasn't worth it. If you long for the days of the (drum corps) french horn - you gotta be a crack addict, and I don't mean the drug kind or the plumber kind. More cracks than the Liberty Bell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 The French Horn bugle was like no musical instrument I've ever seen. I've only heard a handful of people who could actually play the d*mned thing, and the best I've ever heard is not one of the names you're probably familiar with - a guy named Danny Fitzpatrick from Stoughton MA who moved south to join the Marine D&B Corps in the late 60s and stayed to play with Yankee Rebels, Archie, a cup of hot cocoa with Sun, and some time with Reading, probably a lot of those later groups on mellophone. Danny was/is awesome!!! One year at the DCA I&E show, on French horn, he played Bill Watrous' "Fourth Floor Walkup"...which is an absolutely insane chart. Even more insane to try it on a drum corps French horn. But Danny pulled it off... he might have been the only person who could have done so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAFL Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Another reason, albiet a lousy one in my opinion, is that the mouthpiece is uncontrolable while marching. Don't tell that to my man Henry Lynch, who will ONLY play frenchie with Skyliners Alumni and can march better than most competing corps members. What makes me chuckle is the number of mellophones equipped with adapters to allow the use of a frenchie mouthpiece. Not just in corps, but a lot of bands! Yeah. Our youngest horn player up through last season played using an adapter and frenchie mouthpiece. He does the same in his high school marching band. He prefers the feel of that mouthpiece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. DeSouza Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 "Perfect Pitch":Francis "Buzzy" Bergdoll comes to mind. French horn soloist for St Kevins Emerald Knights "Way Back When", VFW National Champion "I & E" several times as well as NEVER having lost an "I & E" contest. He also was a member of the SKEK bugle quartet which won VFW titles in the early 1960's. Now a charter member of the Buglers Hall of Fame. A great SHOWMAN as well as French Horn soloist was the late great "Pepe" Nataro of the New York Skyliners. Postumously voted into the BHOF. The late great NY Skyliner (Among many others) arranger/instructor Hy Drietzer also wailed o mean French Horn, and was also voted, postumously, into the Buglers Hall of Fame. Elphaba WWW Hi All, If you would like to hear Buzzy & the St. Kevins Frenchies just go to www.stkevinemeraldknights.com .Exodus with that cool French horn sound plays when you click on the site address. All the Best, Mike D. St Kevins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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