Who plays in a Civil War band?

[scottw]

A smallish, niche-type performance medium, this is a very different type of playing from today's concert bands or even brass ensembles. There are the problems of making very old instruments play well and in tune. There are problems finding "new" music for the band. Performance venues must be carefully planned for an audience that is ready for something different musically. Finding and restoring old horns is both difficult [there is a dwindling supply!]and expensive. When a truly period piece comes available, there is a lot of competition for it from collectors, many of whom rarely even play it, but must have it for the trophy case.
I'd like to see how many of us play in this medium, and try to find some common ground where we might help each other, or at least share advice or resources. Just the telling of experiences can be very helpful to us, and you never know what opportunities may open up. For instance, it would be great if, say, a Southern band were able to swap a couple songs from their bandbook with that of a Northern band, pieces that you just can't find in a catalog. And, there would be zero risk of copyright violations!
If you could discuss it on this thread, we would easily be able to share. Or, e-mail me if you would prefer. I can see a lot of advantages in networking, and who better than tuba players! scottwest@comcast.net" target="_blank
Our band is the Beck's Band, out of South Jersey, also known as the Philadelphia Brigade Band, the 28th Pa. Regiment Band, and the 12th NJ Regiment Band.
http://www.becksband.com" target="_blank is our website. I have been playing with the band for about 6 years, but the band has been around for 20 years this fall. We follow the usual regimental band guidelines of Eb soprano cornet 1 and 2,
Bb cornet 1 and 2, Eb alto 1,2,3, and 4, tenor horn 1 and 2, baritone, Eb and Bb tuba, piccolo [augmenting the Eb parts], and drums.
Scottw

[Dan Schultz]

Hi, Scott!

I've been invited to play with a local group called "The Red Banks ReUnion Band" but have yet to find the time. They generally meet on the same night at the community band I founded twelve years ago.

The Red Banks group plays period music but has simplified their attire and instruments by calling it the 'ReUnion' band. They portray themselves as musicians that got back together after the Civil War and try to stick with instruments and attire from the decades through 1910 or so. They wear a mix of uniforms depending basically on what each musician has access to.

I've built several over-the-shoulder 'fakes' for them so their audience can get the idea of what type of instruments were played during the Civil War period.

It appears the guys have a lot more fun and the audience is more entertained if they aren't so 'anal' about details.

[scottw]

"It appears the guys have a lot more fun and the audience is more entertained if they aren't so 'anal' about details."

While we try to maintain era-appropriate dress and demeanor, there are several of us who play on modern instruments and do not have to hide our heads in shame. We do not participate in re-enactments much anymore, the desire to sleep on the ground long since lost on our members, but concentrate on several high-profile balls, parades, ceremonies, and concerts. We try to educate audiences about the war and about the role of musicians in it, but we make it fun, too. The balls are especially good, as all we need to do is look appropriate and play an awful lot of dance music of the period.

[Rick Denney]

When I was in the Heritage Brass, I played on a modern instrument (my Yamaha 621 F tuba).

People maybe watching us with Civil War eyes, but they were hearing us with Collection-Of-Canadian-Brass-CD ears.

Rick "not sure anyone wants to hear field band music that is really authentic" Denney

[PolkaNoble]

I took (sort-of) Rick's place in the Heritage Brass Band a number of years ago. Really, I play euph a little more than 1/2 the time. We have a mixture of modern horns and a few reproduction horns and (very nearly) all reproduction percussion. We often perform with a clarinet and/or a flute or fife, in addition to the usual brass. I understand that was common then, too.

What Rick said about how we perform today compared to the 1860's is true. Still, I think there were a few bands then with high standards, it just was not common in the usual regimental bands, North or South.

We do pretty well about getting repeat business, but that does not mean we are always period correct. It means the people that buy our services like what they hear. That is NOT the same as presenting historically accurate performances. We like to think we play better than most civil war bands played then.

To me and most of us it is great fun!

[scottw]

I understand the quality of those bands varied greatly. Our precursor and namesake band, Becks Band, mobilised en masse as the 28th Pa. Regiment Brass Band. The Beck brothers and family were the elite social band of the Philly/South Jersey region back then and were quite accomplished, so I imagine they were also a fine regimental band, too. They played quite a role at Gettysburg.
We, too, have a mix of horns, from originals, to just-after Civil War vintage, to reproductions, to modern [my old 186, for example--if anyone asks, I just tell them it's from '73!]. We do a lot of high-profile balls, but dancers don't seem to care about the age of the horns so much as can we keep the tempo.
How extensive is your library? I have been trying to think of a way to swap music among bands as a way to stimulate everyone's interest. If your group might be interested in such a swap, let me know? We have 20 years of accumulation in the library, plus many of us went to school with Paul Maybery and we have a lot of his pieces.Our music director also has done some terrific arrangements.
Scott

[tofu]

One of the groups I play in is a Light Guard Band which was the forerunner of another band I play in. We play with 12-15 members. The band replicates the music that the the group played during its existence which spanned 1859-1914 which is more latitude in terms of a strict Civil War period band. It also allows I think a little more audience friendly program as some of the pieces are still recognizable by them. We have played Civil War reenactments. The group was the directors idea as one of his great great grandparents was in the original group and his cornet is up in the Interlochen Collection which we discovered by chance when doing a concert up there with another group a few years ago.

We wear exact replications of the original uniforms (20 ounce wool) that the director raised the $20,000 to buy from our audience one summer. I sweat just looking at the thing. Try to imagine playing in this thing during a summer Civil War reenactment in the high humidity 95 degree heat. They look awesome and feel awful! Wonderful if you're playing in 10 degree weather in December.

The instrumentation is an issue. We use a variety of instruments. The director likes to use period horns. Since our period is is wide enough to include instruments with modern pitch and modern playing characteristics we do have some excellent playing old horns. I personally use a helicon I have and had seriously reconditioned from late in our period which plays very well. The other tuba player uses the directors personal helicon which plays awful. Our biggest issue is intonation and that is a result of the mix of instruments and the various states of repair of some of the old stuff. Some of the period instruments would probably be good players if they had a good going over and some were dogs when new and will probably always be bad even if reconditioned.

I personally think a group has to totally commit to either going one way or the other - either all period or all modern. I think you also need folks totally committed to the group and willing to invest both the time to play, but also the funds to find and recondition suitable period instruments if you go the period instrument route. In my group a lot of us (like myself) were dragged into the group by the director and consequently the commitment is less than 100%. My biggest personal issue are the uniforms which (look great), but just make playing an unpleasant sweating experience that I'm less than enthusiastic about.

Our music comes from the main group's music library which after 152 years is well over 10,000 pieces. Music has not been an issue for us. I would imagine the Chatfield, MN lending library would be a good source of period out of print music for a nominal fee.

[TubadudeCA]

Hello!

I play in the Fort Point Garrison Brass band out of San Francisco, CA. Up until switching to Eb bass recently, I played Ophicliede! Civil War band has to be one of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever been a part of. Great music, strange horns; it doesn't get any better than that!

[scottw]

Hello!

I play in the Fort Point Garrison Brass band out of San Francisco, CA. Up until switching to Eb bass recently, I played Ophicliede! Civil War band has to be one of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever been a part of. Great music, strange horns; it doesn't get any better than that!

Good to hear you enjoy the playing as much as I do! And welcome to TubeNet. Do you have a website for your band? I am always checking out different sites in trying to learn what others do and picking up ideas that we can borrow. As I offered a couple others, we are always open to a music swap to get fresh material into new hands, and certainly would love to swap ideas. Are you a uniformed band? North or South? Do you ever get to Gettysburg?
Regards,
Scottw

[TubadudeCA]

Thanks for the welcome!

We do have a web site: http://fortpointbrassband.org/" target="_blank" target="_blank AND there are Cd's for sale *hint hint*

We are always welcoming new music and I'm sure we could swap a few tunes. We are North, we do have uniform, and unfortunately our band doesn't go to gettysburg as a group, but occasionally a few of us do tag along with another SoCal band.

Robert

[Bill Troiano]

I've played in the Old Bethpage Restoration Village Brass Band since 1979. I don't know how authentic we are, but we play more than 20 gigs a year and get paid OK. We wear Civil War (north) frock coats and the wool hats with our own pants and shoes. When it gets warm, we replace the coats with blue cotton shirts that are supposedly similar to fireman's shirts of the day. We play period instruments, although the tuba maybe isn't as old as some of the other instruments. It's a 4 rotary valve BBb, I believe made in Italy. It plays pretty poorly especially below the staff. It probably has major leaks, but nobody wants to invest in getting it to play better, so I play it as is. I own a CC tuba that is very similar to the village owned tuba, that I use once in a while. It plays worse than the BBb, so I only use it if the BBb needs a major obvious repair. We also play authentic music from various bands of the period. The music was donated from the Library of Congress. We play at the Restoration Village and for concerts in parks and in libraries. We go out as an 11 piece band (2 Eb cornets, 2 Bb cornets, 2 Eb alto horns, 2 Bb baritones or a valve tbn. , 1 tuba and 2 pc - rope tension snare and bass.) We also do many gigs as a sextet. It's a fun gig that I've enjoyed playing the past 30+ years, except when it gets warm and humid.

[scottw]

I've played in the Old Bethpage Restoration Village Brass Band since 1979. I don't know how authentic we are, but we play more than 20 gigs a year and get paid OK. We wear Civil War (north) frock coats and the wool hats with our own pants and shoes. When it gets warm, we replace the coats with blue cotton shirts that are supposedly similar to fireman's shirts of the day. We play period instruments, although the tuba maybe isn't as old as some of the other instruments. It's a 4 rotary valve BBb, I believe made in Italy. It plays pretty poorly especially below the staff. It probably has major leaks, but nobody wants to invest in getting it to play better, so I play it as is. I own a CC tuba that is very similar to the village owned tuba, that I use once in a while. It plays worse than the BBb, so I only use it if the BBb needs a major obvious repair. We also play authentic music from various bands of the period. The music was donated from the Library of Congress. We play at the Restoration Village and for concerts in parks and in libraries. We go out as an 11 piece band (2 Eb cornets, 2 Bb cornets, 2 Eb alto horns, 2 Bb baritones or a valve tbn. , 1 tuba and 2 pc - rope tension snare and bass.) We also do many gigs as a sextet. It's a fun gig that I've enjoyed playing the past 30+ years, except when it gets warm and humid.

Thanks, Bill, for the reply. Your band seems to be located about the closest to us here in South Jersey. We are about double your size, as we have made a concerted effort in the last 2 years to build the band so as to not have to sweat when someone is unavailable. It does make it easier to have that redundancy. We use 2-3 Eb's, 6Bb's, 4 alto, 2 tenors, 2 baritones, 2 tubas and 2-4 drummers, as well as 2-3 piccolos to reinforce the Eb sopranos and give them a break. I hold down the bottom on my not-period Mira186 and the other tuba plays the upper parts on his 1870 Eb. The sound works and my horn is sufficiently worn that it actually looks period to the untrained eye!
The size of the band makes playing all the different balls much easier on everyone. Lasting 4 hours, playing dances that go on for 10-15 minutes at a time, takes a lot of chops, especially from the cornets. We did back-to-back balls [Friday and Saturday nights]for the first time this year at Gettysburg's Remembrance Day and they came off without a hitch. Throw in 4 monument ceremonies and the parade, and it makes for an awful lot of playing!
Fun stuff!

[Michael Denney]

I had the pleasure of hearing the Eighth Georgia Regimental Band multiple times two years ago at Gettysburg. One of their bass players is on this site, although I don't recall his ID. He had impressive control in the low register on his narrow-bore tuba, but it must be somewhat unstable -- similar to playing a French horn. The band had a warm and tight period sound on their period instruments.

http://eighthregimentband.net/

They broaden their repertoire by also performing as a town band in civilian attire.