Fastest Halftime Show EVER

[Tom Holtz]

Now this is some outdoor tuba, by God. Ain't gonna see this at 8th & I.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIkXl55_YDI

[jacobg]

Maybe they should have a race against these guys?



http://www.med.wayne.edu/fstasa/bikeband/MenuPage.htm

[windshieldbug]

The guy 3rd rank, 2nd one in, was flat! (the rest of them are pretty much sharp)

[dwaskew]

ummmmm..........

[windshieldbug]

For some reason, I keep thinking of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"... RUN AWAY!

[pulseczar]

It doesn't sound too complicated to me. All it sounds to me is Bb and F and the most complicated rhythm is an eighth note.

[tubatooter1940]

Got to be in great shape to play while running. Got to be slightly crazy to pedal a bike and play at the same time. I might try the bike thing with somebody else's tuba.
Down South here, we are more laid back. Our harmonica player has a 36 foot sailboat and we show up at these raftups of boats where up to 50 boats lash themselves together and pray folks have enough anchors out and party down.
Kurt has an inverter that will run our small P.A. but usually an accoustic performance by the three of us is more fun on a quiet evening.
Dennis Gray
tubatooter1940
www.johnreno.com/

[XtremeEuph]

gotta love that baritone lol.........anyway that was morbidly out of tune but i guess that wasnt the whole point.......and plus they were running

[windshieldbug]

I can't beleive that gentleman in the second bike picture, front row, is steering AND playing slide trombone!!!

[Naptown Tuba]

I hope a group this technically challenged would be placed IN FRONT of the horse units rather than behind! (Steer clear of the $#!+)

[imperialbari]

I have seen a band from the Italian equivalent of the UK Territorial Army/US National Guard do this with euphoniums as their largest instruments. They used flugelhorns, also a soprano in Eb. Plus a trumpet much featured in their standing concert. Their pace is around 144 beats pr. minute.

The British Light Infantry used to march at 140 beats pr. minute with full size tubas, trombones, French horns, and all the brasses, woodwinds, and percussions of the standard UK military bands. They marched with their torsos leaning forward. I have seen two battalion bands, but I don’t think, that the regiment has any bands at all these days.

I think they had their own marches, which were much more complex, than what we hear from the Italians. But then that little simple tune has been hard to get out of my ears again.

Really enjoyed the clip. Also towards the end where aspects of the drill literarily run into troubles, which they after all get corrected. I am convinced, that the distance has been measured out carefully to fit the music. But the last turn gets too small. You can see how far out to the side the director wants them. Again: big fun!

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre

[Leland]

It doesn't sound too complicated to me. All it sounds to me is Bb and F and the most complicated rhythm is an eighth note.

Yeah, but they're running, and that's not easy. I find it interesting that they're mostly getting away with a lot of upper body movement.

And I say "mostly" because even though there's a lot of bobbling in the sound (heaven forbid that they try to sustain a note for any length of time), they're still honking away through the whole pass.

The coolest thing is that it's still close-order block drill. I'd like to see how they get the new guys up to speed (literally.. lol!) and avoid killing everyone in early rehearsals. Their level of awareness has got to be insanely high. Anything that the rest of us would correct in a full second or two would have to be anticipated and corrected instantaneously.

[pulseczar]

It doesn't sound too complicated to me. All it sounds to me is Bb and F and the most complicated rhythm is an eighth note.

Yeah, but they're running, and that's not easy.

Maybe its me, but I think playing in time with my feet is easy and they're running in time.

[Leland]

It doesn't sound too complicated to me. All it sounds to me is Bb and F and the most complicated rhythm is an eighth note.

Yeah, but they're running, and that's not easy.

Maybe its me, but I think playing in time with my feet is easy and they're running in time.

Okay, show us a vid of you running at that pace and playing, and also tell us that it was easy.

[pulseczar]

*bow head down*

it was not that easy, but I was running around with a 5/4 horn.

[Leland]

*bow head down*

it was not that easy, but I was running around with a 5/4 horn.

Upright, sousaphone, or contrabass style?

Been there, done that, up to 190-ish bpm, and with all three of the big G contras, too (DEG super mag, Kanstul grande, and my K-90 (my favorite)).

The hard part of block drill is that it demands more adaptability than most people realize. Curvilinear drill has an advantage in that the players' individual pathways are predetermined; block drill can change on the fly, even after being rehearsed. These guys were able to get it to flow almost organically around each turn, and they didn't trip over each other when they made that super-tight turn to park the block. And they're flying -- not jazz running.

[windshieldbug]

What I find interesting is that the "drum major" trumpet player in front manages not to be in rhythm or time at all when he signals them to halt at the end. (well, OK, he IS a trumpet player, but... )

[Mark N.]

This makes me wonder if the Italian Navy Band counters this by performing in the sea while doing the back stroke. Wouldn't that be impressive in the Anacostia river?! (If you could get around all the McDonald wrappers and MD 20/20 bottles!)

Mark

[chhite]

We run into these guys all over Europe and yes, it's a, hum...a sight to behold. And they do sound just as bad standing still. We ran across their afternoon gazebo concert and they played the same music as if they were running in circles. During the parade section of the week, we could hear them blocks away and the crowds just went nuts. They were running circles in the narrow streets!

The statement that all their instuments are in Eb is not entirely true. Most are but there was one unlucky tuba player that was playing an three-valve F and he had to work a bit harder to "keep up" musically.