Old DCI (1974 Scouts)

ai698 · Post by **ai698** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 12:21 am

Try these for some old recordings and videos of Anahiem Kingsmen and 27th Lancers-

http://www.xkingsmen.com/
http://www.beanman.net/drumcorps.html

trseaman · Post by **trseaman** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 8:45 am

I never marched in a corp but my high school director was big time old school. We marched spinning pin wheels, swinging gates and intersecting lines... Wish I had some old videos of that...

Tim

Gorilla Tuba · Post by **Gorilla Tuba** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 10:36 am

Glad I never had to march timpani!

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:10 am

That's the way I learned to appreciate corps-style marching. I only ever did college, but our DM was DM for Crossmen, and we did a corps-styple routine. Glide, and high-step mark time. I also remember doing an Eagles game where I was the only sousaphone, so I couldn't mirror anything. He instructed, "Just make up your own drill".

(That coulda been when we booed Santa, but I don't think it was the time we hit Jimmy the Greek with a snowball. Hey; if they don't want stuff like that to happen, don't put the announcers that close to a rowdy band... )

Them's the days!

KevinMadden · Post by **KevinMadden** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:41 am

Cool video!!! i think that some of the old-school stuff should be reicorperated into moder corps (i'd like to see in addition to marching timp again, some marching marimba!

)

djwesp · Post by **djwesp** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 4:59 pm

the elephant wrote:They did that, as well as chimes. Phantom and Santa Clara (at least) both had very cut down sets of chimes, using only the notes that were required for the book. Those old marching timps were called "soup bowls".

Yes we did. My alma mater (PR) also serves as the first corps to use a traditional pit.

They really got hammered in the percussion caption that year. They played Spartacus (82) and got just hosed the entire year. I think either 81 or 82 was the only year that finals wasn't broadcast live (up until a few years ago). It was in montreal and the TV rights didn't work out so they showed the DCM broadcast on TV.

PR was also the first corps to use tuners (gasp). They used to have 200 feet of extension cord and would plug in and carry a strobe tuner out to the warm up site. It really started a trend in the activity (tuning had been almost entirely ignored until that point). A lot of that was manufacture, mediocre teaching, and sound output being more of a focus.

As far as all of that goes 78 PR, 74 Madison, and 73 Troopers are my fav shows of the 70's.

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 11:58 pm

Les Brown's Ballet in Brass, great opener,

We did that in the Reading Bucanneers in 1982.

Madison's rifle line was always super also. It is funny to see them constantly marching. you had to march so many minutes of your show or you got penalized, even the soloists. So there is the soprano solist hitting some insane high notes while marking time up to the knee! gotta love it.
back when the corps plays songs you could recognize. And you could get some show ideas to do with your hs band too....

Oh yeah they just don't make 'em like that no more...

ken "am I sounding like an old drum corps fart or what...."k

TubaRay · Post by **TubaRay** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 12:13 am

ken k wrote: ken "am I sounding like an old drum corps fart or what...."k

In my opinion you're sounding like someone who recognizes the truth.

ai698 · Post by **ai698** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 1:48 pm

Here's a company front, opener 1968 style.

Here my year, 1982 "En Sueno" push.

djwesp · Post by **djwesp** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 3:46 pm

the elephant wrote:Yeah, the 1141 is a very decent playing tuba and (as far as I am concerned) is the first BBb marching tuba that sounds good, ever. The Dynasty BBb Supermag just does not sound like the GG version (which, in turn, only sound like a GIANT Yamaha tuba, big but bland).

The K-90 was not the only decent player for this type of playing, but it was the favorite of many, many players that gut to use various horns over several years of marching. Leland plays on a pretty darn nice Kanstul in the Commandant's Own, and he still loes to play his K-90. This says a lot about the horns.

The new King 1151 really looks to me like a larger version of the old Dynasty two bangers. It looks smaller than the K-90. But I recognize that the photos are really useless and that I need to try one out side by side with my K-90 if I really want to have an opinion that will ever be of any use to anyone.

That 1141, while a pretty decent sounding tuba, is really bad to march with. You cannot (at all) see where you are going to the left. Period. The configuration of the 4th valve is just, well, stupid. The neck layout sucks, too. I hate the layout of all the U-necked horns, especially the supermag. They are flimsy and put your wrist in a rotten position. The S-necked horns used that configuration for over 35 years with no problems, but someone had to redesign something in order to earn his paycheck. For some reason everyone started to do it this way. Stupid. But it looks like the new 1151 has returned to the S-neck. Any idea what the little left hand finger ring is for? Is it a tuning slide kicker? I hope so. But it is not anywhere near where the left hand needs to go, so, again (like the 1141's 4th valve) it will be a bit awkward to use. I need to try to get a chance to play one of these . . .

New King 1151

King 1141 used for the last two or three seasons

You can see that the 1141 was just a halfway measure for the boys at UMI. The valve section is out of the 2341 tuba. They didn't even change the 1st slide wrap and the hand position is quite funky, at best. So the body wrap design was constrained by where that tube that enters the valve set has to end up. And that god-awful U-neck is just a repairman's dream! FLIMSY!! Again, the 1141 is a "halfway" horn, but a good player.

The 1151 looks to be purpose-built and ought to be a nice horn to play. It will doubtless be far easier to use on the move and will prove to be less fragile.

Regiment musicians, staff members, and employees of UMI in Indiana designed the new Bb line that debuted in 2003.

All of the instruments were very well designed, EXCEPT, the Contrabasses. The chief designer was a very, very tall man who wasn't open to criticism. They tried to use as many parts from other horns as possible and it really ended up like a butchers masterpiece. It is awkward to hold, since he refused to hold it correctly and change it ergonomically. When I played it the first time in Elkhart it sounded good but the tuning was horrible. He never fixed any of the problems and time constraints prevented them from being able to address the issue.

In 2005 they decided to design the new line. Starting in the winter of 2005 the staff, a few members, and elkharts staff started designing the new horns. The former designer was fired.

The end result was the primary "Ultimate King Brass Series Contra". Which is the most ergonomically friendly BBb I've played on. It sounds very nice, lacks the major tuning issues of before, and has a very large bell. As far as any design flaws or playing tendencies. Too be honest, the horn is so much of an improvement on the 1141 that people aren't complaining yet. I'm sure they will tweak the new design and it will only get better. The staff for King/UMI is really an amazing group of guys and there are some good things going on down there right now.

Crazy considering when I first started marching PR we still had 6 2 valve DEG GG horns in the line. My rookie year (2001) I marched a horn used in the 1989 show.

End of the Ballad 2005 Ageout

ai698 · Post by **ai698** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:20 pm

I marched with the old DEG Dynasty II contras, POS. They just replaced them in 1980. I would have preferred the Olds P-R's they had. Troopers got K90's in 1983, a year after I marched. They used them up until 2004, I believe.

ai698 · Post by **ai698** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:06 pm

UARTuba wrote:
Hey Wade, since you marched Sky Ryders in the 80s, I was wondering if you remember a guy named Craig Heinrich? He owns a band instrument repair shop here in Arkansas, and I played in community band with him. Just wondering.

Hey, I remember Craig. A mutual friend, Sharon Koval, introduced us at my first show, which Sky won, BTW.

djwesp · Post by **djwesp** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 8:11 pm

the elephant wrote:
UARTuba wrote:Hey Wade, since you marched Sky Ryders in the 80s, I was wondering if you remember a guy named Craig Heinrich? He owns a band instrument repair shop here in Arkansas, and I played in community band with him. Just wondering.
I have exchanged a few emails with him over the last few years. He was our section leader when I marched, a great player, and a wonderful guy. Please tell him that I said hey!

I am the first contra in the pic and Craig (with much hair) is the third. We were both so skinny back then!

Is that Phillip Clements formerly UT-Arlington Band Director/Tuba Instructor?

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 7:19 pm

ai698 wrote:Here's a company front, opener 1968 style.

Here my year, 1982 "En Sueno" push.

En Sueno!

yeah we did that in the Bucs in 81 arranged by our horn line instructor Tony Yaklich. I believe (I may be mistaken) you guys did the same arrangment (perhaps slightly altered by Tony).

ken k

greatk82 · Post by **greatk82** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 10:47 pm

Ken,
Although I wasn't born until '82, I grew up listening to 8-tracks of those years. I still have '81 Bucs around here somewhere, but my 8-track player is broken:(

My step-father returned to the Bucs in '95 when Tony pulled En Sueno out again. Incidently, he is still marching as the Honor Guard Captain and proudly wears his two rings.

TJ

ai698 · Post by **ai698** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 11:43 pm

The Troopers' books from around 1977 to 1983 were arranged by Knute Holian who for a long time was Cheyenne East HS band director. He use to be the soprano soloist in the early '70s. Troopers did En Sueno in '81 and '82.

ai698 · Post by **ai698** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 3:34 pm

If you like old drum corps, check out the old recordings from Fleetwood from the '50s and '60s:

http://www.fleetwoodsounds.com/catalog/ ... anner_id=2

tubaguy9 · Post by **tubaguy9** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:26 pm

For corps, I'm gonna go for Blue Star this year...sounds like they still need some tubas...

tubaguy9 · Post by **tubaguy9** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 3:59 pm

Now how could I get this onto an iPod?

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:19 pm

the elephant wrote:Note, seven years later, yardlines are present, timps are grounded but mallets are still marching, only six contras in an era when eight were the standard number for a full-sized 128 member corps, but a recognition that the bass voice was becoming much more important in the hornline sound of DCI, so the contras stay on the front sideline for nearly the whole show to keep them as loud as possible without having them blasting. They are also in octaves for much of the show, and the tuning is very good for only six guys that have to hang it out on the edge for so much of the time, musically speaking.

This is one of the best examples of an early 1980's show that I have ever seen. It is also one of the most underrated of the Scouts hornlines that I have ever heard. Everyone goes "ooo and ahh" over the 1982 Scouts. This was a better show and a better corps as a whole in my opinion. The only weak link for the 1981 Scouts was the drumline, which, while very clean, played a fairly simple book for the most part. 1982's drums were better and played a more difficult book. DCI used to use scoring categories designed to give credit to slightly less clean performances if the music was significantly harder than another corps playing easier stuff. For the brass, this caption was called Musical Analysis and for the drumline is was called Exposure to Error. The 1981 drums in this video would have scored lower on the Exposure scale as compared to the 1982 corps.

Just info for the interested.

Enjoy!

There's nuthin' like the Scouts playing Malaguena, man!!!

ken k