skewerz Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Based on every staff member/designer/director I've ever talked to, that is most assuredly NOT what people want. But keep on pushing that dopey rhetoric... if they don't want this, why do they keep changing things towards this direction? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acvulm87 Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I was Pio's timp player in 2009. I love the instrument but I also see why people choose not to use them. They are very bulky and are usually the hardest to move. Maintaining them is hard. I remember having to sit out a whole rehearsal block just to fix one of the tension rods on two of the drums. The heads are always changing you have to clear the heads every day. They are a wonderful instrument Im sad to see them go away from drum corps but they will always be around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skewerz Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I was Pio's timp player in 2009. I love the instrument but I also see why people choose not to use them. They are very bulky and are usually the hardest to move. Maintaining them is hard. I remember having to sit out a whole rehearsal block just to fix one of the tension rods on two of the drums. The heads are always changing you have to clear the heads every day. They are a wonderful instrument Im sad to see them go away from drum corps but they will always be around. to steal a quote from "A League of Their Own" Jimmy Dugan: It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TastyWaves Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 to steal a quote from "A League of Their Own" Jimmy Dugan: It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great. In the right context, this statement would apply. Marching on our hands with our feet in the air would be "hard" too, but that doesnt mean we should do it. We could also make all members wear a 50 pound pack on their backs while marching. That would make things "harder" too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny Drum Corps Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I was Pio's timp player in 2009. I love the instrument but I also see why people choose not to use them. They are very bulky and are usually the hardest to move. Maintaining them is hard. I remember having to sit out a whole rehearsal block just to fix one of the tension rods on two of the drums. The heads are always changing you have to clear the heads every day. They are a wonderful instrument Im sad to see them go away from drum corps but they will always be around. And a #### good one...too good to waste on a xylosynth IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acvulm87 Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 And a #### good one...too good to waste on a xylosynth IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skewerz Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 In the right context, this statement would apply. Marching on our hands with our feet in the air would be "hard" too, but that doesnt mean we should do it. We could also make all members wear a 50 pound pack on their backs while marching. That would make things "harder" too. Well, common sense must be applied...which doesn't happen much lately. Anyone following the thread knows which direction I was heading with this statement. I can understand taking out tympani for a year if it doesn't fit the music. Heck, after listening to the Phantom concert, they really need to ditch the drum set...it just doesn't fit. Removing an instrument for the reason of expediency, however, is a different matter. G Bugles were removed for expediency...cymbal lines were removed for expediency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stryfe Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 (edited) Timpani are one of the instruments in the percussion family that is definitely highest on the list of "instruments you should never take outside." Being a timpani player in today's drum corps is a challenge many people willingly take, but the space in the truck as well as the sheer amount of time the timpani player wastes tuning, retuning and clearing the heads -every day- to respond to the changing environment is not ideal. I think corps should be able to remove the timpani if they don't fit in their show very well, or include them if they do. The situation is kind of funny in that most indoor drumlines don't have the space to lug around timpani while corps do, even though playing timpani in a mostly-indoors environment makes a lot more sense logistically. Why won't everyone just synthesize them? Because synthetic timpani sound as inauthentic as synthetic brass. Edited June 10, 2011 by Stryfe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I was Pio's timp player in 2009. I love the instrument but I also see why people choose not to use them. They are very bulky and are usually the hardest to move. Maintaining them is hard. I remember having to sit out a whole rehearsal block just to fix one of the tension rods on two of the drums. The heads are always changing you have to clear the heads every day. They are a wonderful instrument Im sad to see them go away from drum corps but they will always be around. That's true. They ARE high maintainance, very expensive and heavier than lead, but you can't beat the sound, and perc instructors aren't going to give them up anymore than brass instructors are going to give up their contras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Last year Pioneer used a two octave Xylosynth for the timp parts. Electronic problems with conections and such had the corps without that timbre at many shows. I know Timpani are difficult to transport and old drums need to be replaced, but I missed that sound when it wasnt there. That seemed to be too often for me. Herein lies the dilemna...corps that cant afford to get new timps (or transport carts), or even fix the old ones, do not usually have anyone banging on their door to sponsor them. These are the same corps that cannot afford to buy new electronics that keep up with the higher ranked corps. While there may not have been anything wrong with the actual instrument(Xylosynth)...there were problems because of power source, mixing board, snake, quality and size of speakers in bigger venues etc. So when you buy the new electronic instruments, you also have to be able to keep up with the other elements of electronics. We also used that instrument for voice overs and had the same problems at many shows. Either way, it is a double edged sword for the lower corps that don't have the money to keep up with the "joneses". Donny Allen oh and the electronic sounds suck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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