audiodb Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 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? A little insight on why it disappeared.... By the time I marched (1986), we were basically down to just two manufacturers (DEG and King)....and the DEG French horns of the day were just awful. Slotting of some notes was so narrow that they simply could not be played cleanly by the whole line, on or off the field. Drill demand wasn't the issue at that point. While a rare corps like BD might have tried switched manufacturers, most corps reacted by cutting back or eliminating the French horns in favor of an all-mellophone mid-range. Cavaliers, for example, made that move in '86. Even my corps (PR) began phasing in mellophones in '87, eventually switching over completely. The few corps using Kings (Madison comes to mind) had longer-lasting success with them, but they then became such an oddity that their days were numbered. Never played the King FH bugle, but did play the mid-'80s marching band counterpart....vastly superior slotting, intonation, tone and volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Didn't know you were a hornist Ken... I knew there was some reason I liked you besides your audio engineering skills... Picked up French horn in college, switching from low brass, and decided the middle voice in drum corps would be more fun. I did eventually play contrabass my third year in Bush, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumno5 Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 My guess is the French Horns are a very hard horn to play while running around the field (as they do today), which is one very GOOD reason they don't use them much if at all. I told this story on another post just a few days ago. But it relates well to this thread, so at the risk of being a redundant blowhard, I'll put it out here as well: A friend of mine (a pretty well-regarded arranger/horn instructor at the time, one of those real TQ&I fanatic kind of guys) and I are sitting among the crowd of hushed spectators at Finals back in 198?, collectively engrossed in a delicate passage during Phantom's show. He must have heard a disturbance in their mid-range, because all of sudden he blurts out into the intense, concentrated silence of the crowd: "aughh, they gotta get rid of those a**h*le french horns!" It seems that, with few exceptions, horn lines everywhere have come around to his point of view. Fred O. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-horns Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 A little insight on why it disappeared....Never played the King FH bugle, but did play the mid-'80s marching band counterpart....vastly superior slotting, intonation, tone and volume. I think Renegades are still using King frenchies and I think there's one at Sky Alumni. I have to agree about those 2V DEGs. So bad, I gave it back and bought a 3V Kanstul. Right now it's sitting in the attic 'cuz I went back to playing lead soprano. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvayda Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Right now it's sitting in the attic 'cuz I went back to playing lead soprano. And I (we) are most greatful for that !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandlot Sports Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 On 10/27/2010 at 11:24 AM, Fran Haring said: The Regal Crownsmen!!!! My Sunriser French horn comrade Dennis Plante taught them for a while in the mid-to-late 1970s. He brought a couple of us in the French horn line some Regal Crownsmen t-shirts... they had a really cool logo on those shirts. For my last few years with Sun, Dennis, Marty Roche and I wore those t-shirts under our uniforms at DCA Finals.... our own little tradition/superstition! My dad, Frank Avanzo, designed that logo. Dennis Plante was an awesome guy and great horn instructor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 On 6/30/2019 at 8:00 PM, Sandlot Sports said: My dad, Frank Avanzo, designed that logo. Dennis Plante was an awesome guy and great horn instructor Wow... that is so cool. Your dad did a great job!!! You're right about Dennis. He was a good friend... I miss him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Common underlying messages in this thread. 1: Have to have very capable people playing the beasts. Sun's people... Pat Cavanaugh...Danny Fitz...Pepe, you're talking insanely canny and talented individuals there. 2: Have to have well made types, some were abysmal in terms of pitch center and timbre. 3: When they're bad, they were indeed a judge's nightmare. Easy separator in any era, ticks or not. A bad midrange is pretty annoying. A good one... can get a lot of credit for that reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, BigW said: Common underlying messages in this thread. 1: Have to have very capable people playing the beasts. Sun's people... Pat Cavanaugh...Danny Fitz...Pepe, you're talking insanely canny and talented individuals there. 2: Have to have well made types, some were abysmal in terms of pitch center and timbre. 3: When they're bad, they were indeed a judge's nightmare. Easy separator in any era, ticks or not. A bad midrange is pretty annoying. A good one... can get a lot of credit for that reason. Wow... thanks for including us Sun guys on that list. An honor to be mentioned with the likes of Pat Cavanaugh... who, for my money, is the best in drum corps history on that instrument. That dude was on some other level. It helped us that our arranger John Arietano really knew his stuff when it came to writing for midrange voices. He challenged us with some great charts. Skyliners' French horn lines, circa 1960s, also were terrific. Listen to a recording of Sky from the 1963 Dream or American Legion (that AL performance from Miami is on YouTube)... their Frenchies are absolutely killin' it. Again, with a great arranger (Hy Dreitzer) who got the most out of his midrange players. Edited July 6, 2019 by Fran Haring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 14 hours ago, Fran Haring said: Wow... thanks for including us Sun guys on that list. Results would indicate so, Fran. Let's see.... Championships in 1977, 1978, 1982 and 1983, and throw in one that coulda-shoulda-woulda in 1981? If you guys would have played like the normal Dear Sweet Baby Jesus there's no tonal center to be found French Horns, that would have put at least one of not all of those Championships in danger. Easily. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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