Evolution of drum corps instrumentation

[Hrothgar15]

Can anyone fill me in as to how instrumentation in drum corps (not just DCI) has changed, and what years new instrumentation was introduced? All I know is that multi-key horns were made legal in 2000, and three valves sometime in the early '90s (I think?) But what about earlier...regarding piston/rotor horns and such. The instrumentation of drum corps in the '70s seems drastically different from that of the '80s, which in turn is different from that of the '90s, again different from that of the 2000s.

Can someone give me a full rundown (starting at about 1950 or so) showing how instrumentation has changed, and what years these new additions were made legal?

Thanks.

[Martybucs]

There is actually a thread on the DCA section about this subject to some degree. It's called, "Horn Configurations", if you're interested. Just goes back to the single piston and slide era, but the really old corps used signal bugles, in Bb I think.

A single valve and the change to G bugles was added circa 1920 and it wasn't long before someone realized you could use the tuning slide for chromatics. So they would solder a vertical bar on the tuning slide to make it easier to push in and pull out for chromatics. It was quite a comical sound if you listen to it now, but they were fun to play. Even P/R were a lot of fun to play.

I'm sure there's an expert on all this, but probably on the DCA side of things. Or I wouldn't doubt Wikipedia is the place to go.

[kansasDC]

Two-valve horns started replacing valve-rotors in 1977. They were phased in (sops first, then baris, then mellos and contras) over three years to avoid alot of corps bankrupting themselves by trying to buy complete new lines all at once.

[Piper]

Two-valve horns started replacing valve-rotors in 1977. They were phased in (sops first, then baris, then mellos and contras) over three years to avoid alot of corps bankrupting themselves by trying to buy complete new lines all at once.

I think that's accurate. The second valve was intended primarily to replace the rotor.

[Tom Brace]

Before the 1875 season, cymbals were really still...well, just rectangular blocks of brass with horsehide straps on each side. They weren't even called cymbals back then, but rather "tone blocks." I can remember the 1870 boys of the Indiana Brigade marching the first "block" line.

There was Cyril "Stappy" Lonegrenn and Eustus "Blocky" Carbinger. The third guy is unidentified in the silver nitrate still photo I'm looking at. The fourth and fifth tone block players were Jebediah "Lefty" McGee and Mortimer "Spanky" Clausen respectively. I can see Spanky's beard is slightly askew from the photo after months of catching it between the blocks. All the rest boast handlebar moustaches in keeping with proper grooming habits of the day.

The cymbal as we know it today...round turned pairs of , well, cymbals were marched officially in competition by a New Jersey group with Army Cadet uniforms. This was a controversial move for sure as these round plate-like objects had not been seen before the 1874 season.

[Martybucs]

OK here's what wikipedia has to say. I didn't include the drum part because, well, because they're drums!

Bugles

With the widespread use of the 1892 Army field trumpet, which was actually a "straight" (valveless) bugle in the key of G, American drum & bugle corps evolved in that key. However, it wasn't long before some members in some corps wished to add more notes to their brass repertoire. Early lines in the 1920s added D crooks on some horns in order to play more complicated songs in two lines, similar to a bell choir. Ludwig added the first valve to a bugle to make the G-D horn-in-one, wisely making the valve horizontal rather than vertical in order to preserve the look and handling of the straight bugle (and to make it more difficult to spot by unobservant judges in circuits which had not yet legalized the valve). The single horizontal valve allowed the diatonic scale to be played by each bugle.

The acceptance of the single-valved bugle took some time. Originally, the American Legion required that valved bugles have screws to allow the valve to be locked onto either the G or D open scale during certain competitions. Some smaller corps had straight bugles even into the 1960s, and there are still some corps, bands and other groups who continue to use straight bugles or G-D piston bugles to this day, as entire horn lines or as bugle sections.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, inventive buglers across the country took to sanding one of the tuning slides so it could be used like a trombone slide. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, the slide was sometimes replaced with a half-tone rotary valve to F#, which allowed for nearly a full chromatic scale to be played. Some bass-baritones were equipped with full-tone rotary valves to F in order for some of the hornline to be able to achieve the desired Bugle Low A, and in the mid-1960s a bass-baritone rotor to E was briefly offered.

By 1967, the American Legion Uniformed Groups Rules Congress approved a mutual request by a number of instructors and managers to permit G-F-F# piston-rotor bugles in competition. This lighter bugle is able to achieve better intonation and a more complete chromatic scale than the G-D-F# bugles.

Slide-piston and/or rotor-piston bugles were common into the mid-1970's, and many non-competitive parade corps still existed that used straight bugles and single-valved models.

Manufacture of horizontal-piston bugles ceased in the 1990s with the desire of competitive corps management to convert to band-like three-valve brass instruments pitched in G, although today the honorary term "bugle" is applied to all competitive corps brass instruments.

The main advantages of horizontal-valved one-piston-with-slide and/or piston-rotor bugles include:

1) Ease of learning. The basic simplicity of the instrument allows for the possibility of rapid mastery by beginners.

2) Substantially lower cost.

3) Lightness.

4) Ease of repair.

Additions to drum and bugle corps voicings occurred in the mid-1930s with the popularity of the baritone bugle, pitched one octave below the soprano.

The tenor bugle also came into use at about this time, and although it was pitched in the soprano range, its slightly larger bore offered a darker, almost cornet-like and more robust tone. The tenor bugle fell from general favor by 1960 though they remained in bugle catalogs.

French horn bugles became popular by mid-century, serving as bridges between sopranos and baritones.

By 1950 a few bass-baritone bugles began to be seen. These larger euphonium-like instruments, pitched like the baritone one octave below the soprano and tenor, added a deep foundation. By 1960 the bass-baritones had largely supplanted the baritones in most corps.

One widely applauded and popular 1962 addition was the contrabass, the biggest horn and lowest voice, two octaves below the soprano, which partially rests on the shoulder.

The mellophone or mellophonium was introduced soon after, and was quickly popular for its capability of soaring above the rest of the bugle section. However it did not supplant the French horn, which remained the dominant middle voice.

Other less-popular bugle types introduced in the 1960 included herald bugles, euphoniums, pistonless slide sopranos and piccolo bugles or "angel bugles" pitched an octave above the sopranos. The valve-rotor bugle remained popular until the late 1970s, when rules changes moved toward two-valve upright bugles.

[GGarrett]

OK... well, from a percussion standpoint, the intruments have come a long way. Snare drums have a much greater range of sound, even though most (if not all) corps tune them up to such a high tension that some consider it to not even sound like a snare drum anymore. That tension is possible now by the development over the years of a "suspension ring" that allows super high tension on a kevlar head. That high tension allows the player to also realize an amazing rebound off that head, which, when used in conjunction with a players ability to control that rebound, is far superior to older model snare drums. Some drums utilize a wire or steel cable snare assembly (as opposed to the old "cat gut" or fiber snare) which gives a brighter tone. The rim shots are explosive and crisp, and project with amazing clarity out of these new snare drums. Deafening, actually, if you are standing right there when one is cracked out. A good attention-getter if and when necessary!

Ironically, the actual shell of drums are still made of plys of birch wood, but the glueing procedure has improved over the years and the hardware is made of stronger, lighter aluminum than the old cast and chromed metal pieces of old drums.

I have played on both instruments, and find todays snare drums far superior in technology and playability. But this isn't to say that an old style snare drum can't be a beautiful sounding snare drum, either. It just depends on what the music calls for IMO. When I first experienced the rebound off one of the newer drums, I just about took an eye out with the way the stick came back up at me... :P

Sticks have also come a long way, but in the long run there is very little one would notice as "different" until they have developed that symbiotic relationship between drum head and hand/finger/wrist control I eluded to earlier. By the time a player has developed that "feel" in playing, then stick weight, balance, thickness and tip type become an individual choice. Probably not unlike a horn players personal preference of a mouthpiece, or reed for woodwind player.

I can't speak much for tenor drums, bass drums, pit percussion or cymbals (thanks Tom: above post) but it's all come a long way in the last 20 years or so...

[Hrothgar15]

OK... well, from a percussion standpoint, the intruments have come a long way. Snare drums have a much greater range of sound, even though most (if not all) corps tune them up to such a high tension that some consider it to not even sound like a snare drum anymore. That tension is possible now by the development over the years of a "suspension ring" that allows super high tension on a kevlar head. That high tension allows the player to also realize an amazing rebound off that head, which, when used in conjunction with a players ability to control that rebound, is far superior to older model snare drums. Some drums utilize a wire or steel cable snare assembly (as opposed to the old "cat gut" or fiber snare) which gives a brighter tone. The rim shots are explosive and crisp, and project with amazing clarity out of these new snare drums. Deafening, actually, if you are standing right there when one is cracked out. A good attention-getter if and when necessary!

Ironically, the actual shell of drums are still made of plys of birch wood, but the glueing procedure has improved over the years and the hardware is made of stronger, lighter aluminum than the old cast and chromed metal pieces of old drums.

I have played on both instruments, and find todays snare drums far superior in technology and playability. But this isn't to say that an old style snare drum can't be a beautiful sounding snare drum, either. It just depends on what the music calls for IMO. When I first experienced the rebound off one of the newer drums, I just about took an eye out with the way the stick came back up at me... :P

Sticks have also come a long way, but in the long run there is very little one would notice as "different" until they have developed that symbiotic relationship between drum head and hand/finger/wrist control I eluded to earlier. By the time a player has developed that "feel" in playing, then stick weight, balance, thickness and tip type become an individual choice. Probably not unlike a horn players personal preference of a mouthpiece, or reed for woodwind player.

I can't speak much for tenor drums, bass drums, pit percussion or cymbals (thanks Tom: above post) but it's all come a long way in the last 20 years or so...

The snare sounds really were different back then when they are today. I mean, I love, for example, Phantom Regiment 1978's "Flight of the Bumblebee" drum solo, as well as SCV '04's Scheherazade percussion feature, but the instruments and types of arrangements have changed SO much, that you can't really compare the two ideas.

[GGarrett]

The snare sounds really were different back then when they are today. I mean, I love, for example, Phantom Regiment 1978's "Flight of the Bumblebee" drum solo, as well as SCV '04's Scheherazade percussion feature, but the instruments and types of arrangements have changed SO much, that you can't really compare the two ideas.

I agree with that... as well, todays writing and (yes, I'm gonna say it!) the actual talent itself is way different than say 1978 (since that's been used here.) Playing is playing, it's all the same when you break it down to its most basic level. But snare drummers today play with far more dynamic range than we ever did, they play with more arm control movement than we ever did (it was all wrist back then), and the instrument itself is far more "user friendly" to the talented, trained snare drummer in todays corps world.

[bobchilds]

OK here's what wikipedia has to say. I didn't include the drum part because, well, because they're drums!

<snip>

One widely applauded and popular 1962 addition was the contrabass, the biggest horn and lowest voice, two octaves below the soprano, which partially rests on the shoulder.

<snip>

I seem to recall something about the Velvet Knights being responsible for introducing the contrabass bugle.