Your thoughts on DCA corps going to B flat horns?

[MikeD]

I hope that the DCA corps stay "G". Stay drum and bugle corps, every brass BAND plays Bb horns.

Too late...DCA corps playing Bb/F:

Cabs, Bush, Bucs, MBI and Crusaders

[posaun1]

Traditional Brass Bands actually utilize Eb instruments as well.

[Gmannn]

So what is the real difference with the newest b flat marching brass and "g" horns. I've heard that the "g" horns were designed more for outside use.Bugles had a differnt bore size,different projection capabilities as a result of different tubing length and design. Trumpets were designed for inside concert hall environments and pocessed the physical attributes for that arena..When I look at the different manufacturers web sites.The new marching b flats have similar characteristics to the "g" brass.Bore size etc. Are all things mechanically equal now ?

[Kamarag]

I'm old school, you can't spell bugle without the "G", it comes out bubble. It's a fuller sound. When played softly the G horns have a fuller sound, and when played loudly, they'll knock you out of the stands. Anyone can play a Bb horn in tune, it takes a real bugler to play a G horn in tune. LOL. I hope that the DCA corps stay "G". Stay drum and bugle corps, every brass BAND plays Bb horns.

Yea. Listen to the 2005 Reading Buccaneers and then try saying that again.

You know what the only real difference between G and Bb is? One plays a minor third lower than the other. After working the Carolina Gold brass line last weekend, I'm more convinced than ever that it justs doesn't matter...a good line is a good line.

[SinglePiston]

For me the difference was minimal. I played a G and a Bb baritone bugle into a friends decibel memter. On the G horn the average read at 120 decibels. On the Bb horn it was 118 decibels. Now I realize our methods were not necessarily scientific, but I seriously doubt that anyone is going to really notice a 2 decibel difference. The human ear just isn't designed to pick up that minute a detail. At that point its just really loud anyway. What it comes down to is instruction and musicianship. A better in tune line doesn't have to play as hard to generate the same loudness as an out of tune line does. The soundwaves are working more in harmonic unison which is more pleasant to the ear. The point is really moot anyway. Bb is here. In 25 years G bugles will be to the players of 2030 what single valve bugles are to us. A nice reminder of what the past was. Our history. Improvements in equipment happen in everything. Imagine what Bobby Jones (the golfer, not Buccs drill designer 2005) would do with the equipment Tiger Woods uses. Its evolution. It happens. Darwinism working in drum corps. Those who don't evolve and change are left behind. Remember when color guard was about equipment work, angles and planes and not about ballet training? Remember when drill moves were symmetrical. What is all this amoebic asymetrical stuff? Its modern drum and bugle corps. It has evolved.

Edited December 7, 2005 by SinglePiston

[bumo27]

SO to sum it up:

Bb's are here to stay. Get used to it, because they're not going anywhere.

There will be some corps that will stay on G's. They'll do just fine in DCA, as long as they produce a line with a great quality sound. Those that made the switch, made them for very good reasons. Those that are staying on G also have their good reasons.

There is NO USE ARGUING ABOUT IT.

Face it - G's are louder and harder to tune. Bb's are not as loud, and have a better quality of sound. You have to work harder on a Bb horn to produce the same volume that G's produce, but in these days, who wants to sacrifice tone quality and the intended timbre of the horn, for volume's sake? Not me. I like being in Box 5. It's fun. Bb's are in tune more than G's are, so the sound appears to be louder and blend better anyway - that helps a lot.

But for the naysayers about DCA allowing multikey...don't bother arguing. The rule is passed - it's not like DCA is gonna say "Eh, forget this whole Bb thing - make everyone go back to playing G's"...it won't ever happen, and that's a fact.

Thanks for your time.

[Sideways]

Lakeshoremen is also Bb.

[zorf]

SO to sum it up:

Face it - G's are louder and harder to tune. Bb's are not as loud, and have a better quality of sound. You have to work harder on a Bb horn to produce the same volume that G's produce, but in these days, who wants to sacrifice tone quality and the intended timbre of the horn, for volume's sake? Not me. I like being in Box 5. It's fun. Bb's are in tune more than G's are, so the sound appears to be louder and blend better anyway - that helps a lot.

Another unscientific response. I began drum corps in the mid 1970’s on a Chrome plated Piston/Rotar Olds G bugle. I love that horn and it has a tone and power quality that I have not been able to completely duplicate with a 3 valve horn regardless of key. When MBI announced that they were getting new horns, I hoped that they would go with a new line of G bugles. But as others have posted, there were very compelling reasons to make the switch to Bb. I agree with the post by Chris above. We’ll make do with the Bb horns and I do believe there is a lot to the argument that it’s the strength of the artists not the horns that makes a big difference. I’ve heard some great Bb lines in both DCI and DCA that have made me a believer.

[Shadow_7]

Huh? Unless you are standing closer than about ten feet, you can't tell the difference.

Um, I can tell the difference from the parking lot. You can't hear a Bb line from the parking lot. (even bucs) You can hear a G line from that location. It's up close that I can't really tell the difference, other than not being able to recognize any Euphs, and the sop line looking like they're all on piccolo sopranos. And everything sounding 20 cents sharp, although in tune with the line.

[Kamarag]

Um, I can tell the difference from the parking lot. You can't hear a Bb line from the parking lot. (even bucs) You can hear a G line from that location. It's up close that I can't really tell the difference, other than not being able to recognize any Euphs, and the sop line looking like they're all on piccolo sopranos. And everything sounding 20 cents sharp, although in tune with the line.

That is quite possibly the most rediculous thing I've seen on DCP in weeks...