Eggbert Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Does anyone know which corps was the first to use a marching marimba on the field? Not to be confused with xylophone. I don't have the legacy dvds before 79, so maybe someone can look at 78/77/76 and help me out here. A marimba has wood bars (actually plastic) not metal and the pipes hanging below the instrument are twice as long as a xylo. My uneducated guess is that the first marching marimba was Blue Stars in 1978, but I could easily be wrong on this. Anyone know of an earlier use of marimba? It would be around the same time corps went from two mallet players to three or four. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drmr27 Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 My uneducated guess is that the first marching marimba was Blue Stars in 1978, but I could easily be wrong on this. Anyone know of an earlier use of marimba? It would be around the same time corps went from two mallet players to three or four. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> 27th Lancers-1974 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 27th Lancers-1974Blousemen had them in 71 <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 27th Lancers-1974 <{POST_SNAPBACK}> ,.............not sure about that,................... but Tim Wicham (sp) of Erie Thunderbirds carried a Jenco 3 octave vibraphone with resonators in '78,...........I carried the same instrument in '77 in Dal Demons on the street for parades,.............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggbert Posted December 15, 2004 Author Share Posted December 15, 2004 (edited) ,.............not sure about that,................... but Tim Wicham (sp) of Erie Thunderbirds carried a Jenco 3 octave vibraphone with resonators in '78,...........I carried the same instrument in '77 in Dal Demons on the street for parades,.............. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm not sure either about 27th in 74. It would have had to be a custom instrument. Anyone have a photo? I also carried that big goofy jenco vibe during the football season in 1979 at edinboro. What a beast! There was a place to mount a pole on the front to hold it up! The only good thing was that I got to play a Steeler game with it and watched Lynn Swan dive for a catch from Terry Bradshaw in the end zone during the playoffs. A good time was had by all. All but my achin back! Edited December 15, 2004 by Eggbert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drmr27 Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 I'm not sure either about 27th in 74. It would have had to be a custom instrument. Anyone have a photo? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Nope... Just chiropracter bills. It was a 2.5 octave Musser instrument with an iron maiden inspired McCormick carrier. I didn't dream it! The pain was real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggbert Posted December 15, 2004 Author Share Posted December 15, 2004 Wow! I would have never guessed 2-7! That's quite a distinction. Hats off and kudos. Maybe we should form a marching marimba/vibe club and compare back x-rays. Do you know if any other corps used marimba that year? Did the instrument have removable legs? Kelon bars? How many other keyboard players were in the line that year? This is some history. Let's hear all about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Wow! I would have never guessed 2-7! That's quite a distinction. Hats off and kudos. Maybe we should form a marching marimba/vibe club and compare back x-rays. I'm in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle z Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Count me in, too!!! But only if we can have Musser/Deagan arguments!!!!! ^0^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggbert Posted December 17, 2004 Author Share Posted December 17, 2004 Count me in, too!!!But only if we can have Musser/Deagan arguments!!!!! ^0^ <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If it's a question of pain, Deagan is the winner. They couldn't have packed more extra weight on those things if they tried! No wonder we got grounded. I blame JC Deagan! If Cavies had Mussers in 82 I probably would have marched my age out year with Z. But you couldn't have paid me to haul one of those elephants around. Getting spazms just thinking about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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