jm615 Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 The pit, with good writing, can provide so many different colors, harmonies, and polyphonic textures. Some pit books actually do seem like it's not neccessary to have more than one of each instrument especially when they write nothing but homophonic lines. I would strongly suggest listening to pit books by Sandi Rennick such as Crown 04, Phantom 05 and 06. Listen to the different textures that they provide, they're pretty amazing. The cavaliers' pit has a unique way of integrating their book with the rest of the brass and drumline and the theme of the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BD_Fan Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 By the number you mean players? So 4 vibes player with four vibes and four Marimbas with 4 players? And one Xylo with one player? Total of 9 in the bell family on 3 different bell instruments? And out of the 9 how many different parts do they play? And of those, how many pitches, bass, treble, alto? This is interesting to us brass that do not know. Well, it's not called the 'bell family', they're 'mallet' or 'keyboard' percussion instruments. The parts usually split into different harmonies/octaves. I think only the marimba has enough range to be written for in bass clef, treble for the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einstein On The Beach Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 (edited) I love when horn players complain about percussion. Edited December 21, 2006 by Einstein On The Beach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxVSoprano Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I love when horn players complain about percussion. hey now, im a brass payer who take sthe defense of the pit... until they just neeeeed help ROLLING their instruments to the truck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavalier2123 Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I remember a thread like this a while ago where someone was complaining about how in these newfangled pits they let the cymbals sustain past a release. That thread delivered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanguard07 Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 There are some pictures of the cavaliers 2006 pit (via their website). From the looks of it four vibes, four marimbas, one or two auxiliary percussionist and a Timpani Vibe - Percussion1/2 - Vibe - Timp Vibe - Marimba1/2/3/4 - Vibe at least that's what I see.. its kind of hard though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGCpimpOtimp Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Actually, the Cavaliers had four marimbas/players, four vibes/players, a glock/xylo player, and a timpanist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScribeToo Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 OK, Why are there so many bells, xylophones(sp) or whatever in todays corps? Especially when most are amped. To me they are just too much, perhaps some think it is the Contras that are too large. I don't know, any ideas? What sections do you think are too much vs others? Obviously it may change from corps to corps. Just a thought. I think the reason you need "so many" is because in order to get a fuller, more lush sound (on any instrument, not just keyboards), it helps to have more than one instrument being played. See.. if you have just one, the sound gets plunky. With two or more.. the voice gains dimension... it's fuller and it's especially good when they manage to play in synch ( ). When it's done very well (and I don't care how big or small you are, you strive to do everything you do "very well"), it is a sound that cannot be replaced by fewer players and more amps. When you go to a choral concert.. or a symphony performance where they include the chorale, you don't just have 4 or 5 of each voice type.. you have twenty of each.. maybe more. Sure it increases the volume.. but it also improves the resonance of the part and the texture of the sound. Having more instruments in a given section isn't just for the purpose of increasing volume. It also changes how the voice of that instrument comes across. I think the numbers are just fine. Stef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I love when horn players complain about percussion. Hey I rode on the drum equipment truck for 5 years. I only complained when they didn't help put their crap... err, instruments away. ^0^ :P 'cause whatever they left on the ground I had to help stack in..... :sshh: So what I'm reading is corps have the same size/type of "bells" play different parts to get more complex music??? Bueller?? Historic note which is ironic today: One of the original reasons for grounding tympani in the pit was to free up three bodies to play in the rest of the drum line. IOW - went from four people playing one tymp each to one playing all four. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenextone Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Most D1 pits have 4 Marimbas 4 Vibes 1 xylophone 1 timpani 10 players total. Sometimes they include a few general percussion players, but that seems to be on its way out. BD and SCV tend to have 8 or 9 players while Madison and Blue Coats have slightly larger front ensembles (10-12ish) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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