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Spirit hornline, 1979, 1980


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We're in front of the current Spirit hornline a good bit these days, and they can set your hair on fire in a standstill, to be sure, but back then when they were in a company front headed for the sideline playing those marvelous, extended chords of "Let It Be Me", people just froze in place. You couldn't scream and hear yourself when they were rolling.

You know the Bose speaker ad where the guy has a death grip on an armchair, with his clothes flapping in the wind? It was like that. BD5times is right; you could feel them.

I love listening to Jimmy Steele's hornline, and love watching him instruct just as much. Last year's semis performance was so amazing, and had the tingle of deja vu to boot. Wow.

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LOUD, LOUD, LOUD

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Spirit 80 was one of the reasons why I became a drum corps fan...in "Georgia on my Mind" and also "Let it Be Me", you not only HEARD the notes, you FELT the notes! It was like the stands moved physically backwards when Spirit played.

Never experienced anything like it since!

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MASSIVE!

The sound truly resonated in your chest when they opened it up. It was more than just the volume, it was in the voicing and the training.

God Bless Jim Ott!

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I saw the 80 line at a clinic. They were playing for a while, talking about playing backfield, dynamics etc.

Then they said they had been playing at practice level. They next did the beginning of Georgia on my Mind at full volume.

You could feel the sound in your chest, you could feel it on your face. It was incredible, I have never heard anything like it since.

After that I was hooked

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considering that this was the first year that they had a full line of 2 valve KING horns.

Nope..

Those horns were Olds Ultratones..All two valve except for piston-rotor contras. It wasn't until the mid 80's that Spirit bought a few king baris, altos, and euphs. King didn't even manufacture bugles until the 1980's. :music:

When I marched there in 89-90, Spirit was still using some of those Old(s) :P horns. :huh:

I played an Olds V-R Bari in 77 and an Olds 2 valve in 78 in Scouts. I always liked Olds over King. I think Phantom played King 2 valves and I always marvelled at the low throaty sound their baris made. And they seemed smaller than ours! Then a couple of years ago when I was teaching a small corps, we bought some old King 2 valve baris. They are about 2 inches shorter than Olds baris and with a bore size that will suck the wind right out of you. You had better be in good shape playing one of those breath stealers in 1978 at Mile High stadium! Anoxia City! To this day however I feel the V-R baris blew much easier and deeper. One could really honk!

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considering that this was the first year that they had a full line of 2 valve KING horns.

Nope..

Those horns were Olds Ultratones..All two valve except for piston-rotor contras. It wasn't until the mid 80's that Spirit bought a few king baris, altos, and euphs. King didn't even manufacture bugles until the 1980's. :music:

When I marched there in 89-90, Spirit was still using some of those Old(s) :P horns. :huh:

I played an Olds V-R Bari in 77 and an Olds 2 valve in 78 in Scouts. I always liked Olds over King. I think Phantom played King 2 valves and I always marvelled at the low throaty sound their baris made. And they seemed smaller than ours! Then a couple of years ago when I was teaching a small corps, we bought some old King 2 valve baris. They are about 2 inches shorter than Olds baris and with a bore size that will suck the wind right out of you. You had better be in good shape playing one of those breath stealers in 1978 at Mile High stadium! Anoxia City! To this day however I feel the V-R baris blew much easier and deeper. One could really honk!

In 80 sopranos and baritones were on 2 valve Olds Ultratone IIs, the flugels were on brand new King 2 valvers, and the mellos, f-horns, and contras were on Olds Ultratone P/Rs.

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I think the pharse "Loud is Good" was coined with Spirit in mind!! Seriously though, that horn line in 79-80 was the loudest i ever heard. Also very clean. My favorite moment watching them was 1980 prelims. When they turned into the stands for the first hit from Georgia on my Mind it was spectacular. First time I ever "felt" music hit me in the chest. Incredible!!! b**bs

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