Single Tenor Drums: When did they become extinct?

[dmacp]

FWIW we still use single tenors in pipe bands as well.

[spirit7698]

Alot and almost all HBCU style lines use them. I actually saw some single toms, big bi-toms ( 20" 22" ) and big tri - toms 18", 20", 22" ) at some 4th of July Parades we had in Maryland and D.C. Some of them were wood shell and some were steel. That beats the 14, 16, 18 Ludwig tri toms I marched in Jr. High in 90 and 91.

[pearlsnaredrummer77]

Alot and almost all HBCU style lines use them. I actually saw some single toms, big bi-toms ( 20" 22" ) and big tri - toms 18", 20", 22" ) at some 4th of July Parades we had in Maryland and D.C. Some of them were wood shell and some were steel. That beats the 14, 16, 18 Ludwig tri toms I marched in Jr. High in 90 and 91.

LOL. I played 14, 16, & 18 Slingerland timp toms and the harness (which we called a 'sled') had no padding. That was the beginning of my back problems.

[Piper]

I got to wondering... (kind of realized my ignorance,lol) When & how did the tenor lines of single tenor drums actually stop? I would guess late 60s/early 70s. How did that unfold? Did some corps continue to use single tenors well into the 70s or were those tenor lines extinct? Was there a difference in how multi-tenors or timp-toms became dominant in DCI vs. DCA? Thanks to anyone who can help on this one...

If my feeble mind remembers correctly I think that you have the time frame right. French horns to mellos, single tenors to multi-tonal, bass drums to multi-tonal. Not many percussive keyboards at the time but that was acomin'. Yeah, that sounds about right. As I can recall it happened in DCA and DCI almost simultainiously.

[SFZFAN]

I sure like the single tenor spot in BK's show this year. Great effect!

[Kevin Doherty]

SFZ Fan,

Today is my first day with posting access, but I read your post a couple of days ago.

I am a retired percussionist who has been watching the activity since the early 50's in NE NJ -Heart of DC.

In the early 90's I bought a booklet (I think from DCW) that gave the history of DC percussion. I am 180 miles from home, so I can't look for it, but I will share what I remember (I hope with some accuracy). There is an article in Wiki under "Marching Percussion". I also personally witnessed some of things I will include in this post.

Let me start by saying the response from the former Cab was grat information.

Marching Percussion evolved across all instruments, so I will cover all.

According to the booklet the first rudimental bass was introduced by the Philadelphis Reilly Raiders Seniors in 1947. They were the dominant Senior Corps until usurped by the Cabs in the 50s No one used RBsin the 50's when I started going to competitions in the early 50s. The RB was brought back in 1962 by Blessed Sacrament They were highlighted in the drum features including "Crazy Army" and used Scottish style sticking, although with wooden mallets and single stroke rolls. BTW the snare line had Dennis DeLucia and Marty Hurley as members.

At about the same time the Caballeros introduced the marching Timbales, which to my knowledge, was the first utilization of tuned multiple tone instruments. I think that it was by the next year that they added bongos, also muti-pitch, and I think the year after they introduced a single conga. I witnessed the Cabs as their latin percussion section evolved, but they maintained their single tenors.

I believe that it was 1964 that the Boston Crusaders took an old bass drum, cut it in half, and mounted the two halves vertically. They were played like timpani. BAC also introduced the marching xylophone around this same time. The Wiki article says the split basses happened in the late 60s, but this cannot be correct because I went into the army in 1966 and BAC already had the split basses and marching xylo. SAC adopted the split bass concept, probably in 65, perhaps 66.

I also recall that the Cavies came east in 65 or 66 and had switched their tenors to a verticle position, but still maintained the traditional single pitch tuning.

I have a fuzzy recollection that SAC went to double toms in 65 or 66, but I stand to be corrected about this. I also have a fuzzy recollection that Ludwig catalogs from 64-65 contained multi-tom sets.

I was unable to go to any shows from 67-76 due to military assignments and complete lack of nearby shows in the deep south where I came to live. DCI finally came to Birmingham and Gadsden in 76 and I was able to resume going to shows in 77.

While I was out of the picture marching timpani came along as well as multiple size keyboards and the multi-toms. At first grounding was not permitted and the equipment had no legs. Eventually legs were added and grounding was permitted during the stand-still concert section of the shows. Eventually this evolved into the pit sections. When I get a chance I will listen to my earliest DCI recordings and see what I can hear about instrumentation.

I hope this helps and I welcome any correction to this information.

BTW, I also witnessed the introduction of the Contra-Bass bugle by Garfield at Garfield High in 1962.

[esch]

The triple tenor was used as a "color" instrument in the late '60's, alongside a line of single tenors (with larger sizes, they added a tuned, baritone voice before tuned basses). Santa Clara switched from single to triple tenors in '71; Anaheim in '70 (they marched three smaller sets of trios and two bass sets). Some corps (like Madison, 27th and Troopers) made the transition during those years by putting two drums together, I don't remember much in the way of single tenors by '73, at least by the DCI corps.

[Fastone]

Actually, Boston did not use the horizontal double bass until 1967, they were played by Tony Smith, the xylophone wasn't used until 1969(Unsquare Dance). The St Joseph Patron Cadets of Brooklyn NY utilized the first set of double tenors that I remember seeing in 1968. Also to my knowledge Dennis Delucia did not march in Blessed Sacrament, he was a member of the Dumont Police Cadets. He was however, taught by Bobby Thompson

Edited August 1, 2011 by Fastone

[Kevin Doherty]

Fastone and Esch,

Thanks for the clarification. This is good history and I hope this gives SFZFAN what he or she was looking for.

Kdoh

[cabalumnidrummer]

Actually, Boston did not use the horizontal double bass until 1967, they were played by Tony Smith, the xylophone wasn't used until 1969(Unsquare Dance). The St Joseph Patron Cadets of Brooklyn NY utilized the first set of double tenors that I remember seeing in 1968. Also to my knowledge Dennis Delucia did not march in Blessed Sacrament, he was a member of the Dumont Police Cadets. He was however, taught by Bobby Thompson

Dennis was also a snare drummer in the West Point "Hellcats" Band drum section, taught by Captain John S. "Jack" Pratt. Not certain of the exact years.

Hawthorne's introduction of timbales, played by Bobby Hoffman, is indeed considered to be the first use of multi-head, multi-tonal drums. As Frank pointed out, Boston's double bass was introduced in 1967. By 1968, we had a fairly small double bass, played by Mike DeLucia (Dennis' brother!). We changed to a triple bass in 1969, also played by Mike. In 1969, virtually everyone had a double or triple bass of some type, often 'homemade' setups that were very heavy. Blessed Sacrament even had a mini double tympani, if I recall correctly! We switched from single tenors to double congas in 1970. I think by then, single tenors had pretty much ceased to be used in most DCA corps, and most junior corps of the time. You really can't call them 'DCI corps,' since DCI didn't start until 1972.