torn8o Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 (edited) To follow up my resurected Bb horn topic in the context of my stance that "any key" is fantastic as long as we are willing to explore keys other than JUST Bbs (such as Gs) to offer better educational value to the kids in DCI brass lines (sorry for the bad run on). I was wondering if any corps has ever considered horns in keys other than even Bbs and Gs? Such as "Cs" for the trumpets? Has any corps out there considered it? It IS legal based on the "any key" describtion of the 2000 rules change. I know, someone is going to say "cost is an issue". How about a soloist who already owns one? Just curious. Still a bell front brass instrument so in my opinion would not change the nature of the "drum corps" activity. I know, I can already see the hyper purists cringing. :) I warned you that I would be stiring the pot with this one. :) Don't get too mad at me ole schoolers. It's really just a question. I'm just wondering if it's ever been considered by any directors or brass caption heads out there? Edited March 13, 2006 by torn8o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiniki Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Sounds like a plan, Scott. You gonna break this one out for one of our shows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torn8o Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 (edited) Sounds like a plan, Scott. You gonna break this one out for one of our shows? I get the vibe that there are some hyper purists in our corps who WOULD cringe and possibly even have me hung on the Goodpasture flag pole if I ever even TRIED to pull something like that. :) So, probably not. With that said, you problably should avoid ever tempting me like that again. :P Edited March 13, 2006 by torn8o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aatlb25 Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 That wouldn't work very well, as all the horns are pitched now all the valving is the same throughout the instruments. People would rather leave it this way to make things less difficult, I would believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torn8o Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 That wouldn't work very well, as all the horns are pitched now all the valving is the same throughout the instruments. People would rather leave it this way to make things less difficult, I would believe. Soloists? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorisTS Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I may be misremembering, but when we (Glassmen) started rehearing the ballad in 2001, our flugel soloist tried several horns before settling on the flugel...one might have been a C trumpet (or maybe he had a cornet and I imagined the C. He was a trumpet major so I'm sure he had access to both at some point). Obviously he ended up using a B-flat flugel, but non-traditional horns were at least considered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiniki Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 With that said, you problably should avoid ever tempting me like that again. :P Life is all about change. I never thought I could do half the things God has given me the opportunity for... you never know, C horns might be the new thing! Isn't pushing some of the limits how the bar gets raised? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgoth Bauglir Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 torn8o, this is not just to you or this post. More like to and about all of the music education and horn threads out there. It may be hypocritical for brass staffs to not want to teach other types of horns, but honestly, I don't really care that much. I think a lot of the premises about drum corps, sepcifically the eduction/music aspect, that are assuming that there is only 1 goal for every corps. That it is either competitive success, entertainment, or education. In fact, that is completely insane. It is a combination of those, and more, for probably every single group that exisits. Yes, corps switched to Bb to make it easier for others to switch. Does that mean the music education aspects of corps cease to exist? No. Just because a group is not willing to teach advanced multi-horn technique, does not mean they are throwing education away. You also have to take into account competition. Teaching a whole new type of horn would most definately make that brass line take a hit in scores. And I don't see any corps willing to do that, which is fine by me. Worse scores mean less auditionees, and less money to stay alive. A drum corps is responsible for balancing many goals and ways to accomplish them. Drum corps is not a purely entertaining show venue. It is also not a purely competitive sport. And it is not a music school. It combines some aspects of all three, plus more. And that means you cannot ask it to include everything from every aspect. One cannot rightly demand that every single show "be crowd friendly" and "entertaining". Yes that is one goal, but one among many. One cannot rightly ask corps to teach advanced music skills like you would get at Interlochen or college. While music education is one goal, it is one among many. So I think corps are doing a great job balancing things. And I leave it up to the brass staff to decide what is best for their lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiniki Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I'm really not a horn person at all, so please don't laugh too hard at this question, k... Can there be a "split line" of say, g and b flat or other keys together to get a larger playing range on the field? (This comes from my impression that each key has it's own range of notes-which may be wrong too, I don't even know what I'm talking about :P ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torn8o Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 (edited) I think a lot of the premises about drum corps, sepcifically the eduction/music aspect, that are assuming that there is only 1 goal for every corps. That it is either competitive success, entertainment, or education. In fact, that is completely insane. It is a combination of those, and more, for probably every single group that exisits. I understand and agree with you on that completely. I suppose I'm just USING the "education" issue as an excuse to make a point since that is such an important issue with the hyper modernists. So, don't read too much into that. Really, I'm just asking a question with this (as I clarified on my initial post). That question being, has it been tried or considered? This is not meant to be a debate (although it's probably inevitable anyway as with just about any thread). Edited March 13, 2006 by torn8o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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