bandette bari2 Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Ever since I saw the standstill performance at Nightbeat 2003 (Charlotte, NC), I absolutely want nothing more than to march corps after I graduate high school. On Thanksgiving Day, I even shut myself in a room when DCI played (finally!) on PBS and taped it-- 2 copies, just in case one messed up (which one did, actually..)I have a slight problem though. I play clarinet. I'm going to try to get a discount horn from a local pawn shop or Ebay or something, but I'm not sure which instrument I should learn, they all have their pros and cons... Trumpet- I think it may be easy since it's a Bb horn like a clarinet, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to get the right range for corps Mellophone- I've never tried to play one, and from what I've heard seem kind of hard to tune and get pitches out? Baritone- I dont think I'm strong enough to hold one up! Does anyone have any suggestion that may make my decision any easier? It'd be greatly appreciated.. thank you all so much I would go with trumpet or baritone. I played trumpet and switched to baritone because the mouthpiece was too small and pinched my lips. Yeah it's like 15 pounds but mellophone 's mouthpiece is also too small for me. And I'm still trying to get used to the weight so I lift weights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murppie Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Hey, I was just reading your post. Good luck with your switching. The biggest thing to remember is that you won't be perfect at first. Its going to take a while, but use your ear. If you have a piano use that to get your pitch and start on just the mouthpiece. If you can get a private instructor too. Just remember to have patience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandette bari2 Posted March 4, 2004 Share Posted March 4, 2004 Thanks, I'm doing good right now. Especially after about 2 months practice and it;ll only get better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasro_Kast Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 ROCK ON woodwind. I'm a clarinet player as well, marched clarinet first two years of high school, saw the DCI show in allentown in 94 and realized how awesome DCI is, and switched to marching brass so I could join(even though I still enjoy playing clarinet in a concert setting). I marched tuba in high school, that was a really easy switch, and then I taught myself bari to march in Carolina Crown. I've been playing mellophone since college. Mello's my favorite (obviously, since I've been playing that the longest ;-)), but I would have to say that the lower brass would probably be an easier switch. The best thing that will help you will be to pick one and practice, practice, practice. Watch out, though, because it's really going to affect your clarinet embouchoure, and you'll have to work extra hard to keep that up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellopet Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 (edited) At my school the most success I have seen in clarinet and flute players switching has been to mello. They pick it up fairly quickly- our second chair mello this year was/is a clarinet, and our second chair F horn and drum major was a flute. I am teaching a bunch of woodwinds mello right now and so far they picked it up much faster than I would have expected. I think that if you wanted to, you could definitely learn mello or other brass well enough to march it in the fall. I also think that woodwinds get similar parts to mello than the tones or the trumpi. Plus I know this is weird, but certain kinds of people play mello at our school, and mostly the woodwinds seemed to feel more comfortable around us than the trumpi or low brass. Edited March 10, 2004 by mellopet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelcityrabbit Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I know a guy who played clarinet in the U.S. Army band, but played keyboards in BD(yes, blue devils), and tenors in Steel City. Go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 Baritone- I dont think I'm strong enough to hold one up! who cares!! bari is the coolest thing to play! anything you do in drum corps is challenging to say the least. you will definitely have a really cool experience no matter what you do though... so..... just do bari cuz it rocks! :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellobecka05 Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 hey, i went from piccolo to mello...if people are really saying that you're a really good clarinet, then you probably are, and shouldn't have much of a problem listening to tune...playing an F mello when everyone else is on the same pitch really isn't that hard...you just have to be able to tune intervals...but, if you really want to play baritone, then, by all means, play baritone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marchinc_pirate Posted April 27, 2004 Author Share Posted April 27, 2004 Wow. I'm terribly sorry for taking so long to reply, but I've been really busy and my computer wasn't working. I've read everyone's suggestions and comments carefully, and I appreciate the help everyone was willing to give me. I borrowed a trumpet from a friend this week. I'm ecstatic to actually have a brass instrument in my possession to practice and work on, because it's like I'm another step closer to achieving my dream. It's going to take a ton of work though.. I plan on getting a trumpet fingering chart from my band director in the near future and just working out every single note.. so far all I've been able to do is lip slurs, the concert Bb scale, and long tones, just sitting next to a tuner and checking my pitches. One of my trumpet-playing friends found it odd, though, that it's really easy for me to get high notes out. I can get some notes above the staff out with little difficulty. The lower octaves are killing me though, they sound terrible. Is this a bad thing? I know it's one of those things that will take a lot of hard work, but does anyone know any ways to improve my lower range? Thank you all once again for actually responding to my questions and helping me out, it's definitely appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swtrojan Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Hey I was 12 when i joined the Colt Cadets and the first thing they did was threw me on a Baritone! Now I wanted to go bigger so I play contra! So if i could do it you can too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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