Kansan Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Soprano/ Trumpet. Potato/ Tater. b**bs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancerFi Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Okay, confession time:The reason I was so good at flags was that I twirled a baton as a child... It certainly helped get me into color guard! Hi Sally, I want to tell you that 3 of Zingali's favorite rifles and marchers were in a baton class as children.........however 1 was already spinning a rifle. 2 had probably not laid eyes on a rifle at that point! b**bs (Zingali said favorite, not any of the twirlers!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tansea Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Hi Sally, I want to tell you that 3 of Zingali's favorite rifles and marchers were in a baton class as children.........however 1 was already spinning a rifle. 2 had probably not laid eyes on a rifle at that point! b**bs (Zingali said favorite, not any of the twirlers!) I loved baton corps....california was full of them in fact the two dominating corps from the west coast can trace their roots to baton coprs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom&Phitch Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Everyone has their own definition of "bugle". Mine happens to center around the spherical vs conical design. One shape (I get 'em confused) is more designed for musical tone (band horn). The other is designed to be heard a long way over the noise of a battle (IOW - freaking loud) (DC "bugle"). The more I read about the old valveless bugles the more I realize the the key meant very little "way back when". But changing from the "bugle shape" to the "band instrument shape" is the difference to me. *sigh* DISCLAIMER: i didnt read the whole thread bc its late and i'm tired but... the difference ive come to known between a bugle and a trumpet is that the bugle is designed with a conical shape to the horn/tubing, allowing more sound easier, yet less intonation. The trumpet has cylindrical shape to the horn/tubing, thus allowing better intonation, yet more sound harder. and if we want to get technical, it was fife and drums out on the battle feilds first, not bugles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Aside from preserving the brass choir concept, there's something to looking at all of the voices in totality. Corps try and buy matched sets of all voice ranges. That just doesn't sound logical with trumpets or tubas. I am still failing to see what the difference is. If Carolina purchases a set of King trumpets, what difference does it make whether they call them 'sopranos' or 'trumpets'. They are the same instruments. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiniki Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 (edited) This hits the nail right on the head. DCI doesn't support drum corps. It dictates their direction. Most horn players will agree that any key has it's advantages and disadvantages. But, I'll bet we will never see a champion in G again. Not because Bb is better or worse, but because the powers that be have spoken. By definition, it hasn't really been drum and bugle corps since they added the first valve. But, the reason for calling it a soprano vs trumpet in the first place was because ALL the G horns were trumpets/bugles, distinguished only by their range. A contra is just a really big trumpet/bugle. There is no over the shoulder bell front tuba in an orchestra. The nomenclature was there for a reason, not just because it sounded cool. Now that orchestral less than homogenous instruments are on the field, there is no need for the old nomenclature. Let's face it folks. Drum corps is long gone. It was nice while it lasted. What they do today is all well and good, but it's morphed into something other than drum and bugle corps. For us old phartes, it goes against everything we were ever taught to believe about drum corps. I really wonder how todays instructors who were brought up in the old days could sell out their heritage in such a wholesale fashion. But, it just goes to show ya. A lot of the best people in drum corps left the activity many moons ago. Okay, so this is my first year having any thing to do with a Drum and Bugle Corps. Before my best friend asked me if I wanted to do this with her, I had never heard of it and I marched all 4 years of high school. So I am not asking this question to be rude or sarcastic, but I really want to know. What is the difference (other than woodwinds not being there) between marching band and drum corps? Now and in the old days.(Afterall, when you ask a lot of DCI/DCA members to explain what a Drum Corps is, they pretty much say:"it's kinda like marching band but they don't have woodwinds." I've read some of the "historical"-type sites, but how did it begin or what was the purpose and why is it "long gone"? Edited December 19, 2005 by spiniki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kansan Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Okay, so this is my first year having any thing to do with a Drum and Bugle Corps. Before my best friend asked me if I wanted to do this with her, I had never heard of it and I marched all 4 years of high school. So I am not asking this question to be rude or sarcastic, but I really want to know. What is the difference (other than woodwinds not being there) between marching band and drum corps? Now and in the old days. I've read some of the "historical"-type sites, but how did it begin or what was the purpose and why is it long gone? WWI Veterans started the activity. From what I can gather, the activity really took off at the Junior levels in the 60's. The performance levels really improved the 70s. Equipment really changed inthe 80s as far as drums becoming more high tech and the bugles going from valve rotor to two valve as the norm. Three valve bugles becaome the standard for the early 90s then Bb/F lines. Drums continue to improve. As far as the human factor, I think more college educated music educators entered the activity through the years and little by little got rid of the militaristic traditions. The performances became less rigid, more musical and more accessible to the spectators. I do know , when I marched for a season and went back to marching with my College Band, I found the band experience was just not enough. Bands are have a good number of people who are just there for the easy grade or because of parental pressure. Most if not all Corps members are in the activity because they really want to be there. I think that is what allows a Drum & Bugle Corps to outperform most if not all marching bands. I don't think Drum & Bugle Corps is long gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geneva Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 (edited) Nice summary Kansan. I would only add that drum corps has lost part of its uniqueness from the brass perspective with the move from G to B flat. The key insulated the activity from the larger band movement and in my opinion this fostered many of the innovations developed by the activity. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for drum corps' status as the paragon of the marching arts. Edited December 19, 2005 by Geneva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiniki Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Thank you both for being sensitive in your descriptions. Sometimes I feel like a real idiot when people start talking about how it use to be/should be. I'm just glad to be part of the family now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 What is the difference (other than woodwinds not being there) between marching band and drum corps? Now and in the old days.(Afterall, when you ask a lot of DCI/DCA members to explain what a Drum Corps is, they pretty much say:"it's kinda like marching band but they don't have woodwinds." I've read some of the "historical"-type sites, but how did it begin or what was the purpose and why is it "long gone"? Outside of restrictive rules prohibiting WW, electronics, some limits on types of brass (no sousas, trombone, french horns) and size...there is little difference today between drum corps and marching band. Bands, esp competitive ones, have adopted the corps style shows and competition structure...this took off starting in the 70's intlo what you see around the country today. Conceptually-speaking there is little difference between the two in how shows are written. Bands and corps have a lot of the same staffs...arrangers...judges...many directors have corps experience. Drum corps have adopted band instrumentation by adding valves to horns and eventually permitting any-key horns to be used..primarily Bb/F. Percussion in drum corps adopted just about all of what a concert band might use as percussion...starting in the 60's with marching timpani leading to marching mallets...ending up with the full pits you see today. Others have spoken about the beginnings very well, so I won't bother. As to drum corps being 'long gone'...it's not. I see current members getting the same experience out of drum corps as I did, when I started marching in 1964 as a 10 1/2 year-old in a parade corps...and ending my marching career in 1972 with my third year in the Cadets. My sig shows the corps I marched with, fyi... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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