JimF-LowBari Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) Personally I'm not the biggest fan of trombones in marching band. I was switched to baritone in HS. And I'm glad I was. I like the sound of a trombone section in marching bands. But it is so hard to clean visually. Trombone players are awful with upper body stuff. Yes, it is possible to clean... but trombone players are a pain in the ### in the first place. And going out to 5 + positions while marching is no fun... and some body moves while playing just don't work well. And to think my wife sez I'm just a pain in the ### naturally.... now I know.... Always thought that quick arm movement with the slide was distracting even without body moves. And whoever said something along the lines of cleaning trombones musically is a challenge. It's no more a challenge than cleaning slow fingers.. in fact I think it can be easier to clean. I had a #### clean trombone section at WCU when I was section leader. Cleaner than the baritones.. that's for sure. And we had plenty of challenging music. Biggest problem I had with musically dirty trombones was school horns that needed a good hour of cleaning and TLC after being stored all Summer. Also people too lazy to fully clean the slides when needed. Hadn't played trombone for two years (but was doing corps) for two years and got handed a school horn for a tryout to see what section (1st/2nd/3rd) I belonged in. I started by saying "this ain't my idea" and unlocked and let go of the slide. Slide went down a few inches and just stopped..... guess where I ended up after a crappy tryout and PO'ing one of the brass heads. (Yes it was worth it....) Edited January 15, 2013 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmjfelts1988 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) I don't know the answer to your question - presumably the historical answer is that it is because they aren't bugles. But rest assured, they will definitely be legal soon. I don't know if I would be so quick to come to that conclusion. Been to BOA Grand Nationals lately? The sister organization to DCI, the grand daddy of the "marching BAND" activity and the place where 90 percent of THEE TOP designers and staff in the marching arts activity hang out during the fall months (including drum corps designers and staff) are believe it or not...DOING AWAY with the use of trombones THEMSELVES. In 2012, I could count on one hand how many bands in the top 12 used trombones (ZERO of which were in the top 5 if my memory serves me correctly) and possibly less than 2 hands worth in the semifinals (top 30). If the top bands in the coutry (with the same designers and staff as most of the top corps in the country) are moving away from the use of trombones DELIBERATELY and EVEN WITH them being legal for BOA, I'm quick to doubt that anyone is anxious in any way to move them into the drum corps activity. Reasons why (I could only guess) would be that they are 1) an akward eye soar visually and 2) too bright sounding and hard to balance in a dome. I put them in the same camp as Sousaphones. BOTH great instruments but visually distracting and not ideal sound wise for the field (especially now an indoor field). As much as I hate to admit it, I think you will see isolated/limited woodwind soloists/duets/trios legalized in the pit lonnnng before anyone even entertains the thought of a trombone. It's just not an instrument that's as important to the gate keepers of the modern drum corps and the overall marching arts activity. Edited January 15, 2013 by bmjfelts1988 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmjfelts1988 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 I hear about this a lot on the youtube... Of course, they're against the rules right now. I think they might not be in the future, but I don't see any corps using them for a whole section on the field for a whole show. They are a visual nightmare to clean, not to mention music wise. See my last response. :smile:/> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmjfelts1988 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Well, allowing trombones is just a surreptitious way of getting woodwinds into drum corps... :tongue:/>/>/> LOL! But see my last response. I actually think woodwinds would be further to the front of the line than trombones based on current trends in the top high school marching band activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmjfelts1988 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 And I have played a marching trombone before. Somehow, my HS had some sitting around. Might be the worst playing/sounding instrument I've ever played on. It was an odd instrument. Yeah, usually bands who use marching trombones use them because their baritone players are not physically strong enough to carry a baritone or a euphonium. Usually knowing that in doing so they are making a very risky sacrifice to the quality of their brass sound. Those..........will NEVER make it onto the field of a top drum corps. NEVER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottgordon Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 It's just not an instrument that's as important to the gate keepers of the modern drum corps and the overall marching arts activity. Are you trying to limit the creative palette of drumcorps' visionaries? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 And I have played a marching trombone before. Somehow, my HS had some sitting around. Might be the worst playing/sounding instrument I've ever played on. It was an odd instrument. Mine did too. They had a flugelbone and a marching trombone laying around. Both were awful to play, just made bad sounds. Something I don't think I would ever want to curse my future students with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmjfelts1988 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) Are you trying to limit the creative palette of drumcorps' visionaries? No, I'm simply stating a fact that the disctontinuation of the top band activity's use of trombones (run by the same creative visionaries) proves that it's clearly not a part of their vision. Believe me when I say, NONE of them care about trombones.Some of them (especially the visual designers) even "HATE" them. Edited January 15, 2013 by bmjfelts1988 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) Edited January 15, 2013 by Michael Boo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Are you trying to limit the creative palette of drumcorps' visionaries? I got it..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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