Blue Stars Switch to Jupiter

[Tom Brace]

I think some folks just need to get over it. The Jupiters are quickly becoming THE horn in drum corps. Perhaps its because their reps pay so much attention to the R&D feedback they are getting over the past 5 years from drum corps' instructional staffs and members. Oh, by the way...I know they are putting this information to good use as I got to see Gen 1 horns and Gen 2 horns with the same ensemble. Now, it appears the Blue Stars are getting the benefits of Gen 3.

[my58vw]

Euph player calling it an improvement can only mean one thing: The Jupiter Euph is LIGHTER!

Having marched King, DEG, and Kanstul G Euphoniums (junior and all age corps), both the King and Jupiter Bb horns are both lighter... :)

That said, the quantum horns are nice, whether they are better than the King we will see on the field this year (although this is open to interpretation)...

As for weight... wah... wah... wah... :)

A good musician can make most horns sound good... (g to Bb or Bb to Bb)

[Dave]

I think some folks just need to get over it.

Perhaps. But Jupiter does have a long-standing reputation for crappiness that is not undeserved, so it's understandable that people are going to be skeptical.

[Tom Brace]

Perhaps. But Jupiter does have a long-standing reputation for crappiness that is not undeserved, so it's understandable that people are going to be skeptical.

Not in the Quantum line....not ever. They have R&D'd this line like no other company in recent memory...DEG used to back int the olde days.

[Dave]

Not in the Quantum line....not ever. They have R&D'd this line like no other company in recent memory...DEG used to back int the olde days.

I understand this, but my point is that Jupiter has a lot to prove before the average musician will view them as something other than what they were for a very long time: awful.

[Kamarag]

I understand this, but my point is that Jupiter has a lot to prove before the average musician will view them as something other than what they were for a very long time: awful.

Actually, their professional line of instruments have been well-respected for a number of years now. Their tubas in particular are very nice instruments.

[year1buick]

It's not the horn that matters (really) but the player and teaching behind them. (I know--duh.) Winton Marsalis could probably sound good on a paper towel roll. I'd still sound like #### on the most expensive horn you could give me. Same thing goes for plenty of other artistic endeavors-- I'm sure you could have handed Ansel Adams the crappiest dime store throwaway camera and he'd still manage to get great shots out of it. Sure, a modern Nikon can be an advantage to someone who really knows what they're doing but, just like the instrument discussion here, talent and training is what really matters in the end.

[camel lips]

I think you need to take your rose colored glasses off here. The late 70s lines were still full of nickle-plated pea shooter contras. Combined with the average overblowin' bari line you had a low brass sound akin to a locomotive horn. Loud as hell, but not exactly the text book example of low brass. The King euphs and K-90s were some of the first decent G low brass I can remember. By the mid 80s many lines were starting to get a better concept of dark sound and the low brass started to really shine.

Today's Bb low brass is producing some wonderful dark sounds with little effort. In general it has taken a good deal of redesign and technique evolution to get the Bbs to project as well as the G horns. The high brass is a bit further along in this then the low brass, but lines like this past season's Bluecoat line prove that they can project and maintain a quality sound. Which is why I am baffled by the low 'wonderous goo' synth sound used by many pits. It is a curious effect, but not at all needed.

I understand that many folks miss that in your face 'drum corps' sound of yore. But a 'quality' low brass sound was rarely a part of that. I equate it to hearing glass packs on a car nowadays. It takes you back for a moment, but then there is a realization of how annoying that racket really was.

Explains why the crowds are smaller now days and stoic. Excellent post.

[BozzlyB]

I understand this, but my point is that Jupiter has a lot to prove before the average musician will view them as something other than what they were for a very long time: awful.

Juipiter may be suffering from Dynasty syndrome a little. People still hate those drums and don't realize the vast transformation they've undergone in the past several years.

[camel lips]

Juipiter may be suffering from Dynasty syndrome a little. People still hate those drums and don't realize the vast transformation they've undergone in the past several years.

Dynasty horns are still DY NASTY