esch Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) Hey, 'esch' - That's awesome! Melodic parts going back to the 70's! Cool! Wondering if you remember what grip you used with those straps, who was your tech at Vanguard back in those days, and who was responsible for writing melodic parts back then? So thankful you chimed in on this conversation/ Cheers! We used a standard concert grip, with four fingers through and under the strap and the thumb on top applying pressure. No cymbal techs in those day.... Fred Sanford (who had studied concert percussion with Anthony Cirone) wrote and taught the parts for the entire section, and section leaders doing the cleaning (we added a snare tech in '71, Bob Kalkoffen, who did amazing things for them). Fred wrote the parts, we added visuals (which were pretty mundane by today's standards!). The melodic stuff, though, we came up with ourselves, screwing around with different cymbal sounds. Thanks! Edited August 2, 2011 by esch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puppet Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 When I first joined Santa Clara (1970) we marched four cymbal players, 3 16-18" and one carrying 26". The next year ('71) we went to 18"-20"-22"-26" so we could do some tuned stuff (we even played the melody to "Sunrise, Sunset" in the exit that year) and get a variety of colors. For the record, we always used straps rather than handles, but you are right, A LOT of corps used the t-handles (esp. on their smaller cymbals) I want to mention the Cavaliers' 26" player (since you do) in 1970, who they called "Baby Huey." He was an amazing showman; every crash was spectacular. Wait. "Crash!" I don't remember much these days but I do remember seeing and reading about a player named Baby Huey but I thought he was with either the Kilties or 27. There are shots of him on that other (the greatest collection of memories and pictures in all the history of Drum Corps!) thread found elsewhere on this site and worth just taking the time on a rainy day and checking out over 2000 pages of stuff. You might even find some cymbal shots here and there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobB Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 When I first joined Santa Clara (1970) we marched four cymbal players, 3 16-18" and one carrying 26". The next year ('71) we went to 18"-20"-22"-26" so we could do some tuned stuff (we even played the melody to "Sunrise, Sunset" in the exit that year) and get a variety of colors. For the record, we always used straps rather than handles, but you are right, A LOT of corps used the t-handles (esp. on their smaller cymbals) I want to mention the Cavaliers' 26" player (since you do) in 1970, who they called "Baby Huey." He was an amazing showman; every crash was spectacular. Baby Huey! Thanks...I now remember the guy and the nickname. "Spectacular" is right. Appreciate the bit of SCV cymbal history, too. SCV was so innovative across the board in marching percussion at that time that I think the impact of your approach to cymbals often gets overlooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobB Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Wait. "Crash!" I don't remember much these days but I do remember seeing and reading about a player named Baby Huey but I thought he was with either the Kilties or 27. There are shots of him on that other (the greatest collection of memories and pictures in all the history of Drum Corps!) thread found elsewhere on this site and worth just taking the time on a rainy day and checking out over 2000 pages of stuff. You might even find some cymbal shots here and there. Oh yeah...Kilties did have a "big cymbal" guy post-my era (guess that's why I didn't think of him...)---maybe '73-74? I recall he did have a nickname but it wasn't Baby Huey---that was definitely the Cavies guy (whose physique more closely resembled the cartoon character, IIRC). Anyway, thanks for catching that bit of history (on my own corps, no less...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russellrks Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 (edited) Here's some big cymbals for ya! Pic taken from the 1977 DCI yearbook, so it's probably from 1976. Edited August 15, 2011 by Russellrks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Here's some big cymbals for ya! Jesus.....when was THAT??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit7698 Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Looking back since I play with a 24" ride on mt kit sometimes, I remember that Conneticut Hurricanes cymbals were so big that the only way to crash them was you had to lean your head back as if you were gonna start going into a bridge, extend your arms straight out and angled upwards and crash in the area where your head would have been. Yes definitely bigger than 24" or 26" maybe they were 28" or 30". He had to get them custom made from Zildjian and they were not carried in parades, they were driven on the back of a golf cart and would just pick them up for when they stopped to play to the stands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InspaDave Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 I am not sure who taught the cymbal line at Cadets in the 80'S but Laurie ( don't remember last name ) aged out of Cadets in 86 and brought that style to Spirit in 87. Her last name was Ruschman. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindap Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 We used a standard concert grip, with four fingers through and under the strap and the thumb on top applying pressure. No cymbal techs in those day.... Fred Sanford (who had studied concert percussion with Anthony Cirone) wrote and taught the parts for the entire section, and section leaders doing the cleaning (we added a snare tech in '71, Bob Kalkoffen, who did amazing things for them). Fred wrote the parts, we added visuals (which were pretty mundane by today's standards!). The melodic stuff, though, we came up with ourselves, screwing around with different cymbal sounds. Thanks! Fred taught AAG 74-75, one of our many drum instructors over the 10 years, also Ralph, Sam, Mark, Mike and Sue to name a few;) I'm trying to put puzzle pieces together for at least 5 corps for the last 5 years, forgive me, and I've been watching 2011 FN for the last 3 days. Im buggy eyed :-) Here's a part of a photo (for historical purposes only) during the 1974 Spokane Lilac Festival, cymbals with different handles? I played cymbals in 79 at Disneyworld parades after finals in Birmingham. If I remember, mine were smaller with a leather strap and lambs wool pads. The girls taught me how to use them. I figured that since I was a DM for 7 years and was their instructor, had strong arms and could march backwards ... um ... playing cymbals was not easy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Milano Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Wait. "Crash!" I don't remember much these days but I do remember seeing and reading about a player named Baby Huey but I thought he was with either the Kilties or 27. There are shots of him on that other (the greatest collection of memories and pictures in all the history of Drum Corps!) thread found elsewhere on this site and worth just taking the time on a rainy day and checking out over 2000 pages of stuff. You might even find some cymbal shots here and there. Baby Huey, aka Neil Schierstedt. He was actually quite the intellectual, and a bit of a "hippie" back then. A really nice guy. You can see what he's up to these days at his website: www.zenracer.com. He's an accomplished professional photographer and graphic artist. The guy from the Kilts who you are thinking of was named Wally. He marched with me in the Royal Airs Reunion Corps in 2004. Very nice guy as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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